New figures out today from the Labor Department show that employers added 187,000 jobs in August, up but at a slower rate than the red-hot job market has been adding since the pandemic.
I hate to see the word "radical" ruined as it has been, but yes Republicans are, as a whole party, startlingly dishonest, and contemptuous of democracy. They advance despotism.
I agree. And the people to whom I’m referring, not necessarily ALL Republicans, are radicals. Definition: a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.
I understand what you're saying here, JL. I had always heard "radical" associated with extreme liberalism, or the "far left" while "reactionary" was always conservative to the extreme. Unsure of my self, I looked it up and found this.
"In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions."
My proposal for 5 parties in the US is (reading from left to right) Radical, Liberal, Centrist, Conservative, Radical.
Unfortunately, even the word "reactionary" fails to describe the people infesting the republican party today. They have strong views, certainly, but they have nothing at all to do with tradition or conserving the American way of life as it has evolved since 1787. They are disgusting, with their obsession with other people's sex lives, and despicable, with their attitudes and intentions with respect to women and girls. They make me sick.
I have lots of friends that are Conservative. They are right of Centrist but left of MAGA's. Most of them will vote for Trump again for the 3rd time which I find disgusting.
I was recently back in Omaha for my 50th high school reunion. Most of the women are Never Trumpers and probably Liberal as Ally points out above. And a large portion of the men are Conservative. The men are Cons for one reason -- their interpretation of the 2nd amendment and the fear that Democrats will take away all of their guns. Of course this is hogwash and very tribal in my opinion.
So, I have a 50th HS class reunion in CT at the end of the month, and am worried about what I'm going to find among my erstwhile classmates. I haven't had any contact at all with any of them since leaving to go to college (at 17) in 1973, so I have no idea what any of them is like. It's a very small town - my graduating class was 53 people - rural/suburban outside Hartford. So, I'm curious how you found out about your former classmates' stance. And how anyone who holds actually conservative views could justify voting republican? How do you talk to such people?
My class had 765 graduates and about 275 attended or 50th from all over the US (41 different states). The committee that puts together the reunions has 15-20 people on it -- 3 men and the rest women. They meet once a month and have already met for our 55th reunion in 2028. I have known about 1/2 of the committee since I was in the 2nd grade most of the rest since junior high. I have talked to several of the committee members about politics since Trump announced in 2015. Most of them are Never Trumpers or life time Democrats. But, most of them are very intelligent professionals having worked as attorneys, doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.
I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood that was a mix of blue and white collar workers. My parents worked as census takers in 1970 and 1980. In 1970, there were around 5000 people in our one square mile neighborhood. Lots of lots of kids. There were several families that had 12 kids living in 3-4 bedroom homes averaging 1000 sq feet. There was a Catholic K-8 school in the neighborhood which explains many of the large families.
A large portion of the homeowners built their homes in the 1950's and stayed in them long after their kids were grown. I knew many of the kids in my class since we started kindergarten and many others for most of the 13 years we were in school. There were exactly zero people of color in my graduating class unless you want to count Raj whose mother was from India.
Anyway, all of guys I hung around with in elementary school are lifetime (about 8 of us) Republicans, the girls Democrats. But, since there were 13 elementary schools that fed the high school many of the guys I know are Democrats. This reunion we didn't talk politics hardly at all unlike at the 45th. May it was because Trump was doing terrible things almost every day in 2018 and now he is just a lying loser criminal.
So, yeah, I wouldn't be concerned about running into MAGAs at your reunion. I have worked for a company in New Haven since 2008 and many of them commute from Hartford. We almost never talk politics even when we get together socially. A couple of my co-workers refuse to say anything about anything political. Fine by me.
Why are you going to your reunion? I go to observe how people have changed and to catch up I think. We share a history so it's easy to find things to talk about. People really don't change much in 50 years I've learned from the 10 reunions I've attended.
Women are on the defensive with respect to their rights today. Those who would criminalize the rights they held until recently are tightening the net around them with these laws penalizing assistance in travel to places where their rights are still respected.
I wonder, why haven't women gone on the offensive surrounding the issue of an unwanted pregnancy. It takes two to tango, after all. Women make up slightly more than half of eligible voters in this country. Why don't they begin to hold their male intimate partners to equal obligation for conception under the law? Why can't a woman who becomes pregnant immediately name the putative biologic father, and compel that individual to submit a buccal swab that will definitively establish him as such or rule him out by whatever technology can first obtain fetal DNA, or at birth, whichever comes first. Then, why are biologic fathers not then offered a choice; sign a mandatory promissory note dedicated to infant/toddler/child care expenses for 18 years regardless of marital status, or as an alternative to that note, submit to compulsory vasectomy. Why not make it illegal for males to conceive children outside of a marital contract or the equivalent, on penalty of 18 years parole with an ankle bracelet and wage garnishment, mandatory military service for a nice long enlistment or an equivalent obligation that will fully fund that child's care and education to age 25 or so. If the penalty for an unwanted pregnancy is at least as harsh for males as it is for females in this age of genetic certainty (there was never any doubt about biologic maternity), then we'd see a very different attitude towards women and their right to autonomy over their reproductive potential.
There was a great poster in the seventies I think, with a very pregnant man and the caption: If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Same is true today.....
To be clear, when asking why women haven’t gone on the offensive-it us because we have lacked the power in this culture. We have done our best and beyond, but when it comes to real clout, we are second class citizens. Jobs, education, pay-we are rarely treated equally. I have served in a male-dominated career for almost 39 years and have NEVER been paid or treated as my male counterparts. Women, in my opinion, have had to be better than their male colleagues to just get attention or traction. Women are often not heard. Again, these are my opinions and experiences-but what is most appalling is that we have dialed back women’s rights even further than before. I had rights in my lifetime that my three adult daughters (35, 32, 30) do not have because of the overturning of Rod v Wade. It feels like many white men in our country got their panties in a twist, thinking that women and people of color are getting too much of a fair shake, and so they have lowered the hammer on us all. Their outrage and anger is palpable. What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all. I grieve at the direction our country is taking. I don’t recognize the USA anymore, thanks to the fascistic GOP.
"What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all." Well said.
I have no idea how to get the idea through to them that the solution is not to deprive other citizens of an equal voice: don't limit the number of chairs at the table - MAKE THE *$$KING TABLE BIGGER! How can they persist in this selfish, blind stupidity?
