The War On Autonomy.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.

It seems I never come to the end of people who weakly defend the Tiny Tyrant because Pence. “He would be worse!” I am very tired of hearing that. No, he would not be worse. We’ve had theocrats in office before, remember George faith-based initiatives and abstinence only Bush Jr.? He was a born-again christian theocrat. So yes, Pence would be a theocrat, and while Trump cannot be accurately described as such, he’s acting as  theocrat, so what fucking difference does that make? None. At least Pence would be less likely to let the nukes fly. Although, that said, Pence is up to his pasty neck in the Russia business, too.

Women have been repeatedly targeted in the Fuck You Care Plan, and Trump is happily enabling the ‘moral objection’ shit, along with making some very dangerous moves in regard to abortion. Trump also didn’t waste anytime in removing guidelines and protection for transgender people, including children, and wiped out many protections in place for all LGBT peoples. Trump is more than happy to give the Religious Reich whatever they want, and in return, they will do whatever they think is necessary to keep his abundant arse in power.

The Trump administration is poised to roll back access to birth control by severely weakening Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate —  and, at the same time, dangerously weakening the distinction between “religious” objections and “moral” objections to reproductive health care.

During the Obama years, the birth control wars largely focused on the tension between people seeking contraceptive coverage and religious employers who object to birth control in some form or another. Both Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Zubik v. Burwell, the two contraception cases heard by the Supreme Court in the last several years, involved employers who objected to providing birth control coverage on religious grounds.

Yet a handful of hardliners — the March for Life, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Justice Samuel Alito — have tried to blur the line between religious objectors and moral objectors. While cases like Hobby Lobby and Zubik involved claims that people with religious objections to the law often have the right not to follow it, the hardliners would extend this right of defiance to people who raise moral objections not rooted in religious belief.

That’s a major shift that would seriously undermine the efficacy of the law as a whole. And, in a document leaked to Vox’s Dylan Scott and Sarah Kliff, the Trump administration appears to embrace this shift. Under the rule described in this document, employers who do not want to provide birth control coverage to their employees will be permitted to do so so long as they claim that doing so would violate their “moral convictions.”

Think Progress has the full, in-depth story.

On May 31, 2009, Scott Roeder killed Dr. George Tiller, a late-term abortion provider, in Wichita, Kansas. By all accounts, Roeder waited in the pews of Tiller’s church, and then following service, he walked into the church foyer and shot him directly in the forehead. Roeder, who was staunchly anti-abortion, committed murder because of Tiller’s national prominence as an abortion provider. Now, eight years later, the country is recreating and expanding the same environment of extremist views that allowed for Tiller’s murder.

Since Trump came into office, his administration and the Republican-majority Congress have been on a mission to impede the rights of people — especially women, girls, and their providers — from accessing constitutionally protected health care services. Earlier this month, the House passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017 which Trump vehemently supported. The AHCA disproportionately targets women: domestic abuse, rape, pregnancy, C-section, and maternity care can all be considered preexisting conditions. Less than two weeks later, Trump expanded the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule (GGR), a death wish for women around the world seeking abortion services. The GGR, newly named “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” says that foreign aid can go only to organizations abroad that “neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.” The rule could affect up to $9 billion in funding that is also used to combat health concerns like HIV/AIDS, Zika, and more.

Trump, an accused sexual assault perpetrator, has always promoted violence and hatred against women, including being able to access safe and legal abortions without criminal prosecution. During his candidacy, Trump said that women who seek abortions should be subject to “some form of punishment” if the procedure was banned in the United States. Trump eventually changed his mind (his fourth position on abortion in just three days) and claimed that only “the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman.” Nonetheless, this position still leaves abortion providers on the hook for performing a medical procedure that should be decided on by only a doctor and their patient. This kind of rhetoric would only embolden people like Roeder.

Allowing extreme policies against reproductive rights will increase the numbers of unintended pregnancies, which will increase the number of unsafe abortions. If pregnant peoples’ rights to immediate services are curtailed, this will undoubtedly cause a delay in options. As a delay continues, so does the potential for an unwanted pregnancy which could cause seeking a late-term abortion — the same abortions performed by the late Tiller. That, in turn, allows people — who are like Roeder — to effectuate their extremist views on those seeking healthcare services, including but not limited to abortion and family planning options.

Think Progress has the full, in-depth story.

Today marks the beginning of Pride Month. The Regime, however, is not celebrating. They aren’t even mentioning it, no. Instead, it’s all about:

Yep. You can read all about it here.

Spite Your Face.

CN: misogyny, violence, rape. Have a care before continuing.

Rachel Maclean:

13 May – 26 November 2017
Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Fondamenta Santa Caterina, 30121, Cannaregio
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm, free entry (also open Monday 15 May)

Rachel Maclean is representing Scotland at the 57th International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale, with major new film commission Spite Your Face – a modern-day, dark Venetian fairytale presented as a large-scale portrait projection at the altar of a deconsecrated church.

Rachel Maclean, Spite Your Face, 2017, digital video (still). Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Alchemy Film & Arts in partnership with Talbot Rice Gallery and the University of Edinburgh on behalf of Scotland + Venice.

In Venice’s Chiesa di Santa Caterina, I am sitting in a pew, looking up to where the altar would normally be, watching the distinct yet unfamiliar movements of a gigantic nose being masturbated. A blue, gloved hand runs up and down its glittering gold length, and its owner, a cartoonish young perfume-purveying influencer named Pic, groans with pleasure. “I intended it to be shocking,” says Scottish artist Rachel Maclean, of her contribution to Scotland’s presence in Venice during the Biennale, a 35-minute, looping film with no beginning or end, that follows Pic on a morality tale that pits his conscience against his greed.

[…]

It would be hard not to see the political significance of the piece, in a world where outright lies appear to be de rigeur for anyone in the public eye. “I was disturbed by the ways in which lies had been used in the Trump campaign and the Brexit campaign, in a lazy sense, to substantiate a political narrative or an idea,” Maclean says. “I started writing the script in December last year and it was a scary time…” One narrative that stands out from the film is the idea of a transformation of fortune, a rags-to-riches redemption (or riches-to-rags, depending on which order you watch the film in), that sees a destitute young boy wind up as shill for a perfume brand called “Untruth.” This creates a fake corporate illusion, in comparison to the magic “Truth” one given to him by his fairy godmother.

“I’ve always been interested in perfume because it seems absurd,” says Maclean. “Really, it’s just a bottle of smelly liquid but it’s packaged in this way that not only makes the object into something more valuable, but it also suggests that you spraying it onto yourself transforms you into something more powerful and alluring.” This idea of a transformative solution to society’s problems critiques these myths that we are told about social mobility: lean in, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, it’s the American Dream. “I was interested in the compassionless aspect of it. The narrative suggests, if you work hard enough and if you dream it, you can do it. It’s a convenient way to gloss over the lack of social mobility in our society,” adds Maclean.

Another uncomfortable moment comes right after the unforgettable nose-onanism, where Pic’s guardian angel joins him in the sexual act. Pic becomes enraged at a perceived insult and ends up brutally raping this maternal figure. It’s uncomfortable, in fact, almost unbearable to watch, even though it’s still, absurdly, carried out by the character’s nose, lengthened from all those lies. “I’ve been disturbed by the rise in visible misogyny,” Maclean says, when asked about this scene. “There’s a level of immunity to it—where we’re just not affected by it. I wanted the rape scene to feel palpably violent and difficult to watch, so that it’s able to break through the surface of that a little bit.”

Rachel Maclean, Spite Your Face, 2017, digital video (still). Courtesy the artist. Commissioned by Alchemy Film & Arts in partnership with Talbot Rice Gallery and the University of Edinburgh on behalf of Scotland + Venice.

The Creators Project has the full story, and more photos. There’s also more at Scotland and Venice.  I have no doubt this is both and impressive and disturbing work; not one I would find easy to sit through, but I would like to see it all the same.

White Genocide In Space!

Oh, the moans! The whines! The cries of the incredibly privileged white dudes! Will no one think of the bros? I can answer that one: No. You’re free to fuck off and not watch the new Trek, which, horror of horrors, is not stuffed to the starship ceiling with white men.

The new series Star Trek Discovery stars Asian actress Michelle Yeoh as the ship’s captain and black actress Sonequa Martin-Green as her first officer — and this has caused some Trekkies to fret about the lack of white men in charge.

While the overall reaction to the new Star Trek trailer has been positive — although there are the usual complaints from Star Trek fans about continuity errors — one group of fans is particularly upset about the show’s diverse cast of characters.

As both Heat Street and Daily Kos point out, the series’ YouTube page has been bombarded by comments labeling the show a “SJW” plot aimed at shoving “political correctness,” “forced diversity,” and even “cultural Marxism” down viewers’ throats.

Additionally, some angry Twitter users have even proclaimed that the show’s diverse cast is evidence of a “white genocide” conspiracy aimed at eliminating the white race from the face of the Earth.

Trailer from here.

Hee. Oh my, it’s a day to get drunk on tears. Via Raw Story.

Sunday Facepalm: “You Deserve To Suffer!”

Jesse Lee Peterson, screen capture.

Just in time for a holiday celebrating mothers, Jesse Lee Peterson has something to say about all those evil parents who, *gasp*, remarry after being divorced. Turns out that’s just a big ol’ no no, and if you do that, you are not only seriously fucking up your sproggen, you deserve to suffer, too.

“The parents who are doing that are selfish parents,” Peterson said. “You’re selfish and you’re destroying the souls of your children … These people who are blending their families like that do not love their children.”

Peterson insisted that anyone who has a child out of wedlock or gets divorced must remain single and must not “get involved with anyone else” until their children are grown and have moved out of the house.

“You deserve to suffer,” he said. “It’s not your kid’s fault that you are out of control and decided that you were going to have sex … with the wrong person and make a baby. They don’t deserve to suffer that because you were crazy.”

Uh huh. It’s interesting how “shit happens” means you must take punishment, not matter what. Context? Doesn’t matter. Circumstances? Doesn’t matter. Why you evil creature, you had sex, you must pay! Forever! I had been unaware that having sex and a resultant child made a person crazy. That would make most everyone on the planet crazy.

Peterson says that parents who find themselves single or divorced must admit to themselves that they are solely to blame for their situation and “then God will give you love” and they’ll have no need for a partner.

Oh, I’m pretty sure that most cases of divorce are not cases of sole blame or responsibility. It’s not a frivolous matter, dissolving a legal partnership. If a person is being beaten, they are not to blame for a divorce. Takes a lot of courage to get out of such a marriage. If a person is dealing with someone who can’t keep their pants up, I don’t think you get to blame them for walking, but that’s just me. I think kids who end up in the middle of those “we must keep up appearances and stay married for the kids” relationships hate them. Kids aren’t stupid, and this sort of thinking presumes kids are idiots who wouldn’t know their parent or parents were unhappy. Discontent and unhappiness spread, quickly. If a blended family provides support and happiness, that’s a good thing, unless, of course, you’re dealing with Jehovah, who frowns on that whole happiness business.

“It doesn’t matter how nice the person is that you get involved with, the kids are not going to accept it,” Peterson warned. “In their souls, they are not going to accept it and you do a disservice to your children when you do that.”

Ah right, so even if the kids do accept the change, and like the change, and are thriving, you’re still killing them, yes you are! Souls don’t exist. No one has one, and no one is going to endanger their child’s soul by building a stable, happy family.

Via RWW.

“Every Democrat in America must be demon-possessed,”

Astaroth, prince of Hell, from J.A.S. Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal. Original illustration by Louis Breton, engraved by M. Jarrault.

Oh, Gordon Klingenschmitt is on a tear again, and it’s the same old shit, but now, all democrats must be demon accessible, that’s just how it is, you betcha. If you’ve already had an internal whisper, bet this is about abortion, declare bingo.

Religious Right activist and former Colorado state legislator Gordon Klingenschmitt said on a recent episode of his “Pray In Jesus Name” program that Democratic leaders are declaring that “if you don’t serve the devil, you can’t be a good Democrat.”

Klingenschmitt was reacting to recent comments from Sen. Dick Durbin and DNC chairman Tom Perez asserting that Democrats should support Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health choices, which he interpreted as meaning that people must agree to be ruled by demons in order to be Democrats.

Hmmm. Two men, who have managed to figure out that yes, women are actual human beings with a right to bodily autonomy, just like that which men enjoy. Definitely has to be demons, couldn’t possibly be mildly enlightened thinking, no.

