reproductive rights Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

This Presidential Race Is Not over

I would like for everyone to hold on just a second and understand that this presidential race is not over. For months, I’ve talked about this presidential race as being close. It is close. If we didn’t have the electoral college then I think things would be different. But we do have the electoral college. Therefore, states like Texas, California, New York and Illinois are basically meaningless. These states are reliably Democratic or Republican and therefore the candidates will spend very little time in any of them. It is the battleground states which will decide this election. Ohio, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Nevada will decide this election. Recent reports have suggested that the Romney campaign has given up in New Mexico and Romney’s home state of Michigan.

I mentioned several weeks ago that Romney’s strategy was ~~all man~~, all white man, all the time. Mitt Romney and the Republicans have basically decided that they are not gonna go after minorities. Deciding not to pick Senator Rubio from Florida, they have basically written off the Latino vote (though it is my opinion that choosing Senator Rubio would not have been all that helpful with the Latino vote either). Mitt Romney has done nothing specific to try to court women. Remember, this is after multiple legislatures throughout the country, led by Republicans, basically attacked women’s reproductive rights. Mitt Romney did nothing to try to smooth this over. Basically, he has blown off the woman vote (Ann Romney’s whole speech at the RNC was geared towards courting women, but I think that it fell flat). So, if you’re going to blow off minorities and you’re going to blow off women, the only thing that is left is men; specifically, white men. Now, the latest polling shows that Romney’s lead with white men in this presidential race has vanished. I should also mention that part of the Romney strategy was to limit the vote. It was critically important for Romney to limit the vote, specifically in battleground states. Passing voter ID laws in places like Pennsylvania and Florida would limit Democratic turnout and therefore help Mitt Romney. If he could somehow boost the turnout of white men, specifically in these battleground states, he could piece himself together a victory. When Mitt Romney, several weeks ago, made that “joke” about everybody knowing where he was born, that was a signal to white men. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it worked. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2012-09-16T19:18:31-04:00September 15th, 2012|Elections, Party Politics|5 Comments

Women can’t be trusted (Updated)

The GOP has shown me the light. Women just can’t be trusted with their own reproductive rights. If we let women chose, they may choose to get an education. They may choose to join the work force. They may or may not choose to stay home. We can’t have all that choice. We need to decide what’s best for women.

From RM Blog:

Following up on an earlier item, here was the witness table at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as discussion about contraception access and health care got underway.

You’ll notice, of course, that all of the witnesses are men. What you can’t tell from the photo is that the second panel will feature four more men, and the combined total of the nine witnesses will include no women, no experts on contraception, no experts on health care, and no experts who might say something Republicans disagree with.

As ThinkProgress noted, this proved to be a bit too much for some of the Democratic woman on the committee. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) asked a sensible question under the circumstances: “Where are the women? When I look at this panel, I don’t see one, single woman representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need coverage for basic preventive health care services.”

As the farce hearing progressed, nearly all of the Democratic women on the committee left the room in protest.

There is one Republican woman on the committee, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.), who has not expressed concerns about the one-sided nature of the hearing.

Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who rejected the one witness Democrats asked to participate, claimed this morning that the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and a progressive voice, had been invited to participate, and would have provided balance to the hearing (balance, in this case, would mean nine conservatives and one liberal). (more…)

Why do we need women on this panel? Seriously, shouldn’t it be the other way around? The panel should be 100% women. Men should have no say. NONE. A women’s husband, lover, significant one should only be included in the conversation if the woman wants to include him. That’s my two cents. What’s yours?

Update: This is Sandra Fluke. She clearly hits the nail on the head.

By ecthompsonmd|2012-02-16T21:07:22-04:00February 16th, 2012|Civil Rights, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show|21 Comments

How much more qualified should an appointee be?

When Dawn Johnsen was nominated to head the Office of Legal Counsel, there was much rejoicing by progressives. Glenn Greenwald wrote a GREAT post on her and her qualifications. That was back in January. Now, like we’re reliving a bad episode of the West Wing, Dawn Johnsen has become a political football. She’s committed two great sins in the eyes of conservatives (including conservative Democrats). First, she had the nerve to stand up for women’s reproductive rights. She has argued thoughtfully and credibly against the onslaught of restrictions that women are forced to endure. Secondly, she’d been highly critical of the garbage that the Office of Legal Counsel churned out during the Bush administration. (Please read Glenn’s piece which, as usual, is incredibly thorough.) This is a huge loss not only for Professor Johnsen but also for our country. Hopefully, the Obama administration will bring up her nomination again. Marcy has more —

From EmptyWheel:

Yesterday, when I wrote about 34 Obama Nominees Not Named Dawn Johnsen being confirmed by the Senate on the heels of the healthcare vote, and before they left town, I was not aware, in addition (h/t earlofhuntingdon), the nomination was now completely dead. From Main Justice:

The Senate approved a unanimous consent request today to hold over several nominees for the second session of the 111th Congress, which begins in January.

But nominees to head three DOJ offices: Dawn Johnsen, for the Office of Legal Counsel, Mary L. Smith, for the Tax Division, and Christopher Schroeder, for the Office of Legal Policy, were returned to the White House before the Senate recessed for the holidays.

Johnsen, who was nominated in February, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March on a party line vote.

Several Senate Republicans, joined by Democratic Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.), have voiced concerns about Johnsen’s vocal opposition to the Bush administration’s national security policies and her past work for an abortion rights group.

The nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be the head of the Office of Legal Counsel at DOJ, a critical post, is now truly dead. If Ms. Johnsen is to serve, she will have to be renominated by Barack Obama and start over. She never got the up or down vote promised as soon as the Senate had done healthcare, she never got an ounce of support from the Administration that nominated her, and a year of her life was taken in what certainly appears to be a cowardly and demeaning political ploy. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2009-12-26T15:47:21-04:00December 26th, 2009|Legal, Obama administration|Comments Off