Steve King's office asserts support for 'federal
abortion coverage,' even for 'non-forcible' rapes

post from Daily Kos on 21 August 2012 04:00:04 PM. © Daily Kos

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) King supports 'federal abortion coverage'
Wait, what? Steve King's office is already walking back his assertion that he's "never heard of" someone getting pregnant from incest or statutory rape. More surprising is the content of the walkback, which starts out silly and ends up baffling. At TPM, Evan McMorris-Santoro reports:

?What he was saying was, he personally does not know a girl who was raped,? Brittany Lesser, a spokesperson for King said. ?He never says, ?I?ve never heard of that.? There?s a fine line between ?I?ve never heard of that? and ?I don?t know personally anybody who?s been raped. There?s a difference. There is a difference.?

The problem with that is it wasn't the question being asked of King. Nobody asked him whether or not he personally knew such a person; the question was what Steve King thought should be done when that does happen. The defense here is that there's a difference between the question King was asked and the one he answered, and a further difference between what King actually said and what his spokesperson insists he meant. Or ... something.

But this part is just amazing:

Lesser said ?of course? King is aware that girls have been impregnated by statutory rape or incest, and said King supports people who have not been forcibly raped receiving federal abortion coverage under a rape exemption.
?That?s a given for anybody who understands pro-life legislation,? Lesser said.

Say what, now? Steve King supports federal abortion coverage for victims of non-forcible rape, to use the Republican term? That's a hell of a thing, and as far as I can tell it's the complete opposite of what Steve King thought up until now. Remember, this is the guy who demands Congress toss aside animal cruelty and dog fighting legislation because strengthened abortion laws are more important. Now he's supporting abortion, and not just abortion but federal abortion coverage, for people "who have not been forcibly raped"? And that's a "given"?

I am honestly not sure what's going on here, or how quickly Steve King's office will now walk back these additional statements from Steve King's office, but at this moment, we seem to be in a position where even official congressional psychopath Steve King is radically more supportive of abortion rights than the rest of his party.

Or, to put it another way, the official position of the Republican Party, as codified in their new "personhood"-based platform that demands an end to abortion in all circumstances without exceptions, even in cases of rape, "forcible" or "non-forcible" incest, or to save a patient's life, is to the right of even one of their most hard-right members of Congress. And these are the people demanding Todd Akin resign, lest he make them look bad?

I am really, really looking forward to hearing Steve King explain this one. Or, hell, hearing the chairman of the Republican Party explain why Steve King supports federal abortion coverage even for "non-forcible" rapes, but the official Republican platform considers that far too radical a stance to embrace. Or, while we're dreaming, hearing Mitt Romney explain the same damn thing.

It would be remarkable if the primary outcome of this Todd Akin flap was that the movers and shakers of the Republican Party actually had to stand up and explain what the official Republican stance on these issues actually was. Not holding my breath, but it would be a hell of a thing.

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The 2012 election: Sex and Medicare

post from Daily Kos on 21 August 2012 03:56:30 PM. © Daily Kos

Back of senior wearing t-shirt that says You'd have to be deluded to deny that Pres. Barack Obama was vulnerable this year based on the nation's economic indicators. And really, no one denied it.

Obama was lucky that the GOP's heaviest hitters decided to wait for the open race in 2012. And he's been lucky about the utter ineffectiveness of Super PAC money thus far this cycle.

But his biggest stroke of luck? The GOP's obvious inability to make this election about the economy.

SEX
Republicans face a wide gender gap, which is particularly damaging given that women vote in larger numbers than men. But no matter how much it hurts them electorally, they just can't seem to get away from railing against contraception, or opining about magical in-uterus rape sperm deflector shields.

And at the same time they're pretending to be outraged by Akin's comments, they are enshrining their exact sentiment in the GOP's party platform.

Why would Republicans want to take the focus off the economy by engaging in crazy-ass social issues, like re-litigating 1965's Grizzwold v. Connecticut?

MEDICARE
It's not as if the GOP wanted this race to be about Medicare, but adding Paul Ryan to the ticket (in order to win the support of Mitt Romney-hating wingnuts) did just that.

While House Republicans panic, the top of the ticket is putting a brave face on the matter, pretending to be excited to engage in this "debate." And they've certainly gone on the offensive, repeating the claim that Obama set out to destroy Medicare by cutting $700 billion from the program. (The $700 billion was from the inefficient Medicare Advantage program?cuts that Ryan's budget included as well. Not a single recipient has lost an iota of benefits.)

The GOP hopes that repeating that lie will turn the tables on the Democratic advantages on Medicare, or at least muddy the waters to the point that voters think, "they ALL want to destroy Medicare!" The problem is, voters don't trust anything Republicans say about Medicare.

It's like the GOP advantages on the deficit, on Wall Street performance, on national defense. We can repeatedly point out that Wall Street does best under Democratic administrations, that the only president in freakin' forever to balance the budget was Bill Clinton, and that both Clinton and Obama won the wars they started (Serbia, Libya) cheaply and without losing a single American life (not to mention the matter of a certain Osama Bin Laden).

But none of that matters. The conventional wisdom that Democrats suck on national defense, the deficit, and business is so engrained, that it will likely take decades more to turn that perception around. Sucks for us.

But of course, Republicans have bizarrely decided to avoid focusing on the things people like about them, and instead have made Medicare their battleground. An NBC/WSJ poll in June found that 40 percent of respondents trusted Democrats more than Republicans on Medicare, compared to 24 percent who believed the opposite. (Republicans led on the deficit 37-25 and terrorism 33-24.)

In a March Pew poll, the numbers were 48-35 in favor of Democrats. In other words, only the GOP fringe?the same one that thinks Obama was born in Kenya?thinks the GOP is better than the Democrats on Medicare.

Can Republicans muddy the water enough to make a difference in the next two months and change? They can probably make some inroads, but once again, this isn't favorable turf for them. In fact, they're operating in enemy territory. And to compound their problems, the people who most care about this issue?seniors?are the people most likely to vote! Indeed, nearly one-fifth of the most right-wing seniors weren't crazy about the Paul Ryan pick. If Republicans can't get unanimity with that crowd, just imagine the damage being done outside of the mouthbreathing community.

It's genuinely inexplicable?Republicans have a critical issue all teed-up and ready to use against an incumbent president suffering middling approval numbers. And THIS is how they decide to approach the elections?

As long as we're talking about sex and Medicare (with a dash of immigrant bashing thrown in for good measure), things will continue looking mighty fine for us.

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-and-Medicare

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Boy, is my face red

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 21 August 2012 03:55:31 PM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

by @BGinKC

In the chaos of the last month -- surgery, a return trip to the hospital, student record hell -- that's still not settled, by the way -- I'm posting this from campus while I wait for one more demigod in a private office who, I am assured by the last person who I was assured would be able to fix my problem, will be able to fix my problem. We'll see. At this point, I'm thoroughly pissed and threatening to enroll in second-quarter classes that start October 15th and work on campaigns until then...

Anyway, back to why my face is red...I didn't just forget to pay the internet bill, I forgot to call my ISP and make an arrangement to pay the bill at the end of the week when my check from Washington Monthly gets here. I spaced off calling them yesterday and this morning when I woke up, my service had been interrupted. And since it's off, it's staying off until my check gets here and I can pay the whole $85 dollar bill because I have no money in my checking account, no money in my PayPal account, my Mastercard is four bucks over my spending limit, I've used up all of the karma I'm aware of and I've already done the blog fundraiser this year. It all adds up to "Chill out, Chick. Friday will be here soon."

So I will sit over here and be humbled, chastened and contrite by the fact that I can be quite a scatterbrain at times, and leave you in the capable hands of the other bloggers here who didn't take their internet connections for granted last month.

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Virginia to Communities on Climate-Fueled Sea
Level Rise: You're on Your Own

post from TheGreenMiles.com on 21 August 2012 03:47:00 PM. © TheGreenMiles.com

Whether you're anti-science crusader Ken Cuccinelli, solution-rejecting Bob McDonnell, or any of Virginia's "centrist" Democrats who know global warming means we're screwed but remain too cowardly to advocate aggressive action, aside from a couple of dozen lonely progressive voices, Richmond is united in telling climate change that it should not be impacting Virginia. Lo and behold, climate change has stubbornly refused to stop accelerating, and now communities like Norfolk are struggling to deal with climate impacts with no help from the state:

City and county leaders, already burdened with typical tasks of local governance ? zoning, construction permits, liquor licenses, school board appointments ? are also weighing multi-million-dollar flood control projects to keep the ocean at a livable distance.

While they struggle to pull together know-how and funding, those with the broader view and resources ? state agencies ? are absent from the discussions: In a study released earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council ranked Virginia as one of 29 states that were "largely unprepared and lagging behind" on planning for climate change at the state level.

In many ways the problem is already upon Norfolk. The Atlantic Ocean off Virginia's coast is rising a quarter of an inch annually, equivalent to two feet in 100 years ? faster than anywhere else in the United States except for coastal Louisiana. The ocean at Sewells Point, site of the Norfolk Naval Station, rose 14.5 inches between 1930 and 2010. And that's likely to accelerate. Last month the U.S. Geological Survey reported that sea levels are rising more quickly along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts than globally, possibly as a result of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns.

The inaction of Virginia's elected officials is actually hurting the state twice - not just paying the price of climate inaction through extreme weather and sea level rise, but hurting Virginia's economy by losing out on clean energy jobs.

But hey, who has time to pay attention to looming disaster when there's women's bodies that need regulating, amirite?

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Virginia to Communities on Climate-Fueled Sea
Level Rise: Good Luck With That

post from TheGreenMiles.com on 21 August 2012 03:47:00 PM. © TheGreenMiles.com

City and county leaders, already burdened with typical tasks of local governance ? zoning, construction permits, liquor licenses, school board appointments ? are also weighing multi-million-dollar flood control projects to keep the ocean at a livable distance.

