TomCat

Bye Bye Buffer Zone

Posted by TomCat at 12:24 am Politics, Religion

Jun 282014

Yesterday the Supreme Court handed down a rather surprising decision, disallowing the eight foot buffer zone around the entrances to Massachusetts women’s health centers that perform abortions. I understand that it may well be Constitutionally correct, but from a practical point of view the decision could have tragic ramifications. I do not understand why a much larger exclusion zone that protects the four Justices of SCOTUS and the five Injustices of SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD) is not also unconstitutional. The plaintiff claimed that they just wanted to have “quiet conversations” with their neighbors and fellow citizens.

The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that barred protests, counseling and other speech near abortion clinics.

“A painted line on the sidewalk is easy to enforce, but the prime objective of the First Amendment is not efficiency,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a majority opinion that was joined by the court’s four-member liberal wing.

The law, enacted in 2007, created 35-foot buffer zones around entrances to abortion clinics. State officials said the law was a response to a history of harassment and violence at abortion clinics in Massachusetts, including a shooting rampage at two facilities in 1994.

The Massachusetts law was challenged on First Amendment grounds by opponents of abortion who said they sought to have quiet conversations with women entering clinics to tell them about alternatives. “Petitioners are not protesters,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote.

The court was unanimous about the bottom line but divided on the reasoning, with Chief Justice Roberts writing a narrow opinion. The law blocked too much speech, he said, “sweeping in innocent individuals.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

I can understand their point that it is not Constitutional to exclude people with no intent to violate the women’s rights and innocent passers by, who may be transiting the zone for reasons that have nothing to do with the clinic. Of course the problem, is that Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians are fanatical believers in a right to life that begins at conception and ends at birth. They do not believe that abortion providers and others who assist women to exercise their rights have the right to life. We know this, because they have murdered several. If you believe that the extent of their “speech” will be those “quiet conversations”, see me about the wonderful bridge I am selling. The one plus is that the decision leaves the door open to similar legislation that does not “block too much speech”.

The best coverage I have seen on this subject is from Rachel Maddow. Sadly I cannot take credit for the added portrayal of Scalia at the beginning.

That covers it well. I do not have a quick solution for this dilemma, but I do have an idea. Someone needs to file a suit claiming that the exclusion zone around the Supreme Court violates the Consxtitution, because it “blocks too much speech” and is “sweeping in innocent individuals”. Then we can see if the Justices and the Injustices think they should get to have “quiet conversations” with crazed wing-nuts with guns.

Open Thread–6/28/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:24 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jun 282014

Day 68. I’m writing for tomorrow and am feeling somewhat better, having eaten binding foods. But I’m still drained and thoroughly disappointed over missing the volunteer time with my guys. Happy first day od Ramadan to our Muslim friends.

0628Ramadan

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:47 (average 4:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker:

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) said today that he plans to sue President Obama for violating the United States Constitution with what Boehner called “his outrageous practice of accomplishing things.”

“The United States Constitution guarantees the American people that its government will be free from activity,” Boehner told reporters. “Again and again, President Obama has broken that sacred trust.”

Ripping the President for his “willful insistence on doing things,” Speaker Boehner said that his lawsuit was intended “to restore the inaction and inertia that have been the hallmarks of our democracy.”

The Speaker acknowledged that suing the President was an extreme measure, but added, “I take this step only after exhausting every other method to prevent him from getting anything done.”

LOL Andy!! I think that Agent Orange is just trying to find a time-wasting show-and-tell for his runaway Baggers that stops short of impeaching Obama, which Boehner knows would pull lazy lefty voters out of their lethargy. He doesn’t care how many taxpayer dollars it wastes.

From Daily Kos: I have often wondered where would be a good place for my young son to go one day to ride out catastrophic climate-changed earth. It is sounding more and more like there’s nowhere to go that is best suited to survive the coming catastrophe.

If climate change continues on its current trajectory, the report concluded, Midwesterners could see deadly heat-and-humidity pairings (which meteorologists call "wet-bulb temperature") two days every year by later this century.

"It will be functionally impossible to be outside, including for things like construction work and farming, as well as recreation," said climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University.

When the time comes, unless we can prevent it, we must remember to call those days Republican days.

From Media Matters: From the June 26 edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered:

Personally, I have never been a soccer fan, and given the abuses centered around the World Wup, I’m not inclined to become one. It would be different, if I had a personal history with the sport, but in my life, I have scored a total of one goal, and that was over fifty years ago. However, only the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, could find a way to use America’s success as a reason to trash Obama.

Cartoon:

0628Cartoon

Personal Update–6/27/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 272014

Day 67. Sometimes the nest laid plans of mice and men, and even cats, fall by the wayside. I never made it to prison. I woke up with a severe case of Republicosis, and discovered that I am out of antidiarrheal meds. I spent the day tethered to the throne and am imitating Eveready. Sick smile

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:21 (average 4:44). To do it click here. How did you do?

0627TCRepublicosis

More Republican War on Voting Rights

Posted by TomCat at 12:08 am Politics

Jun 262014

There is no greater foundation for democratic republic than the right of all members of that republic to participate in choosing their representatives at the polls, that is, to exercise their right to vote. That foundation remains under attack by the Republican Party, who are trying to establish fascist one-party rule, a Republican totalitarian plutocracy in which elections exist only for show. They would prevent all who might vote against them from voting. It has become quite widespread.

According to a new report by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, “[n]ew voting restrictions developed since 2010 are slated to be in place in 22 states this November.”

The Republican Party have rolled back voting with a whole range of tactics from requiring identification to shortening the time to vote. Many of these states were long covered by the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965 to remedy 100 years of states denying the right to vote to people of color.

Limiting the franchise, limiting the right to vote is the most fundamental obstruction of democracy and certainly one of the most un-American things imaginable.

But not the only. This Supreme Court has allowed states to disenfranchise their own people, has equated money to free speech and corporations to people, and opened up the floodgates to unmitigated big money.

All three of these democratic assaults were committed by this John Roberts Supreme Court… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Click through for more, please.

Unless you want to live in the functional equivalent of the Fifth Reich, we must everything we can to vote and to help those, who Republicans are trying to disenfranchise, vote. Then we must keep it up until the Fascist Five Injustices of SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD) have been replaced through retirement or impeachment.

Corporations are NOT people!

Money is NOT speech!

VOTE!!!

Open Thread – 6/26/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Jun 262014

Day 66. I’m writing for tomorrow and waiting for Mary from Store to Door to arrive with my groceries. She has an excellent sense of humor, a giving heart, and a genuine dislike of TEAbuggery. The world needs more like her. Tomorrow is a prison volunteer day, a general meeting with around 100 of my guys. I shall return home late, having missed a sleep cycle, so I may have little or nothing for Friday and/or Saturday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 6:53 (average 7:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the importance of forming a unity government in Iraq but refused to commit to a timetable for creating one in the United States.

The sensitive topic of a unity government for the United States came at the end of a thirty-minute meeting, during which Secretary Kerry lectured the Iraqi Prime Minister about the value of a government “where people of different parties put aside their differences, make meaningful compromises, and work together for the good of the nation.”

Taking this in, al-Maliki agreed that it was an excellent idea and politely asked Secretary Kerry if the United States had ever considered forming such a government.

According to observers, Kerry appeared to be caught off guard by this question and blurted out,”You first.”

Andy outdid himself this time.

From Raw Story: A Republican candidate seeking to represent Georgia’s 10th U.S. House district believes that the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty does not apply to followers of Islam.

“Although Islam has a religious component, it is much more than a simple religious ideology,” Rev. Jody Hice wrote in his 2012 book It’s Now Or Never, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It is a complete geo-political structure and, as such, does not deserve First Amendment protection.”

The House candidate also believes the Muslim Brotherhood is secretly infiltrating the United States in a plot to impose Sharia law on the entire country, a conspiracy theory he shares with Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

Hice tied Mike Collins in the Georgia Republican primary in May, with each candidate getting about 34 percent of the vote. The winner of the July 22 runoff election will face Democrat Ken Dious in November.

The Constitution does guarantee an idiot's right to believe in Republican Supply-side pseud0-Christianity, but it expressly forbids such goose-stepping fools, like Hice, from using government to impose it on others, or prevent anyone else from exercising their own faith.

From Crooks and Liars: As Faux "news" was waiting for the election results in Mississippi to come in, Sean Hannity and his producers decided that there was no one more qualified to weigh in on the recent primary races and the future of the Republican party than the half-term Quitta' from Wasilla, or as Charlie Pierce calls her, Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods, Sarah Palin.

Of course the lesson Palin took from the Cantor loss, before hearing the results of the Cochran race, is the the Republicans aren't quite extreme enough, and they'd better start acting like "real" Republicans or she's going to threaten to leave the party.

Triple Barf Bag Alert!!: 5+ minutes of Bloody Bullseye Barbie!

If Drill Baby Dingbat and the InsaniTEA wing leave the Republican Party and form their own party, that would be wonderful for America, but I’m not betting on it.

Cartoon:

0626Cartoon

And the Baggers are MA-A-A-A-A-AD!! Black Sheep

Mississippi Runoff

Posted by TomCat at 12:03 am Politics

Jun 252014

The Republican primary race in Mississippi hast to be one of the weirdest I can remember. Despite criminal involvement in a scheme to videotape the incumbents wife in a nursing home, and an attempt to steal votes, when his staffers found themselves locked in the courthouse, the Tea Bagger challenger, Chris McDaniel is the favorite. The incumbent is so desperate he wants black Democrats to vote in the Republican runoff election. Now the Tea Bagger is calling in poll watchers to intimidate the black people, but as Rachel Maddow will show, the election could come down to animal passion.

