DOWNLOADS: (413)

PLAYS: (5118)

Embed

After pointing out that Republicans are no longer having success running on issues like inner city crime and opining over New York's Time Square becoming "a Disney-fied, bubble gum, wimp company" where "the worst that could happen is one of those giant M&M's tries to flash you his peanuts," Colbert opined over the fact that
this disturbing lack of violence isn't just a problem for our cities" but for the Republican party as well.

As Colbert noted, in this last election Republicans lost the blacks, the women, young voters, Latinos by 44 percent and "even more surprising, they failed to get 100 percent of the white male vote." Colbert had a suggestion for a new wedge issues if Republicans want to turn the voter tide back in their favor -- white male patriarchy.

DOWNLOADS: (111)

PLAYS: (640)

Embed

From this Sunday's This Week, apparently George Will believes women aren't capable of worrying about more than one topic at a time and doesn't realize that it's the likes of him pretending that women's ability to control their own contraception is not an economic issue as well as a health issue is what's really offensive to "educated" women.

WILL: There has been a big change. It's not a particular state. It's the change in Romney's gain among women. And that, I think, represents a huge recoil by professional women with college degrees against the condescension of the Obama campaign, which says -- Austan, hang on -- which says, essentially, don't you trouble your pretty little heads about these men's issue like unemployment and all the rest. Worry about contraception, which has been a constitutional right for 47 years. It's a distraction, the entire war on women trope, and I think professional, educated women find it offensive.

Here's more from Media Matters on why he's so dangerously wrong as well -- George Will Dismisses Romney's Anti-Women's Rights Stances:

While it is true that the Supreme Court ruled in the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut that state governments cannot ban access to contraception, Mitt Romney supports the Blunt Amendment, legislation that would allow business owners to withdraw insurance coverage for contraception or any other medical treatment.

Moreover, Clarence Thomas, one of the justices that Romney has said will serve as a model for his judicial nominations, has said that he agreed with the dissenting judge in Griswold, who said that contraception bans are constitutionally valid.

In addition to his stance on contraception, Romney has said that he would appoint Supreme Court justices that would likely try to overturn the court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision -- a goal Romney has had since at least 2007. Appointing anti-Roe v. Wade judges to the Supreme Court could have drastic consequences. According to Tony Mauro of USA Today: "If a President Romney gets to appoint replacements for liberals Ginsburg and Breyer, then abortion rights, gay rights, affirmative action and campaign-finance reform could well be in serious jeopardy." Romney has also reportedly opposed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which provides women more legal room to file pay discrimination claims against employers.

The Roe v. Wade decision awarded women a fundamental right in 1973, which Romney has repeatedly promised to revoke, calling it "one of the darkest moments in Supreme Court history." To George Will and other conservative media, women's rights remain a "distraction."

There may only be one woman voting for Mitt Romney, but don't worry, she's just like you. If you're crazy.

DOWNLOADS: (213)

PLAYS: (1793)

Embed

Regardless of the right's continued attacks and insults against activist Sandra Fluke, I for one and happy to see such an articulate and smart young woman speaking out for women and their issues at this year's Democratic National Convention.

As MSNBC's Ed Schultz, who caught up with Fluke on the Monday evening before the convention pointed out, the Republican National Convention wasn't exactly a big hit and didn't move the needle for Republicans with women, or with anyone else for that matter, and he asked Fluke what she thought of their event.

Fluke is exactly right that women don't care about who gets put on the podium at these events. They care about the policies. We didn't hear anything mentioned at the Republican convention about women's health care, equal pay, reproductive rights, or violence against women. We got a vice presidential candidate with an absolutely horrid voting record in that regard and who wants to do things like change the definition of rape. And from the speakers, lots of empty platitudes about how much they love women, but not much else or much evidence to support that assertion when you take a good look at their policies and their platform.

I think we can say that Fluke's presence, among others who will speak as well, proves Bill Kristol's theory wrong that Democrats aren't going to focus on social issues during the rest of this presidential campaign. Schultz gave Fluke a chance to respond to Bill O'Reilly disgusting remarks that the convention was going to drop condoms from the ceiling when Fluke spoke and as usual, she kept it polite and classy with her response. I can't say the same for O'Reilly. He seems to have the maturity of about a 12 year old boy.

DOWNLOADS: (285)

PLAYS: (4058)

Embed

First we've had these clowns doing their best to try to downplay Todd Akin's remarks on abortion and rape by comparing it to a gaff by Joe Biden as we saw from hate monger Tony Perkins the other day. Now we've got some GOP operative from South Carolina named Wesley Donehue – the likes of which or his bow tie I've been fortunate enough not to have watched before this Saturday – apparently doing some consulting work for Todd Akin, and trying to compare Akin's remarks to the now infamous "Dean Scream."

Thankfully Howard Dean was right there to shoot down the false equivalency on this Saturday's Weekends with Alex Witt where they were discussing the Republicans Akin problem, woman problem and their upcoming convention:

DEAN: The problem with the Akin remark is Akin is not an outlier in the Republican Party. Paul Ryan, Romney's running mate voted for the same stuff that Akin voted for, which is outlawing abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest. This is not exactly a pro-woman party and it shows by the ticket, so I think this is a problem for the Republican Party everywhere, not just Missouri.

After being asked how things were going for Romney as we head into the convention with his racist “joke” and Akin's remarks and whether he should have seen “the backlash coming,” Akin consultant Wesley Donehue responded.

DONEHUE: Listen, first off, Mitt Romney... he likes to joke around. I was watching a special on MSNBC where his sons say, listen my dad likes to joke around and sometimes those jokes don't come across the way they need to. I think it was a very human moment for him, just like it was a very human moment for Todd Akin.

I want to go back to what Gov. Dean said. You know, I think trying to label our party as anti-woman because of one comment is insane. I mean look, Gov. Dean's entire presidential campaign was ruined because of one moment. That's like saying the “Dean scream” crazy moment was indicative of the entire Democratic Party. He lost the presidency because he looked insane. That didn't mean the entire Democratic Party was insane because of one moment. That was absolutely a ridiculous comment!

Host Alex Witt stood back and allowed Dean to reply.

DEAN: I think that's silly. I lost the Democratic nomination because I came in third in Iowa and I was supposed to come in first. That was the problem. And I also think it's not very nice to George Bush to say I would have kicked his butt as well. We don't know that. But leaving all that aside, the fact of the matter is Todd Akin is not an outlier.

Boehner's bill which Ryan voted for and all the Republicans in the House or virtually all the Republicans in the House voted for is exactly what Akin said. (crosstalk) No exception for rape. No exceptions for incest. This is a party that doesn't value women and that's just a fact.

DONEHUE: And you're a party that doesn't value life. (crosstalk)

DEAN: They voted that way again and again and again (crosstalk). It's in the Republican Party platform. So I think this just makes this a party a very hard sell for women.

Donehue has the the feigned indignation game down pat and tried to defend the Republicans with a version of I have one black friend, or in this case, we elected a woman who is a minority to be a governor and some black Congressmen, therefore we can't be sexist or prejudiced, or racist.

Dean did a nice job of pointing to their policies and the fact that they seem like they'd be a whole lot comfortable living in the '50's... as in the 1850's. He also made note of the fact that when you look at their ranks like those delegates filling their convention floors, it's almost all white whether they've got some diversity at the top as figure heads or not.

I don't know what Akin is paying this guy, but whatever it is, it's too much. I was waiting for him to stick out his tongue and wave his fingers next to his ears and say "I know you are, but what am I" before this was over. He was no match for Dean when it came to trying to make his party's case on women's issues or to defend Akin. Trying to pick a fight with Dean with a ridiculous, childish false equivalency is no argument.

DOWNLOADS: (159)

PLAYS: (913)

Embed

In yet another shining example of why The Five is probably one of the most IQ lowering hours of propaganda on television today, Fox news model Kimberly Guilfoyle compared Sandra Fluke to a political opportunist, and Greg Gutfeld compared her to a Chick-fil-A employee on this Wednesday's show.

Because we all know that Guilfoyle knows absolutely nothing about political opportunism. And a random idiot no one had ever heard of before this week attacking a restaurant employee and putting it on You Tube is exactly the same as Rush Limbaugh launching an national attack on Fluke.

If anyone is wondering what got Fox back on the attack of Sandra Fluke, it's because she dared to introduce President Obama at a campaign event this week in Colorado. If Republicans think that Democrats are done hitting them over the "war on women" and going after women's access to health care and reproductive services, or the fact that no one in the Republican party is willing to stand up to their misogynist in chief, Rush Limbaugh, I think they're sadly mistaken.

Watching The Five try to mount a response to that and the Obama campaign's willingness to put Sandra Fluke back out there is pretty pathetic to say the least. If using a Chick-fil-A employee is the best they can come up with to counter Fluke out on the campaign trail for President Obama, I think they're in trouble.

From NetrootsNationVideo and their channel on You Tube:

Darcy Burner gives a keynote at the Friday mid day plenary, "2012 and the War on (and for) Women" Netroots Nation 2012 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Here's more from their recap on KOS: Recap: 2012 and the War on (and for) Women.

Our sister site, Occupy America, is offering livestreaming from Netroots Nation.

DOWNLOADS: (303)

PLAYS: (928)

Embed

It appears the House Republicans, this time lead by Arizona Rep. Trent Franks are about to give us a sort of a rerun of the Sandra Fluke debacle, only this time the woman they're refusing to allow to testify before a Congressional hearing is D.C.'s only elected representative, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton:

Trent Franks Blocks D.C. Representative From Testifying About Proposed D.C. Abortion Ban:

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) wants to restrict abortions in the District of Columbia, but he refuses to allow D.C.’s delegate from testifying on behalf of the city’s residents during a hearing about his proposal. Franks’ “fetal pain” bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in D.C. even though there is no scientific proof that a fetus can feel pain at that point and a fetus is not viable.

