Rush, Rape, And Filibusters

Rush Limbaugh Invokes Rape Analogy To Criticize Filibuster Reform (AUDIO):

Rush Limbaugh invoked a rape analogy on Friday to criticize President Obama's move to support filibuster reform...

Democrats To Fight For Choice

Democrats vow abortion fight in Texas:

Republicans in the Texas Legislature passed an omnibus abortion bill that is one of the most restrictive in the nation, but Democrats vowed Saturday to fight both in the courts and the ballot box as they used the measure to rally their supporters...

Clinton Gets Endorsement

Missouri Sen. McCaskill backs Clinton for president in '16 - First Read:

She's not a presidential candidate yet but Hillary Clinton is already starting to pile up the endorsements.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill Tuesday added her support to a growing roster of Democratic activists pushing the former secretary of state to make another bid for the White House in 2016. The nudge gives Clinton a marquee, swing-state backer and could be an early glimpse at a major source of support for any potential campaign -- Democratic women in the U.S. Senate...

O Talks Tuff On Sexual Assaults

Obama: ‘No tolerance’ for military sexual assault - Jennifer Epstein - POLITICO.com:

President Barack Obama accused members of the military who perpetrate sexual assaults of “betraying the uniform” they wear after the Pentagon reported Tuesday that there are more than 70 sexual assaults involving members of the armed forces each day.

“They may consider themselves patriots, but when you engage in that kind of behavior, it’s not patriotic, it’s a crime,” Obama said at a joint press conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye that also touched on conflicts in Syria and North Korea...

It's Still Not One World

'Men don't have to worry about being caught': Sex mobs target Egypt's women - World News

Walaa Al Momtaz doesn’t leave her home for up to five days at a time. The neatly veiled 22-year-old misses her friends at City University, where she studies English and German, but what she faces upon leaving her house defeats her...

The GOP And Rice

Note: Sorry guys I had to turn the word check back on. I got buried in spam within 24 hours of turning it off.

Why Republicans love John Kerry

...If she is not picked, Kerry would be the logical next choice, and that selection would lead to a special election and a potential GOP pickup. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), who just lost reelection, would have a very reasonable chance of winning that special election, despite the state’s blue lean. And, yes, Senate Republicans are well aware of that series of dominoes...

On Being A Male Feminist

This article perfectly explains where my head is.

It Happened to Me: I Lost A Job For Calling Out The Company's Rape Apology | xoJane

As a straight white dude living a fairly middle-class existence, who is fortunate to have no firsthand experience with rape, it’s been pretty easy for me to live my life without giving it much thought. I spend almost no energy thinking about the safest route to take when walking home, or what might happen to my drink if I step away from it, or who I should or shouldn’t accept a ride home with...

Is This The Stupidest Excuse Of All?

Fox News Guest Pushes Obama ‘Rape Camp’ Conspiracy - Truthdig

Women [Win] Everywhere Win

A Referendum on "Legitimate Rape": Akin, Mourdock Defeated | PR Watch

The people of Missouri and Indiana were, in effect, given a referendum on "legitimate rape" on election day, and they soundly rejected the concept by defeating U.S. Senate candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. The two legislators had stirred controversy over their verbal attempts to characterize the validity of a rape victim's experience in order to push forward their anti-abortion agendas.

The extremists lost badly, while a historic number of women swept into the U.S. Senate, turning the tide in the "war on women." The Obama campaign's heavy focus on women's issues for the past year appears to have paid off with CNN reporting an 18-point gender gap nationally this election, more than his 12-point gender gap in 2008...

The Toad On Rape

Gingrich on Mourdock’s rape comments: Stephanie Cutter should ‘get over it’ | The Raw Story

Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who is now a surrogate for Mitt Romney, on Sunday told President Barack Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to “get over it” and stop talking about Republican Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s assertion that pregnancy from rape “is something that God intended to happen...”

Mitts Hearts Mourdock

Romney campaign stands by Mourdock - CBS News

Amid ongoing controversy surrounding Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's comments about pregnancies resulting from rape, the Romney campaign said today it will stand by the candidate, even while Mitt Romney "disagrees" with him regarding abortion policy.

Mourdock, a Tea Party-backed candidate who beat longtime moderate Sen. Richard Lugar in the state's Republican nominating contest earlier this year, came under fire from the left last night after suggesting that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something that God intended to happen..."

O'Women Landsliding

‘Gender Gap’ Near Historic Highs

If only women voted, President Obama would be on track for a landslide re-election, equaling or exceeding his margin of victory over John McCain in 2008. Mr. Obama would be an overwhelming favorite in Ohio, Florida, Virginia and most every other place that is conventionally considered a swing state. The only question would be whether he could forge ahead into traditionally red states, like Georgia, Montana and Arizona...

Terrible Journalism

Or is it CDS? Marie Claire e-mail miscasts Hillary Clinton as a meanie - Erik Wemple - The Washington Post

A Crack Of Light In Pakistan

The Malala moment: Tens of thousands rally in Pakistan for girl shot by Taliban - CSMonitor.com

Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's largest city Sunday in the biggest show of support yet for a 14-year-old girl who was shot and seriously wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group...

A Point For Women

Comment Of The Day: Nun Edition

Catholic Bishop Responds to The Nuns’ Story « The Confluence

JeanLouise, on July 28, 2012 at 12:57 pm said:

The Pope has said that he would be satisfied with a smaller but more “pure” church. He would be more than happy to see the nuns leave because they’ve been challenging him and his predecessor or decades.

I would probably leave but I would like to see the nuns stay and fight the good fight. If the Pope ex-communicates them, I think that even more American Catholics will go with them. The Roman Catholic Church is way too powerful in American politics and that needs to change. That’s more likely if the church is in the news every day because they’ve thrown out yet another nun who followed her conscience.

An archbishop in Arizona ex-communicated a nun who is a hospital administrator in that state. She was kicked out in 2009 for approving a life-saving therapeutic abortion for an eleven-year-old girl. Her ex-communication resulted in a lot of bad publicity and, I’m sure, a lot of reflection on what it means to blindly follow RC teachings. She has been welcomed back to the church because of, I think, public pressure. Not a single pedophile priest has been ex-communicated. That outrageous difference in how women and men are treated in the RC Church needs to be on the front page of every newspaper and blog in the country. My hope is that the RC hierarchy will be too busy dealing with the fallout to insert themselves into public health policy.

The LCWR is meeting in August. My guess is that they will not leave the church but will remove themselves from the authority of the Vatican. I’m not sure how that works but, apparently, it’s been done by dissident groups before.

Buffonery Above & Beyond

via Media Matters: Limbaugh: "Feminism Was Established" So "Unattractive Women" Could Have "Easier Access To The Mainstream"

Rush Punts

According to ABC Evening News, Limbaugh has issued a written apology for "slutgate." From the sound of it, not much apology was present but apparently there was a lot of  "come back sponsors" involved.

Abortions Higher When Illegal

Abortion more common where it's illegal: Where are rates highest? - HealthPop - CBS News

Abortion rates are highest where the procedure is illegal, according to a new study. The study also found nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe, with the vast majority of unsafe abortions occurring in developing countries...

Non-Virgins Beware

They have a different idea about privacy and human dignity in some places. Egyptian general admits 'virginity checks' conducted on protesters - CNN.com: