What was your last act of pro-choice teaspooning, no matter how big or small, public or intimate?
With Allies Like These, Part 2
In part one, Jonathan Chait presumed to lecture progressives who took issue with Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry appropriating Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis' life story in service to his anti-choice agenda.
Today, under the amazing headline "Conservatives Hate All Legislation Now," Chait writes: "One of the novel developments in conservative thought during the Obama years is a burgeoning hatred not merely for government but for lawmaking."
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooops.
The thing is, I agree with Chait that the Republican party is bereft of meaningful engagement with lawmaking and governance on a number of issues. But I am able to make that sort of point without disappearing the fact that the Republican party is waging a national war on reproductive rights that has seen 43 new abortion restrictions enacted in state governments so far this year alone.
Conservatives do not, in fact, "hate all legislation now." They love anti-choice legislation like a loved thing made out of loved bits. They love anti-choice legislation like if they manage to render Roe an empty statute, they'll reanimate Reagan's corpse. They love anti-choice legislation like a bunch of fucking shitheads who love curtailing the agency, autonomy, consent, and equality of women and other people with uteri.
Oh, I know, I know—Chait wasn't talking about that kind of legislation. He was talking about the kind that matters to men like him.
You know. The important stuff.
I AM A TOMATO IN A GREENHOUSE
Thanks to everyone who's inquired about what's going on with our AC. The AC tech finally came out last night, and, unfortunately, it's the worst possible news: The compressor is shot, and it's an old unit which is incompatible with new freon, so the whole thing has to be replaced. It's going to take a few days and be very expensive blah blah fart. I feel very lucky that the weather isn't worse than it is.
So, in the meantime, I am hot and crabby. I would love to go sit at a cafe somewhere, but then I'd have to close up the whole house, which wouldn't be safe for the animals, since it gets REALLY hot in here, even with the windows open.
Thank you so much for all the cooling images, which have made me laugh, and the suggestions for beating the heat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dunk my head in a kitchen sink full of ice.
Take it away, Buster Poindexter!
[Video Description: Video of Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot."]
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by noodles.
Recommended Reading:
Imani: Hannity Asks the Important Questions: Are Negroes Gonna Riot Over Zimmerman? [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of white supremacy and violence.]
Pam: A Quick Pondering of Rage Face... [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of guns, white privilege, racism, and violence.]
Jamilah: Google Play's 'Angry Trayvon' Game Ignites Fury on Twitter [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion and imagery of racism, appropriation, and violence.]
BYP: Illinois Passes Concealed-Carry Law [Content Note: Guns; violence.]
Simms: Dentist Wouldn't Take My Blood Pressure Properly [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of fat bias.]
Edward Wyckoff Williams Interviews Janet Mock: Black and Transgender: Still on the Margins [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism and transphobia.]
Fannie: Boo-Hoo Orson Scott Card [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of homophobia and privilege.]
Brooke: Apparently, Female Gamers Spend as Much Time and Money on Gaming as Male Counterparts. This is Surprising?
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
The tiniest cat in the world keeps an eye on the backyard.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
I'm Pro-Choice and Shit
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
Hey, ya bunch of radical feminist weirdos! Long time no talk about LOVING AMERICA.
Man, all this abortion talk lately has really been getting under my skin. Along with three ticks I acquired while fishing with my best friend Dick Balzac last weekend, but I guess that ain't relevant right now.
I know what you're thinking: Ol' Butch is about to go off on one about how abortion is just a radical feminist scam to let women control their reproduction and do offensive shit like "be financially stable" and "enter the workplace" or whatever, and I understand why you'd be thinking that, because that's definitely what I used to think! I mean, come on, if there's any more obvious feminist conspiracy than legal abortion, I can't think of it. Except maybe giving women the vote?
