This is why we vote Democratic

The legal business that repug Matt Bevin spent four years trying - illegally and unconstitutionally - to destroy is free to provide medical services to women, thanks to our new Democratic governor.

Don't you ever try to tell me that there's no difference between the parties.

From the Courier:

Planned Parenthood now has permission to provide abortions at its clinic in downtown Louisville, making it the second facility in Kentucky to offer the procedure at a time when providers in some states are closing clinics under pressure from anti-abortion laws.

The decision by the administration of Gov. Andy Beshear was hailed by Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky as a victory for women’s health and reproductive rights, saying the decision allows it to provide “­a full range of reproductive health care.”

“This week, Kentucky went from one abortion provider to two, which is a significant win for reproductive health care in the state,” said Chris Charbonneau, Planned Parenthood’s CEO for Kentucky and Indiana. “All people in Kentucky deserve to make their own pregnancy decisions and to have access to safe and legal abortion.”

But the decision is sure to infuriate abortion opponents, including Republicans in the legislature who have pushed through more than half a dozen bills to limit or ban abortion in the past three years, though some have been blocked by court challenges.

Just this week, Kentucky abortion opponents rallied outside a federal courthouse in Cincinnati, where judges with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on whether a 2018 Kentucky law to restrict abortions is constitutional.

SNIP

The decision to grant the approval follows a four-year fight by Planned Parenthood with former Gov. Matt Bevin, an anti-abortion Republican whose administration had twice denied it a license to provide abortions.

But in January, the administration of Beshear — a Democrat who supports the right to abortion — rescinded that denial and announced that officials would allow Planned Parenthood to pursue approval. Beshear took office Dec. 10.

From the Horse's Mouth

Wonkette Commenter Kooolest G:

as a 48 year old white non college straight man, I can tell you, DON'T TRY TO CATER TO ME!!!!!!!!!! every time you try to reach out to 1 moderate old white man, you tell 3 college kids that their issues don't matter to the democratic party and there's no sense in voting cause both parties are the same old shit. also as a middle aged uneducated white man I can tell you WE NEVER ADMIT WE'RE WRONG!!!!!!! so even if there's a shadow of doubt that trump might have conned us, we'll admit and vote against him right after we stop and ask somebody for directions. which means never.

Just Keep Saying It: Ditch Mitch, Ditch Mitch, Ditch Mitch ....

Jesus Fucking Christ, Marine!  Stop answering gotcha questions.  Stop expecting reporters to be fair to you.  Stop saying a single fucking word that is not "Ditch Mitch."

Columnists will rip you new ones every day for it, and the repugs and deplorables who will never, ever vote for you or any other Democratic candidate will point and laugh, but the Democratic voters who don't see any reason to get up and vote for a repug-lite DNC shill will perk up their ears at the words they have been dying to hear from a candidate: "Ditch Mitch."  They will reward you with their long-withheld votes.

Lt. Col. McGrath, what do you think about the migrant situation on the border?

I think it won't get fixed until we defeat Mitch McConnell.

What do you think about impeaching Donald Trump?

I think we have to defeat Mitch McConnell.

The Green New Deal?

Defeat Mitch McConnell

Jobs?

Defeat Mitch McConnell

Abortion?

Defeat Mitch McConnell

Iran?

Defeat Mitch McConnell. Ditch Mitch, Ditch Mitch, Ditch Mitch ....

Mad Dogs

Charlie Pierce:

If a Democrat is elected in 2020, that person should use all the powers of the office to demonstrate once and for all that the prion disease afflicting the Republicans now has reached terminal stage and that the GOP is a mad dog, snapping at phantoms in midair, and endangering the public health and welfare. Mitch McConnell should be made an object of anger and ridicule, and that work should come from the top. The mad dog is at the door.

Impeach the Motherfucker; Fuck the Pearl-Clutchers

Erick Loomis at LGM:

We need more Rashida Tlaibs in Congress. Impeach the Motherfucker should be a central Democratic Party slogan. Let the pearl-clutchers cry in a corner. The future is not with them.

And from Stephen Robinson at Wonkette:

It's possible that in the future, historians won't even bother referring to the 45th president by his birth name but will just call him "that motherfucker."

No More White Guys, No Matter How Great. Just No.

The Democratic Party cannot win without the votes of black women.  Every national Democratic victory since 2006 has been driven by the votes of black women. And now that there are so many excellent female and non-white options, black women are not going to turn out for yet another white guy,  Not Beto, not Bernie, not Biden.  

 

And not Jay Inslee, as intriguing as Digby finds him:

I've been asking people what they think about Washington Governor Jay Inslee for president for the last two years and mostly they say, "who?" Personally, I think that's a selling point. A well-known national profile isn't always such a good thing in presidential politics. (Ask Hillary Clinton ...)

I've followed his career with interest and people I know from the state admire his leadership. So, I'm glad to see that he's decided to enter the presidential fray and he's doing it in an interesting and important way:

What if a meteor were hurtling toward the Earth, about to kill millions and reshape life on the planet as we know it?

And what if the president, instead of doing anything to help, made it worse in just about every way, and called it a hoax (and any solutions a scam) instead of the very real, very clear disaster taking shape?

And what if all the Democrats running to beat him in the next election went on and on about how concerned they were and how it’s our most pressing problem—but none had ever done much more than talk about the problem, and for the most part only started doing that in just the past few years?

That’s where Jay Inslee thinks America is when it comes to climate change. And that’s why he’s going to run for president. The question is whether he can convince anyone else that he’s a big-enough player to be a serious candidate.

Vote Against Fascism

Paul Campos at LGM:

(1) Donald Trump is a fascist.  Whatever the “fascist minimum” may be, he’s now exceeded it as surely as Mike Trout has already exceeded the Hall of Fame performance minimum (Trump and Trout have both constructed first ballot resumes in record time.)

(2) The Republican party is now controlled in every relevant respect by Donald Trump, who is a fascist.  This makes the Republican party Donald Trump’s party, which makes it the party of fascism.

(3) Voting for a Republican candidate for anything is voting for fascism. It’s not “arguably analogous to voting for fascism,” or “uncomfortably close to giving support to fascism,” or “potentially helping the advancement of American fascism.” It’s voting for fascism.

(4) Voting for Democrats is voting against fascism.  You don’t have to like your local Democrat, or even any Democrats.  You just have to hate them less than you hate fascism. Vote against fascism by voting for Democrats.

(5) If you’re even thinking about voting for a third party candidate you need to think again.  A vote for a third party candidate is, objectively, a vote that is not against fascism. A vote not against fascism is, functionally, a vote for fascism.  Don’t vote for fascism.

The Republican Party IS the problem

And until we defeat it into the ground - with votes! - it will get exponentially worse and harder to solve.

Steve M:

Outside of deeply progressive media, our pols and PACs never simply say simply that the Republican Party is the problem. And we don't link right-wing extremism to the GOP -- Republicans now are pounding the message that Antifa equals the Democrats, even though Antifa despises both major parties, whereas Democrats aren't even running ads linking the pro-violence Gavin McInnes and his Proud Boys to the GOP, despite the fact that this unabashed advocate of violence was invited to deliver a talk at a Republican club, where he valorized a right-wing political assassin from Japan, after which his followers rioted in the streets.

It's the Republican Party, stupid. Democrats will struggle to gain power until they make this their explicit message.

Here's Your Winning Democratic Speech Calling Out Repug Hate, Lying, Corruption

Courtesy of Kevin Drum.  Send it everywhere.

The entire Republican Party is dedicated to lying all the time. Climate change is a hoax. Sexual assault victims are making stuff up. Tax cuts are for the middle class. Heh. That’s because the closest they ever come to a real middle class voter is some Wall Street broker making a million dollars a year. And now they’re lying about terrorists marching their way up through Mexico to kill us all. They’re all just lies and everyone knows it. The Republican Party has turned into the party of lies.

There used to be at least a few Republicans compassionate enough to feel bad about ripping immigrant children from their mothers. Not anymore. The ugliest, meanest parts of the Republican Party love it when Jeff Sessions takes those babies away. It gets big cheers at all those creepy rallies that Donald Trump puts on for Fox News. The Republican Party has turned into the party of hate.

Democrats believe in the rule of law. Donald Trump believes the attorney general’s job is to help his friends and punish his enemies. And what do Republicans think of this? Well, the ones in Congress sure don’t seem to have any problem with it. The Republican Party has turned into the party of corruption.

13 Days

Wisdom from Zandar:

The rest of us have to show up and vote, because there's about a 99% chance guys like Talmadge Strickland will show up and vote.  If we don't, they win every time.  And there's every reason to believe that Americans have been so burnt out by the Trump regime that they just don't see the need to vote, maybe ever and have simply tuned everything out.

So no, I don't buy the big turnout numbers at all.  Like I said a month ago, I'll be shocked if total turnout is above 40%.

But we have to vote or it really won't matter, ever again.

I don't care how many double-digit leads Democratic candidates have in the polls.  Every race is going to be dead close because of repug fuckery.  

Of course repugs are cheating everywhere.  They know that if everybody votes, Democrats win.  They will stop at nothing to prevent Democratic voters from getting to the polls.

