BlogOfParadox

Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Both of these kids’ll come home with us on my birthday, officially Best Caturday in History.

It’s no surprise Sarah Palin disgusts me: her lying, hypocrisy, ethics, and opinions on reproductive rights can send me into furious, hour-long rants; much less her piss-poor understanding environmental stewardship, her belief that God cares a lot more about war and oil than social programs, and her ignorance to the vital role community organizers play in our society.  I could easily write an essay, but I won’t.

Anything else I say will detract from my main message, which is that there’s a way for you to voice your disappointment/rage/frustration in a constructive way.

There is an online grassroots movement (GO COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS!!) urging people to donate to Planned Parenthood “in honor of” Sarah Palin.

Craig Newmark (yes, Craigslist Craig) writes on The HuffPo:

When you make a donation to PP in her name, they’ll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor.  Here’s the link to the Planned Parenthood website:

https://secure.ga0.org/02/pp10000_inhonor

You’ll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the “in Sarah Palin’s honor” card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202

P.S. Make sure you use that link above or choose the pulldown of Donate–Honorary or Memorial Donations, not the regular “Donate Online”

In my opinion, this is using the full snark of the Internet for the highest good.  I would be thrilled if it came to be that Sarah Palin was responsible for the largest online fundraiser for Planned Parenthood.

I know Mister Jack Jackity Jack Jack Attack (once and future) Fattycat is feeling a bit more like himself: he managed to jump from the kitchen floor to the countertop, and was thoroughly scouring the last place he saw me with cheese.

We sat together and watched Obama make his “Presumptive Nominee” speech in MN, and my old man purred loudly.  It doesn’t surprise me: as a personable skinny Tuxedo cat with big ears and a funny name, they have a more than a bit in common.

Planned Parenthood writes:

Last week, we defeated the Child Protection Act (which was really a teen endangerment act) in the House, and now the Senate has put the language from that bill in as an amendment on another bill – HB 520.

HB 520 punishes parents for having trusting relationships with their teens and pits family members against each other. The possibility of family members suing each other because one tried to help a teen relative access safe health care could tear Mississippi families apart.

HB 520 creates an unconstitutional burden on teens. Minors without parental involvement may well have to go to court to obtain judicial waivers of two states’ laws: Mississippi’s and the state’s where they are obtaining an abortion, requiring the minor to go through two legal procedures in two states’ courts. This will delay minors’ abortions, creating unconstitutional burdens on their right to privacy and their right to travel interstate to seek medical care.

HB 520 infringes on First Amendment rights. The bill could inhibit the provision of factual information to minors about the services provided by out of state health centers as providing such information potentially could be viewed as “assisting” or “aiding” a minor to obtain an out of state abortion.

By traveling to a neighboring state, Mississippi teens are not evading parental consent requirements. In fact, every state surrounding Mississippi already has a parental consent law with which women seeking an abortion must comply.

HB 520 completely ignores geographic and economic realities. Out of state travel is often the simplest and least financially burdensome way for women to obtain needed medical services.

The mandatory reporting requirements of HB 520 expands reporting to include instances where teens are involved in normal sexual activity with other teens.

HB 520 removes the ability of health professionals, clergy members, teachers and childcare providers to make judgments as to whether teens are engaging in normal sexual activity and instead mandates that they report a wide range of sexual behaviors.

Please send emails or call:

Rep. Willie Bailey, Judiciary B Committee Chairman, phone: 601-359-1541
Speaker of the House William McCoy, phone: 601-359-3300, and
Your own legislator

Ask them to oppose the mandatory reporting requirements and abortion restrictions in the amendment to HB 520 because they are a threat to the health of Mississippi teens.

Please send your emails or make your calls immediately to help defeat this bill. It could receive a final vote as early as Friday morning (tomorrow) and could be on the Governor’s desk tomorrow if we don’t act now!

Distribute far and wide, please.

I’d like to take a moment of your Friday to talk about deficit reduction, specifically the Federal Deficit Act of 2005, and how it’s made it difficult to keep college-age and low-income women’s access to health care services, as well as affordable contraception.

So, Deirdra, how does the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 affect reproductive freedom?

The provisions of the DRA have narrowed the scope of providers who would be eligible to continue to purchase deeply discounted drugs. The bill was intended to remove discounted drug pricing for hospitals that operate for a profit. College clinics were not specifically targeted, and so no one realized they would be affected until afterwards. As a result, brand name prescription prices for campus clinics rose from about the $3 to $10 range per month to the $30 to $50 range.

