#republican politics

[protoslacker]

Sometimes you have to say what you mean, and I mean this: kids should have rights. Should not be raped by their pastors or parents or uncles and have no recourse at all. Should have support external to the family; and privacy, even. Are not property. Should not be nameless, or stateless, or forced into marriage, or shot in homeroom, or denied vaccination against measles and rubella. Children should have rights, even when—especially when—their best interests supersede the desires of their parents. I do believe we have a collective responsibility to ensure that, though we may be the only country in the world that disagrees

Talia Lavin at The Sword and the Sandwich. On the Rights of the Child, Part I

As of this writing, every U.N. member state has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child but one: the United States.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

🤡

[workersolidarity]

On Wednesday, August 30th, US Senator and leader of the Republican Caucus in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was asked whether he would run for re-election in 2026, at which time he will be 84 years old, and in response to the question, McConnell appears to completely freeze up, looking unaware of his surroundings and unable to understand or answer the reporter's question.

This is not the first time Senator McConnell has frozen up on camera.

Senator McConnell also froze mid-sentence while speaking to reporters just one month earlier, on Wednesday July 26th.

This comes on the heels of a fall McConnell suffered this Spring when he fell after tripping at a dinner event in March that resulted in a concussion and a fractured rib.

McConnell's team said the octogenarian had "felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his Press Conference today." His team added, "while he feels fine, as a prudent measure, the leader will be consulting a physician prior to his next event."

[harleyeve]

“Mr. McCarthy’s maneuvering for the speakership has grown increasingly frantic, prompting him to agree to conditions that he has ruled out in the past. He committed to allowing the right-wing faction to handpick a third of the party’s members on the powerful Rules Committee, which controls what legislation reaches the floor and in what form, according to one person who has been involved in the talks, as well as to opening spending bills to a freewheeling debate in which any lawmaker could force a vote on proposed changes, including those designed to scuttle or sink the measure.”

Hey guys, I get it “haha the republicans can’t get their shit together” is funny and all but this little group is actually setting up the alt-right leaders with actual power.

And the Republicans would rather give them greater power than find someone more agreeable that MAYBE some democrats would vote for.

[hezigler]

How The Religious Right Ruined Everything

This woman is an attorney who does a historical review and analysis of the Christian Right in the US. (Put up with her doing a coffee commercial first. We all have bills to pay.)

[mysharona1987]

[pressnewsagencyllc]

Ken Buck Rips 'Moscow Marjorie' Taylor Greene For Sinking Below 1 Wicked Level

The former Colorado representative knocked Greene for “acting completely irresponsibly” with her talk on Ukraine. Source link

[protoslacker]

Today, the issue isn’t just the quantity of bans, PEN America notes. It’s about how these bans are instigated by politicians and embedded in legislation. These politicians like to say they’re representing parents, but parents’ concerns have been addressed for decades through established school policies. Instead, these efforts seem intended to generate headlines and campaign donations, and to divide parents against educators.

Mary Ellen Flannery at NEA Today. It's Banned Books Week: Celebrate the Freedom to Read!

The number of books banned last year topped 1,600 and included dozens of titles recommended by the educators at NEA's Read Across America.

I was surprised to become a little choked up by the end of this article. I am happy that teachers are encouraging students to read banned books. I wonder what are some ways to make books available?

[odinsblog]

Istg, if I ever get rabies because some dumb ass antivaxxer refused to vaccinate their dog, I’ll probably be doing the rest of my blogging from prison because I promise you, Imma curbstomp the shit out of the owner

[bronwynhillside]

About IVF given the recent events in Amercia. I have done three ivf cycles here in Australia and I have had 1 embryo transfer and 4 frozen embryo transfers, one successful.

If you determine that all embryos are people then no wonder ivf is going to run into legal issues.

In an ivf cycle, a woman with polycystic ovaries syndrome like myself will have 9 to 20 eggs harvested while a standard woman will have about 2 to 5. Of these, a fourth are not viable. The rest will be combined with sperm.and allowed to grow.

Of my 12, by day 3 nine remained. On day 5, I had five surviving. Legally, would the clinic be in trouble for the embryos that did not survive?

Ivf medications prepare your body so it believes it is 5 days pregnant. And then the embryo is inserted into the womb. It's impressive. You get to watch on the ultrasound as this tiny white spot of light flashes up the tube and into the exact right place. A little pearl in the darkness.

And then you wait. Doing booster shots of ivf medications, you wait the long long 3 weeks. You might get morning sickness or food cravings or back ache.

Then you find out from a blood test if the baby has stayed or not.

50% chance for young women and 30% for older like me. It's heartbreaking and so so hard. We succeeded on our third try and have not managed a second success.

Legally is anyone going to be blamed in America for the pregnancy not happening?

One third of all pregnancies fail. I kept my baby thanks to progesterone supplements but it got close. Would lawmakers in America blame a woman for a miscarriage? Well yes, there are women in court right now under murder charges.

Finally, what happens to the embryos left when a mother has had the children she wants and/or can afford? The frozen fee must be paid for their upkeep.she could donate them but some people hate the idea of their child, their blood, being in a different family. What happens if the family die or are out of contact. Who is responsible for storing a frozen 3 or 5 day embryo? What happens to it?

[animentality]

[kp777]

By Robert Reich

Common Dreams

May 9, 2023

The Republican Party knows it’s doomed unless it radically restricts voting, or goes full throttle and wholly adopts Trumpian fascism.

A new progressive era is dawning in America, and almost nothing Republicans can do will hold back the tide — unless Republicans destroy democracy altogether (more on this in a moment).

Start with the recent victories. In Chicago, progressive Brandon Johnson, a once little-known county commissioner and union organizer, won the mayor’s race over his more conservative Democratic opponent, Paul Vallas, who ran on a tough-on-crime platform and was endorsed by a police union.

In Wisconsin, Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee County judge, won a high-stakes race for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court.

A progressive now holds the mayor’s office in Los Angeles, and progressives compose a majority on the board of aldermen in St. Louis.

Progressives have swept into statehouses in Colorado, Connecticut, and Wisconsin (where two Democratic Socialists this year revived a socialist caucus inactive since the 1930s).

John Fetterman successfully campaigned for Senate in Pennsylvania. In Virginia, progressive Jennifer McClellan became the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress. The House’s Congressional Progressive Caucus has added 16 new members, bringing the total number of the organization to 102. It is now among the largest caucuses in Congress.

These newly elected progressives view America’s widening inequalities of income and wealth as dangerous. They believe government has no business forcing women to give birth or telling consenting adults how to conduct the most intimate aspects of their lives. They want to limit access to guns. They see climate change is an existential threat to the nation and the world. They want to act against systemic racism. They want to protect American democracy from authoritarianism.

***

The bigger news is that these progressive leaders couldn’t have gotten to where they are without a fundamental transformation occurring in America: Voters who also believe these things are rapidly becoming the majority.

First, consider the age of people who believe these things — including the huge millennial generation now in their late 20s to early 40s.

According to a recent analysis by the Financial Times, if millennials were following previous trends, someone who is now 35 years old would be about 5 percentage points less conservative than the national average and would gradually become more conservative as they aged.

But, in fact, millennials are 15 points less conservative. Today’s 35-year-olds are the most progressive cohort of 35-year-olds in recent history.

Why? Millennials have faced an inequitable economic system, a runaway climate crisis, and the herculean costs of trying to have a family — including everything from unaffordable child care to wildly unaffordable housing. They’re demanding a more equitable and sustainable society because they desperately need one.

***

Next, consider women. Young women have become significantly more liberal over the past decade — while the political identity of young men has remained largely unchanged (see chart, below).Young Women Are Much More Liberal Than Young Men

(Source: Gallup Poll Social Services)

Part of this is the result of anger over abortion rights, but the trend started before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.

Researchers point to diverging views about societal change, with young women more likely than young men to support fluidity over gender identity and sexual preference, LGBTQ rights, children having gay or lesbian parents, men staying home with children, and women serving in the military. Young women are also more likely to loathe Donald Trump and any politician who emulates him.

Over the next two decades, these women will be moving into positions of power and leadership. That’s especially likely in that women now compose a remarkable 60 percent of college undergraduates.

***

Next, look at the growing percentage of Americans who are (or who consider themselves) people of color.

The United States is projected to become a majority-minority nation sometime between 2041 and 2046 (depending on the amount of net immigration into the U.S., birth/death rates, and intermarriage rates over the preceding years).

By 2050, the Census Bureau projects that the number of white people in America will be falling, the number of Black people will have grown by roughly 30 percent, the number of Latinos will have risen by 60 percent, and the number of Asian Americans will have more than doubled.

Not all these people believe in all the progressive values I mentioned above, of course. A sizable share of Black voters are uneasy with LGBTQ rights. Some Latino voters —specially those who fled Cuba during the Castro regime — reject socialism. (Biden won Latino voters by a 59 to 38 percent margin, yet that was a net 17-point decline from Hillary Clinton’s 66 to 28 percent victory in 2016.)

Overall, people of color are deeply concerned about the nation’s widening inequalities. They’re committed to social justice. They want to act against systemic racism, and they want to protect American democracy.

***

Finally, consider college graduates, who are overwhelmingly more liberal and progressive than non-college grads.

Republicans argue this trend has been offset by people without college degrees, who have become more conservative. True, but irrelevant.

Here again, look at the trend. Over a third of Americans now have a college degree, double the percentage in 1980. If the trend continues — and given the demands for educated workers in an ever-more-complex economy, that seems likely — by 2040, a majority of Americans will have college degrees.

***

All these trends point to a new progressive America — in about 20 years.

Twenty years is a long time, of course. These trends have already ignited an anti-democracy backlash — especially from Americans who are older, whiter, straighter, without college degrees, and mostly male — that is, from people susceptible to authoritarian strongmen peddling conspiracy theories and stoking hatred.

The Republican Party knows it’s doomed unless it radically restricts voting, or goes full throttle and wholly adopts Trumpian fascism.

So, my friends, the stakes ahead could not be higher.

[hezigler]

Liberal Redneck - Tennessee Drag Ban

[batboyblog]

Link

Both Parties are not the same.