The only way we can beat them now is just by overwhelming the polls with every single Democratic, Democratic-leaning, Democratic-curious and Democratic-lapsed voter out there. 

Camping Overnight in Line: Not for Ticket, But to VOTE

C'mon, Kentucky: you gonna let FLORIDA show you up like that?


And if you miss voting because you didn't get a flu shot and are too sick to get to the polls Nov. 6, Wonkette's own Carlos Sagan will come to your house and slap you with an octopus.

15 Days, Bitches!

17 Days

Andrew Gillum ✔ @AndrewGillum

Governor candidate, FL 

 

When they go low, we go vote.

18 days to #BringItHome.

1:05 PM - Oct 19, 2018

Here's the Message

From Digby:

Make Karma a Real Bitch for Repugs

We tried "going high," and it got us a Supreme Court that is going to reverse not just the 20th century, but the entire Enlightenment.

This time, no "looking forward" until we have tracked down every motherfucking traitor and thrown them in Guantanamo.

This time, no more "working across the aisle" until we have eliminated every illegal path to power for the GOP. 

This time, no more pretending voters will vote Democratic if we just act repug enough.

David Atkins:

Bipartisanship is dead.

Susan Collins dealt the coup de grace, armed with a dishonest and partisan speech capping a norm-destroying extremist far-right conquest of the Supreme Court. And upon regaining power in Washington, Democrats will need to behave accordingly.

SNIP

Despite a recent upsurge for Republicans, Democrats are still likely to win the House in November 2018. And it’s a good bet that Democrats will ride a wave of electoral fury compounded by the investigative findings of Mueller’s probe and likely House investigations into a White House victory and a solid majority in the Senate.

If and when that happens, there will be a temptation to attempt to restore a sense of bipartisan normalcy. But that would be a mistake. Republicans, having made their bed as an anti-normative, anti-democratic party of wealthy white male privilege enforced by anti-majoritarian structural advantage seeking, will not become responsible minority governing partners. And Democrats should not treat them as such.

Instead, Democrats will need to embrace their own inner Mitch McConnell. Their leaders will be tempted to immediately move to tackle the enormous legislative priorities their Republican opponents sabotaged or neglected, from climate change to healthcare to economic policy. But it will be just as important to secure structural initiatives that will make it difficult for Republicans to continue thwarting the will of an increasingly progressive majority. That is precisely what McConnell would do if a man of his instincts and temperament were serving the public welfare and society’s marginalized, rather than corporations, the wealthy and the privileged.

SNIP

It is the instinct of many liberals to shy away from such moves as overly partisan or process-focused. But they are essential if democracy is to survive in the face of an opposition determined to hold onto anti-majoritarian power at all costs through illegitimate and socially destructive means.

We start by voting the mother fuckers OUT.  29 Days.  VOTE.

A Democratic House Can Stop Rapey McLiarface

Paul Campos at LGM:

Speaking of questions, if Kavanaugh is confirmed and Democrats take the House, he needs to be impeached immediately.  Of course he won’t be removed by a Senate vote, but I more than suspect that an actual investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, by people with subpoena power, will uncover enough dirt to at a minimum delegitimize him even further, and it’s certainly within the realm of possibility that the revelations could be ugly enough to force him to resign.  In particular, I’m pretty confident that Kavanaugh’s finances are not going to withstand any serious scrutiny. 

This guy is really dirty.  Whether or not he’s confirmed in the next few days, the battle against him needs to continue.

VOTE!  Vote early, vote often.  Take your family, take your friends, take your neighbors, take your dogs.

32 Days.

Run on This

33 Days.  Do you know what your Democratic candidates are saying?

Down with Tyranny:

GOP Delenda Est

The entire GOP and all of its donors, voters, consultants, officials appointed and elected are now a clear and present danger to the national security. It has to be stopped, and stopped by overwhelming and repeated electoral defeat.

 

This is a call to democratic and Democratic arms: voting repugs out of office and out of public life is a patriotic duty.

Erik Loomis:

In fact, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh quickly, then Roberts fast-tracks Roe repeal and assigns the decision to Kavanaugh, just to give a big “fuck you” to Democrats. That sentiment is after all the primary motivating factor for Republicans, other than giving money to the rich.

This is a revolting party, a threat to the republic, one openly flirting with fascism. When Graham threatens that Republicans will simply make up sexual assault claims to destroy future Democratic court nominees, that is fascism. This is a party that combines racism, misogyny, and crushing the poor as its core features. There is no redemption here. We must destroy the Republican Party, making it so toxic that it cannot win elections and is forced to reconstitute itself as something less extreme. That begins in November, but that’s only a first step. Defeating Donald Trump in 2020 is only a second step. In 2009, way too many liberals sat back and thought Barack Obama would take care of their problems. We saw how that turned out in 2010 and after. To save this nation from the Republican menace, we have to continue our onslaught against them under the next president, both in terms of passing policies and confirming judges that move justice forward, but also in terms of candidate recruitment, grassroots activism, and everything else that fuels our wins now. The nation’s future relies on it.