“If the Bible says that something is sin,” Klingenschmitt said, “and it’s a sin to commit acts of murder against innocent children, then you can tell who the demonic spirits … are influencing when you see people like Tom Perez and Dick Durbin saying, ‘Not only shall we kill innocent children as a matter of policy, citing Roe v. Wade, not only shall we use American taxpayer dollars to pay for the shedding of innocent blood but, if you’re not demonic like we are, you can’t be a Democrat like we are.’”

Let’s break this down a bit. “If the bible says that something is a sin”, what does that matter to me? I’m not christian, and I could not possibly care less what that mess of a pastiche says about anything. Last time I looked, uStates is still not a theocracy, even as it slides down the drain. Well, not officially, anyway, so I’m not obligated to obey inquisitorial law, let alone pay attention to it.

As has come up before, many times, the bible is not the book you want people looking into to if you’re going to discuss acts of murder against innocent children. The bible is replete with the blood of innocent children, the slaughter generally accounted with a dark and triumphant glee, as if dashing the heads of infants against rocks was a grand and cheery thing to do to get your day started. Of course, when you’re talking about terminating an unwanted pregnancy, you are not talking about murdering a child. Not that christians like that distinction being made, but that is reality, and it would be nice if christians could face it just once.

And because it seems this needs to be said every five fucking seconds, federal monies do not fund terminations, full stop. The constant melodramatic hyperbole of idiotic christians is exhausting. I have no idea of where they get the energy. Demons, perhaps.

And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. — Leviticus 27:6

According to the bible, if an infant is under a month old, it doesn’t exist, basically. It has no value. Hard to see how a zygote would figure into all that. You can see more of what the bible has to say about abortion here. Then you have cheery stuff like this:

Hosea 9:14- Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Hosea 9:16 – Yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.

Hosea 13:16 -Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Lovely stuff, ennit? I have little use for the bible, to say the least. Now, one thing which is not mentioned in all this bloodlust towards women and children: demons. Don’t figure into it at all, no, it’s just good ol’ El Shaddai, also known as ‘god’. When your ‘god’ is such a nasty, psychopathic, genocidal maniac, I think I’d probably take my chances with the demons, who don’t seem to do much at all. Of course, none of these characters are real, so it doesn’t much matter. What does matter are fucking idiots like Gordon, who want to play real world pretend with this nonsense. If you want to sit in your own dwelling or in your place of worship, and fantasise and role play this dreck, fine, have at it. But that’s where you leave it. Anything beyond that is doing actual, real harm to living beings, and even going by your own fucked up beliefs, that’s supposed to be the bailiwick of that ‘god’ of yours, so you let it fight its own battles. I’ll wait.

“They’re claiming that every Democrat in America must be demon-possessed, as they are, in order to be faithful to the views of their party,” he said. “If you don’t serve the devil, you can’t be a good Democrat. I’m paraphrasing, but that is what they are saying, isn’t it?”

Sigh. Why no, that’s not what they are saying. They simply said that women are actual human beings. Nothing about demon possession, nothing about serving the devil, who gets one hell of a bad rap, I might add. I realize that ‘god’ of yours has to have a villain, or else the whole system collapses, but wow, did that story arc ever go wrong. ‘God’ is the bad guy, and the villain doesn’t do much at all, except be a handy scapegoat. As always, I highly recommend Steve Well’s Drunk With Blood: God’s Killings in the Bible. There’s a fucktonne of killing, and most all of it, with a minor exception (the bet over Job), it’s all on El Shaddai.

Also, whoever is handling the Social Justice Warrior LGBTIA Liberal Agenda handbook or whatever, keep up! I keep missing memos, and now I find out I’m obligated to consort with demons? I have a busy schedule, y’know, I can’t fit this stuff in on the spur of the moment.

The full mess is at RWW, complete with video if you’re the glutton for punishment type.

Your Children Will Be Commies! Er, Wait, They’ll Be Transgendered Commies!

Oh, The Red Menace™! Ever present in my life. “America’s” biggest fear and greatest propaganda, the communists under the bed, oh my! Every single time I have thought that the whole fear of a commie had finally died off, it managed to appear again, ever a revenant. There was always a religious zealot or a bigoted conservative willing to reach into the closet and dust off the Red Bogeyman, conveniently updated with whatever was current or trending in culture for any given year. Today, I see absolutely nothing has changed. Seriously, all you bigoted, hateful, conservative Christian asswipes need to come up with a new shtick. The whole red menace thing is unbelievably old, and it’s now incredibly inaccurate, ennit? Really, at least try to keep up with the news, and please, not Fox.

