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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
April 1, 2024
"Stand where he tells you to stand": Why the GOP is doubling down on misogyny in 2024
Republicans placate an evangelical base that's getting nastier with sexism — even if costs the party women's votes
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 1, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) "Stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do."
This is the wedding night advice offered to brides by Josh Howerton, a senior pastor at Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas. Lakepointe, according to the Dallas Morning News, is one of the biggest megachurches in Texas, with over 13,000 people a week attending its main location. The church itself cites a number over 40,000 a week, between its six campuses and online services. Howerton opened Sunday morning services on February 25 with this paean to sexual coercion.
....(snip)....
In the era of robust online debate between conservative Christians and those in the faith deconstruction movement, this clip unsurprisingly generated a lot of discussion. Sheila Wray Gregoire, a Christian critic of purity culture, responded on her Bare Marriage podcast with an episode titled, "Why Evangelical Honeymoons Often Go So Badly." Howerton responded with two beloved defenses of bigoted rhetoric on the right: that it's out of context and just a joke.
....(snip)....
It's not just the assault on abortion rights, which they can't seem to hold back from, despite the resounding unpopularity of the anti-choice stance. It's that the MAGA base is getting ever more vitriolic with its misogyny. Part of that is due to the more secular dirtbags of the Joe Rogan/Elon Musk variety, who have become such a loud part of the Republican coalition under Trump. But this escalation of boldly misogynist rhetoric is also coming from the evangelicals. Republicans can't win without keeping those people happy, since the Christian right is where the GOP's organizing power still mainly resides.
In her recent New York Times article about the "coarsening" of the religious right, Ruth Graham alluded to this, writing about the trend of evangelical leaders using "vulgarities." But it's not just a matter of using curse words. The vulgarities in question mostly center around an over-the-top performance of toxic masculinity: throwing around sexist terms like "sl*t" and "wh*re," homophobic slurs, and using phrases like "grow a pair." It's definitely got an overcompensation vibe to it. But along with the increasingly violent queerphobia, this means evangelical sexism is getting more overtly nasty. A lot of the faux-chivalrous condescension is being replaced with blunt malevolence and sexual objectification. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/01/stand-where-he-tells-you-to-stand-why-the-is-doubling-down-on-misogyny-in-2024/
"Stand where he tells you to stand": Why the GOP is doubling down on misogyny in 2024
"Stand where he tells you to stand": Why the GOP is doubling down on misogyny in 2024
Republicans placate an evangelical base that's getting nastier with sexism — even if costs the party women's votes
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 1, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) "Stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do."
This is the wedding night advice offered to brides by Josh Howerton, a senior pastor at Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas. Lakepointe, according to the Dallas Morning News, is one of the biggest megachurches in Texas, with over 13,000 people a week attending its main location. The church itself cites a number over 40,000 a week, between its six campuses and online services. Howerton opened Sunday morning services on February 25 with this paean to sexual coercion.
....(snip)....
In the era of robust online debate between conservative Christians and those in the faith deconstruction movement, this clip unsurprisingly generated a lot of discussion. Sheila Wray Gregoire, a Christian critic of purity culture, responded on her Bare Marriage podcast with an episode titled, "Why Evangelical Honeymoons Often Go So Badly." Howerton responded with two beloved defenses of bigoted rhetoric on the right: that it's out of context and just a joke.
....(snip)....
It's not just the assault on abortion rights, which they can't seem to hold back from, despite the resounding unpopularity of the anti-choice stance. It's that the MAGA base is getting ever more vitriolic with its misogyny. Part of that is due to the more secular dirtbags of the Joe Rogan/Elon Musk variety, who have become such a loud part of the Republican coalition under Trump. But this escalation of boldly misogynist rhetoric is also coming from the evangelicals. Republicans can't win without keeping those people happy, since the Christian right is where the GOP's organizing power still mainly resides.
