ShazzieB
ShazzieB's JournalGaetz says he will seek to oust McCarthy as speaker this week. 'Bring it on,' McCarthy says.
I posted this in LBN last night, but the hosts have locked it as off-topic, so I'm reposting it here.
Original post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143138013
Source: AP News
Gaetz, a longtime McCarthy nemesis, said in broadcast interviews that McCarthy was in “brazen, material breach” of agreements he made with House Republicans in January when he ran for speaker. As a result, Gaetz said he would be filing a “ motion to vacate the chair,” as House rules permit.
McCarthy’s response: “So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing.”
No speaker has ever been removed from office through such a move. Procedural votes could be offered to halt the motion or it could trigger a House floor vote on whether McCarthy, R-Calif., should remain speaker.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/mccarthy-gaetz-house-republicans-speaker-remove-shutdown-aa4efca3c68895283b4219ed3e8064ff
Somehow, I doubt this will work out the way Gaetz wants. From what I know, only the MAGA faction is likely to vote to kick McCarthy out of the Speaker's seat, and Gaetz will probably end up with egg on his face. Bring it on, I guess.
Most people who are opposed to abortion don't bother to inform themselves of the facts.
Their thinking runs as follows: Abortion BAD --> must get rid of bad things --> must ban abortion.
These people firmly believe that abortion = "killing babies," and they don't think beyond that. Furthermore, they believe that the only women who get abortions are "sluts" who get pregnant through "illicit" (i.e., out of wedlock) sex, so an abortion ban will only affect those sluts, who obviously deserve whatever happens to them. /s
Based on these simplistic and poorly informed assumptions, they enthusiastically support and vote for politicians who think the same way. The possible "downstream effects" never occur to them, because they have no idea there could be any, much less what those effects might be.They can't see anything beyond "saving the babies." Such things as tubal pregnancies, incomplete miscarriages, and prenatal diagnosis of catastrophic, incompatible with life, birth defects are all beyond their knowledge or imaginings, as are the ramifications of being a practicing OB/GYN in a state where abortion is banned or even criminalized and any exceptions are so poorly defined that they might as well not exist.
TL/dr: They don't know about the ill and dangerous effects of these laws, and they're dumb to know that they don't know.
ABORTION Nebraska Mom Gets 2 Years in Prison After Buying Abortion Pills for Her Teen Daughter
This makes me so angry I can hardly see straight...
Burgess pled guilty in July to three charges (tampering with human remains, false reporting, and abortion after 20 weeks’ gestation) in exchange for prosecutors dropping two others (concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician). States have criminalized people for their pregnancy outcomes for decades—even, as in this case, while Roe v. Wade stood—but advocates worry these types of charges, against people seeking abortion and those who help them, will only become more frequent as millions of people live under state abortion bans.
“In this particular case, here’s the audacity: Self-managed abortion is not even a crime in fucking Nebraska,” said Rafa Kidvai, director of If/When/How’s Repro Legal Defense Fund (the fund is not representing Burgess). Self-managed abortion is now only explicitly banned in one state, Nevada, but prosecutors can and do criminalize people for self-managed abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth by charging them under other statutes. “It doesn’t have to be [illegal]. The prosecutors are like, ‘This is illegal in my heart,’” Kidvai said.
*SNIP*
Emma Roth, staff attorney with Pregnancy Justice, told Jezebel in July after Celeste was sentenced to jail time for concealing or abandoning a dead body that it’s clear prosecutors will “stretch laws far beyond their intended scope” in order to charge people. “They’re desperate to file some kind of charge to ensure that they criminalize what they view as immoral behavior,” she said. (Celeste, who was charged as an adult, pled guilty to a felony charge in exchange for getting two other charges dropped. She was sentenced in July to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation, and was released last Monday after serving 53 days.)
More: https://jezebel.com/nebraska-abortion-case-mom-sentenced-1850864511
Cross posted to General Discussion.
ABORTION Nebraska Mom Gets 2 Years in Prison After Buying Abortion Pills for Her Teen Daughter
This makes me so angry I can hardly see straight...
Burgess pled guilty in July to three charges (tampering with human remains, false reporting, and abortion after 20 weeks’ gestation) in exchange for prosecutors dropping two others (concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician). States have criminalized people for their pregnancy outcomes for decades—even, as in this case, while Roe v. Wade stood—but advocates worry these types of charges, against people seeking abortion and those who help them, will only become more frequent as millions of people live under state abortion bans.
“In this particular case, here’s the audacity: Self-managed abortion is not even a crime in fucking Nebraska,” said Rafa Kidvai, director of If/When/How’s Repro Legal Defense Fund (the fund is not representing Burgess). Self-managed abortion is now only explicitly banned in one state, Nevada, but prosecutors can and do criminalize people for self-managed abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth by charging them under other statutes. “It doesn’t have to be [illegal]. The prosecutors are like, ‘This is illegal in my heart,’” Kidvai said.