JEN , I Understand, Your Pain, & as a man, I can never Feel it, because, as Men, its that * Mars/Venus * Syndrome ! * MAY GOD, !! , BLESS YOU !, &, Your FAMELY !
Thank you, Mark. Really, thank you. There are so many truly good men out there-but those members of the GOP and their leaders are not good men or women. I have an aversion to judging, but because they lead with hate, I feel confident in saying they are not good folks.
Since this is not a face to face but a written medium, I need to clarify. I may sound angry, but I’m not. I’m exasperated, yes, but I’m also genuinely sad that my daughters and granddaughters, and all our daughters and granddaughters have lost rights we thought were protected as law. I hoped things would be better for the next gen or women. I still do. But with the rise of fascism, and the looming threat to women and people of color and lgbtq+ and all the rest-I’m afraid. Deeply afraid. The hate is real. The thirst for power is real. Their call for violence is real. I just don’t see how this will end. So I grieve.
JEN ! JESUS, Asked, HIS FATHER, * in Statment, ,,,, " FATHER !,,,, forgive Them !, For THEY NO NOT !, ,,,,, WHAT !, ,,,,, They DO ! " . ( FORGIVANCE !, can be VERY HARD , in MANY ASPECTS, But! , [F, { WITH the LOVE !} You can Faithfully Believe, ,,,,, in Your HEART! That FATHER ( GOD ) SEES !, & KNOWS, the COMPLETE Situation, & STILL CONTROLS ALL Things, and TIMES, of HIS REVELATION .............GOD will MAKE THOSE * bondage CHAINS !, come STRAITWAY ! , OFF ! , of YOU !!* . GOD !, Knows ALL !! ( I !, certainly DONT ! ) BUT ! , by HIS HOLY SPIRIT ! ,,, I AM Blessed ! JEN ! ,, You !, are in , My PRAYERS !
Leaving aside the “unwanted pregnancy”-morality-trap frame of abortion rights, abortion is a medically necessary tool in reproductive health care. Obstectrically, pregnancy and birth are dicey business even without all the emotional-relationship-power-structure issues layered on. Abortion is and always has been a reproductive choice for pregnancy. We fought hard to make it legal and safe. THAT is what they took away bit-by-bit. It was taken away by faux-righteous people feigning concern for “the unborn”. Every action they take belies the falseness of that stance. Women need to own their reproductive choices. I do not want forced abortions. I do not want forced births. I DO want good, helpful reproductive healthcare for those bearing the burden of growing another human being. When it’s right, its a joy. When it’s not, I want the right to choose legally and personally what’s best for me.
You have to remember that women had to be given the right to vote via the 19th amendment 100 years ago. Women couldn't get a credit card in their own name until 50 years ago. When I was in college 40 years ago, I had a criminology professor who said he would hire a man over a woman because the man "had to support his family". I was part of a forum 15 years ago where a supervisor I'd had (he'd been retired at this point about 15 years) said that I had been one of the best "female officers" he'd worked with, and I could do the job "just as good" as a man.
Yes, Just Sayin', it does take two to tango, but when one gets to squirt and run, while the other is left holding the bag, it does not make it easier to "go on the offensive". I love the concept of the penalty of an unwanted pregnancy as harsh for males as it is for females. Ain't ever gonna happen.
And yet here we are. Captives in our own states, not free to travel at will if the purpose of that travel is in opposition to a minority belief, banning books, stigmatizing and punishing people with different sexual orientations. How can this NOT be fascism?
Last year, after the Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision ending the recognition of the constitutional right to an abortion, I suggested to a group of people that it was only a question of time until we saw laws designed to make it impossible for women to travel across state lines. (HCR)
We've lived in 10 states -- 5 blue or purple and 5 red. The 5 red states all have passed forced birth laws since Dobbs.
Since Dobbs, medical students in red states that want to become Ob/Gyns are choosing medical schools where they can freely practice medicine without fear of prosecution. DUH! Who didn't see this coming?
This week Louisiana lost their last pediatric cardiologist who was head of the program at his hospital. He is gay, married and has two kids. They didn't want to leave, but the MAGAts have chased him away. Lousiana's loss will be someone else's gain and in a big way.
If you live in a red state now -LEAVE! Your extended family and friends can visit or they can leave too. Until the Republican Fascist party dies is it really worth living in the Fascist South where hate prevails?
Under Abbott TX has virtually legalized rape as the clearing rate for rapes has dropped by over 60% since he became governor. Rape and/or incest resulting in pregnancy end up enslaving the victims and in many states the rapist is never prosecuted. If you think this is wrong, then MOVE out of these FASCIST states. In spite of what they say, the GOP is not the party of Law and Order.
It would take a much larger person than I to intentionally move into one of the Fascist States of North America for any reason, although moving there to vote to free the permanent residents would be about the only reason I'd consider. People complain about the snow in Northern winters, but that's nothing at all compared to the year-round climate of fascism in other places (sadly, not all of them south of the infamous Mason-Dixon line - just look at places like Wisconsin).
Wisconsin is not a red state, it is one of the most (if not the most) heavily gerrymandered states in the country. We are a 50-50 state but Dems get 1/3 of the Assembly seats under the current (gerrymandered) maps.
I was thinking the same thing. I lived in Jacksonville, FL for about 15 years and really knew only a few of my neighbors. We never talked politics at all. But then we bought a place in Fernandina Beach where most of the homeowners were retirees. They were almost all MAGAs to the point of tribalism. We sold our place and gave up the whole snow-bird concept. We know live full time in ME. Much easier to deal with cold than the people in FL.
"That economic ideology, advanced by the Reagan Republicans, claimed that cutting regulations and concentrating wealth at the top of the economy would enable business leaders to invest in the economy efficiently, cutting costs and driving economic growth. "
And they invested all right, hoovering up the big companies of the 20th Century into mega-conglomerates, and "downsizing" of staff, pretty much "offshoring" whole industries and departments, moving money from country to country in shell games to (legally!) evade taxes, and stuffing cash into the "dark side" revealed in "Paradise", Panama, and Pandora papers. Reaganomics resulted in shrinkage of the middle class, poverty to endure or grow, and corruption to prosper.
The joke was on us. Business leaders knew all along it would not do that. But you couple that myth with their faux-concern “for the unborn” and “self-protection”, and you get a willing coalition to keep the money machine rolling. So now we stand at a moment in history where our wealth disparity is undermining democracy itself. The fight is on all fronts. Yet, we must fight/vote/pushback against the authoritarian moves.
If spending unlimited money to advance a political agenda and de facto bribery is "Free Speech", where is "equal protection under law'? What about, one person, one vote?
Follow the money.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money.
(...)
We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that." -Sen. Fritz Hollings
I'll be the first to admit I'm not too smart but it seems to me the the Make America Great Again bunch (BTW he did lose many times you know) don't seem to grasp that Biden is making America great again. But he's doing it by improving the lives of Americans by building up America instead of tearing it down. Instead of isolating America and destroying it, he is expanding America as well as including the rest of the world.
Then there's the trumpicans...they keep yelling about not wanting the government to tell American citizens what they can and can't do...but every law they enact is intended to do just that. Forcing women to carry an unintended or dangerous pregnancy is like something done by the Taliban. Just like HCR said they resemble authoritarians more and more every day. So which is it people?
Seems to me we better get busy and make sure somebody besides them runs our country or we are in a heap a trouble. It's getting plum unrecognizable around here. What do you think?
I fully agree. As you, I continually preach to people. If we don’t vote blue in every election between now and the next 8 years, at a minimum, and replace every single Republican in office from local, state, and federal governments, we are screwing the pooch.
The states run by republicans now are not listening to the federal government. They are enacting voting laws, ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling that what they’ve done is unconstitutional, and ignoring federal laws. Case in point, Alabama. They’ve redone their voting districts where it’s near impossible for a free and fair election. They were told by the Supreme Court that their drawings were unconstitutional. They have ignored that ruling and continued as they were.
Texas, installing razor wire in a river, killing people as they attempted to cross into this country. They were told by the government it was unconstitutional. Governor Abbott ignored this and the razor wire stayed in the river.
What does it take for the people to wake up and see this country is heading back to the 16th century faster than it came out if it?
VOTE 🧢🧢🧢🧢in ‘24, ‘26, ‘28, all in between and beyond!!!
In Wisconsin, Republicans have fine-tuned gerrymandering to control politics. Now they plan to impeach a new justice who tips that balance to the Democrats. (Her vote margin was 58%-42%) Our Republicans will resort to anything to keep control.
If they try to impeach Justice Protasiewicz, what can she do? If a legislature acts ultra vires (and I would argue that impeaching this Justice for the reasons stated publicly so far would be ultra vires), usually a person injured by that action goes to court - again, usually at the trial court/court of general jurisdiction level, not the state supreme court level - to teach them the error of their ways. But this is a state Supreme Court justice threatened with impeachment over sitting on a case concerning redistricting improperly drawn/gerrymandered voting maps. This is one of the issues on which she ran and was elected, and the very basis on which this legislature asserts the power to impeach her. Does she just ignore the impeachment, if it happens, does she file suit in her own court against the legislature acting unlawfully, or what? The concern would be that if she doesn't recuse herself due to the appearance of having prejudged the outcome, a decision against the legislature in this case*, would not survive a SCOTUS challenge, and might have to go back to the trial court, with all the delays and expense that would involve. (She said while running for office that the maps were "rigged", probably a word better avoided in politics for the foreseeable future. At the time, the subject case had not yet been filed, and it was not filed until after she won and was sworn in.)
I totally agree. Roll up your sleeves! Heather says sit is up to US, not to anyone else, to protect and fight for our democracy. I have always believed that, actually.
We need to find a way to reach and educate “legacy Republicans”. These are the voters whose parents going back for generations were Republicans, so they will damn well vote Republican, too. No need to actually know who/what they’re voting for because . . . . Republican. They are completely disengaged from the issues and happily fulfill their civic duty by voting straight ticket Republican. We meed to reach these people, but how??
Did you see that weird video of Ted Cruz in a bar with a beer claiming that the government is going to limit the number of beers one can drink to 2 a week? He’s incensed at this new control (which isn’t true…but anyway). Then he and fellow beer drinking pals take a swig of beer from their bottles!
Seems to me this is similar to what the Fascist States of North America are engaged in by severely curtailing access of people to legally register to vote, and then to vote - and possibly even counting those votes, which truly frightens me, as that done in secret and in the dark. Requiring voter ID in forms extremely difficult and/or expensive to acquire for many, usually poor Americans - as distinguished from the ID required (usually fairly, although that seems to be coming under discriminatory scrutiny in some places) to register to vote - closing polling stations, prohibiting providing water or food to people standing in the broiling sun (again, this is an almost exclusively Southern issue - the sun doesn't broil anything in Maine in November, and rarely at other times of the year), unlawfully gerrymandering the voting district maps AND VIOLATING COURT ORDERS TO CORRECT THEM!, instituting "rules of conduct" prohibiting minority members of a legislature from speaking - and then there's what happened to the USSCOTUS under B*tch McConnell's thoroughly evil rule.
Rolyac !! SPOT ON ! Turn UP !, all STRENGTH, !, of RESISTANCE ! & STAND !, in FAITH! " to SHAKE ! , The dEVIL OFF !!! ( lucifer ! , has GOT ! , To GO !! ) . and ! , AMEN !
Dr. Richardson, you are sadly perspicacious regarding the extent to which these Republican authoritarians are willing to go -- restricting travel by malcontents both prevents opponents from organizing and keeps those malcontents available for dead of the night visitations by local right-wing vigilantes.
I'm waiting to see a business owner bring suit arguing that requiring him to hire women in management positions violates his religious beliefs, which holds that God forbids women from having authority over men. And the Supreme Court...will agree, upholding the "traditional" role of religion in society.
Dirk, you hit the nail on the head! How many people don't know how recent it was that women were able to get their own checking accounts and credit cards without a man sponsoring them? How many people don't know what the travel restrictions were behind the Iron Curtain?
History needs to be taught. History and civics were a target of William Bennet. The Reagan administration set this ignorant movement in motion.
Bravo, Rickey! On this forum, I have often strongly suggested books by Gail Collins, "When Everything Changed" (which mentions how a woman got arrested for wearing slacks into court, I think it was) and "America's Women: 400 Years of Drudges, Dolls, Helpmates and Heroines" which shows how females freedoms and roles were dictated by the needs at the time, ie: Rosie the Riveter for example.
A friend of mine asked me what I thought of the gop candidates. I said I don’t think about them. I have no intention of voting for them, so, why spend time thinking about them? They are all morally bankrupt, misogynistic, bigots and anti-American. How women could support and participate in the enslavement of other women horrifies me. Whatever energy I have goes toward registering voters and encouraging people to vote blue. Ms Richardson’s scholarship and sanity helps me make my case. I am grateful.
