Only One Thing Will Stop Bevin's War on Women

Everybody getting the fuck out November 5 to VOTE.

From the Courier:

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has denied an abortion license for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky.

The pro-choice group announced the decision in a release late Friday night.

“While Governor Bevin is once again on the wrong side of history, we will continue to fight this decision and the slew of unpopular decisions that take away reproductive health care and abortion access in the Commonwealth," PPINK CEO Chris Charbonneau said in a statement. "This decision shows the true motive, which is to purposefully place undue burdens on pregnant Kentuckians. Shame on Gov. Bevin and CHFS Secretary Adam Meier.”

The release went on to say that "Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) has once again weaponized a regulatory process to deny an abortion facility license to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK). ...

"... CHFS continues to refuse to comply with the court’s orders — its decision today is a blatant attempt to take the ongoing proceedings outside of the courts and bypass the authority of U.S. District Court Judge Greg Stivers. CHFS’s baseless denial of PPINK’s license will not stand."

Stivers previously ordered the state to expedite its review of the license Planned Parenthood was seeking to provide abortions at its Louisville clinic and report back to him no later than Aug.19 with a decision.

For now, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville remains as the only abortion clinic in Kentucky.

Never Forget: Repugs Win Only By Cheating

Whether by the subtle cheat of voter suppression through denying voting rights to felons, as here in Kentucky (how many McGrath supporters could not vote because of a long-ago one-ounce pot possession?), or poll taxes by another name (demanding street addresses from Native Americans in North Dakota) or the blatant daylight theft of votes we're seeing in Georgia and Florida, the story is the same:

Repugs cannot win a fair election.  They have to cheat. If they don't, they lose.

Every single repug "victory" is stolen.  Every single elected repug is illegitimate.

Remember, and pass it on.  They cheated.  They always cheat.

Because they know that when everybody votes, Democrats win.

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.

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

Embracing Malice

From LGM:

This is a great piece from Serwer about the significance of Trump’s mockery of Christine Blasey Ford:

The Trump era is such a whirlwind of cruelty that it can be hard to keep track.

SNIP

Once malice is embraced as a virtue, it is impossible to contain.

28 Days. VOTE.

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.

Make Every Repug Candidate Pay For Kavanaugh

Rapey McLiarFace is now the raping, lying face of the republican party.  His despicable performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the screaming hysteria of repug fanatics spouting ludicrous conspiracies have laid bare the true nature of their party: despising and degrading women in order to promote and protect privileged, rich, straight, conservative, freakazoid white men.

 

To repugs, either you are one of them, or you are scum to be assaulted and kicked into the trash.

 

Which side are you on?

 

29 Days.

VOTE

Bevin Charging Voters a Poll Tax

The traditional way to do this is to invite votes - withOUT the poll tax - and then donate HIS OWN MONEY according to the number of winning votes.

But Gov. I Got Mine Fuck You is making the voters pay for a charitable contribution for which Gov. I Never Pay My Own Way is going to take full credit.

Don't be fooled. It is a Total Scam.

From the press release:

Gov. Matt Bevin, who has been sporting a full beard in recent weeks, is encouraging Kentuckians to contribute to a very worthy cause while helping him answer a hairy question — “Should I shave or should I grow?”
 

Individuals are invited to visit http://governor.ky.gov/ShaveOrGrow and cast their vote to determine the fate of the Governor’s facial hair. Every dollar donated equals one vote, and these tax-deductible contributions will benefit First Lady Glenna Bevin’s foundation, #WeAreKY! Inc., that works to support the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable children through foster care and adoption initiatives.

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.

The New Confederacy

If even after the blatantly anti-constitutional decisions of the Gorsuch Supreme Court this June you still think elections don't matter, think again.

Scott LeMeiux at LGM:

This is a flatly neoconfederate Court, refusing to enforce the Reconstruction Amendments to stop racial discrimination but willing to use them to stop integration. 

 
One of the many things that’s at stake in presidential elections is whether the Constitution’s mist critical provisions will be meaningfully enforced. If you’re wondering when I’ll stop passionately arguing against people who see elections as fora for atomistic consumer expression, the answer is “never.”

And Brett Kavanagh is going to make it exponentially worse, and for generations to come.

VOTE on Nov. 6. Vote early, vote often.  Take your family, take your friends, take your neighbors, take your dogs.  Issue non-violent threats to every Democrat you know who is not planning to vote (i.e., no more sex for you, no more homegrown tomatoes, no more using the pool, no more sharing high-speed wifi - you get the idea.)

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

A Lot of Empty Space Voted for Cheetoh Twitler

Alan Cole‏Verified account @AlanMColeMore






This map is a brilliant data visualization. Here's a brief thread on why it's so much better than past efforts. https://xkcd.com/1939/

Kill the Electoral College.  Do it now.