*SNIP*
Emma Roth, staff attorney with Pregnancy Justice, told Jezebel in July after Celeste was sentenced to jail time for concealing or abandoning a dead body that it’s clear prosecutors will “stretch laws far beyond their intended scope” in order to charge people. “They’re desperate to file some kind of charge to ensure that they criminalize what they view as immoral behavior,” she said. (Celeste, who was charged as an adult, pled guilty to a felony charge in exchange for getting two other charges dropped. She was sentenced in July to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation, and was released last Monday after serving 53 days.)
More: https://jezebel.com/nebraska-abortion-case-mom-sentenced-1850864511
Cross posted to Pro-Choice.
Why does Medicare have to be so danged complicated?
Mr. B recently got laid off from his job (he should have retired a long time ago, but decided to keep on working as long as he felt able, because we needed the money... but that's a whole separate story). The health insurance from his now ex-employer will only cover us till the end of this month, and we have got to get our Medicare ducks in a row by then. We already both have parts A and B, but as we all know, that will only get us so far. We need to add a Medigap/Medicare Supplent plan plus Part D for prescription coverage.
(Before anyone mentions Medicare Advantage, we've already ruled that out. I've read too many posts here at DU about the pitfalls and decided to steer clear.)
So like I said, if I understand correctly, we need Medigap and Part D. But (again, if I understand correctly), we have to get those from a private insurance company (or maybe 2 different companies?) and that's when my brain shuts down. There are so darned many insurance companies and so many different types of plans, and I can't figure out where to start. If we really have to wade through all these websites to figure out what will work best for us, I'm afraid we may end up flipping a coin or something equally random by the time it's all said and done. It all sounds so complicated, and neither of us has the kind of brain that's good at processing this kind of information and keeping it all straight.
I'm extremely leery about talking to any insurance people on the phone while were in this frame of mind. I'm sure they'd all just tell us how great their plan is and try to sell us on it, and that's the last thing we need right now.
I'm curious to hear abut how others have navigated this process, and whether anyone has any pointers to share. Right now, I feel as lost as if I was trying to find a couple of needles in a haystack the size of Mt. Rainier. 
I have major issues with MRIs.
First time I had one, it was for my knee. When I made the appointment, they asked if I was claustrophobic. I said no, because I didn't think I was. Turns out I'm not claustrophobic in small rooms, elevators, etc., but when you stuff me into a tube the size of a coffin where my arms are literally pinned to my sides, I have a panic reaction, because it literally feels like being buried alive to me. Who knew?
I managed to get through it only because I didn't have to have my head all the way in there for them to scan an area that low on my body. But it took all the self control I could muster to keep from fighting my way out of there. I tried to concentrate on staring at the ceiling and keep my mind off the feeling that the rest of my body was immobilized. The problem is you need to be very still while the machine is doing its thing, and it's really hard to be that still while stifling waves of panic. Ironically, that made the whole ordeal take even longer!
Years later, I needed to have an MRI on my neck. Remembering the earlier experience, I looked for a place that advertised open MRIs, figuring I'd be fine as long as I didn't have to be "buried alive" in that tube. WRONG. I was okay with the basket on my head, because that didn't give me the "buried alive" feeling that triggered the panic. I was able to closed my eyes and relax, UNTIL I gradually became aware that they had also put some kind of enclosure around the rest of me. That did it. Even though it wasn't nearly as constraining as being stuffed in the tube, that triggered the same "OMG GET ME TF OUT OF HERE NOW!!!" panic reaction that the tube did.
We were not able to complete the scan that day. *sigh* Since then, I feel like I understand phobias a lot better than I used to. It is very strange to be completely terrified of something that you rationally know is not going to harm you, but knowing it is an irrational reaction does nothing to dispel the terror and panic. It's completely involuntary and outside one's conscious control.
If I ever need an MRI again, I will plan ahead for sedation, because I know that's what it will take.
I think you may be right.
If he had conceded the loss of the election, even grudgingly, and not interfered with the peaceful transfer of power that has been the norm in this country from the beginning, AND if he had not stolen documents containing classified information and refused to give them back voluntarily, he might well have been allowed to slither out of the White House and back into private life without further ado.
But he just couldn't bring himself to do that, or rather his massive, yet highly brittle, ego and malignant narcissism would not allow him to do it. Instead, he refused to admit defeat, then launched a criminal conspiracy to try to overturn the election results, AND stole boxes full of national secrets that he needed to bolster said ego and help him maintain the fiction that he was still potus (and hence still a Very Important Dude). Even then, he might have been able to skate if he had even agreed to return the stolen property without a fuss But oh no, his malignant narcissism reared its hideous head once again, preventing him from admitting wrongdoing or even saying "oops" and conceding that he might possibly have made a mistake by taking something he might possibly not have been entitled to.