In her recent New York Times article about the "coarsening" of the religious right, Ruth Graham alluded to this, writing about the trend of evangelical leaders using "vulgarities." But it's not just a matter of using curse words. The vulgarities in question mostly center around an over-the-top performance of toxic masculinity: throwing around sexist terms like "sl*t" and "wh*re," homophobic slurs, and using phrases like "grow a pair." It's definitely got an overcompensation vibe to it. But along with the increasingly violent queerphobia, this means evangelical sexism is getting more overtly nasty. A lot of the faux-chivalrous condescension is being replaced with blunt malevolence and sexual objectification. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/01/stand-where-he-tells-you-to-stand-why-the-is-doubling-down-on-misogyny-in-2024/
March 30, 2024
(Michigan Advance) When Michigan Auditor General Doug Ringler initiated an audit of the 2020 election, he did so at the request of a Republican House member. However, emails indicate that Ringler, whose office is supposed to be nonpartisan, actually helped draft the request through a series of previously undisclosed meetings with House Republican leadership staff.
Ringler’s handling of the election audit has already come under fire from some Democrats, as the Michigan Advance previously reported, as well as the Office of Auditor General’s (OAG) reports on COVID-19 nursing home deaths and the state’s unemployment system.
But records obtained by the Michigan Advance provide new insight into how the election audit came about under Ringler, who was first appointed in 2014 on a unanimous vote when Republicans held the majority in the Legislature. In 2022, the GOP-led Legislature voted to reappoint him, although 26 Democrats voted against it.
In recent weeks, Ringler and several Republican lawmakers also have decried Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed cut for the watchdog agency in next year’s budget — so this controversy could loom large as legislators continue their work crafting the spending plan. .................(more)
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/03/30/emails-reveal-michigan-auditor-general-helped-write-gop-draft-requesting-2020-election-audit/
Emails reveal Michigan auditor general helped write GOP draft requesting 2020 election audit
(Michigan Advance) When Michigan Auditor General Doug Ringler initiated an audit of the 2020 election, he did so at the request of a Republican House member. However, emails indicate that Ringler, whose office is supposed to be nonpartisan, actually helped draft the request through a series of previously undisclosed meetings with House Republican leadership staff.
Ringler’s handling of the election audit has already come under fire from some Democrats, as the Michigan Advance previously reported, as well as the Office of Auditor General’s (OAG) reports on COVID-19 nursing home deaths and the state’s unemployment system.
But records obtained by the Michigan Advance provide new insight into how the election audit came about under Ringler, who was first appointed in 2014 on a unanimous vote when Republicans held the majority in the Legislature. In 2022, the GOP-led Legislature voted to reappoint him, although 26 Democrats voted against it.
In recent weeks, Ringler and several Republican lawmakers also have decried Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed cut for the watchdog agency in next year’s budget — so this controversy could loom large as legislators continue their work crafting the spending plan. .................(more)
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/03/30/emails-reveal-michigan-auditor-general-helped-write-gop-draft-requesting-2020-election-audit/
March 30, 2024
(Salon) Alawyer for Donald Trump argued on Thursday that the 10 felony charges against the former president in his Georgia election interference case should be dismissed, citing First Amendment protections.
That argument came during a nearly two-hour hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, held in response to a filing from Trump and two pretrial motions from former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, a co-defendant in the sprawling RICO case. Thursday's proceedings marked the first hearing since McAfee declined to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case over allegations that she improperly benefited from her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who has since resigned.
....(snip)....
Legal experts say that argument is distinctly unlikely to hold up against the law.
"The argument we heard yesterday from one of Trump's attorneys was basically, 'You can say whatever you want and it's free speech,' when that's not quite what the law holds," Melissa Redmon, a University of Georgia law professor and former prosecutor in Fulton and Clayton counties, told Salon. "I mean, you can say what you want, but that doesn't mean you don't get prosecuted if that speech is an integral part of criminal conduct." .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/30/not-quite-first-amendment-argument-in-ga-case-unlikely-to-work-experts-say/
"Not quite": Trump's First Amendment argument in Ga. case "unlikely" to work, experts say
(Salon) Alawyer for Donald Trump argued on Thursday that the 10 felony charges against the former president in his Georgia election interference case should be dismissed, citing First Amendment protections.
That argument came during a nearly two-hour hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, held in response to a filing from Trump and two pretrial motions from former Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, a co-defendant in the sprawling RICO case. Thursday's proceedings marked the first hearing since McAfee declined to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case over allegations that she improperly benefited from her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who has since resigned.
....(snip)....
Legal experts say that argument is distinctly unlikely to hold up against the law.