"Their hope is to target interstates and the roads around airports to block off routes out of Texas and keep pregnant women trapped in the antiabortion state."
Checkpoints and guard towers should work, like East Germany.
I wouldn't doubt one bit that Abbott would really do that. He already has installed a booby trap in the Rio Grande river. I wouldn't put anything past that despicable SOB.
You touch on a vulnerability in this law, of which there are many.
How about an abusive boyfriend that gets his victim (girlfriend) pregnant? If she wants to move back home, maybe out of state, where she'll be safe. He could use the state to do his dirty work for him (& make money doing it - SMH) and report her.
I should preface this with the obvious problem of denying an American the freedom to travel wherever & whenever she wants to in America. She'd (We'd) be living in a fascist state.
We assume then that any car with a woman/women in it will be stopped? Patted down? Made to take pregnancy test? Sounds like a well thought plan. I suggest all women traveling through these despicable towns don gray wigs and have handicap placards dangling from car mirrors. When is that monster Abbott going to get his comeuppance?
I fear if Republicans win the White House and control of Congress, we who oppose the MAGA forces will end up feeling like subjects, not citizens.
Also, I recommend the historical novel “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom,” published this year. For the first time, I understand what life was like for slaves willing to risk running away in their quest for freedom — and the national tumult leading up to and after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.
"Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises"
Also reminiscent of the apartheid pass laws enacted to control, restrict and limit the movement of people. Similarly Soviet pass laws prevented movement. Explain to me please how these measures are moral. More like unconstitutional!
Thanks, Daniel, I knew there was a term and couldn't think of it. Is this the charge that would be brought against someone who locked an innocent into a bedroom or basement and refuse to release him or her? Seems the same thing to me as prohibiting pregnant women from leaving town.
If this was me, in Texas, and I was a pregnant woman who’s doctors have all agreed that I needed an abortion for whatever the reason, and the state refused to allow me to obtain my medically needed procedure, I would sue every state legislator and the Governor for every penny they had in existence. And I would sue the state Supreme Court justices as well.
That law would be redacted from the books by the time I was done.
Same here, Daniel. Problem is, pregnancies move fast and courts move slow. Best thing to do would be to ignore the law, go do what you have to do in another state or arrange for pills to be mailed to you, and see what Texas officials do. If they retaliate, zam, sue every one of those people you named personally.
Something the pregnant and their loved ones should not have to deal with in a condition already overloaded with stress.
I fully agree, Shane. It’s something a pregnant woman and family don’t need to deal with.
I’m wondering, if this woman leaves the state to get an abortion, and they stop them at one of their roadblocks, arrest and hail her, and she dies because she didn’t get the medical treatment she needed (I.e. abortion), will the state be held liable, as they should be for her death?
Texas claims it won't take action against the pregnant woman, only against those who help her terminate the pregnancy. They'd go after whoever drove her to the clinic, the doctors and nurses who performed the service, the mail carrier who delivered the pills to her home, whoever they can harass.
I also believe they're not depending on roadblocks to enforce, but encouraging neighbors, friends, and vigilantes to "rat out the women" by turning them into authorities and/or filing private lawsuits against the helpers. Same model as the bounty hunter abortion lawsuits Abbott dreamed up before Roe v Wade was overturned.
He might as well rename the Texas Rangers into the Stasi.
If you lock a person in a basement/room and refuse to allow them to leave on their own free will, that’s “False Imprisonment”.
If that woman is a pregnant woman, then you are charged with 2 counts of False Imprisonment.
Same thing goes if you are in an auto accident, and the person you hit, and killed was a pregnant woman, you are charged with 2 counts of “Vehicular Manslaughter”.
But this only applies to women who are sinfully seeking an abortion. They are like convists, trying to escape. Think also of slaves who tried to escape; could you legally help them at any point of their planning or even when they got to a “safe” area?
"Sinfully?" Sin has nothing to do with this, Craig. This is a secular state issue, not church doctrine.
They also aren't convicts or slaves. They are innocent Americans forced to participate in Greg Abbott's Cruelty Circus, and Abbott should be charged with the federal crime of false imprisonment. Two charges, since he believes a fetus is a full-grown human.
We must all work hard to save and protect America from these radicals. It begins with the local races and involvement there.
And, yes, before someone asks as they did he last time I made a similar comment, I am on my city council and running to Lee my seat.
Together we can overcome.
I hate to see the word "radical" ruined as it has been, but yes Republicans are, as a whole party, startlingly dishonest, and contemptuous of democracy. They advance despotism.
I agree. And the people to whom I’m referring, not necessarily ALL Republicans, are radicals. Definition: a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.
radix - the root ... "root it all up and start again (but we will set the rule book)"
However did this all occur?
Radical can be far left or right. Better term might be extremism
I understand what you're saying here, JL. I had always heard "radical" associated with extreme liberalism, or the "far left" while "reactionary" was always conservative to the extreme. Unsure of my self, I looked it up and found this.
"In popular usage, reactionary refers to a strong traditionalist conservative political perspective of a person opposed to social, political, and economic change. Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions."
My proposal for 5 parties in the US is (reading from left to right) Radical, Liberal, Centrist, Conservative, Radical.
Unfortunately, even the word "reactionary" fails to describe the people infesting the republican party today. They have strong views, certainly, but they have nothing at all to do with tradition or conserving the American way of life as it has evolved since 1787. They are disgusting, with their obsession with other people's sex lives, and despicable, with their attitudes and intentions with respect to women and girls. They make me sick.
I have lots of friends that are Conservative. They are right of Centrist but left of MAGA's. Most of them will vote for Trump again for the 3rd time which I find disgusting.
I was recently back in Omaha for my 50th high school reunion. Most of the women are Never Trumpers and probably Liberal as Ally points out above. And a large portion of the men are Conservative. The men are Cons for one reason -- their interpretation of the 2nd amendment and the fear that Democrats will take away all of their guns. Of course this is hogwash and very tribal in my opinion.
So, I have a 50th HS class reunion in CT at the end of the month, and am worried about what I'm going to find among my erstwhile classmates. I haven't had any contact at all with any of them since leaving to go to college (at 17) in 1973, so I have no idea what any of them is like. It's a very small town - my graduating class was 53 people - rural/suburban outside Hartford. So, I'm curious how you found out about your former classmates' stance. And how anyone who holds actually conservative views could justify voting republican? How do you talk to such people?
