Rape And Incest

Part of why Nevada Republican freak Sharron Angle lost in the 2010 Republican sweep was because she was so far to the right that even some mainstream conservatives couldn't bring themselves to vote for her and because she absolutely repulsed independents. One of her more memorable pronouncements on the campaign trail was that forcing a girl raped by her father to bear the child of that incident would be turning a lemon into lemonade. And while there is a certain segment of the Republican base that goes for that kind of thinking, most normal Americans are horrified by it. And, of course, this particular brand of patriarchal mental illness, isn't exclusively a Republican problem. In their abandonment of all pretense of having any principles at all, Democratic Party careerists like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Steve Israel, under the guise of "We Are The Big Tent Party," are happy to welcome extreme anti-Choice crackpots who haven't found their way to the GOP yet.

Tuesday the National Association of Women joined former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Planned Parenthood, the Progressive Women's Alliance of West Michigan (and his mother) in endorsing Trevor Thomas in the congressional primary next week for Michigan seat to represent the area around Grand Rapids and Battle Creek (MI-03). Trevor is an extraordinary candidate-- which is why he was also endorsed by Blue America-- but I suspect that so many women have flocked to his banner at least in part because of his opponent, Steve Pestka. Pestka, who has a good deal of Establishment support, is a former state legislator who threw his lot in with the Republicans to vote to defund Planned Parenthood. His ugly brand of anti-Choice fanaticism may be OK for the Big Tent careerists but it is not OK with normal women. Like the worst of the Republican misanthropes, Pestka makes no exception for rape or incest in his heavy-handed interfering with a woman's right to Choice. This man shouldn't even be allowed into a Democratic Party meeting on a precinct level, let alone be the party's congressional nominee!

Aside from yesterday being the day that NOW endorsed Trevor Thomas, it also marked the day that the House Republicans-- eager to continue to not deal seriously with the economic mess they have forced the country into-- voted on another pointless anti-Choice bill, this one from GOP anti-Choice freak Trent Franks-- prefect for a kook like Pestka-- to ban all abortions in Washington, DC, including for victims of rape and incest. The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass, but it failed 220-154, all but 8 Republicans voting for it, 6 who crossed the aisle and 2 who voted "present." The Republicans were joined by 17 of the worst anti-Choice Democrats:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog/New Dem-PA), already defeated in his primary
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), retiring
Jerry Costello (IL), retiring
Mark Critz (PA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), hand-picked Democratic Senate candidate
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA), already defeated in his primary
Dale Kildee (MI), retiring
Larry Kissell (Blue Dog-NC)
Jim Langevin (RI)
Lipinski, Jr. (IL)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), retiring
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), retiring

So of the 17 bad Dems, 8 have either been defeated already in primaries or are voluntarily leaving the House. Good riddance! The four names that are bolded are all priority candidates for the DCCC's Frontline program. Ironically, they'll get the bulk of whatever pro-Choice Democrats are tricked into donating to the DCCC this year-- which will rail against the Republicans who voted for this crazy bill but finance these 4 Democrats who voted along with them. This is called chutzpah. This is also what Debbie Wasserman Schultz calls her "Big Tent Party." I wonder if she would cut someone off at some point. What do you have to do to not be allowed into Wasserman Schultz's Big Tent? The Blue America PAC isn't as big tenty as Wasserman Schultz. Every single candidate we've endorsed backs women's right to Choice 100%. The idea of forcing a woman who was raped to bear her rapist's child is so disgusting that I can't imagine a tent that big-- although I can imagine a Florida congresswoman's ego being that big... not to mention her maniac desire to be Speaker!