Most clinics had stockpiles of contraceptives, which allowed them to delay price increases until more recently. However, since January 2007, birth control costs have skyrocketed at university and public health clinics. According to Planned Parenthood’s research, some birth control pill packs have increased in price from $10 to $49 per month at Mississippi State University. Similar increases are soon expected at The University of Mississippi, as well as The University of Southern Mississippi. Nationally, clinics have had to cut staff, hours and services (such as prenatal care, educational programs and even cervical screenings) to try and keep contraceptives affordable for their patients. Unintended pregnancies are on the rise amongst women in their 20s.

The problem is simple: Due to an unintentional error made by Congress, we are facing a national health crisis that affects three million undergraduates and over 850,000 low-income women. Raising a child is hardly cheap, but scores of women are losing their access to reliable birth control because of the DRA’s provisions. When students and low-income families are forced to choose between groceries and contraception, everyone loses.

Fortunately, the solution is also a simple matter: if the Senate clarifies the language of the bill, the changes can be enacted immediately. Some senators have recognized the error and have been working to fix the problem, but the matter would benefit greatly from a huge surge of public support.

Nearly four million women are counting on Congress, and you, to help make birth control affordable.

Ask your senator to fix the birth control pricing problem caused by the Deficit Reduction Act. A small change will protect women’s health, and put birth control back within women’s reach.

When I think of my country, I think of the men and women who said they’d rather do without their tea, without their luxuries, without their necessities and even their lives if they didn’t have a fair say in the way they were treated. I think of the indictment of a terrible tyrant, and the subsequent declaration that this republic would stand apart from tyranny and religious oppression. I think of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

That said, we do not have a yellow ribbon on our vehicle, because I am the type of person who would rather send care packages overseas than buy a magnet. I am not the sort of person who plaster the truck or my clothes with the flag like it’s another designer brand.

I registered to vote the morning of my eighteenth birthday. I actively take part in our government as a concerned citizen. But I absolutely disagree with our nation’s current public and foreign policy, and I sat in a bathroom stall at work today and wept for what happened six years ago, and the subsequent mess.

I do not feel the need to prove my patriotism, nor do I feel that putting a sticker on your car dissolves anyone of any further civic duty. I would rather feed a mouth than wave a flag. I love my country, but hold no love for our president or his agenda. You CAN love your country when you’re not very proud of it, just as I know you can love someone who makes maddeningly bad choices.

I am thankful to know so many thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate people who are serving our country in various ways, just as I am thankful to know so many who fully embrace the concept of citizenship. I am just disgusted that those of us who don’t ascribe to a somewhat nationalist sect of patriotism are seen as unpatriotic, or that we have somehow forgotten 9/11.

Matthew: This is becoming a trend–we vote, and then we come to the bakery.
Me: Yeah, after voting, we need something to get the bitter taste out of our mouths.

NOTE: If you’re one of those people who just doesn’t vote because you’ll never make a difference, or votes without doing research, or “prefers solely to effect change upon the world with Reiki/etc.,” just go ahead and scroll past. It’s probably best you don’t tell me either, because I am a big ol’ citizen snob, and will most certainly think less of you.

I registered to vote at 8 a.m. on my eighteenth birthday. Before that, I stood in line at the polls with my Mom, and she would always explain her choices, and why we were out in the rain, or spending time in a fire station when it was perfect beach weather. My mom instilled a fierce patriotism in her daughter. She talked about civic duty and civil liberties, and made sure that I knew she deplored our older relatives’ racism. She carefully explained those 1980s Choose Life shirts were not about WHAM!

I am my mother’s daughter: she taught me to do some good, or do some damage if the occasion warranted it.

I know that Georgia was/is often just as crazy as Mississippi is, but honestly, it makes me heartsick that the majority of my choices in our primary were chosen because they didn’t quite piss me off as much as the others. I’m really dreading November, because no matter what, I’m stuck with a governor who makes my skin crawl.

For those of you who regularly vote/participate in activist movements, especially in movements/schools of thought that differ greatly from your current political climate: what do you do when you look at a ballot and it’s filled with Wicked, Worse, and Worst Of All? Do you vote for the least nasty of all bridge trolls? Do you skip voting for that particular office? Do you write-in NONE ACCEPTABLE (which I have done in a particular nasty case of Bigot vs. Shithead)? Do you say screw it, vote for the least repugnant of candidates, and then console yourself in liquor/sugar/self-righteous blog wank?

Well, I guess you know what I do.

P.S. If you’re one of the aforementioned people and still read this, GO REGISTER TO VOTE