Anyways, the truth is, I used to be a pretty hardcore anti-abortion dude, which is an opinion I kept to myself, since I figured anyone with any sense agreed with me. But one day I accidentally said something about how women who want abortions are sluts who should suffer the consequences of their slutty actions, or something else relatively innocuous like that, and, boy oh boy, let me tell you that my stepmom Cheryl and my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy were so pissed! They both started screaming at me at once, and I couldn't even make out anything they were saying, because they were so mad and screeching at me at such high frequencies. It was like being descended upon by a swarm of feminist bats! Also, I was trying to watch Fat Cops, and I wanted to hear what Big Sexy was saying, so I turned the TV up real loud. The point is, I wasn't really listening.
But eventually Tammy wrestled the remote control away from me, and turned off the television, and they took turns yelling at me, and at first I was just pretenting to listen cuz I thought looking like I was listening would shut them up faster, which usually works. But they were saying stuff about sex, which is a subject in which I am very interested LADIES, so I started listening for real, and, you know, I actually learned something.
Like, Tammy was all, "You are slut-shaming," and pointed out that it was pretty hypocritical to shame sluts when I totally love having sex with sluts. I mean, I've had sex with her like a million times, and she is a total slut, which is, as Tammy pointed out to me really loudly, just a shitty name for a woman who is "sexually empowered," which I think means "owns a dildo." And Cheryl was all, "You think you're a stud, which is just a male slut, and that's a double standard," or some crap like that, which I have to admit was a pretty good point that I'd never considered probably because I don't talk to women or seek their perspectives very often.
They talked at my face for a really long time, and eventually convinced me that OKAY ABORTION SHOULD BE LEGAL, but I was like I still think it should have some restrictions, though. And then the feminist bats attacked me again.
Cheryl told me that abortion restrictions were horseshit, and I was like, "Nuh uh, they sound totally reasonable to me!" And then Cheryl was like, "They only sound reasonable in a contextless void that ignores reality," and I was like OH MAN SHE FOUND THE LINK TO SHAKESVILLE, because that sounds like some major Shakesville shit, right there. So my hackles were up, but Tammy still had the remote, and I broke my iPod last week when I threw it at my dad, so I didn't have anything else to listen to except Cheryl.
So she was all, "Parental notification laws only sound reasonable because we never talk about girls who are raped by their fathers. And mandatory ultrasound laws only sound reasonable because we never talk about people who are pregnant via rape, or survivors, or unable to afford the additional cost of the ultrasound which is sometimes passed on by the state, or anyone else who might consider a transvaginal ultrasound, or any ultrasound, an unnavigable barrier to accessing abortion." Or something like that. Which I also have to admit was a pretty good point.
And, honestly, I was getting kind of pissed at this point that I'd never even heard this stuff. It's like the dudes who make the laws deliberately avoid talking about real life in order to make people like me support stupid positions, cuz they know I probably won't have any cause to think about it unless my stepmom is yelling about it three inches from my head.
But I was still kinda dubious, so I was all, well, that sucks for those people, but maybe the laws should be passed anyway, and Tammy and Cheryl both asked me, in that voice like it's not really a question and they have a really good idea of what my answer should be, if I thought it was good public policy to write laws that fail to protect the people most in need of protection, and, man, I started thinking about my niece Sierra and how her dad, my stupid-ass brother, would never let her get an abortion no matter what, and I was pretty not in favor of consent restrictions any more.
And I don't know why I said it, I guess because I just wanted to win ONE THING during this epic battle of being forced to listen, but I said there was still no way I could ever support NO restrictions on abortion, because I don't like the idea of some lady who's twenty-three months pregnant (I think that's right; I remember reading elephants are pregnant for two years, so I am assuming humans are about the same) just willy-nilly changing her mind and aborting a perfectly good baby right before it comes out.
And Cheryl and Tammy just shook their heads, and Cheryl was like, "Do you want this one?" and Tammy gestured that Cheryl should take it, because Tammy looked tired and maybe kind of regretful, probably cuz of this grody hotdog she ate for lunch, and Cheryl explained to me that she doesn't support any restrictions because the only women who get abortions late in their pregnancies are women whose own health or life are in danger, or are carrying fetuses that are gonna die anyway if they're born, or tried to get an abortion when they first got pregnant, but couldn't, because of early pregnancy restrictions, or because they couldn't get off work, or because they couldn't afford the abortion cuz it turns out the government doesn't actually pay for them after all, or because, contrary to what I've heard from other patriots all my life, there isn't an abortion mill on every corner and, if you can believe this, some states only have one abortion clinic in the whole damn state! Abortion is really way different than I thought, you guys!
Anyways, Cheryl was like, imagine it takes you four months to save up $500, and I'm like HA HA IT'S TAKEN ME ALMOST FIFTY YEARS TO SAVE UP $500, which is mostly because I keep spending it on weed and RC boats but still, and Cheryl is like PAY ATTENTION, and then she's like, "And by the time you save up enough for the closest abortion clinic, and schedule time off work, which might have to be a couple days if there's a waiting period restriction, then you're suddenly past the point at which you can even get an abortion near you, so you have to find money and time to go to a clinic even further away, maybe out of state, and by the time you get all THAT sorted out, you've got to go even FURTHER, and suddenly you need $13,000 to go to a clinic five states away, and if you can get there at all, it might not be until your third trimester, and is that really your fault?"
I don't mind telling you all: THAT BLEW MY MIND. Facts are really brain-benders, amirite?
It's real fucked up how these early restrictions seem to be a way just to push poor pregnant women so far into their pregnancies that they CAN'T get an abortion. That just don't seem fair.
And, look, I do a lot of stuff, A LOT OF STUFF, that pisses off Tammy and/or Cheryl, so much in fact that they pretty much just ignore me when I piss them off now, WIN-WIN I SAY, but this abortion stuff was different. Their faces looked hurt and scared, not just angry, and, man, I'm a real dipshit sometimes, but I don't want to make anyone feel that way.
So, long story short, I am now totally pro-choice. And any dude who isn't should come see me about it, man.
Pornstache: Out.
And Because It's the Only Ethical Position
[Content Note: Hostility to agency. NB: Not only women need access to all reproductive options.]
Here's a few things you should know about me:
I'm gay.
I have sex with men.
I am cis.
I will never get anyone pregnant.
I will never become pregnant, even if I am raped.
I support women. I support their right to choose. I support their having meaningful choice. I support their having unrestricted access to contraception and abortion. I support their right to do with their bodies as they see fit. Because I trust them.
I trust women.
Calling All Pro-Choice Men
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
There has been a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the fact that the Republican party and conservative operatives who are advocating and legislating against choice are disproportionately men. In the interest of showing those men that they do not have the universal support of other men in their assault on the rights of women and other people with uteri, and that there are men who trust women et. al., and want us to have bodily autonomy, the right of self-determination, and full access to our federally guaranteed right to control over our reproduction, and because treating the fight for reproductive rights as "woman's work" is some fucked-up irony, I invite men who support choice and access, and who trust women et. al. to make the best decisions for ourselves, to leave in comments why it is that you support choice and have nothing but contempt for attempts to restrict it.
Pro-Choice Men: Make as much noise, MAKE MORE NOISE, than anti-choice men!
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia]
A Sharknado Warning Is In Effect:
ENDA has passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions with bipartisan support.
An estimated 30,000 inmates in jails across California are participating in a hunger strike to protest against solitary confinement and other conditions they say amount to torture.
Want to listen to David Lynch's new album? Sure, why not!
ACLU and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation announced plans to take on North Carolina's same-sex marriage ban. Fingers crossed!
Sarah Palin is considering running for Senate next year in Alaska. Fingers crossed!
Can they get one of these in Indiana? They need one in Indiana.
Wal-Mart says it will pull out of its D.C. plans should the city mandate they pay their employees a living wage.
An anti-gay group is being set up to rival Boy Scouts. They will, in part, focus on sexual purity. Sounds fun! Let's all get badges in Not Masturbating!