"The argument we heard yesterday from one of Trump's attorneys was basically, 'You can say whatever you want and it's free speech,' when that's not quite what the law holds," Melissa Redmon, a University of Georgia law professor and former prosecutor in Fulton and Clayton counties, told Salon. "I mean, you can say what you want, but that doesn't mean you don't get prosecuted if that speech is an integral part of criminal conduct." .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/30/not-quite-first-amendment-argument-in-ga-case-unlikely-to-work-experts-say/
March 29, 2024
(Urbanize Atlanta) Acknowledging that MARTA’s sagging rail ridership is due, in part, to limited access to the transit system, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens dropped bombshell urbanist news today that four new infill stations are en route to the city.
The announcement, made during Dickens’ annual State of the City address, specified that one of the new MARTA stations will take shape near Murphy Crossing, a Southwest Atlanta location that alternative transportation supporters have long contended is ripe for better rail access.
A station at Murphy Crossing—a vacant, 20-acre industrial site that’s set to be redeveloped as housing and commercial properties—would mark the first instance of direct connectivity between MARTA rail and the BeltLine’s 22-mile loop at any point across the city.
Dickens restated his belief that access to transit is paramount for creating “healthy, thriving neighborhoods” in this morning’s address. .................(more)
https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/four-new-marta-stations-mayor-announces-city
Atlanta: Mayor announces plans for 4 new MARTA stations across city
(Urbanize Atlanta) Acknowledging that MARTA’s sagging rail ridership is due, in part, to limited access to the transit system, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens dropped bombshell urbanist news today that four new infill stations are en route to the city.
The announcement, made during Dickens’ annual State of the City address, specified that one of the new MARTA stations will take shape near Murphy Crossing, a Southwest Atlanta location that alternative transportation supporters have long contended is ripe for better rail access.
A station at Murphy Crossing—a vacant, 20-acre industrial site that’s set to be redeveloped as housing and commercial properties—would mark the first instance of direct connectivity between MARTA rail and the BeltLine’s 22-mile loop at any point across the city.
Dickens restated his belief that access to transit is paramount for creating “healthy, thriving neighborhoods” in this morning’s address. .................(more)
https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/four-new-marta-stations-mayor-announces-city
March 29, 2024
(Detroit Free Press) The Spirit of Detroit was outfitted in a giant blue jersey this week as the 30-day countdown to 2024 NFL draft in Detroit begins.
Dressed in the shirt on Wednesday, the Spirit will wear the jersey through April, in anticipation of the 2024 NFL draft hosted by the city in Campus Martius and throughout downtown Detroit from April 25 through 27. The jersey is blue — but not Honolulu blue — with NFL draft labels and logos and the number 24.
The iconic city statue first dressed in Detroit Lions gear in 2015 and frequently dresses up in support of major sporting and cultural events.
Spirit of Detroit gets new jersey for 2024 NFL draft
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/03/28/spirit-of-detroit-gets-new-jersey-for-2024-nfl-draft/72901277007/(Detroit Free Press) The Spirit of Detroit was outfitted in a giant blue jersey this week as the 30-day countdown to 2024 NFL draft in Detroit begins.
Dressed in the shirt on Wednesday, the Spirit will wear the jersey through April, in anticipation of the 2024 NFL draft hosted by the city in Campus Martius and throughout downtown Detroit from April 25 through 27. The jersey is blue — but not Honolulu blue — with NFL draft labels and logos and the number 24.
The iconic city statue first dressed in Detroit Lions gear in 2015 and frequently dresses up in support of major sporting and cultural events.
March 29, 2024
(Michigan Advance) During a Thursday roundtable discussion in Farmington Hills, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pushed back on what she said were continuing Republicans efforts to take away women’s reproductive freedom.
“Every effort to take away the ability of a woman to access health care has ripples that people can’t even imagine,” said Whitmer.
Whitmer was joined by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who praised Whitmer’s effort to support reproductive freedom policy and initiatives. She supported the 2022 amendment voters passed guaranteeing the right to an abortion in Michigan’s constitution and signed several abortion rights measures last year.
....(snip)....
“A lot of Americans think that [Dobbs] is only about abortion. It is not,” Becerra said. “It is about access to health care.” .................(more)
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/03/29/whitmer-and-becerra-discuss-attacks-on-ivf-and-abortion-rights-at-metro-detroit-roundtable/
Whitmer and Becerra discuss attacks on IVF and abortion rights at metro Detroit roundtable
(Michigan Advance) During a Thursday roundtable discussion in Farmington Hills, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pushed back on what she said were continuing Republicans efforts to take away women’s reproductive freedom.
“Every effort to take away the ability of a woman to access health care has ripples that people can’t even imagine,” said Whitmer.
Whitmer was joined by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who praised Whitmer’s effort to support reproductive freedom policy and initiatives. She supported the 2022 amendment voters passed guaranteeing the right to an abortion in Michigan’s constitution and signed several abortion rights measures last year.
....(snip)....
“A lot of Americans think that [Dobbs] is only about abortion. It is not,” Becerra said. “It is about access to health care.” .................(more)
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/03/29/whitmer-and-becerra-discuss-attacks-on-ivf-and-abortion-rights-at-metro-detroit-roundtable/
March 29, 2024
Trump’s megalomania is a trap for the GOP
"His general odiousness represents a path to electoral calamity in 2024 for the GOP"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MARCH 29, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) It has long been a truism in modern America that “politics stops at the water’s edge.” Of course, like most truisms and folk wisdom, that is not entirely true in practice. During the Cold War (and in earlier eras as well), there have been serious and deep divides and fissures between the right and the left about how the country should approach power, politics, and influence abroad. In one of the most notable examples, there were partisan divides about the Vietnam War. Democrats and Republicans often disagreed about how to approach foreign policy in Latin and South America. The Iran-Contra scandal and support for the Nicaraguan anti-Communist guerrillas are infamous examples.
....(snip)....
Jacob Heilbrunn is the editor of the National Interest and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is the author of the new book "America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators." His previous books include "They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons."
....(snip)....
During the 1980s and 1990s, my mentors and others who I respected were heavily involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. How can we trace support by Reagan and the Republicans for that white supremacist regime to the continuing admiration of such “ethnonationalism” if not outright racist and white supremacist policies that are being advanced by Putin, Orbán, and others?
I trace it all the way back to Lothrop Stoddard and the 1920s. How conscious they are of this intellectual thread is an open question. But the latest generation has definitely glommed onto and revived some of the most deplorable, if I may use that word, beliefs from the past. They were confined to the margins in Europe after World War II. But nolens volens they have reemerged as the right depicts itself as the one movement ready and prepared to defend the ethnic composition of the nation-state, whether in Russia or America. It is shocking that the Volkish thinking that historians such as George Mosse or Fritz Stern described and analyzed has been creeping back into respectability. The politics of cultural despair that Stern described has proved hardier than most historians would have expected. But once again, it offers a reminder that Trump is simply packaging old wine in new bottles.
....(snip)....
What gives you the most fear in this moment and looking forward? What if anything gives you hope?
The most disturbing thing remains Trump’s enablers—the incense-burners, the bootlickers, the pursuivants who can ensure that his tyrannical ambitions are realized. That Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell truckled to Trump by endorsing him is further testament to the hollow men that are leading the GOP. At the same time, I remain convinced that Trump’s megalomania — his growing radicalism, his frequent threats, his general odiousness — represents a path to electoral calamity in 2024 for the GOP. .................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/29/trumps-megalomania-is-a-trap-for-the/
Trump's megalomania is a trap for the GOP
Trump’s megalomania is a trap for the GOP
"His general odiousness represents a path to electoral calamity in 2024 for the GOP"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MARCH 29, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) It has long been a truism in modern America that “politics stops at the water’s edge.” Of course, like most truisms and folk wisdom, that is not entirely true in practice. During the Cold War (and in earlier eras as well), there have been serious and deep divides and fissures between the right and the left about how the country should approach power, politics, and influence abroad. In one of the most notable examples, there were partisan divides about the Vietnam War. Democrats and Republicans often disagreed about how to approach foreign policy in Latin and South America. The Iran-Contra scandal and support for the Nicaraguan anti-Communist guerrillas are infamous examples.
....(snip)....
Jacob Heilbrunn is the editor of the National Interest and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is the author of the new book "America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators." His previous books include "They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons."
....(snip)....
During the 1980s and 1990s, my mentors and others who I respected were heavily involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. How can we trace support by Reagan and the Republicans for that white supremacist regime to the continuing admiration of such “ethnonationalism” if not outright racist and white supremacist policies that are being advanced by Putin, Orbán, and others?
I trace it all the way back to Lothrop Stoddard and the 1920s. How conscious they are of this intellectual thread is an open question. But the latest generation has definitely glommed onto and revived some of the most deplorable, if I may use that word, beliefs from the past. They were confined to the margins in Europe after World War II. But nolens volens they have reemerged as the right depicts itself as the one movement ready and prepared to defend the ethnic composition of the nation-state, whether in Russia or America. It is shocking that the Volkish thinking that historians such as George Mosse or Fritz Stern described and analyzed has been creeping back into respectability. The politics of cultural despair that Stern described has proved hardier than most historians would have expected. But once again, it offers a reminder that Trump is simply packaging old wine in new bottles.
....(snip)....
What gives you the most fear in this moment and looking forward? What if anything gives you hope?
The most disturbing thing remains Trump’s enablers—the incense-burners, the bootlickers, the pursuivants who can ensure that his tyrannical ambitions are realized. That Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell truckled to Trump by endorsing him is further testament to the hollow men that are leading the GOP. At the same time, I remain convinced that Trump’s megalomania — his growing radicalism, his frequent threats, his general odiousness — represents a path to electoral calamity in 2024 for the GOP. .................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/29/trumps-megalomania-is-a-trap-for-the/
March 29, 2024
Lara Trump's Big Lie hiring: Republicans stick with loser strategy that failed them in 2020 and 2022
Election denial doesn't impress voters, but it sure attracts massive defamation lawsuits
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MARCH 29, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) As with many news items in the Donald Trump era, we must file this under "shocking, not surprising": People who are being interviewed by the newly Trump-controlled Republican National Committee (RNC) report that they're being asked if they "believe" President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. This is after Trump installed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as a co-chair of the RNC and she vowed to use the committee's funds to pay Trump's legal bills. (She's now denying that is the plan, even though documentation shows that the fundraising agreement between Trump and the RNC does, in fact, prioritize paying Trump's legal bills over funding the party.) Under Lara Trump's leadership, there has already been a staff purge, no doubt, as these reports show, to re-staff the RNC with people who are willing to back Trump's lies about the 2020 election.
Grim stuff, watching the already-radicalized GOP lose any remaining shreds of pro-democratic sentiment and hardening into what can only be seen as a fascist party. There is a silver lining, however. There's good reason to believe Trump's strategy of going all-in on election denial will backfire. Under Trump's leadership, Republicans made conspiracy theories about voter fraud the centerpiece of their campaigns in 2020 and 2022. In both, they lost major elections they could have won. There's little reason to think voters will be more fond of the madness going into 2024.
....(snip)....
So far, 2024 is shaping up the same way: The Big Lie candidates do well in the primaries, only to come across as embarrassing kooks on the general election campaign trail. Bernie Moreno of Ohio is running against LGBTQ rights, but was exposed for having a profile on Adult Friend Finder looking for "Men for 1-on-1 sex." (He's blamed an intern for it, which maybe someone out there believes.) Kari Lake is running for in Arizona for Senate, having lost in 2022 for governor on the grounds of out-of-control battiness. The GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, has a humiliating past soundbite drop practically every week now, including the latest where he calls Beyoncé a "skank."
....(more)....
In theory, they could just make vague claims about the election being "stolen," and the MAGA masses will dutifully repeat the lie without a shred of evidence to back it up. In practice, however, Trump and his minions know that's not good propaganda. It's more emotionally satisfying for them to have real-life people to demonize. The temptation to falsely accuse real people of leading the imaginary conspiracy will be hard to resist. It would be better if they didn't victimize people (or voting machine companies). But as the pressures of fundraising and getting the base riled up mount, it's quite likely the Big Liars will start defaming actual people and companies again. ....................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/29/lara-big-lie-hiring-stick-with-loser-strategy-that-failed-them-in-2020-and-2022/
Lara Trump's Big Lie hiring: Republicans stick with loser strategy that failed them in 2020 and 2022
Lara Trump's Big Lie hiring: Republicans stick with loser strategy that failed them in 2020 and 2022
Election denial doesn't impress voters, but it sure attracts massive defamation lawsuits
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MARCH 29, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) As with many news items in the Donald Trump era, we must file this under "shocking, not surprising": People who are being interviewed by the newly Trump-controlled Republican National Committee (RNC) report that they're being asked if they "believe" President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. This is after Trump installed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as a co-chair of the RNC and she vowed to use the committee's funds to pay Trump's legal bills. (She's now denying that is the plan, even though documentation shows that the fundraising agreement between Trump and the RNC does, in fact, prioritize paying Trump's legal bills over funding the party.) Under Lara Trump's leadership, there has already been a staff purge, no doubt, as these reports show, to re-staff the RNC with people who are willing to back Trump's lies about the 2020 election.
Grim stuff, watching the already-radicalized GOP lose any remaining shreds of pro-democratic sentiment and hardening into what can only be seen as a fascist party. There is a silver lining, however. There's good reason to believe Trump's strategy of going all-in on election denial will backfire. Under Trump's leadership, Republicans made conspiracy theories about voter fraud the centerpiece of their campaigns in 2020 and 2022. In both, they lost major elections they could have won. There's little reason to think voters will be more fond of the madness going into 2024.
....(snip)....
So far, 2024 is shaping up the same way: The Big Lie candidates do well in the primaries, only to come across as embarrassing kooks on the general election campaign trail. Bernie Moreno of Ohio is running against LGBTQ rights, but was exposed for having a profile on Adult Friend Finder looking for "Men for 1-on-1 sex." (He's blamed an intern for it, which maybe someone out there believes.) Kari Lake is running for in Arizona for Senate, having lost in 2022 for governor on the grounds of out-of-control battiness. The GOP candidate for governor in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, has a humiliating past soundbite drop practically every week now, including the latest where he calls Beyoncé a "skank."
....(more)....
In theory, they could just make vague claims about the election being "stolen," and the MAGA masses will dutifully repeat the lie without a shred of evidence to back it up. In practice, however, Trump and his minions know that's not good propaganda. It's more emotionally satisfying for them to have real-life people to demonize. The temptation to falsely accuse real people of leading the imaginary conspiracy will be hard to resist. It would be better if they didn't victimize people (or voting machine companies). But as the pressures of fundraising and getting the base riled up mount, it's quite likely the Big Liars will start defaming actual people and companies again. ....................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/29/lara-big-lie-hiring-stick-with-loser-strategy-that-failed-them-in-2020-and-2022/
March 29, 2024
Community support networks safeguard abortion access against anti-choice attacks
By Jex Blackmore
Mar 27, 2024 at 7:47 am
On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court took a decisive step in the long-standing controversy over abortion post-Roe v. Wade by examining the regulatory framework surrounding mifepristone, a key drug in medical abortion protocols. This case, spotlighted for its profound implications on reproductive healthcare and the regulatory authority of the FDA, underscores the ongoing and contentious battle over abortion access in America.
The case concerns the regulation and access to mifepristone, a drug used in the majority of medical abortions across the nation. Initiated by the Texas-based Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the FDA’s policies, the dispute highlights significant disagreements on the safety, oversight, and accessibility of the abortion pill. These policies, which have been liberalized over the years, now allow the drug to be prescribed via telemedicine and mailed directly to patients. The challenge questions both the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone for abortion and its subsequent decisions to ease access restrictions, implicating broader debates over reproductive health care, regulatory authority, and the impact of judicial decisions on medical practice.
....(snip)....
Although medication abortion is demonstrated to be safer than widely prescribed medications such as penicillin and Viagra, the contention surrounding it is driven not by its medical application but rather by its political implications. The truth is that the anti-choice movement perceives abortion medication delivered via telehealth as a significant loophole, representing a modern method for ensuring abortion access despite legislative restrictions. Despite the availability of evidence showcasing its effectiveness and safety, as well as data highlighting the adverse outcomes of denying access to abortion, opponents of abortion rights persist in advancing their agenda, regardless of the consequences for the health and well-being of those seeking care and their families.
....(snip)....
However, hope does lie at the end of the tunnel. According to new research published in the medical journal JAMA on Monday, there were about 26,000 more self-managed medication abortions than expected based on pre-Dobbs trends and about half of the pills for self-managed medication abortions were provided by community organizations outside of the formal healthcare system. Community networks supplying abortion pills typically consist of grassroots organizations or advocacy groups operating at local, national, or international levels and provide access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, to individuals who may face barriers such as financial constraints, geographical distance from clinics, or legal restrictions. .................(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/news/the-court-cant-stop-abortion-pills-35844453
The court can't stop abortion pills
The court can’t stop abortion pillsCommunity support networks safeguard abortion access against anti-choice attacks
By Jex Blackmore
Mar 27, 2024 at 7:47 am
On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court took a decisive step in the long-standing controversy over abortion post-Roe v. Wade by examining the regulatory framework surrounding mifepristone, a key drug in medical abortion protocols. This case, spotlighted for its profound implications on reproductive healthcare and the regulatory authority of the FDA, underscores the ongoing and contentious battle over abortion access in America.
The case concerns the regulation and access to mifepristone, a drug used in the majority of medical abortions across the nation. Initiated by the Texas-based Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the FDA’s policies, the dispute highlights significant disagreements on the safety, oversight, and accessibility of the abortion pill. These policies, which have been liberalized over the years, now allow the drug to be prescribed via telemedicine and mailed directly to patients. The challenge questions both the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone for abortion and its subsequent decisions to ease access restrictions, implicating broader debates over reproductive health care, regulatory authority, and the impact of judicial decisions on medical practice.
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Although medication abortion is demonstrated to be safer than widely prescribed medications such as penicillin and Viagra, the contention surrounding it is driven not by its medical application but rather by its political implications. The truth is that the anti-choice movement perceives abortion medication delivered via telehealth as a significant loophole, representing a modern method for ensuring abortion access despite legislative restrictions. Despite the availability of evidence showcasing its effectiveness and safety, as well as data highlighting the adverse outcomes of denying access to abortion, opponents of abortion rights persist in advancing their agenda, regardless of the consequences for the health and well-being of those seeking care and their families.
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However, hope does lie at the end of the tunnel. According to new research published in the medical journal JAMA on Monday, there were about 26,000 more self-managed medication abortions than expected based on pre-Dobbs trends and about half of the pills for self-managed medication abortions were provided by community organizations outside of the formal healthcare system. Community networks supplying abortion pills typically consist of grassroots organizations or advocacy groups operating at local, national, or international levels and provide access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, to individuals who may face barriers such as financial constraints, geographical distance from clinics, or legal restrictions. .................(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/news/the-court-cant-stop-abortion-pills-35844453
March 29, 2024
(Detroit Free Press) A Michigan lawmaker is taking flak online for mistaking student athletes traveling to Detroit for this weekend's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games for "illegal invaders."
At around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, state Rep. Matthew Maddock, R-Milford, posted a photo of three buses on a tarmac near an Allegiant Airlines jet at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) with the caption "Happening right now. Three busses (sic) just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?"
But there weren't "illegal invaders" onboard — the buses were carrying the four men's basketball teams competing in Detroit for this weekend's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, a Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) spokesperson confirmed to the Free Press.
"The four men’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 at Little Caesars Arena arrived at DTW Wednesday evening. The buses seen in a photograph circulating online were transporting the basketball teams and their respective staffs," a WCAA spokesperson said over email. ...................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/28/rep-maddock-calls-ncaa-basketball-teams-at-dtw-illegal-invaders/73130088007/
Knuckledragging right-wing moron of the day: State Rep. Matthew Maddock of Michigan
Michigan lawmaker says 'illegal invaders' landed at DTW. They were NCAA basketball teams.(Detroit Free Press) A Michigan lawmaker is taking flak online for mistaking student athletes traveling to Detroit for this weekend's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games for "illegal invaders."
At around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, state Rep. Matthew Maddock, R-Milford, posted a photo of three buses on a tarmac near an Allegiant Airlines jet at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) with the caption "Happening right now. Three busses (sic) just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort?"
But there weren't "illegal invaders" onboard — the buses were carrying the four men's basketball teams competing in Detroit for this weekend's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, a Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) spokesperson confirmed to the Free Press.
"The four men’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 at Little Caesars Arena arrived at DTW Wednesday evening. The buses seen in a photograph circulating online were transporting the basketball teams and their respective staffs," a WCAA spokesperson said over email. ...................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2024/03/28/rep-maddock-calls-ncaa-basketball-teams-at-dtw-illegal-invaders/73130088007/
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