Kevin Swanson has decided that the current Red Bogeyman is Transgendered Commies! Yes, that’s right. All children in public schools will be transformed into transgender commies, this is the new agenda™. I hadn’t received any agenda update, perhaps this one is only going out to idiots.

“The state has an agenda with your children,” he warned. “I realize that this may sound a little bit hyperbolic, it may sound [like] a little bit of an exaggeration—I don’t think it is, because I think if you begin to see the trajectory of where things have gone and you just draw it out for the next five, six, eight years, you’re going to find this is the agenda.”

“The goals of the educational program for your kids in the public schools,” Swanson continued, “the goals of the world for your children is that your kids be transgendered and communist by 20 years of age.”

“Of course this is the agenda,” he said. “Parents, just get serious about it. Do you want your kids transgendered and communist at 18 years of age? Is that your goal? If it isn’t, then maybe you ought to bring a different vision into the education of your children.”

Why yes, that does sound hyperbolic, Kevin. It also sounds downright moronic. You won’t be finding cis children wanting to be anything other than what they are, and you won’t find trans children wanting to be anything other than what they are. It’s quite simple, really. I do think you need to be a bit more specific about the whole transgender-communist connection, what exactly do you have in that department? How does the ever evil transagenda aid in creating more commies? I ask, because I don’t know if you have noticed, but trans people haven’t exactly had an easy time when it comes to being accepted, on both an individual and societal basis. I really don’t think this would be the communist plot of choice.

I remember when there was an attempt to paint The Beatles, and rock and pop music generally with the communist brush, but at least they had a veneer of a connection – mind control! Looseness, immorality, *gasp* sex! I am not getting the connection here. I think it will be a very long time before there are sufficient numbers of transgender commies to make up a conquering army, if that’s what you had in mind. Also, Kevin, make up your fucking mind, from one sentence to the next – are the kids going to turn evil when they are 20 years old, or 18 years old? Details matter, y’know. Also, it’s rather convenient you put the line at adult ages. I really think you ought to just stick with the immoral, godless commie thing. It’s worked for all these decades.

Via RWW.

Women Helping Women / SASS.

https://womenhelp.org/

While the fate of the Fuck You No Healthcare Plan is not certain yet, one thing is more than clear: whether or not the senate squashes this monstrosity, it will be women and other people who can get pregnant who will end up being hurt the most. In spite of the fact that abortion is legal in uStates, the reality is the opposite for a majority of women. For many women, being able to obtain a termination within draconian time limits has been made impossible, and there are many efforts to make sure that women cannot access early abortion pills, either. The FDA updated its protocol on mifepristone last year, increasing its eligibility of use from 49 days’ gestation to 70 days’, but my state, nDakota, along with Ohio and Texas, refuse to comply, adhering to the old protocol as a means to prevent women from using it. Many states have outlawed the use to telemedicine in regard to mifepristone, which is yet another nail on autonomy’s coffin when it comes to those of us who live rural. Tom Price, who doesn’t much believe in contraception anyway, and denies the fact that women need help to obtain it, so he refuses to cover it, is elated with the latest move, and that is very bad news indeed, for all women who use contraception.

When I was younger, I thought that the days of the Jane Collective were long past, that such networks would not ever be needed again. I certainly felt that way when I obtained an abortion in 1975. At that time, no one cared about my private medical decisions, or the private medical decisions of others. It took many years for the anti-choice brigade to whip up a proper frenzy, but they managed it, and here we are, back in an age of necessary collectives.

A Dutch Collective, Women Helping Women is active, providing help with Self-Managed Abortion; Safe and Supported (SASS). If you find yourself in trouble, please, please, do things safely. There are people who can help you, so take advantage of that, and remember you are not alone.

WHW has an emphasis on privacy, it’s clandestine, and you cannot be traced, which is necessary because women are being prosecuted for inducing abortions.

While the Trump administration didn’t invent anti-choice ideology or policies, it is unapologeticallylaying the groundwork for an unprecedented attack on reproductive rights and the women who seek abortion care. And although anti-choice legislators have historically focused on restricting surgical abortion, medical abortion is very much in their crosshairs, too.

