Tag: GOP War on Women

GOP Candidate Calls for Omar’s Execution

Buck Banks

“We should hang these traitors where they stand.”

— A fundraising letter sent last week by congressional candidate George Buck (R) suggested Rep. Ilhan Omar (R-MN) and other Democrats should be executed, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The lengthy email repeated an unsupported accusation that Omar secretly works for the country of Qatar and should be gravely punished for it.

Texas GOP Legislators Forcibily Remove Witness for Critizing Their Right-Wing Assault on Women’s Reproductive Rights

Jon Ponder

The testimony shown in this video is what speaking truth to power looks like — and the result of the truth-telling shown here is what happens when Republicans don’t like the truth they are hearing. The witness, Sarah Slamen, was called to testify before the Republican-controlled Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services about the Republicans’ controversial new anti-abortion bill. Here is what she said:

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Anti-Abortion Male Republican: ‘Sacred Sperm’ Bill Is ‘an Egregious Attack on Personal Liberties from the Government’

Jon Ponder

A “personhood act” passed by Republicans in the Oklahoma Senate earlier this year would ban all abortions, including in cases involving rape and incest. If the bill passes out of the legislature and the state’s Republican governor signs it into law, control over the reproductive systems of Oklahoma women will effectively be taken from the women themselves and handed over to the law enforcement apparatus of the state government.

“There’s not another individual that knows what’s better for you than you.”
– Sen. Shortey

In response, a pro-choice Democratic senator, Constance Johnson, introduced an “every sperm is sacred” bill that would outlaw what she described as the “depositing of sperm anywhere other than in a woman’s vagina.”

Not surprisingly, anti-abortion male politicians do not like Johnson’s amendment. The Daily Show’s Al Madrigal interviewed one of these senators, the perhaps ironically named Ralph Shortey, who inadvertently revealed how truly clueless big-government Republicans can be.

Partial transcript:

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Mitt Said in January That Staying Home with Kids Wasn’t “Work”

Trish

It was only January — four short months ago– that former Gov. Mitt Romney applauded the idea of women abandoning their two-year-olds so they could experience “the dignity of work.” That’s work as compared to…what? Possibly, “never working a day in their lives?”

Mitt better warm up his Etch A Sketch for this one. The Mormon maladroit was caught on tape in New Hampshire, with Sen. John McCain looking doubtful, as Mitt upped his own bad bet by boasting that even if it cost the state more money to provide childcare, it was worth it to him to force women receiving assistance while he was governor of Massachusetts to get out of the house and…what was that word again? Oh yeah, WORK. You know, some number of days in their lives.

Obviously Mitt was pandering in this speech, which sets it apart not at all from every other speech he’s made. It’s always popular among the folks looking for support from Republicans and tea partiers to beat up on welfare recipients, dreaming up new and different ways to humiliate them (like drug testing) or run their lives for them, as Mitt was attempting to do here with his tough love paternalism. What they say doesn’t even have to make economic sense. Neither drug testing nor forcing needy mothers to put their children in daycare would save money. The point is to extract a pound of flesh along with that EBT card.

It’s speeches — and attitudes — like this that account for the gender gap in poll numbers that leave Republican candidates in the dust with women.