The U.S. Justice Department says it’s keeping a close eye on a plan by conservatives to send poll-watchers to Mississippi for the state’s U.S. Senate race Tuesday—a “voter integrity” project that’s sparking fears of intimidation and racial profiling. And now, Mississippi’s attorney general and secretary of state are chiming in, too.

“The department is aware of concerns about voter intimidation and is monitoring the situation,” a Justice Department spokesperson told msnbc. “Voters that experience problems are encouraged to call 1-800-253-3931.”

An array of conservative groups supporting Chris McDaniel, including the Senate Conservatives Fund, the Tea Party Patriots, and True the Vote have said they’re sending poll-watchers to the state amid reports [Breitfart delinked] that some Mississippi Democratic operatives are working to turn out black Democrats in support of McDaniel’s opponent, Sen. Thad Cochran. The poll-watching effort is being organized in part by Christian Adams, a former Bush Justice Department lawyer who has long sought to publicize claims of voter fraud and illegal voting…

Inserted from <MSNBC>

Mississippi poll watchers have a history of wearing sheets and carrying guns.

Rachel Maddow discussed the race, and focused on animal magnetism.

From the laughter Cochran received, it’s clear that those Republicans knew exactly what he was talking about. Given this sexual proclivity of these Republican politicians, sheeple should be getting very nervous long about now. Surprised smile I guess Republican romance is BA-A-A-A-A-AD!!

Late Update: Cochran won. The sheep are thrilled!

Jerry Critter Has a BIG Mouth! ;-)

Posted by TomCat at 12:02 am Blog News, Politics

Jun 252014

54-JerryCritter

Congrats to Jerry Critter for posting the 54,000th comment here at Politics Plus. This is his fourth award. The last was the last of the every 500 awards that he won in June, 2011. He used to visit, because he is addicted to the Jig Zone Puzzles in our Open Thread. He still mutters “My Precious”, while doing them. Now he is fully engaged in all aspects of this site, and is one of the few people who has been here since before we converted to WordPress from Blogger, masking him a friend of many years standing. He remains one of our most prolific commentators, and writes an excellent blog of his own. You can find him at Critter’s Crap. Please join me in thanking him.

Open Thread–6/25/2014

Posted by TomCat at 12:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 252014

Day 85. I’m writing for tomorrow and trying to get some extra rest, because Thursday is a a prison volunteer day, and tomorrow is a grocery delivery day. I’m still sore all over from all the cleaning.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren was interviewed by Chris Matthews this past Thursday, and after watching that interview, one must admit this woman has the fire in her belly to really get things done. Her populist message sounds fresh, her delivery indicates persistence and she seems to have the perseverance of President Obama presented in a much less compromising and Ivy League manner.

As Hillary Clinton’s numbers slip off the pedestal, Elizabeth Warren’s numbers are sure to climb, given her obvious passion. Whether she runs for president or not no longer seems important: Her message and delivery will force Hillary Clinton and any potential Democratic primary challengers to stay with a middle-class centric message. The attempt at timid triangulation in the hopes that a perceived Republican lite tilt will bring a sect of the population tolerant of the controlling elite will be mitigated.

Chris Matthews raised many good middle-class points in his interview. He shares the frustration of every liberal: Why isn’t more being done? Why aren’t we building things? Why don’t we have the smell of pouring cement in a nation where the infrastructure is crumbling? Where is the hope for the unemployed and underemployed white guy in Scranton and the prospect of a job for that black kid wanting to work? Where is equal access to health care and education that form the platform from which upward mobility is launched? Where are research programs that ensure there is a pipeline of projects to feed an economy with ideas and prospects for progress and employment?

Elizabeth Warren by ewillies

Warren’s answer to those questions is crystal clear. Most Democrats are trying to do those very things. Republicans have just enough power to prevent it. She should add that frustrated lefties who vote for third party candidates, who cannot win, are blindly and unintentionally helping Republicans keep Democrats from passing such measures.

Also from Daily Kos: Last nigh t[Friday], Bill Maher had a New Rule on how we simply cannot change Iraq.

All I have to add is laughter.

From NY Times: Tom Tancredo, the firebrand former congressman, Harley-Davidson biker and perennial headache for Colorado’s Republican leaders, was taking fire from all sides last week in the final days of his primary campaign for governor. His rivals were slamming him on the airwaves. Moderate Republicans were warning that Mr. Tancredo’s name on the ballot could doom their chances in crucial races across this swing state.

My hopes are not high, but I’d love to see that damn racist win this one and become a turnout machined for Colorado Democrats in November.

Cartoon:

0625Cartoon

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