“While people in the U.S. have been self-inducing abortion with pills safely, effectively and privately, they do so under the looming threat of arrest and prosecution, or detention and deportation,” said Jill Adams, Chief Strategist at the Self-Induced Abortion (SIA) Legal Team at Berkeley Law. “Not because self-induced abortion is per se illegal, but because rogue prosecutors have been manipulating and misapplying laws in a modern day witch-hunt.”

According to the SIA Legal Team, there are 17 known arrests or convictions in connection with self-induced abortion. “This threat looms most heavily over communities of color, immigrants, and people living in poverty who already face some of the highest obstacles to reproductive healthcare access and over policing of their communities,” said Adams.

Think Progress has the full story.

Sigh. Speaking of:

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad on Friday signed into law a 20-week abortion ban that faces a legal challenge in the Midwestern state’s supreme court.

The law, passed by Iowa’s Republican-controlled House and Senate last month, bans abortions once a pregnancy reaches 20 weeks and stipulates a three-day waiting period before women can undergo any abortion.

The law does not make exceptions for instances of rape or incest but does allow for abortions if the mother’s life or health is at risk.

Full story here.

The Religious Liberty Executive Order.

Donald Trump in Cleveland prayer huddle -- (YouTube screen grab)

Donald Trump in Cleveland prayer huddle — (YouTube screen grab)

Here comes the Christian Oppression™. Unlike the Spanish Inquisition, the Christian Oppression of everyone they don’t like is always to be expected. The religious reich pushed hard for this, and of course, the Tiny Tyrant is going to grant their wish, always willing to pander to religious extremists. Thankfully, there are a good many sensible theists who are very opposed to this EO, who not only think it’s unnecessary, but would be violating the constitution. Unfortunately, violating the constitution is something Donny seems to revel in. Here’s hoping this mechanism for promoting vile bigotry, hate, and cruel oppression will be successfully challenged and kicked to the gutter, where it belongs.

News broke Tuesday afternoon that president Donald Trump is preparing an executive order on “religious liberty” that is expected to offer exemptions for people who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, abortion, transgender identity, and premarital sex.

There’s just one catch: many faith leaders already oppose it.

According to POLITICO, Trump administration officials are planning to unveil the new order on Thursday to coincide with the National Day of Prayer. Details of the order are still under wraps, but the text is reportedly similar to an alleged draft leaked to The Nation on February 1. That draft purported to require government agencies to grant sweeping religious exemptions to people and organizations that reject same-sex marriage and other things on religious grounds — regardless of whether faith-fueled disagreement is “compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.”

At the time, conservative-leaning faith groups such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged Trump to sign the draft order, saying it was a “positive step toward allowing all Americans to be able to practice their faith without severe penalties from the federal government.” Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s political arm, also encouraged the president to sign on.

But religious freedom experts and other faith leaders were quick to raise questions about whether its provisions were lawful. Rabbi David Saperstein, who recently ended his tenure as U.S. religious freedom ambassador for the State Department, told members of Congress in February he believes the proposed order poses “significant constitutional problems.”

“I think it raises very serious equal protection issues,” he said, noting that the leaked draft could allow government contractors the ability to refuse services based on their religious beliefs.

Saperstein’s concern was echoed by a chorus of clergy two weeks later, when a full-page ad decrying the draft appeared in the pages of POLITICO. The ad, which was signed by more than 1,300 faith leaders, blasted the order for “enshrining one [conservative] religious perspective” above others.

“Although it purports to strengthen religious freedom, what this order would actually do is misuse this freedom, turning it into a weapon to discriminate against broad swaths of our nation, including LGBTQ people, women, and children in foster care,” it read. “We urge you to turn away from all proposals that would abuse religious freedom, including any executive orders on this issue that are currently under consideration.”

Think Progress has the full story.

Oh My, Randy Has A Cry.

Oh my. Prepare yourself for a treacly glurge overdose, because Rep. Randy Weber has one comin’ your way, all choked up and laced with tears, as well as a slight rewording of The Lord’s Prayer.

Modifying the Lord’s Prayer to declare that “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth here in the halls of Congress,” Weber confessed the “sins our nation has been so emboldened to embark upon” and pleaded with God to forgive us.

“We have endeavored to try and kick your word out of public schools,” Weber said. “Father, we have endeavored to take the Bible out of classrooms, the Ten Commandments off the walls. Oh, Lord, forgive us. Father, we think we’re so smart, we have replaced your word and your precepts with drug-sniffing dogs, with metal detectors, with uniformed police officers in our schools. Oh, Lord, forgive us.”

Perhaps if you assholes were smart enough to legalize some drugs, and get serious about gun control, but yeah, real world solutions, those things aren’t good at all, no.

“Father, we have trampled on your holy institution of holy matrimony and tried to rewrite what it is and we’ve called it an alternate lifestyle,” Weber continued, his voice cracking. “Father, oh Father, please forgive us.”

:Sputters tea all over: Excuse me? Have you read the fucking bible? At all? Holy institution of holy matrimony my decidedly unsainted ass. This is barely dipping into the subject. There was a tremendous amount of fucking around in the bible, of all sorts.

“Lord, we have gone to killing the most innocent amongst us,” he wept. “Your servant Moses warned in Deuteronomy 19 for us to choose life so that we and all our descendants might live. Father, we’re killing our descendants and we’re calling it a choice. Oh, God in heaven, forgive us, please.”

Oh please. No one is killing your descendants, you silly asspimple. Whether or not I have descendants, and how many is none of your business. Once again, do you ever read the bible? Ever? In between public praying performances, perhaps? You should. I’ll help you out. I can help you out with Deuteronomy, too. You’ll have to pardon me if I simply raise an eyebrow over the thought of following the sociopath’s rule book. No thanks.

Via RWW.

A Tangled Tale: The Red Pill.

The Daily Beast has uncovered the tangled origins of Reddit’s angry and toxic Red Pill forum. It turns out the creator of said forum is a once upon a time democrat turned republican, Rep. Robert Fisher. He’s quite the specimen, to say the very least. The article is in-depth and link heavy, so just a bit here.

Last November, voters in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region re-elected to the state House of Representatives a man who appears to be one of the secret architects of the Internet’s misogynistic “Manosphere.”

The homegrown son of a preacher, 31-year-old Robert Fisher is a Republican who represents New Hampshire’s Belknap County District 9. In addition to his legislative duties, Fisher owns a local computer repair franchise, and in his spare time, seems to have created the web’s most popular online destination for pickup artistry and Men’s Rights activists, The Red Pill, according an investigation by the Daily Beast.

An investigation into Fisher’s online aliases found a trail of posts linking the lawmaker to the username Pk_atheist, the creator of The Red Pill—an online Reddit community of nearly 200,000 subscribers which promotes itself as a “discussion of sexual strategy in a culture increasingly lacking a positive identity for men.”

The Daily Beast has the full story.

A Profile in Avoidance.

The couple with Donald’s daughter Ivanka at the 2004 Met Gala.
By Evan Agostini/Getty Images.

Vanity Fair has an interesting profile of Melania Trump, who, it seems, simply wanted a life of quiet avoidance cushioned by a great deal of money. Interesting reading, but also truly sad, a look at brittle, splintery, unhappy lives.

As the gorgeous wife of a Manhattan billionaire, Melania has had every opportunity to become a fixture on the gala-going benefit circuit. But that would presume an interest in social status or a cause. As Bytner recalls, “She was passionate about . . . Well, I can’t think what she was passionate about.”

[…]

Trump decided not to run in 2012, saying he wasn’t ready to leave the private sector. Four years later, the time had come. Trump’s official story is that he consulted with his family about his decision to run, and they all agreed. A former campaign aide recalls a conversation in which Melania told this aide that she didn’t want Donald to run, because she was terrified he might win. According to another Trump insider, “She never wanted this, and never had any interest.” (Grisham maintains that “Mrs. Trump has always been supportive of all her husband’s endeavors.”) Tolerating his boorishness—that she could do. Repeating a couple of lame sound bites to Joy Behar—fine. But serious campaigning for one’s spouse required far more actual effort.

Melania seemed to do her best to ignore the new reality, on the grounds that she wanted to be home for Barron. Over the course of Trump’s 17-month campaign, she rarely joined her husband at rallies, and the speeches she gave could be counted on one hand. Compare that with Michelle Obama, who spoke all over the country on Barack’s behalf, though she too had young children. During the primaries, Donald made do by re-tweeting a picture of Melania next to an unflattering shot of Heidi Cruz, Ted’s wife, with the caption “The images are worth a thousand words.”