Gun-rights activist (LOLOLOL!!!) Adam Kokesh was arrested and charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm. Whoops! Also: Freedom!
Today in North Carolina
[Content Note: Hostility to agency.]
As you may recall, last week in North Carolina, Republicans rammed through the state senate HB695, which tacked on to a family court bill a collection of profoundly restrictive anti-choice regulations. Yesterday, the North Carolina house Health and Human Services Committee met to discuss the legislation, which is expected to soon be put to the full House for a vote.
Robin Marty describes what's happening outside the capitol:
While the committee argued about whether the house should concur with the senate version of the legislation, pro-choice activists met outside the capitol to protest government interference in personal decisions, building on the previous day's Moral Monday protest, at which dozens of protesters were arrested.Jessica Luther has a round-up of ways to support choice in North Carolina, locally and not.
...While politicians and advocates inside the capitol debated HB 695, outside the movement against the bill continued to grow. Gathered on Halifax Mall, pro-choice state politicians spoke out against the restrictions. They were joined by Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "North Carolina is not alone. In too many states, politicians are carrying the water for a radical minority who think they know how to live our lives better than we do," said Hogue. "And these folks believe the ends justify the means. They don't care if women get hurt, if children are lied to, and they certainly don't care if politicians skirt due process, the laws of our land, to get their way."
...Tuesday's rally came less than 24 hours after a Moral Monday protest that focused largely on the bill. The Monday event drew roughly 2,000 participants, which Reuters called one of the biggest crowds since the NAACP began organizing the events this spring. Sixty-four protesters were arrested Monday, including Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina President and CEO Janet Colm.
Republicans' primary defense of abortion-restrictive legislation is some deeply mendacious variation on the contemptible fallacy that Republican lawmakers, the vast majority of whom are men, are just "helping women make good choices." (Without a trace of irony, since the explicit objective is to give women and other people with uteri no choice at all.) Even with thousands of engaged and passionate and informed and decisive and strong women et. al. showing up at statehouses to demand the right of self-determination, risking harm and exposure and arrest to do so, Republican lawmakers refuse to be honest about their gross agenda.
It is a damnable fairy tale that women are incapable of making the best decisions for themselves and their own bodies (and, frequently, for the children they already have).
The reality is this: There is an inextricable link between the economy, the funding of social services, access to contraception, and abortion. If "pro-lifers" really wanted women to want to have babies, they would start arguing for universal healthcare, just for a fucking start, considering about one-fourth of women seeking abortions cite their own health or possible health problems with the fetus as reasons for the termination, owing to concerns including "a lack of prenatal care." If "pro-lifers" really wanted to reduce abortions, they would start advocating easy and affordable access to contraception, just for a fucking start. Et cetera ad infinitum.
But they're not pro-life. They're just anti-women.
And they can caterwaul about how that's not true all they fucking want, but, the truth is, they refuse to listen to women, to the millions of women and other people with uteri who are telling them we don't need waiting periods or ultrasounds or parental/spousal consent or anti-abortion counselors or any of the other disincentives being proposed to deter us from terminating unwanted pregnancies, and we sure as shit don't need 20-week bans, but do need jobs and healthcare and childcare and parental leave laws and associated institutional framework that supports successful parenthood, and access to a spectrum of reproductive options that allows us to plan and control when to become, or not become, parents.
And when you refuse to listen to women, your argument that you're not explicitly anti-women holds precious little water.
Particularly when your party has failed utterly to fund a robust social safety net, but has been trying, with various degrees of success, to chip away at Roe virtually since the decision granted people with uteri the right to terminate pregnancies.
You know, maybe the failure to trust women isn't, in fact, the great political attribute we're meant to believe it is, but is instead evidence of precisely why it is that lawmakers who don't trust women shouldn't have the power to legislate women's et. al. agency and bodily autonomy. Ever.
GOOD MORNING, JESSICA LUTHER!
Yes, yes you are.