While they struggle to pull together know-how and funding, those with the broader view and resources ? state agencies ? are absent from the discussions: In a study released earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council ranked Virginia as one of 29 states that were "largely unprepared and lagging behind" on planning for climate change at the state level.

In many ways the problem is already upon Norfolk. The Atlantic Ocean off Virginia's coast is rising a quarter of an inch annually, equivalent to two feet in 100 years ? faster than anywhere else in the United States except for coastal Louisiana. The ocean at Sewells Point, site of the Norfolk Naval Station, rose 14.5 inches between 1930 and 2010. And that's likely to accelerate. Last month the U.S. Geological Survey reported that sea levels are rising more quickly along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts than globally, possibly as a result of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns.

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Challenges to Tony Perkins and the WaPos Dana
Milbank Column on FRCs hate group Label

post from Firedoglake on 21 August 2012 03:30:53 PM. © Firedoglake

Michelangelo Signorile has published an open letter to the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, challenging him to a public debate over at Huffpost or on his SiriusXM show over whether the organization deserves the hate group label.[...]

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Rep. Steve King, R-Moron: I Never Heard of Anyone
Getting Pregnant From Statutory Rape or Incest

post from Crooks and Liars on 21 August 2012 03:30:16 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Rep. Steve King, R-Moron: I Never Heard of Anyone Getting Pregnant From Statutory Rape or Incest

Click here to view this media

Via KMEG-TV,, here's the noted Congressman From the Planet Moron, Republican Steve King, weighing in on the controversy swirling around his friend and fellow paleo-conservative on abortion, Todd Akin:

King supports the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." It would ban Federal funding of abortions except in cases of forcible rape. Right now, Medicaid also covers abortions for victims of statutory rape or incest - for example, a 12 year old who gets pregnant.
Congressman King says he's not aware of any young victims like that.
"Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way, and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter," he said.

Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM observes:

A Democratic source flagged King?s praise of Akin in the KMEG interview to TPM. But potentially more controversial for King is his suggestion that pregnancies from statutory rape or incest don?t exist or happen rarely. A 1996 review by the Guttmacher Institute found ?at least half of all babies born to minor women are fathered by adult men.?

Let's dig that Republican hole a little deeper, shall we?

Of course, none of this is exactly a surprise for anyone who's been paying attention to Republican wisdom on Women's Parts. Nor is it a surprise coming from a guy who likes to compare immigrants to cattle and dogs, and who recently defended dog fighting. Dehumanization is becoming a Republican specialty, and Steve King is their ace.

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Shocker! Romney campaign can't find anyone
'appropriate' to talk about lady things

We should point out that we have been trying to get the Romney campaign to join this debate today, and they have said that they don't have an appropriate spokesperson, but we will keep trying.

What?!?!? Mitt Romney's campaign can't find an appropriate spokesperson to talk about lady things? But what about Ann Romney, Mitt's official chief adviser on lady things? After all, Mitt says she totally knows about lady stuff:

My wife has the occasion, as you know, to campaign on her own and also with me, and she reports to me regularly that the issue women care about most is the economy.

In fact, Mitt prefers to have Ann do his talking for him when it comes to lady things:

I wish Ann were here, my wife were here, for a lot of reasons, I wish she were here. But I wish she were here to answer that question in particular.

So why can't Ann go on TV to talk about lady things now? Oh yeah:

I love the fact that there are women out there who don?t have a choice and they must go to work and they still have to raise the kids. Thank goodness that we value those people too. And sometimes life isn?t easy for any of us.

I'll bet you $10,000 the Obama campaign can find someone to talk about lady things.

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OPSEC Spokesman A Birther, Has Called Obama A
Communist

Benjamin Smith, a spokesman for Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. -- the group attacking President Barack Obama for taking credit for the operation that killed Osama bin Laden -- has called Obama "Commander-in-Chief Hussein Mao-bama" and has questioned whether he is a Muslim or a citizen of the U.S.

Smith has also posted articles suggesting that the late conservative media provocateur Andrew Breitbart was murdered and posted his support for Republican congressional candidate Ilario Pantano, who was accused in a double murder as a Marine in Iraq.

OPSEC's extensive ties to the Republican party had already been well documented, but an anonymous webpage has been collecting highlights from Smith's Facebook page that show the former Navy SEAL expressing some controversial opinions.

Smith, who did not respond to Foreign Policy's request for comment, also wrote after Obama's 2012 State of the Union address that Obama must have used "some bad tan lotion because he looked like an old bruised Banana which made me think that Harry Belafonte was walking out to give his rendition of 'Day-O' before 'ole' suck and blow' was to come out and enlighten us with his blasphemous spew."

Obama himself doesn't seem too worried about the group, telling a Virginia newspaper reporter this week that he doesn't take OPSEC too seriously.

"One of their members is a birther who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary," Obama told the Virginia-Pilot. "You've got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election. This kind of stuff springs up before election time."

The OPSEC ad is embedded below:

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Houdini Would Be Impressed

Romney is loudly promising voters no cuts to Medicare benefits under his plan -- while Team Romney concedes benefit cuts will be necessary under his Medicare plan[...]

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