Del. Eleanor Norton (D), D.C.’s only elected represetative, asked Franks last week if she could testify about the bill at an upcoming Thursday hearing. Franks denied her request, which Norton said breaks tradition of allowing members of Congress to testify about a bill that affects their constituents. Similarly, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) prevented women from testifying on a panel about contraception back in February.

Norton told the Huffington Post that her constituents are “up in arms” about the proposed abortion ban:

“This is the first bill in history that attempts to take the residents of the District of Columbia outside of the protection of the Constitution,” she continued. “The right to have an abortion until viability is a mandated right under Roe v. Wade. I think it takes a lot of nerve to single out the constituents of another member’s district for discriminatory treatment, and we deeply resent it.” [...]

D.C. is an easy target for anti-abortion bills, Norton said, because it doesn’t have any elected officials who can vote in Congress.

“Why wouldn’t they put this bill in for the entire country if they feel so deeply about it?”

In December, House Republicans forced a ban on funding for abortion services in D.C. to avoid a government shutdown and even prevented the city from using local taxes to pay for abortion care, reinstating a 13-year ban on abortion funding in D.C. that President Obama overturned in 2009.

Del. Norton spoke to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow about the upcoming hearing in the video clip above.

DOWNLOADS: (328)

PLAYS: (4927)

Embed

I guess John Boehner believes that whoever yells the loudest wins, because he decided to throw another temper tantrum on the floor of the House this Friday -- John Boeher On ‘War On Women’: ‘Give Me A Break’:

House Speaker John Boehner channelled his inner John Stossell Friday on the House floor when he sounded off on Democratic rhetoric pointing to the House GOP’s legislative agenda and finding a “war on women.”

“And now, now we are going to have a fight over women’s health,” Boehner said. “Give me a break. This is the latest plank in the so-called war on women. Entirely created, entirely created by my colleagues across the aisle for political gain.”

Steve Benen has more on what Boehner and the Republicans could do if they're really concerned about their problem with women voters -- Boehner can make this subject go away:

House Republicans this week said they would agree to keep student loan interest rates at their current level, but only if they're allowed to gut spending on preventive health care to finance the costs. The White House balked, but the GOP didn't care -- today, the Republican bill passed, 215 to 195, largely along party lines.

Several Democratic lawmakers noted the impact the GOP health care cuts would have on women's health, and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who's apparently grown a little sensitive to talk about the Republican "war on women," threw a bit of a tantrum on the House floor during the legislative debate.

I can appreciate why Boehner doesn't want to talk about the negative impact Republican policies are having on women, but I'd remind the Speaker that the quickest way to change the conversation is for Republicans to stop pursuing policies that have a negative impact on women.

In this case, rather than simply helping students because it would be good for them and the economy, Boehner's caucus decided to play a cheap little game -- they'll keep interest rates low only if they take funding from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which has nothing to do with student loans. [...]

Boehner can shout, point, and pound the podium to his heart's content, but if he doesn't want to be criticized for Republican measures that undermine women's health, he should change his party's agenda, not whine about Democrats shining a light on that agenda.

And as Steve noted, here's more from the White House on the real impact their demands would mean for women's health:

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (177)

PLAYS: (551)

Embed

Ever since Rep. Darrell Issa decided to exclude Sandra Fluke from being allowed to appear before his committee to testify about the new insurance regulations which would mandate contraceptive coverage, the right wing has been attacking this woman at every opportunity.

Whether it's Rush Limbaugh calling her a slut and a prostitute, or attacking her for her support of keeping the interest rates down on student loans, or Bill O'Reilly going after her for dressing well and taking birth control, or Megyn Kelly parroting O'Reilly's attacks on Fluke being "entitled" to contraceptive coverage, they just can't stop themselves.

The latest was Monica Crowley who took to Twitter to insult Fluke over her recent engagement -- Fox's Monica Crowley Reacts To Fluke's Reported Engagement: "To A Man?":

Fox News political and foreign affairs analyst Monica Crowley reacted to a report that Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke got engaged to her boyfriend by tweeting: "To a man?"

Following criticism of her on Twitter, Crowley wrote: "I love exposing the Left's total lack of a sense of humor."

As Media Matters has documented, Fluke has come under vicious attack by conservatives following her testimony before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Most infamously, Rush Limbaugh called Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute."

UPDATE: Despite suggesting that her Fluke tweet was a joke, Crowley subsequently wrote that she was asking a "Straightforward question" about Fluke.

Fluke appeared on Ed Schultz's show to respond to the latest insults. When asked what she thought of Crowley's homophobic "joke" Fluke replied “Well, you know, where I’m from, when someone tells you they’ve become engaged, you say congratulations rather than engaging in hate speech. And it’s certainly not the way I wanted my engagement to be greeted, but that said, I'm not going to let this kind of thing get to me personally. What really bothers me about it is exactly what you said, the blatant homophobia in the comment and the idea that’s an acceptable thing to say publicly.”

Schultz asked Fluke if she wanted an apology to which she replied that she did not, but Crowley might owe an apology to the LGBTQ community instead. Par for the course, Fluke again manged to stay well above the fray of those who've been attacking her.