It’s been a hell of a shitshow for women’s rights. Planned Parenthood has been under attack for a long time, now, but these days, the attack has ramped up a thousand-fold.
There’s a few stories recently to pull it all together. Let’s start, of course, with Agent Orange…
Remember yesterday, when I pointed out that Jeff Sessions wants to make it even easier for the US police to enforce Patriarchal White Supremacy, and part of that was a 90-day delay on the hearing about how racist the Baltimore PD is?
Well… guess what?
A federal judge refused Wednesday to delay a hearing on a proposed agreement to overhaul the Baltimore Police Department, calling the Trump administration’s request a “burden and inconvenience.”
The Justice Department asked for a delay earlier this week, saying it needed time to review the plan and determine whether the proposal would hinder efforts to fight violent crime. U.S. District Judge James Bredar said the hearing would go on as scheduled Thursday.
Hundreds of people are expected to testify about the court-enforceable agreement and special security measures have been put into place, the judge said.
Pushing back the hearing at the last minute would be a “burden and inconvenience to the court, other parties, and most importantly, the public,” the judge said.
Fucking white people.
We’re always doing the most in a dash to be the absolute worst. Then we scream and cry when people call us out. For us white people today, there’s no such thing as racism. You literally cannot say or do anything that’s racist, today. But call a white person a racist, and oh. My. God.
You have ruined their precious day.
I just love your hair! My wanting to touch is a compliment! And I can see the pros of building a wall; I mean… those illegal immigrants, man! They broke the law by coming here! And anyways… we live in America! Why shouldn’t citizens here have to speak American? And while we’re on it… I totally agree that black lives matter, and all, but why couldn’t they just do what the cops said, instead of trying to resist? And I just want to wear that head dress and that kimono because they’re cute! I’m not appropriating any cultures! And why can’t I put that black shoe polish on my face? It’s just a costume!
Racist?
RACIST?!?
How dare you! Do I look racist to you?!? I’M A GOOD PERSON! IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT YOU’RE NOT WHITE! THAT’S JUST HOW IT HAPPENED! I STILL LIKE YOU!!!!
(Trigger Warning: Discussion of gang-rape and rape culture. I’ll put the story below the fold, but I have some angry words for this.)
This is why I scream about rape culture. This is why I don’t trust society. I have zero respect for anyone who denies that rape culture is a real thing. This is fucking proof. You have no fucking ground to claim that rape culture isn’t a thing when shit like this can happen.
Holy fucking shit…
No, this is not about something he said or did in the last day or two. Actually, it’s a blast from the past. And… I’m kinda late to blogging about it, too… but so what?
I’m watching the episode of TWiBPrime from February 22nd(?), and they talked about Bill Maher taking credit for Milo Fuckface-opoulos’s downfall after that clip of him defending pedophilia came out.
I love how Bill Maher felt very comfortable doing that, when he’s defended pedophilia in that past, as well…
Maher appears to see nothing wrong with a 14-year-old student’s love affair with a teacher 20 years older that produced two children.
“Basically, they’re having a family and they’re keeping the mother in jail because she won’t conform to the perfect American family,” Maher said to groans from the guests and audience.
“How can a woman rape a man?” Maher asked.
(Content note: the song I’m highlighting is a song written in response to the way society allows rapists to get away with their crimes.)
I’ve been a pretty big fan of First Aid Kit ever since I first saw the music video for their song Hard Believer, a pretty openly atheist song.
First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo consisting of sisters Klara (vocals/guitar) and Johanna Söderberg (vocals/keyboards/AutoHarp). They’ve actually been around for a long while, now, and are immensely talented.
On March 8th, International Women’s Day, they released a new song called You Are The Problem Here. This is how they described it:
“You Are the Problem Here” isn’t a typical First Aid Kit-song. It’s angry and direct. It’s a song written out of despair. After reading about yet another rape case where the perpetrator was handed a sentence which did not at all reflect the severity of his crime we felt upset and vengeful. We were, and are, sick of living in a society where the victims of rape are often blamed for the horrible thing that has been done to them. Our message is clear and should not be controversial in the least: if you rape, you are the problem. Alcohol is not the problem. So called “youth culture” is not the problem. You are. And you always have a choice.
On March 11th, they released the lyric video for the song:
On a whim, I decided to have a look through Congress’s repository of legislation currently being considered, and found the following bills. All have only been introduced, but I find them to be rather disturbing. Almost all of the ones I’m highlighting here have to do with abortion, and, of course, banning it. Considering the fact that they all include “exceptions”, I have a feeling that they won’t pass a conservative congress that wants to ban abortion outright, with no exceptions at all.
But they are worth highlighting, regardless…
From the New York Times…
The White House, concerned about the possible political repercussions of the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood, has proposed preserving federal payments to the group if it discontinues providing abortions.
The proposal, which was never made formally, has been rejected as an impossibility by officials at Planned Parenthood, which receives about $500 million annually in federal funding. That money helps pay for women’s health services the organization provides, not for abortion services.
(Content note: discussion of abuse)
I started listening to Citizen Radio back in, I think, 2012… or possibly earlier. It was the very first truly left-wing podcast I had ever heard. In fact, I think it was the first podcast I ever listened to at all.
At the time, I was still pretty right-wing/Libertarian in my thinking. I found them while looking for something that would challenge my thinking/worldview, and, as should be obvious by now, it worked. Through them I found Radio Dispatch, Democracy Now, Tell the Bartender (and through that podcast I found The Struggle Bus), and Best of the Left. Through Best of the Left I found This Week in Blackness Prime, and through them I found The Black Guy Who Tips, The Read, the Three Fifs podcast, Keith and the Girl, Applying it Liberally, the Friend Zone, and many more.
So I always rather loved Allison Kilkenny and Jamie Kilstein. I even saw Jamie live at one of his improv shows in NYC.
So maybe that’s why, despite the fact that, in hindsight, I really shouldn’t be surprised, this was like a punch in the gut to me:
Wow. I have no words. This is incredible. Thank you Caine for bringing this to all of our attentions…