My class had 765 graduates and about 275 attended or 50th from all over the US (41 different states). The committee that puts together the reunions has 15-20 people on it -- 3 men and the rest women. They meet once a month and have already met for our 55th reunion in 2028. I have known about 1/2 of the committee since I was in the 2nd grade most of the rest since junior high. I have talked to several of the committee members about politics since Trump announced in 2015. Most of them are Never Trumpers or life time Democrats. But, most of them are very intelligent professionals having worked as attorneys, doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.
I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood that was a mix of blue and white collar workers. My parents worked as census takers in 1970 and 1980. In 1970, there were around 5000 people in our one square mile neighborhood. Lots of lots of kids. There were several families that had 12 kids living in 3-4 bedroom homes averaging 1000 sq feet. There was a Catholic K-8 school in the neighborhood which explains many of the large families.
A large portion of the homeowners built their homes in the 1950's and stayed in them long after their kids were grown. I knew many of the kids in my class since we started kindergarten and many others for most of the 13 years we were in school. There were exactly zero people of color in my graduating class unless you want to count Raj whose mother was from India.
Anyway, all of guys I hung around with in elementary school are lifetime (about 8 of us) Republicans, the girls Democrats. But, since there were 13 elementary schools that fed the high school many of the guys I know are Democrats. This reunion we didn't talk politics hardly at all unlike at the 45th. May it was because Trump was doing terrible things almost every day in 2018 and now he is just a lying loser criminal.
So, yeah, I wouldn't be concerned about running into MAGAs at your reunion. I have worked for a company in New Haven since 2008 and many of them commute from Hartford. We almost never talk politics even when we get together socially. A couple of my co-workers refuse to say anything about anything political. Fine by me.
Why are you going to your reunion? I go to observe how people have changed and to catch up I think. We share a history so it's easy to find things to talk about. People really don't change much in 50 years I've learned from the 10 reunions I've attended.
I hope you have a great time!
"Radical" from radix, meaning "root." Used as an adjective, it invokes the idea of something that goes all the way to the root.
Hence, a "radical" is not someone who wants to patch, or fix, or modify. They are looking to remodel the whole thing, all the way to the root.
I like the way you bracket both ends of the spectrum with "radical."
Women are on the defensive with respect to their rights today. Those who would criminalize the rights they held until recently are tightening the net around them with these laws penalizing assistance in travel to places where their rights are still respected.
I wonder, why haven't women gone on the offensive surrounding the issue of an unwanted pregnancy. It takes two to tango, after all. Women make up slightly more than half of eligible voters in this country. Why don't they begin to hold their male intimate partners to equal obligation for conception under the law? Why can't a woman who becomes pregnant immediately name the putative biologic father, and compel that individual to submit a buccal swab that will definitively establish him as such or rule him out by whatever technology can first obtain fetal DNA, or at birth, whichever comes first. Then, why are biologic fathers not then offered a choice; sign a mandatory promissory note dedicated to infant/toddler/child care expenses for 18 years regardless of marital status, or as an alternative to that note, submit to compulsory vasectomy. Why not make it illegal for males to conceive children outside of a marital contract or the equivalent, on penalty of 18 years parole with an ankle bracelet and wage garnishment, mandatory military service for a nice long enlistment or an equivalent obligation that will fully fund that child's care and education to age 25 or so. If the penalty for an unwanted pregnancy is at least as harsh for males as it is for females in this age of genetic certainty (there was never any doubt about biologic maternity), then we'd see a very different attitude towards women and their right to autonomy over their reproductive potential.
There was a great poster in the seventies I think, with a very pregnant man and the caption: If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Same is true today.....
https://imgflip.com/i/31lnyh
Thanks! I’ll pass this lovely on!!
To be clear, when asking why women haven’t gone on the offensive-it us because we have lacked the power in this culture. We have done our best and beyond, but when it comes to real clout, we are second class citizens. Jobs, education, pay-we are rarely treated equally. I have served in a male-dominated career for almost 39 years and have NEVER been paid or treated as my male counterparts. Women, in my opinion, have had to be better than their male colleagues to just get attention or traction. Women are often not heard. Again, these are my opinions and experiences-but what is most appalling is that we have dialed back women’s rights even further than before. I had rights in my lifetime that my three adult daughters (35, 32, 30) do not have because of the overturning of Rod v Wade. It feels like many white men in our country got their panties in a twist, thinking that women and people of color are getting too much of a fair shake, and so they have lowered the hammer on us all. Their outrage and anger is palpable. What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all. I grieve at the direction our country is taking. I don’t recognize the USA anymore, thanks to the fascistic GOP.
"What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all." Well said.
I have no idea how to get the idea through to them that the solution is not to deprive other citizens of an equal voice: don't limit the number of chairs at the table - MAKE THE *$$KING TABLE BIGGER! How can they persist in this selfish, blind stupidity?
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you are on the menu.”
We may have to build our own table and chairs. And set our own menu.
JEN , I Understand, Your Pain, & as a man, I can never Feel it, because, as Men, its that * Mars/Venus * Syndrome ! * MAY GOD, !! , BLESS YOU !, &, Your FAMELY !
Thank you, Mark. Really, thank you. There are so many truly good men out there-but those members of the GOP and their leaders are not good men or women. I have an aversion to judging, but because they lead with hate, I feel confident in saying they are not good folks.
Since this is not a face to face but a written medium, I need to clarify. I may sound angry, but I’m not. I’m exasperated, yes, but I’m also genuinely sad that my daughters and granddaughters, and all our daughters and granddaughters have lost rights we thought were protected as law. I hoped things would be better for the next gen or women. I still do. But with the rise of fascism, and the looming threat to women and people of color and lgbtq+ and all the rest-I’m afraid. Deeply afraid. The hate is real. The thirst for power is real. Their call for violence is real. I just don’t see how this will end. So I grieve.
Your concern is real, not some blather about what might be. It is here
JEN ! JESUS, Asked, HIS FATHER, * in Statment, ,,,, " FATHER !,,,, forgive Them !, For THEY NO NOT !, ,,,,, WHAT !, ,,,,, They DO ! " . ( FORGIVANCE !, can be VERY HARD , in MANY ASPECTS, But! , [F, { WITH the LOVE !} You can Faithfully Believe, ,,,,, in Your HEART! That FATHER ( GOD ) SEES !, & KNOWS, the COMPLETE Situation, & STILL CONTROLS ALL Things, and TIMES, of HIS REVELATION .............GOD will MAKE THOSE * bondage CHAINS !, come STRAITWAY ! , OFF ! , of YOU !!* . GOD !, Knows ALL !! ( I !, certainly DONT ! ) BUT ! , by HIS HOLY SPIRIT ! ,,, I AM Blessed ! JEN ! ,, You !, are in , My PRAYERS !