But then he clinched the nomination, and more Melania participation was required—which, alas, did not do her any favors. In February 2016, in an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, Melania expounded on illegal immigration, using her personal story as an example of model behavior. “I followed the law . . . . And you should do that. You should not just say, O.K., let me stay here. And whatever happens happens.”

The full article is here.

Oh, Evil Cleavage!

Michael Reagan has decided, in his defense of one Mr. O’Reilly, to focus on … cleavage! Surprised, right? C’mon, no one ever could have guessed that one, no, no. The sheer nerve of women, existing with those inconveniently placed bumps, let alone wearing something low cut. Oooh, the evil.

Conservative commentator Michael Reagan, the son of former president Ronald Reagan, defended Bill O’Reilly this morning over claims that the recently fired Fox News host sexually harassed women.

Reagan, a contributor to the conservative outlet Newsmax, shared posts on Facebook and Twitter insisting that if women wear “low cut dresses,” then men should consider suing “for sexual arousal”

There was a link to that tweet, I removed it as the tweet in question is now gone. It would seem Mr. Reagan got some feedback on that one which he didn’t like.

“If women are going to wear low cut dresses that show cleavage don’t be harassed when we men look. Or shld we sue for sexual arousal?”

Oh, so that’s how it works, women just have to decide we aren’t harassed. Ever. Then everything will be okely dokely!

Another deleted Tweet stated:

Hot Choclare used to be a compliment on your looks today it is called sexual harassment..@oreillyfactor

— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) April 21, 2017

It’s been replaced with this one:

“If someone calls u brown sugar because u are in their eyes gorgeous and blk.2 them it’s a compliment 2 U it’s harrassment, then tell them.”

Oh, the denseness of someone who absolutely refuses to get the point. What you think about anyone’s appearance, and how it affects your boner has no place at all in any relationship other than a mutually intimate one.

Via RWW.

Trying to Kill Planned Parenthood.

In this Sept. 9, 2015, file photo, Planned Parenthood supporters rally for women’s access to reproductive health care on “National Pink Out Day’’ at Los Angeles City Hall. CREDIT: AP Photo/Nick Ut, File.

Yesterday, the Tiny Tyrant made a move to allow states to punish Planned Parenthood, and people at large, by allowing them to withhold federal funds. This is going to do a great deal of harm, especially in the more regressive states, of which there are too many. This is a direct hit on Title X, which is a devastating blow to healthcare, which the rethugs are all happy about, as they couldn’t come out and just repeal. As usual, poorer people and women will be suffering the most under this new move.

President Donald Trump signed a bill into law on Thursday that would allow states to withhold federal money for family planning services, such as birth control, from Planned Parenthood clinics and other women’s health centers.

The bill is a repeal of an Obama-era regulation that said states couldn’t withhold Title X funding, which covers family planning and preventative care, from organizations just because those organizations also provide abortion care. This bill would roll back that protection, emboldening states to try to restrict such funding.

The Senate passed the bill 51–50 in March, with Vice President Pence casting the tie breaking vote.

Four million people with low incomes rely on Title X for preventative health care. Roughly 1.5 million receive their Title X care at Planned Parenthood.

In practice, what this bill does is open the door for states to restrict these people from choosing certain health care providers — which may be, in many cases, the only health care provider nearby, the one they trust, or the only one that they can afford.

While the bill does not defund Planned Parenthood directly, it is part of a wider GOP attack on the women’s health provider — and will likely encourage further efforts to cut federal funding off from Planned Parenthood.

It is already legally prohibited to use federal funds for abortion care, thanks to the Hyde Amendment. Currently, Planned Parenthood gets federal funding through programs like Title X and Medicaid, which cover STD testing, cancer screenings, birth control access, and other health needs for people who wouldn’t be able to afford them.

In reality, federally defunding Planned Parenthood — as the GOP proposed to do in their failed health care bill  — actually means preventing people who rely on it from accessing health care. And while anti-Planned Parenthood politicians argue that people can go elsewhere, for many low-income and rural women and men, Planned Parenthood clinics are their only option.

Think Progress has the full story.