It's Not Obama's Job Anymore

Part of me wants the Obamas to leave this trumpian hellhole of a country for a real Democracy before the slavering Maga hordes show up to drag Barack, Michelle and their daughters to a windowless cell in Guantanamo from which they will never emerge.  You know it's going to happen.

Dok Zoom at Wonkette:

Damn right we miss him. But now we're the ones who have to do the marching and building and believing. Let's just roll out that Molly Ivins quote we're so fond of, just to remind us that we've made it through some apocalyptic-looking messes before -- not because it was predestined, but because politics should be all about making our corner of the world work a little better:

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.

Stay fired up. Stay ready to go.

VOTE! November 6.  Bring your family,  bring your friends.  Bring your neighbors, bring your dogs.  It is both the easiest, quickest and most effective way to make real change, and the most important.

Trial Runs for Fascism

By the time it's obvious, it's too late to prevent it.

Irish Times:

To grasp what is going on in the world right now, we need to reflect on two things. One is that we are in a phase of trial runs. The other is that what is being trialled is fascism – a word that should be used carefully but not shirked when it is so clearly on the horizon. Forget “post-fascist” – what we are living with is pre-fascism. 

It is easy to dismiss Donald Trump as an ignoramus, not least because he is. But he has an acute understanding of one thing: test marketing. He created himself in the gossip pages of the New York tabloids, where celebrity is manufactured by planting outrageous stories that you can later confirm or deny depending on how they go down. And he recreated himself in reality TV where the storylines can be adjusted according to the ratings. Put something out there, pull it back, adjust, go again.

Fascism doesn’t arise suddenly in an existing democracy. It is not easy to get people to give up their ideas of freedom and civility. You have to do trial runs that, if they are done well, serve two purposes. They get people used to something they may initially recoil from; and they allow you to refine and calibrate. This is what is happening now and we would be fools not to see it.

One of the basic tools of fascism is the rigging of elections – we’ve seen that trialled in the election of Trump, in the Brexit referendum and (less successfully) in the French presidential elections. Another is the generation of tribal identities, the division of society into mutually exclusive polarities. Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed. That’s been tested out too. And fascism of course needs a propaganda machine so effective that it creates for its followers a universe of “alternative facts” impervious to unwanted realities. Again, the testing for this is very far advanced.

 Read the whole thing.  

Then VOTE. Vote like your life depended on it. Because it does.

The Vote is Our Only Hope

Every time somebody says "impeachment" to you, ask them if they're going to vote Nov. 6. Tell them to vote early, vote often.  Take your family, take your friends, take your neighbors, take your dogs.

 

Everybody votes, or we're fucking done.

 

Political Animal:

George Packer documents how all of that is different from the days of Richard Nixon and Watergate.

The institutional clout that ended the Presidency of Richard Nixon no longer exists. The honest press, for all its success in exposing daily scandals, won’t persuade the unpersuadable or shame the shameless, while the dishonest press is Trump’s personal amplifier. The federal courts, including the Supreme Court, are rapidly becoming instruments of partisan advocacy, as reliably conservative as elected legislatures. It’s impossible to imagine the Roberts Court voting unanimously against the President, as the Burger Court, including five Republican appointees, did in forcing Nixon to turn over his tapes. (Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee to succeed Anthony Kennedy, has even suggested that the decision was wrong.) Congress has readily submitted to the President’s will, as if legislation and oversight were burdens to be relinquished. And, when the independent counsel finally releases his report, it will have only the potency that the guardians of the law and the Constitution give it.

That is why the title of Packard’s article is “All That’s Left is the Vote.” He opens by making a deeply disturbing, but perhaps accurate, prediction.

…three months from now, American democracy will be on the line. The midterm elections in November are the last remaining obstacle to President Trump’s consolidation of power.

If I Believed in Miracles, This Would Be The Biggest and the Best

I was in Ireland in 1983 when the vote to legalize fucking divorce actually went down to defeat.  Women chained themselves to the iron fence around the Dail, begging for a way to escape the prison of abusive marriages, but Ireland's answer was NO.

Up until yesterday, if you had asked me which had a better chance, Ireland legalizing abortion or repugs impeaching Trump, I'd have said impeaching Trump by a mile.

Thank you, Ireland, for proving me wrong.  You did this one all by yourself, no divine assistance required, and we're going to have to get rid of the Orange Loser all by ourselves, too.

Here it is, y'all, the twitter thread the world is crying to right now.

People Like This Vote. Do You?

Yes, it's from Australia.  But you can easily find a majority of repug voters here who agree.

From Pharyngula: