The Choking Hypocracy of Tea Party Republicans in Michigan

Several months ago on the Michigan statehouse floor, two state representatives were censured for uttering the word “vagina”.
The word offended the delicate ears of a few other representatives so the two women, Brown and Byrum , were stripped of their right to speak on behalf of their constituents for a day.
Yesterday, a bill was introduced by Michigan Republicans that insists upon the insertion of a medical device into the vagina prior to an abortion.
On a personal note, I’ve had recent experience with a transvaginal ultrasound. Physically, it was mildly uncomfortable. Emotionally, it was as embarrassing as hell. Was it medically necessary? Yes. Very much so as a way to determine if some of my lady parts were cancerous.
But, there is no reason for this extra intrusion into a woman’s body before an abortion is performed. An abortion that the woman has requested.
I mean, the woman already knows there’s a fetus up in there. A transvaginal ultrasound is not needed to medically prove what has already been established. I can’t fathom any other reason why this type of test should be done on a pregnant woman other than to establish pregnancy which can be more easily done by peeing on a stick.
As far as I can tell, this is an attempt by Tea Party Republicans to coerce a woman to forgo an abortion through embarrassment and frustration, to cause her further financial hardship because any ultrasound procedure is not cheap, all for the sake of an ideology that only a sliver of the population embrace.
But, a transvaginal ultrasound as a prerequisite for an abortion? It’s just simply ridiculous. Unnecessary. I see it as nothing more than a power trip by a bunch of old white guys that get their rocks off by humiliating women.
That might be a little harsh, but, it’s exactly how I see it.
It’s amazing. One minute a Tea Party Republican cannot bear to hear the word “vagina” and the next they want to ram a probe up there and take a picture.

UPDATE: This bill has been shot down by the Michigan House Speaker….but, I’ll be waiting to hear what will replace it. House Speaker Jase Bolger still has not been cleared by a grand jury investigating election fraud. Who can trust what is said by someone who can cheat so easily?

Float

As fond as I am of making a short story long, this shall be a relatively brief post for a change.

I’m going to step back from blogging and the blogosphere for the time being. I have some health issues that keep compounding themselves and I am discovering that dealing with them is taking all my energies and efforts. The dialysis is not working as well as hoped and now I’m going through six months of drug therapy to squash a so called pre-cancerous condition.

So, I’m going to float for a while and remove myself from all the sturm and drang that we get caught up in on a daily basis and concentrate on healing.

I’ll miss you guys a lot more than you’ll miss me, so I probably won’t be able to resist a peek now and then when I have a good day.

Hopefully, I’ll be back in the Spring, meaner than before.

Keep yer fingers crossed for me.

A Trip Through Thanksgiving

A Trip Through Thanksgiving

Bought the turkey
Got it thawing
Found the roaster
After hours of pawing
Through the cupboards
Looking for
All the dishes
From the year before.
Great big platters
And serving bowls
Gravy boats
And that thing with holes
That holds the deviled eggs quite still
So they don’t take an unfortunate spill.

Toasted loaves
And loaves of bread.

The Anti-Gangnam Style

From the Youtube description…

Thousand Hand Guan Yin was a dance created by Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang. This dance was performed by 63 deaf dancers of China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe. Because they could not hear the music, there were 6 directors dressed in white helping them to synchronize with the music.

The Mandate Myth

A few days ago I read a short blog about the votes here in Michigan; how the Democrats actually had, statewide, more votes cast for their candidates than the Republicans had cast for theirs and yet the Republicans are once again in control of both state houses.

Howzat? Huh?

This was due to recent redistricting bullshit. The Republicans carved up the districts to give the voting advantage to themselves.

It’s good to be king.

I wondered if other newly redistricted states had experienced the same results.

They did.

Ha!

found on facebook

 

Going There

Women in binders?

When Romney uttered the phrase “Women in binders” I absolutely could not stop myself from thinking about the Chinese custom of foot binding for women.

Foot binding in China was outlawed in 1912 and in the 21st century there are only a few ‘outlaws’ left to bear witness to this awful custom. A hundred years. A hundred freaking years! It takes that long to erase this kind of crushing (literally bone crushing) kind of subjugation of women.

The next thing I thought was, under a Romney administration, will women lose what they have gained?

I’m not even talking about making further advances. I’m talking about being able to keep what we already have; the economic, social and personal gains. I fear a Romney administration will chip away at those until we are back in 1912 with our feet bound and our ability to walk proud once again crippled.

 

cross-posted at dagblog.com

I Want To Vote!

Today I printed off an absentee ballot application from my state government site for all things wonderfully public. I went to a lot of trouble to ensure I’d be able to cast a vote this year and I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

First of all, I had to renew my driver’s license this past July. No big deal, right? Normally, it wouldn’t have been. But, it’s been a long time since my life’s been normal so of course, renewing my driver’s license was befit with all the possible Sturm and Drang I could manufacture.

Good Morning

I feel like singing this morning.
Like this…

Or, possibly this…

And there’s always this…

When A Cabbage Roll Is Not A Cabbage Roll

I was inspired to offer this Native American version of a cabbage roll after reading trkingmomoe’s recipe post here at Once Upon A Paradigm.