Only sperm can cause pregnancy
My new bumper sticker, Jeri!
Lol-love that idea!!! 💙💙💙
As the old saying goes...
First they came for them...then....when they came for me, no one was there to help......
Leaving aside the “unwanted pregnancy”-morality-trap frame of abortion rights, abortion is a medically necessary tool in reproductive health care. Obstectrically, pregnancy and birth are dicey business even without all the emotional-relationship-power-structure issues layered on. Abortion is and always has been a reproductive choice for pregnancy. We fought hard to make it legal and safe. THAT is what they took away bit-by-bit. It was taken away by faux-righteous people feigning concern for “the unborn”. Every action they take belies the falseness of that stance. Women need to own their reproductive choices. I do not want forced abortions. I do not want forced births. I DO want good, helpful reproductive healthcare for those bearing the burden of growing another human being. When it’s right, its a joy. When it’s not, I want the right to choose legally and personally what’s best for me.
1,000 upvotes. This should be the standard .
You have to remember that women had to be given the right to vote via the 19th amendment 100 years ago. Women couldn't get a credit card in their own name until 50 years ago. When I was in college 40 years ago, I had a criminology professor who said he would hire a man over a woman because the man "had to support his family". I was part of a forum 15 years ago where a supervisor I'd had (he'd been retired at this point about 15 years) said that I had been one of the best "female officers" he'd worked with, and I could do the job "just as good" as a man.
Yes, Just Sayin', it does take two to tango, but when one gets to squirt and run, while the other is left holding the bag, it does not make it easier to "go on the offensive". I love the concept of the penalty of an unwanted pregnancy as harsh for males as it is for females. Ain't ever gonna happen.
Many young women are choosing to not have sex...or even date.
And yet here we are. Captives in our own states, not free to travel at will if the purpose of that travel is in opposition to a minority belief, banning books, stigmatizing and punishing people with different sexual orientations. How can this NOT be fascism?
It is fascism.
Last year, after the Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision ending the recognition of the constitutional right to an abortion, I suggested to a group of people that it was only a question of time until we saw laws designed to make it impossible for women to travel across state lines. (HCR)
We've lived in 10 states -- 5 blue or purple and 5 red. The 5 red states all have passed forced birth laws since Dobbs.
Since Dobbs, medical students in red states that want to become Ob/Gyns are choosing medical schools where they can freely practice medicine without fear of prosecution. DUH! Who didn't see this coming?
This week Louisiana lost their last pediatric cardiologist who was head of the program at his hospital. He is gay, married and has two kids. They didn't want to leave, but the MAGAts have chased him away. Lousiana's loss will be someone else's gain and in a big way.
If you live in a red state now -LEAVE! Your extended family and friends can visit or they can leave too. Until the Republican Fascist party dies is it really worth living in the Fascist South where hate prevails?
Under Abbott TX has virtually legalized rape as the clearing rate for rapes has dropped by over 60% since he became governor. Rape and/or incest resulting in pregnancy end up enslaving the victims and in many states the rapist is never prosecuted. If you think this is wrong, then MOVE out of these FASCIST states. In spite of what they say, the GOP is not the party of Law and Order.
Or move into them and vote the suckers out.
It would take a much larger person than I to intentionally move into one of the Fascist States of North America for any reason, although moving there to vote to free the permanent residents would be about the only reason I'd consider. People complain about the snow in Northern winters, but that's nothing at all compared to the year-round climate of fascism in other places (sadly, not all of them south of the infamous Mason-Dixon line - just look at places like Wisconsin).
Wisconsin is not a red state, it is one of the most (if not the most) heavily gerrymandered states in the country. We are a 50-50 state but Dems get 1/3 of the Assembly seats under the current (gerrymandered) maps.
I was thinking the same thing. I lived in Jacksonville, FL for about 15 years and really knew only a few of my neighbors. We never talked politics at all. But then we bought a place in Fernandina Beach where most of the homeowners were retirees. They were almost all MAGAs to the point of tribalism. We sold our place and gave up the whole snow-bird concept. We know live full time in ME. Much easier to deal with cold than the people in FL.
Remember how Americans scoffed at the Soviet Union and all their travel restrictions? Here we are.
"That economic ideology, advanced by the Reagan Republicans, claimed that cutting regulations and concentrating wealth at the top of the economy would enable business leaders to invest in the economy efficiently, cutting costs and driving economic growth. "
And they invested all right, hoovering up the big companies of the 20th Century into mega-conglomerates, and "downsizing" of staff, pretty much "offshoring" whole industries and departments, moving money from country to country in shell games to (legally!) evade taxes, and stuffing cash into the "dark side" revealed in "Paradise", Panama, and Pandora papers. Reaganomics resulted in shrinkage of the middle class, poverty to endure or grow, and corruption to prosper.
The joke was on us. Business leaders knew all along it would not do that. But you couple that myth with their faux-concern “for the unborn” and “self-protection”, and you get a willing coalition to keep the money machine rolling. So now we stand at a moment in history where our wealth disparity is undermining democracy itself. The fight is on all fronts. Yet, we must fight/vote/pushback against the authoritarian moves.
If spending unlimited money to advance a political agenda and de facto bribery is "Free Speech", where is "equal protection under law'? What about, one person, one vote?
Follow the money.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money.
(...)
We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that." -Sen. Fritz Hollings
You speak truth, JL!
Handmaids Tale:
We thought it was pure speculative fiction.
We thought it could not happen here in our country.
We were wrong.
Margaret Attwood is far more precient than we might think!
I'll be the first to admit I'm not too smart but it seems to me the the Make America Great Again bunch (BTW he did lose many times you know) don't seem to grasp that Biden is making America great again. But he's doing it by improving the lives of Americans by building up America instead of tearing it down. Instead of isolating America and destroying it, he is expanding America as well as including the rest of the world.
Then there's the trumpicans...they keep yelling about not wanting the government to tell American citizens what they can and can't do...but every law they enact is intended to do just that. Forcing women to carry an unintended or dangerous pregnancy is like something done by the Taliban. Just like HCR said they resemble authoritarians more and more every day. So which is it people?
Seems to me we better get busy and make sure somebody besides them runs our country or we are in a heap a trouble. It's getting plum unrecognizable around here. What do you think?
