Friday Open Thread [1.24.14]
It’s been a bad week for conservatives and indictments and subpoenas. Violent Conservative Dinesh D’Souza has been indicted for campaign finance fraud. He allegedly funnelled contributions to Wendy Long, the 2012 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat and then reimbursed the donors, which is illegal. Governor Christie’s campaign team has been subpoenaed. And former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife will be appearing in Court this morning after being indicted for fraud, corruption, making false statements and obstruction.
And now Mike Huckabee wants to talk about women and their reproductive choices again, despite all the evidence that Republican men have a very difficult time hiding their completely 1650’s attitude about women and their rights.
“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government, so be it. Let us take that discussion all across America.”
Uncle Sugar? Was that a brain fart on Uncle Sam? Or did he really mean to say Uncle Sugar? And Governor, I think you are projecting. We Democrats do not want to control the reproductive choices of women. You do. We want to offer them choices, and then have the women themselves make up their mind. That sounds an awful lot like freedom to me, doesn’t. You, on the other hand, would ban birth control, abortion and a whole host of family planning options that women currently enjoy access to. And you want to do this because you feel you have the right to make the decision for women on how, when and why they should start a family. And somehow you feel that this is not insulting to women, but offering them freedom and options is insulting.
“Yes, he was referring to Democrats. And yes, the quote — taken as a whole — doesn’t make a lot of sense. But if Republicans should have learned anything from the 2012 election cycle, it should be that GOP politicians, especially male ones, should tread very carefully when talking about birth control and women’s rights. Indeed, here is the recommendation from the RNC’s post-election autopsy last year: ‘When it comes to social issues, the party must in fact and deed be inclusive and welcoming. If we are not, we will limit our ability to attract young people and others, including many women, who agree with us on some but not all issues.’ And yet, the same RNC invited Huckabee to talk about this issue…”
The fascist Governor Huckabee is not alone. Here is Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM):
A Republican member of Congress says in a recently released book that a wife is to “voluntarily submit” to her husband, but that it doesn’t make her inferior to him.
Rep. Steve Pearce’s (R-N.M.) memoir, “Just Fly the Plane, Stupid!” was released last month. Its publication — and his acknowledgment in the book of the controversial nature of the submission debate — come as the Republican Party reevaluates how it talks to and about women. […]
“The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice,” he writes, citing the Bible. “The husband’s part is to show up during the times of deep stress, take the leadership role and be accountable for the outcome, blaming no one else.”
Yeah, I am going to let former President Jed Bartlett and former First Lady Abby Bartlett take this one:
The point of marriage, Representative KnuckleDragger er ah, Pearce, is for the husband and wife, or the husband and husband or the wife and wife to be subject to each other. To support each other. To sacrifice for each other. It is a mutual obligation, a mutual burden.
In keeping with the “wife must submit” and women are yucky premises of today’s GOP outreach headlines – I expect Bob McDonnell to throw his wife under the bus to try and evade jail-time.
“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government, so be it. Let us take that discussion all across America.”
Where do I begin?
If a woman’s health insurance covers all or a percentage of prescriptions, that should include prescriptions for birth control, regardless of Huckabee’s religious and sexual hang ups.
Does Huckabee think all women “cannot control their libido” or does he just apply that standard to women who use birth control? Does Huckabee know that the vast majority of times a man is involved in inseminating a woman, or does Huckabee think that all pregnancies are the immaculate conception? Does Huckabee extend his anger at men who pick up free condoms from health centers because I see no mention of the men who get free birth control from “Uncle Sugar.” Is Huckabee one of those “men” who thinks that only virgins can be raped (and even then they were probably asking for it)?
Finally, does Huckabee think that “taking that discussion all across America” is going to get women to join his cause, because as a woman, his entire attitude makes me want to kick him in the sack until he comes face to face with Jesus, who will undoubtedly kick him in the sack.
@J ” I expect Bob McDonnell to throw his wife under the bus…”
He already did.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gov-mcdonnell-rejected-plea-offer-to-face-one-felony-spare-wife-any-charges-avoid-trial/2014/01/23/96b53a62-83bd-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html
So much for operation reaching out to women, seems to be going the same way as Republican outreach to Latinos.
So, women can’t be trusted to be responsible for their own libidos?
Next women will be responsible for the libidos of the men
Then women will be wearing burquas……….
Yeah, the American Taliban ….we don’t need to be fighting the Taliban overseas, we got them right here in our own back yard.
Theocrats, and demagogues that the power of women absolutely scare the sh** out of them.
Well, that ok, just wait, by 2050 most of them will be dead and most Americans will be bi- something …….it’s just a matter of time.
But PLEASE, let’s try to keep the right-wing theocrats out of office. Government is GOVERNMENT- if I want morality, I’ll go to church.
“Uncle Sugar” is old slang for Uncle Sam amongst the military and federal employees. I used to hear it frequently when I lived and worked in the Washington, D. C., area many years ago.
A more interesting question for me is why Republicans, who are so fascinated with sticking things up women (Google “Governor Ultrasound”) are so frightened by the idea that women might actually receive pleasure from sexual congress. I am led to the conclusion that, when push comes to shove, they is skeered of wimmens.
Regarding Governor MacDonnell, a bus, and throwing his wife thereunder, my sneaking suspicion is that she richly deserved it. I am hardly a fan of Bob MacDonnell–he was a wingnut who knew how to behave in polite company–but this pretty much sums it up: http://xcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2014/01/gov-mcdonnell-done-in-by-wifes-greed.html
LOL … Nevertheless. McD accepted the shit and DID promote the business in return, so I’m not sure “It was my bitch wife’s fault!” is going to hold up.
The dynamics of a marriage can be quite complex. I speak from experience.
Do I hold McDonnell blameless? Hell, no. Do I agree with his political positions? Hell, no no no.
Do I have any respect for anyone with a degree from Pat Robertson’s Regents pseudo-University? Not in this lifetime.
Can I feel some sympathy for a man married to a–er–difficult spouse? Hell, yes. BTDT, and, in the process, did a lot of things I would not have done had I been on my own. My mistakes, though, were private mistakes and did not violate the public trust.
http://hamptonroads.com/2014/01/mcdonnells-grew-glamour-job