women’s health

J.E.B.(!) Bush is a terrible candidate

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The scion of the “Bush Dynasty,” J.E.B.(!) Bush, no doubt assumed that the presidency was his inheritance — all he had to do was run for president. It turns out that J.E.B.(!) Bush is a terrible candidate, and his assumptions are wrong.

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After spending the better part of a week doubling down on his idiot brother’s unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq and illegal torture policy, J.E.B.(!) returned to offending key voting blocs.

In recent days this gaffe machine has again offended Latinos and women, two key voting blocs that no candidate can get elected president without. It’s as almost if J.E.B.(!) doesn’t want to be president and is subconsciously sabotaging his own campaign.

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Governor Ducey joins GOP witch hunt against Planned Parenthood

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Witch Hunt (wĭch′hŭnt′) n. An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.

handmaids-tale_0“Cathi’s Clown,” Governor Doug Ducey, beholden to Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy for his election, has decided to join the GOP witch hunt against Planned Parenthood over surreptitious videos made by fetus fetish Forced Birthers from the Center for Medical Progress discussing fetal tissue donations with Planned Parenthood representatives.

“Cathi’s Clown” has sicked his abortion cops, led by state Health Director Cara Christ and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, on Planned Parenthood. (h/t image: The Handmaid’s Tale). Howard Fischer reports, Abortion providers must account for tissue to state:

The state Department of Health Services late Friday filed emergency rules with the Secretary of State’s Office to mandate that each report of an abortion now contain “the final disposition” of such tissue from what the agency calls “unborn children.”

It also requires abortion providers to detail if they provide the tissue for another person, provide that person’s name and address, any compensation received and whether the patient provided “informed consent” for the transfer of the tissue.

The rules took effect with their filing. By law, state Health Director Cara Christ is entitled to enact emergency rules without prior notice and without public hearings.

Christ acted at the behest of Gov. Doug Ducey who was responding to undercover videos — none from Arizona — that purport to show Planned Parenthood representatives discussing the sale of such tissue. [They do not.] Sale for profit is illegal under federal law, though abortion providers can recover certain costs.

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Forget Trump, focus on the misogynist policies of the GOP contenders

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E.J. Montini of The Arizona Republic makes an excellent point in a recent opinion, The right-wing misogynist hypocrite who is NOT Trump:

Handmaid'sTaleIf the other candidates actually believe that sexism and misogyny is bad, why would any of them want to be in the same room as [Erick] Erickson?

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After all, if sexism and misogyny actually bothered them, they would have boycotted the event to which Trump was disinvited.

(Image of The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood)

Steve Benen makes a similar point in Jeb Bush flubs another test on women’s issues:

But Jeb Bush attended that gathering, stood alongside Erickson, and made a curious proclamation. Think Progress reported over the weekend:

Jeb Bush appeared at the RedState Gathering on Saturday and pronounced that Erickson was “on the side of women.”

Erickson tried to distinguish his own comments from Trump’s by claiming he has apologized. But he only apologized for one sexist remark — referring to the first day of the Democratic National Convention, which featured female speakers, as the “Vagina Monologues.”

So, let me get this straight. Looking back over the last few days, Jeb Bush said, “I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues.” The former governor then made accusations against Planned Parenthood that were demonstrably untrue. He then stood alongside a right-wing media personality with a lengthy record of misogyny and said, “You’re on the side of women.”

It’s almost as if the Florida Republican is trying to alienate voters.

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J.E.B.(!) fumblin’ bumblin’ stumblin’ on women’s health issues

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Before Keegan-Michael Key invented the comic character Luther, Obama’s Anger Translator, Obama’s predecessor George “W” Bush had a translator of sorts of his own, sometimes with unintended comic effect.

You see, “W” frequently spoke in unintelligible gibberish or said something that he was not supposed to say in the way it was perceived or understood by the media. Invariably, every time that “W” spoke, within an hour after he spoke the White House had to send out a translator to explain that the president misspoke, “what he really meant to say was ….”

This apparently is a Bush family trait. Recall Texas Governor Ann Richards’ famous 1988 DNC  National Convention speech about “W’s” daddy, George H. W. Bush: “Poor George, he can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

Already this year, J.E.B.(!) Bush has had to have his campaign spokesmen issue a correction on several occasions to explain “what he really meant to say was ….” See, Jeb(!) fumblin’ bumblin’ stumblin’ on the Iraq question; and Out of touch Plutocrat Jeb(!) says Americans need to work longer hours and be more productive, for example.

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J.E.B.(!) managed to put his silver foot in his mouth yet again this week over funding women’s health care while pandering to the GOP crazy base over Planned Parenthood.

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GOP threatens government shutdown over Confederate flags and Planned Parenthood, but will not consider a bill to restore the Voting Rights Act

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This coming Thursday, August 6, is the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in American history.

Voting-RightsWhen the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the coverage section, Section 4 of the Act, in 2013 in Shelby County v. Holder, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that Congress remained free to try to impose federal oversight on states where voting rights were at risk, but must do so based on contemporary data.

The Tea-Publican controlled Congress has failed to act on this suggestion from the Court, preferring the status quo of a gutted Voting Rights Act, followed by the largest number of voting restrictions enacted by GOP states since the Jim Crow era.

A bipartisan bill introduced by Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) in response to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down Section 4 of the law in 2013 was introduced in 2014, and again earlier this year (The Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill, known as the Voting Rights Amendment Act). Bill To Restore Voting Rights Act Gets Another Bipartisan Push. A separate Democratic bill has also been introduced. Democrats Unveil Bill To Restore Gutted Voting Rights Act (The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015, which goes beyond the version introduced in 2014).

Democrats have made a push for Congress to vote on these bills on the eve of the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, but Tea-Publican congressional leaders have refused.

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