I promised Jess (@scATX) I would post a terrific picture of her new BFF Rick Santorum this morning, in honor of his trip to Texas to be King Fuck of the Blue Shirts. He will be giving ALL THE VOICES to ALL THE FETUSES! What a patriot! What a hero!
In related news, here is just a great story with a perfect headline: Republican Women Cringe as Men Lead Abortion Fight. Whooooooooooooops!
(Lest anyone mistake in which direction my sarcasm is aimed, the actual story by Evan McMorris-Santoro and Kate Nocera is very good. The subject of the story is what's terrible.)
Anyway! In conclusion: Rick Santorum is terrible.
Transcription Update
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I am blubbing and it is so wonderful and it is all because of YOU wonderful people.
Yesterday afternoon, I put out a call for people to help me with the project to transcribe Wendy Davis' filibuster. I have about 15 hours of filibuster left and have been taking them in roughly 15 minute chunks. That means I have 60 videos left to cut and transcribe.
As of this morning, twelve hours after I asked for help, 73 people have volunteered their services. I officially have MORE volunteers than I have video to GIVE them. I am crying and so happy and cannot stop. I love you all. So, so much. So here are some words.
1. More work! More volunteers!! If ya'll are game, I'm going to expand the project to reflect the support. In addition to the 15 hours Wendy Davis testimony, there is 15 hours of citizen testimony from Monday, and 15 hours of House hearings from Tuesday. If we don't get any more help (and people are VERY welcome to PLEASE keep volunteering!!), that would mean ~3 transcripts per person. If that all gets done, well, I'm sure there will be MORE hearings.
2. Videos Soonish! I'm the bottle-neck here, and I know that. I will start cutting and posting videos either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. (Several of you have asked how I'm recording and cutting the videos. It's a complex process involving no less than 5 programs, string, and some fairy dust. I'll post something longer later for the aficionados, but it's not a process I would willingly inflict on others.)
3. Way Forward Plan! I plan to divvy out the work this way. I don't want to share everyone's email addresses, so you will all be given Kickass Code Names (TM). The work to be done will be put in a spreadsheet against your code name, and only I will have the corresponding key of who is who. I'll post the "to work" spreadsheet on Google Docs for all to see, and it will look like this:
| Name | Segment Name | YouTube Link | SugarSync Link | Finished? |
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-001-Wendy Davis Opening Remarks | http:// | http:// | yes |
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-002-The History of SB5 | yes | ||
| Mother of Dragons | SB5-003-Testimony of Texas Medical Association | yes | ||
| Apples | SB5-004-Bob Deuell Opens His Mouth | no | ||
| Bananas | ||||
| Canteloupes | ||||
Back on my desktop, unshared with the world, will be another table that says something like:
| Name1 | Name2 | |
| Mother of Dragons | Ana Mardoll | anamardoll@gmail.com |
| Apples | Patrick Stewart | |
| Bananas | Margaret Atwood | |
| Canteloupes | That guy from the 70's show |
You will get an email from me (soonish!) saying "Your code name is [xyz]."
I think that's it! Some of you have asked for an open thread for talking about transcription methods, so please feel free to use this thusly. Note that I'm cross-posting this in my usual manner. And, again: THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. This is the happiest I have ever been, ever.
A quick note: If you have any spoons left to give, please follow Kristen Rawls on twitter today. She's covering the exact same stuff going on in NC. And if you can, send her a tweet and ask how you can help or if there's anyone she recommends you follow for on-the-scene updates in Raleigh. Thank you.
Question of the Day
What is your least favorite kind of weather?
(By which I mean least favorite of typical weather patterns in your climate; we can all agree that extreme weather events that are dangerous GWYNETH are bad.)
Discussion Thread: 2016
While Jess was visiting, we were talking about who we think the eventual nominees will be in 2016. At this point, and recognizing these opinions and predictions are likely to change over time, who do you think will win the Democratic and Republican nominations, provided the people we expect are likely to run will indeed run? And why do you think they'll be the nominees?
