Abortion...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

It's unfortunate that in this country, a country where abortion is supposed to be legal, so many states seem to think they can restrict that right with impunity. I wonder how many women sit in the Oklahoma Legislature, I'd bet not too many. Most of the idiots so adamant about this bill will never have to worry about having an abortion. They'll never have to worry about being raped and then having to sit through a lecture from a male gynecologist telling them about the fetus' legs and arms while their rapist is essentially allowed to abuse them again by proxy. This is nothing but state sponsored abuse of women designed to guilt them into making a decision that is against their own interest. It's disgusting.

The second part is equally bad. Not only is a woman forced to endure a anti-choice lecture from a doctor before exercising her rights, she also can be lied to by her own doctor if that doctor doesn't agree with her rights. This is unimaginable in any other context but somehow anti-choice zealots feel they can do this to women. I would like to think that this law will be easily struck down the second it reaches the Supreme Court, it is unconstitutional after all by any measure of precedent, but I know better than that. There are enough right-wingers on the Court, with enough disdain for the Constitution and precedent, that I think it far more likely it'll be upheld.

I guess the moral of this story is that any woman of child bearing age better choose her gynecologist well and make sure that you know exactly how he feels about your rights because otherwise you might find him making decisions for you that you can't live with.

Keep Him Busy...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/glenn-beck-liberty_n_549723.html

Good, I for one think it's a great idea for him to give the speech there. Anyone who goes to Liberty University is already so far gone that one speech from Glenn Beck isn't going to change their opinions one bit, he's preaching to the choir, they already drank the kool-aid as it were. This provides one less opportunity for him to preach his gospel of hatred to those who are still capable of being saved from right-wing ideology. One less opportunity for him to corrupt someone on the fence. Glenn Beck's speech at Liberty will not change anyone's mind and will not create one more right-wing lunatic teabagger, of that we should be happy.

Crocodile Tears...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8628244.stm

Evidently Ratzinger thinks he can get out of this with a few fake tears for the victims and some pretend empathy. I really hope he's wrong but he's gotten out of scandals before.

Playing with fire...

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/62/2010/april/12/okla-tea-parties-and-lawmakers-envision-militia.html

Yeah, this sounds like a great idea. Get a bunch of teabaggers together and act like they're a real military unit with the authority to challenge the government, nothing bad could come of that.

Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

Anybody else starting to notice that this country is looking less and less like America? This kind of shit, starting an armed group and committing violent acts because a democratic election didn't go your way, is what happens in other parts of the world. It's not supposed to happen in America.

Even the proponents say they don't know how an armed force would be organized nor how a state-based militia could block federal mandates.

Yes, that would appear to be a flaw in their plans...unless of course they actually intend to shoot federal agents.

"It's not a far-right crazy plan or anything like that," Berry said. "This would be done with the full cooperation of the state Legislature."

But it is a "far-right crazy plan", it's just that the Legislature of Oklahoma is full of far-right crazies.

State militias clearly are constitutionally authorized,

Yeah, and every state has one, it's called the National Guard.

said Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and an expert on the Second Amendment.

And a far-right wing crazy. And an extremely anti-Obama conservative blogger. You forgot to mention that.

Democratic Gov. Brad Henry's communications director Paul Sund also discounted the militia discussion, saying the National Guard handles state emergencies and security.

Yes, but what you don't realize is that they don't want a group to "handle state emergencies and security." They want a group to shoot US soldiers and federal agents in cold blood when they try to enforce federal laws. They're afraid they wouldn't be able to get the Nat'l Guard to do that. It's much easier to raise a group of whackos with no honor and no brains than it is to convince professional soldiers with honor and loyalty to their country to go against their oaths.