I fully agree. As you, I continually preach to people. If we don’t vote blue in every election between now and the next 8 years, at a minimum, and replace every single Republican in office from local, state, and federal governments, we are screwing the pooch.
The states run by republicans now are not listening to the federal government. They are enacting voting laws, ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling that what they’ve done is unconstitutional, and ignoring federal laws. Case in point, Alabama. They’ve redone their voting districts where it’s near impossible for a free and fair election. They were told by the Supreme Court that their drawings were unconstitutional. They have ignored that ruling and continued as they were.
Texas, installing razor wire in a river, killing people as they attempted to cross into this country. They were told by the government it was unconstitutional. Governor Abbott ignored this and the razor wire stayed in the river.
What does it take for the people to wake up and see this country is heading back to the 16th century faster than it came out if it?
VOTE 🧢🧢🧢🧢in ‘24, ‘26, ‘28, all in between and beyond!!!
In Wisconsin, Republicans have fine-tuned gerrymandering to control politics. Now they plan to impeach a new justice who tips that balance to the Democrats. (Her vote margin was 58%-42%) Our Republicans will resort to anything to keep control.
If they try to impeach Justice Protasiewicz, what can she do? If a legislature acts ultra vires (and I would argue that impeaching this Justice for the reasons stated publicly so far would be ultra vires), usually a person injured by that action goes to court - again, usually at the trial court/court of general jurisdiction level, not the state supreme court level - to teach them the error of their ways. But this is a state Supreme Court justice threatened with impeachment over sitting on a case concerning redistricting improperly drawn/gerrymandered voting maps. This is one of the issues on which she ran and was elected, and the very basis on which this legislature asserts the power to impeach her. Does she just ignore the impeachment, if it happens, does she file suit in her own court against the legislature acting unlawfully, or what? The concern would be that if she doesn't recuse herself due to the appearance of having prejudged the outcome, a decision against the legislature in this case*, would not survive a SCOTUS challenge, and might have to go back to the trial court, with all the delays and expense that would involve. (She said while running for office that the maps were "rigged", probably a word better avoided in politics for the foreseeable future. At the time, the subject case had not yet been filed, and it was not filed until after she won and was sworn in.)
*https://acefiling.wicourts.gov/document/eFiled/2023AP001412/687947 (Original petition); and https://wscca.wicourts.gov/appealHistory.xsl?caseNo=2023AP001412&cacheId=45DCBF4819C19922DC04FB0A1A2E5DDF&recordCount=1&offset=0&linkOnlyToForm=false&sortDirection=DESC (case history as of 8-23-23).
this rethuglican Wisconsin legislature keeps coming up with more ridiculous ideas. Who voted Voss into power? it might get me to leave Wisconsin
I’ve been following that on the news. I’m wondering why the heck they are screaming impeachment and she’s not made any significant rulings, yet?
I totally agree. Roll up your sleeves! Heather says sit is up to US, not to anyone else, to protect and fight for our democracy. I have always believed that, actually.
We need to find a way to reach and educate “legacy Republicans”. These are the voters whose parents going back for generations were Republicans, so they will damn well vote Republican, too. No need to actually know who/what they’re voting for because . . . . Republican. They are completely disengaged from the issues and happily fulfill their civic duty by voting straight ticket Republican. We meed to reach these people, but how??
Did you see that weird video of Ted Cruz in a bar with a beer claiming that the government is going to limit the number of beers one can drink to 2 a week? He’s incensed at this new control (which isn’t true…but anyway). Then he and fellow beer drinking pals take a swig of beer from their bottles!
Deborah, he is just plain sickening.
DEBORAH ! , I AGREEE ! , " it is, ,,,,,,A REAL !, CLOWN SHOW ! "
Seems to me this is similar to what the Fascist States of North America are engaged in by severely curtailing access of people to legally register to vote, and then to vote - and possibly even counting those votes, which truly frightens me, as that done in secret and in the dark. Requiring voter ID in forms extremely difficult and/or expensive to acquire for many, usually poor Americans - as distinguished from the ID required (usually fairly, although that seems to be coming under discriminatory scrutiny in some places) to register to vote - closing polling stations, prohibiting providing water or food to people standing in the broiling sun (again, this is an almost exclusively Southern issue - the sun doesn't broil anything in Maine in November, and rarely at other times of the year), unlawfully gerrymandering the voting district maps AND VIOLATING COURT ORDERS TO CORRECT THEM!, instituting "rules of conduct" prohibiting minority members of a legislature from speaking - and then there's what happened to the USSCOTUS under B*tch McConnell's thoroughly evil rule.
Rolyac !! SPOT ON ! Turn UP !, all STRENGTH, !, of RESISTANCE ! & STAND !, in FAITH! " to SHAKE ! , The dEVIL OFF !!! ( lucifer ! , has GOT ! , To GO !! ) . and ! , AMEN !
Dr. Richardson, you are sadly perspicacious regarding the extent to which these Republican authoritarians are willing to go -- restricting travel by malcontents both prevents opponents from organizing and keeps those malcontents available for dead of the night visitations by local right-wing vigilantes.
I'm waiting to see a business owner bring suit arguing that requiring him to hire women in management positions violates his religious beliefs, which holds that God forbids women from having authority over men. And the Supreme Court...will agree, upholding the "traditional" role of religion in society.
Damn, I'm glad I'm old.
Dirk, you hit the nail on the head! How many people don't know how recent it was that women were able to get their own checking accounts and credit cards without a man sponsoring them? How many people don't know what the travel restrictions were behind the Iron Curtain?
History needs to be taught. History and civics were a target of William Bennet. The Reagan administration set this ignorant movement in motion.
Bravo, Rickey! On this forum, I have often strongly suggested books by Gail Collins, "When Everything Changed" (which mentions how a woman got arrested for wearing slacks into court, I think it was) and "America's Women: 400 Years of Drudges, Dolls, Helpmates and Heroines" which shows how females freedoms and roles were dictated by the needs at the time, ie: Rosie the Riveter for example.
Great, interesting reads.
will add to my lists!
And I'm glad I'm not living in the US any more.
And I wish I wasn’t!
Same here.
Please keep voting here, unless you've given up your US citizenship.
Every voice counts.
I envy you.
Right Dirk. You and I lucked out, being old at the right time.
Me too!
I meant this comment for Dirk Addertongue.