Please also feel free to share who you believe will be the Green Party nominee, or any other party, with whose potential contenders you're familiar.
Got any instincts about independent runs? Trump? Bloomberg? Some other asshole? Share 'em here, too!
Headline of the Day
[Content Note: White supremacy.]
Rand Paul's Team Has Another White Supremacist. Another.
Like father, like son.
Such great champions of freedom, these two.
What Is Gwyneth Paltrow Even Talking About?
[Content Note: References to death and disaster.]
From a recent interview with British Cosmopolitan (What—did you think she would do an interview with NOT-British Cosmopolitan? You're so weird.):
[Paltrow] disagrees with doctors who warn patients to avoid tanning. "We're human beings and the sun is the sun -- how can it be bad for you? I think we should all get sun and fresh air," the actress tells British Cosmopolitan. "I don't think anything that is natural can be bad for you -- it's really good to have at least 15 minutes of sun a day."All right, look: We all know that someone who imagines the average person has a favorite fishmonger is not particularly a "big fan" of "knowing things" about "real life." But ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The sun is the sun?! How can it be bad for you?! Nothing that is natural can be bad for you?! WHUT.
"I beg to differ."—Someone who died of natural causes.
"O RLY?"—Someone who lost hir home in a natural disaster.
"Ha ha whoooooooooops."—Someone who barely escaped a bear in a nature preserve.
I am no Professor of Nature at Science University, but I believe there are a few things which are both: 1. Natural; and 2. Potentially bad for you.
We should list ALL OF THEM in comments, in case Dame Paltrow happens to stop by. I will start: Meteors! Brown Recluse Spiders! Nut allergies! Cholera! Rock slides! Aging! Raw pork!
YOUR TURN.
[H/T to Shaker Emmell.]
Transcriptioning Help
To anyone interested in helping me with the transcriptioning of the Wendy Davis filibuster:
1. First, THANK YOU. OMG THANK YOU.
2. Please email me at anamardoll@gmail.com so I'll be able to contact you with a list of links.
3. Sometime, probably Thursday, I will split the video that I have (I have the first 7 hours of the filibuster; I'll have to manually record the rest) into approximately 15 minute segments based on the content. I'll load the material onto SugarSync for direct download and YouTube for people who can't download. I'll send out an email (with BCC, so that addresses aren't shared with anyone but me) to everyone and we can dole out who transcripts what. This will probably be done in batches of work (i.e., like 10 videos uploaded to YouTube at a time) as opposed to the whole thing at once.
4. Any help is appreciated. I have no training as a transcriptionist and am just listening for 5-8 words, pausing, typing, playing, listening to 5-8 words, pausing, typing, playing, etc., so if you think you aren't qualified you probably are! I'll also re-read everything before posting, so don't worry too terribly much that you'll make a mistake. Reading a transcript is still so much faster than writing one from scratch.
5. I do ask that transcripts which are provided be sent to me with an explicit statement that no rights for your work are reserved. I ask this because I'd like to compile all these into a single document and make it available for download at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. for government students to read. Currently these stores have limitations against "always free" works because they want to make sales to offset bandwidth and delivery costs.
Which means that I would theoretically be making some small profit from 99 cent purchases, and I can't do that unless I own rights to the material (either because I did the work myself or someone else gave it to me without rights reserved). I will credit individual transcriptionists if consent is given for that (otherwise the credit will go to anonymous). I completely understand if this isn't okay with someone, but wanted to let everyone know in advance.
I think that's everything. I'm live-tweeting the House committee meeting, so I'm booked up for today, but your email will go to a velvet-lined box in my inbox. Thank you.
ALSO! Please be aware of Jessica Luther's post about how to help today: Call Your Texas State Legislators NOW (and other things you can do, even if not a Texan). There's lots of good points in there. And, if you can, call EVEN IF your representative is anti-choice, like Nelson or Laubenberg. It's still important to let them know that voters CARE.