And Kevin Drum

The problem here is not that Republicans were grandstanding over imagined liberal schemes to destroy anyone and anything in pursuit of their poisonous schemes to crush everything good about America. The problem is that most of it wasn’t grandstanding. They believe this deeply and angrily. And it explains the lengths Republicans are willing to go to these days—even to the appalling extent of accepting a cretin like Donald Trump as a party leader. If you believe that your political opposites aren’t just opponents, but literally enemies of the country, then of course you’ll do almost anything to stop them. I would too if that’s what I thought.

There are some liberals who do think that—and more and more of them since Donald Trump was elected. But it’s still a relatively small part of the progressive movement. In the conservative movement it’s an animating principle. This is why it so desperately needs to be stopped—not by destroying Republicans, but by voting them out of office. We simply can’t afford to have a major party run for the benefit of fearful whites who are dedicated to a scorched-earth belief that liberals are betraying the nation. It has to end, and Republicans themselves are ultimately the only ones who can end it. We need a real conservative party again.

37 Days

Dok Zoom at Wonkette:

Remember that the good guys can win. We're them. We have to make it happen.

Remember Molly Ivins, who would tell you to have a good cry and then GET MAD AND PUT YOUR ANGER TO WORK:

So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.

November 6 is 37 days away. Let's get to work.

Don't assume everyone you know is registered or plans to vote.  Next Friday is Kentucky's deadline to register. Ask, and if they say no, drag them down to the County Clerk and register them.  Make sure they know where their polling place is, and they have a ride if they need one.

And fight repug/russian voting fuckery!  Check with your county clerk and make sure you are still registered and that your polling place is still where you think it is.

Bevin Running for Re-Electio; Dems Delirious With Joy

In 2007, repug guv Ernie Fletcher ran for reelection after spending 3-1/2 years illegally firing the  state employees who in 2003 had handed him the first repug guv victory in 36 years.

That November, those state employees busted his ass and elected Democrat Steve Beshear in a landslide.

But Ernie Fletcher never accused Kentucky teachers of enabling the sexual molestation of children.  Ernie Fletcher never called state employees stupid for exposing the evil corruption of his pension DEform plans.  Ernie Fletcher never signed legislation stripping teachers and other state employees of state pensions.

Compared to the epic loss facing Gov. I Got Mine Fuck You next year, Ernie Fletcher is going to look like a winner.

From the Courier: 

Gov. Matt Bevin surprised a gathering of Kentucky Republicans on Saturday night and announced he will be seeking re-election as governor in 2019.

At the very end of his remarks as the final speaker at the GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, Bevin said there was one matter he wanted to clear up.

“You bet I’m running again, you bet I'm running again, seriously," Bevin said.

The declaration was met with a standing ovation from the approximately 500 Republicans who packed the Hilton hotel in downtown Lexington for the dinner.

Just as Beshear's election in 2007 foreshadowed Barack Obama's victory in a year later, Kentucky's new Democratic governor (very likely another Beshear) in 2019 is going to foreshadow the epic 2020 electoral overthrow of Cheeto Twitler.

ohboyohboyohboy is this going to be good.

Dem Compromisers Are Behind the Times

Stop listening to them, and stop supporting the candidates they push forward.  Doing so is an invitation to annihilation.

Erik Loomis at LGM:

When you are facing fascists, there is no room for compromise. But for Johnson–and for so many Clinton and Obama-era officials–this is not something that computes. For them, compromising with reasonable Republicans and shunning the left is always the right answer.

These are people are now behind the times. There is no room for old-school centrist Democrats in setting the policy agenda anymore. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. That doesn’t mean a primary challenge to Tammy Duckworth is in order or anything–she did her centrist party mission by dismissing AOC but she’s been a perfectly fine vote so far. She will learn in the next 5 years.

The only road ahead for the Democrats is as an anti-fascist party with a bold agenda that combines racial, economic, and gendered justice. For those who fret about that, understand that actual fascism is descending upon America, that the Supreme Court is in the first of a multi-year process that will likely repeal a century of progressive law, and that the future of democracy in this nation is in doubt. There is no room for mealy-mouthed DLC compromise any longer, if there ever really was. It makes about as much sense today as centrist politics did as the fascists took power in Europe.

In the immortal words of Jim Hightower, the only things in the middle of the road are yellow lines and dead armadillos