His narcissism trips him up every time. It leads him to make bad choices and then prevents him minimizing the damage by admitting to even the tiniest possibility that he could have ever done anything even slightly wrong. It demands that he ALWAYS be in the right and NEVER even a little bit wrong, even in cases where admitting error could produce a much more favorable outcome for him.
His narcissism has now painted him into a corner from which he cannot possibly escape, and the same narcissism prevents him from admitting he's trapped, even (especially?) to himself! He could have saved himself from most, if not all of this, if his narcissism hadn't been in the driver's seat every damned time, but it was and always will be in control of his decision making. For that reason, he is doomed to the failure he tries so desperately to deny.
No, I don't feel sorry for him at all. I'm just mind-boggled by the sheer irony of it all. 
"Huckabee rejected this and suggested Republicans simply have a messaging problem."
And then he proceeded to tell a bunch of big fat lies:
I think we're the ones who need to take control of the narrative and stop playing defense! I'm sick of the way forced birthers can't even talk about abortion without accusing the pro choice side of things like wanting to "butcher a fully developed child." They love to harp on that because they know it grosses people out, which makes it an effective way to make our side look like horrible villains. The fact that nobody actually wants that is irrelevant to them.
Most women who want to terminate an unwanted pregnancy want to do it early as possible, because the sooner you do it, the easier it is, the quicker and easier recovery is, and the less it costs. But you can't get an abortion until you know you're pregnant! The state legislators who are writing all these 5 week bans and "heartbeat" bills know this and they're writing their bills this way on purpose, because they know good and well that most women won't find out they're pregnant in time to nake the deadline, the sneaky bastards!
Women don't have abortions later in pregnancy unless something has gone horrifically wrong, like the fetus is diagnosed with severe birth defects that are unlikely to be survivable and mom doesn't want to go through labor and delivery just to have to sit there and watch their baby suffer and die.
Sorry for the rant. This kind of stuff makes me so crazy I just have to vent! Anyway, this is the kind of stuff that people need to be educated about. I honestly don't see enough of that happening, and it really frustrates me.
Of course, in this instance, no one there was going to call out Huckabee on his lies, because they're all forced birthers who either believe that claptrap or don't want to tell him he was wrong (because omg, someone might think they're *gasp* pro choice). Hannity was actually talking some sense when he (correctly) pointed out that the GOP position on abortion is too extreme for lot of people, but correcting Huck on his anti choice lies, I mean talking points, would have been a bridge too far.
A sad day for America?
I wish I had a dollar for every time some talking head on TV said it was a "sad day for America" when Trump was indicted. I know what they mean, but I just can't feel sad about it.
It was a sad day for America when he was elected president. Every day he was in office was a sad day for America. All the days when he committed his crimes have been sad days for America, especially J6. Each time he's indicted is a happy day for America, imo, because it means karma is baying at his heels, and he's one day closer to being held accountable.
I love this cartoon (from today's Toons post by JHB) because it expresses what I feel.
Neal Katyal: Why the Trump trial should be televised.
I've seen some comments at DU expressing that the J6 trial in DC should not be televised. I could not disagree more, and this opinion piece by Neal Katyal in the WaPo explains why better than I ever could.
Neal Katyal, a law professor at Georgetown University, served as acting solicitor general of the United States from 2010 to 2011.
While many states allow cameras in courtrooms, federal courts generally do not. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53 states: “Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.” Whatever the virtues of this rule might have been when it was adopted in 1946, it is beyond antiquated today. We live in a digital age, where people think visually and are accustomed to seeing things with their own eyes.
A criminal trial is all about witnesses and credibility, and the demeanor of participants plays a big role. A cold transcript cannot convey the emotion on a defendant’s face when a prosecution witness is on the stand, or how he walks into the courtroom each day.
Most important, live (or near-live) broadcasting lets Americans see for themselves what is happening in the courtroom and would go a long way toward reassuring them that justice is being done. They would be less vulnerable to the distortions and misrepresentations that will inevitably be part of the highly charged, politicized discussion flooding the country as the trial plays out. Justice Louis Brandeis’s observation that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” is absolutely apt here.
MORE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/03/trump-trial-tv-broadcast/
Non-paywall/gift link: https://wapo.st/3Qkr7Xr
I am 100% convinced that televising the trial is the right choice. We need to let the American people and the rest of the world see for themselves how America handles the prosecution of our most crooked criminal president ever.
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Name: SharonGender: Female
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