A friend of mine asked me what I thought of the gop candidates. I said I don’t think about them. I have no intention of voting for them, so, why spend time thinking about them? They are all morally bankrupt, misogynistic, bigots and anti-American. How women could support and participate in the enslavement of other women horrifies me. Whatever energy I have goes toward registering voters and encouraging people to vote blue. Ms Richardson’s scholarship and sanity helps me make my case. I am grateful.
“A whole factory of red flags!”
Matches the hats.
"Their hope is to target interstates and the roads around airports to block off routes out of Texas and keep pregnant women trapped in the antiabortion state."
Checkpoints and guard towers should work, like East Germany.
I’m waiting on governor Abbott to stretch the razor wire around the border, and make it against the law for women to board busses, or planes.
I wouldn't doubt one bit that Abbott would really do that. He already has installed a booby trap in the Rio Grande river. I wouldn't put anything past that despicable SOB.
I love my just pregnant sister but for $10,000 I'm happy to change my mind...
You touch on a vulnerability in this law, of which there are many.
How about an abusive boyfriend that gets his victim (girlfriend) pregnant? If she wants to move back home, maybe out of state, where she'll be safe. He could use the state to do his dirty work for him (& make money doing it - SMH) and report her.
I should preface this with the obvious problem of denying an American the freedom to travel wherever & whenever she wants to in America. She'd (We'd) be living in a fascist state.
We assume then that any car with a woman/women in it will be stopped? Patted down? Made to take pregnancy test? Sounds like a well thought plan. I suggest all women traveling through these despicable towns don gray wigs and have handicap placards dangling from car mirrors. When is that monster Abbott going to get his comeuppance?
SOON !, The BROWNSHIRTS !, will be Constructing the Concentration KAMPS !! . " SEIG HIELL " ....................... ( LORD !! , Have MERCY !! )
The Redcaps are coming,
President Biden continues to do an outstanding job for the economy and the people. We would really be lost without his leadership.
On a another note.
This is pure torment and psychological abuse for women to be force to carry a child at full term.
This isn't Democracy, it is autocratic rule. I hope justice will prevail when we vote in 24.
POUR ON ! , The FAITH !! , Patricia !! BLESSINGS !
“Someone who is prohibited from leaving a jurisdiction is not a citizen but a subject.”
More like ‘prisoner’.
I fear if Republicans win the White House and control of Congress, we who oppose the MAGA forces will end up feeling like subjects, not citizens.
Also, I recommend the historical novel “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom,” published this year. For the first time, I understand what life was like for slaves willing to risk running away in their quest for freedom — and the national tumult leading up to and after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Master-Slave-Husband-Wife/Ilyon-Woo/9781501191053
Not to mention the fact that America will be effectively written off as a member of the so-called "free world".
Not only "feel" like, but BE subjects.
"Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises"
- Lincoln
And Trump isint even ‘cunning’….rather just a nasty, totally self-transactional and inept jerk.
Joan , tRUMP !! is * their * , perfect ! PROPHaLIER !!! ( AMEN !! ) . the BRITS ! , Call him ! , " The ORANGE MANGOWANKER !!! "
Also reminiscent of the apartheid pass laws enacted to control, restrict and limit the movement of people. Similarly Soviet pass laws prevented movement. Explain to me please how these measures are moral. More like unconstitutional!
Would not prohibiting women from free movement be human trafficking? That's a federal crime, not just state.
It’s actually called “False Imprisonment”, and yes, it’s a federal crime.
Thanks, Daniel, I knew there was a term and couldn't think of it. Is this the charge that would be brought against someone who locked an innocent into a bedroom or basement and refuse to release him or her? Seems the same thing to me as prohibiting pregnant women from leaving town.
If this was me, in Texas, and I was a pregnant woman who’s doctors have all agreed that I needed an abortion for whatever the reason, and the state refused to allow me to obtain my medically needed procedure, I would sue every state legislator and the Governor for every penny they had in existence. And I would sue the state Supreme Court justices as well.
That law would be redacted from the books by the time I was done.
Same here, Daniel. Problem is, pregnancies move fast and courts move slow. Best thing to do would be to ignore the law, go do what you have to do in another state or arrange for pills to be mailed to you, and see what Texas officials do. If they retaliate, zam, sue every one of those people you named personally.
Something the pregnant and their loved ones should not have to deal with in a condition already overloaded with stress.
I fully agree, Shane. It’s something a pregnant woman and family don’t need to deal with.
I’m wondering, if this woman leaves the state to get an abortion, and they stop them at one of their roadblocks, arrest and hail her, and she dies because she didn’t get the medical treatment she needed (I.e. abortion), will the state be held liable, as they should be for her death?
Texas claims it won't take action against the pregnant woman, only against those who help her terminate the pregnancy. They'd go after whoever drove her to the clinic, the doctors and nurses who performed the service, the mail carrier who delivered the pills to her home, whoever they can harass.
I also believe they're not depending on roadblocks to enforce, but encouraging neighbors, friends, and vigilantes to "rat out the women" by turning them into authorities and/or filing private lawsuits against the helpers. Same model as the bounty hunter abortion lawsuits Abbott dreamed up before Roe v Wade was overturned.
He might as well rename the Texas Rangers into the Stasi.
If you lock a person in a basement/room and refuse to allow them to leave on their own free will, that’s “False Imprisonment”.
If that woman is a pregnant woman, then you are charged with 2 counts of False Imprisonment.
Same thing goes if you are in an auto accident, and the person you hit, and killed was a pregnant woman, you are charged with 2 counts of “Vehicular Manslaughter”.
More like kidnapping.
Let's charge Abbott with all three crimes and lock him in an ADA-approved cell . We are, after all, not heartless.
But this only applies to women who are sinfully seeking an abortion. They are like convists, trying to escape. Think also of slaves who tried to escape; could you legally help them at any point of their planning or even when they got to a “safe” area?
"Sinfully?" Sin has nothing to do with this, Craig. This is a secular state issue, not church doctrine.
They also aren't convicts or slaves. They are innocent Americans forced to participate in Greg Abbott's Cruelty Circus, and Abbott should be charged with the federal crime of false imprisonment. Two charges, since he believes a fetus is a full-grown human.
CRAIG ! , INSTANT KARMA FLASHBACK ! , To Civilian Germans, ,,,,, Trying to HIDE ! , The JEWS !! ( LORD ! , Have MERCY ! )
It's no fun being Cassandra, is it?
Remind them now you were right. Because otherwise, I promise you they won't remember the next time you warn them.