Brace Yourselves: The Red State Women's Uprising will transform America's politics

[Coyotl]

Last edited Wed Jul 3, 2013, 10:22 PM - Edit history (1)

The Republicans have gone too far. You can't fight a war on women and win! It is that simple.

Tuesday, Jul 2, 2013 - http://www.salon.com/2013/07/02/red_state_women_will_transform_america/
Red-state women will transform America
Forget what cynical pundits say. Democrats need to win states like Texas and Kentucky, and fed-up women are the key
By Joan Walsh

Public Policy Polling is out with a new survey showing that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has actually increased his lead over state Sen. Wendy Davis in the wake of her nationally heralded filibuster against SB 5, the draconian antiabortion legislation Perry’s trying to pass in a second special section. It should be noted that Davis isn’t even a candidate for governor at this point, so this is a theoretical matchup absent any kind of campaign.

Still, the poll numbers are likely to bolster the already strong cynicism of Texas political observers about the chance that Davis could beat Perry if she fulfilled the dream of many liberal women nationwide and ran against him next year. Similarly, most journalists dismiss the chance that Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lunderman Grimes can knock off Sen. Mitch McConnell. But the rise of these red-state women is good news for Democrats, even if pundits say they can’t beat right-wing veterans (and national villains among liberals) like McConnell and Perry next year (and I’m not conceding that here). In most red states, the best hope for Democrats is a rising coalition of Latinos, black people, Asians, young voters and white women. Davis and Grimes could accelerate the future.

I’ve been struck by even liberal Texas reporters minimizing Davis’ chances ....

[Warpy]

1. I sincerely hope so. Something has to.

Rich WASP men haven't done such a wonderful job. It's time to give somebody else a crack at it.

Much of the first two decades of any new order in US politics will be spent undoing all the stupid things those WASP men have done to this country, from the outrage of Citizens United to the Patriot Act to their attacks against women's health care and children's nutrition.

[Dawson Leery]

5. +1

[silvershadow]

11. +1

[calimary]

2. It's always easier to say no. Or to say "you can't."

I hope Joan Walsh is correct.

Just how many of our hard-won and struggled-for rights will it be just fine and dandy to take away? I don't think women want to go back. As a woman, I certainly have NO intention of going back.

[napi21]

3. I'm actually inclined to think so.

I watched several clips of the filibuster in the Texas Senate, and I also watched that same senator on Rachel's show last night. The Pubs really are pissing off a lot of women in every state, and I HOPE they're dumb enough to keep it up. Women outnumber men in every state and when they get angry...look out!

[CK_John]

4. I think that is wishful thinking. Without some bully in the bully pulpit, talk is cheap..

[Coyotl]

12. The bully is government going where women would rather they did not

[neverforget]

6. God I hope so. The Republican Party needs to made an artifact of the past just like

their policies.

[Ilsa]

7. Here's the problem: there are plenty of

Anti-choice women in places like Texas. They believe in the religious wrong of abortion. They believe the goober men who lie to them, "Just keep having babies and we'll take care of you!" too many women are anti-choice, anti-feminist. And they are our political enemies as much as the Kochroach brothers.

[sheshe2]

8. Women Rising~

Thanks for the post, Coyotl~

[Coyotl]

9. WOMEN RISING: Political Leadership in Africa

&sns=tw

[Coyotl]

10. What The Mainstream Media Misses About Texas’ Ongoing Abortion Battle

What The Mainstream Media Misses About Texas’ Ongoing Abortion Battle
By Tara Culp-Ressler on Jul 3, 2013 - http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/07/03/2253921/texas-ongoing-abortion-battle

Over the past week, Texas has captured national attention with a dramatic show-down between a Republican-controlled legislature and thousands of reproductive health advocates. As grassroots activists work to block a package of stringent abortion restrictions that failed to advance in the regular legislative session, but that lawmakers continue to bring up for extra consideration in multiple special sessions, the media is taking notice.

In its coverage of the ongoing fight, the media is obviously interested in putting Texas’ proposed legislation — which would criminalize abortions after 20 weeks and force the vast majority of the state’s abortion clinics to close — into a broader context. The New York Times mapped out the public opinion on 20-week abortion bans. Following the same logic, Politico referred to Texas’ abortion proposal as a “bill that polls well” since “support for legal abortions drops dramatically after the first trimester.” The Washington Post pointed out that multiple other states already have 20-week bans on the books. Fox News referred to protests over a “strict abortion bill banning the procedure after the 20th week of pregnancy,” and a Washington Post columnist characterized Sen. Wendy Davis (D) as fighting for late-term abortion rights. And it’s easy to draw comparisons between Texas’ proposed ban and the national 20-week ban introduced in the House and, potentially, the Senate.

The implications of banning abortions at 20 weeks, which is an effective method of chipping away at the legal protections under Roe v. Wade, is an important part of the conversation. But many of the narratives the media is crafting about Texas’ abortion fight aren’t actually getting at the full scope of the story.

In addition to criminalizing abortion services after 20 weeks, the other provisions in Texas’ abortion proposals would impose harsh restrictions on abortion providers. .....

[DirkGently]

13. The backlash, when fully realized, will be spectacular.

Let the record show American Republicans imploded trying to hurt women. This is what they are about.

[Coyotl]

14. Look at North Dakota's Senate race for some inspiration. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) in a red state.

ND votes about 2/3rds R in Presidential races, but elects Dems to the Senate. It can happen quite easily with the proper candidates! Sen. Wendy Davis in TX is such a person!

Really intelligent and warm-hearted women cannot be defeated by boorish Republicans men!

[DirkGently]

15. They're so gleeful about playing the villain. Hurting people.

The social issues component of American conservatism has essentially become a never-ending quest for some group of people to demean, humiliate, and terrorize.

It's almost as though, in grudgingly realizing their war on brown immigrants is self-defeating, they have decided to proportionately increase their attempts to demean and destroy women.

That kind of vicious sentiment packs a lot of energy for some people, but when the tide turns, it should be devastating.

What sickens me is that it hasn't done so yet.

How far will they be permitted to go? How many will die?

[CrispyQ]

16. Fucking assholes.

On Tuesday alone, new abortion restrictions took effect in five red states — Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi and South Dakota – all passed by Republican legislatures and signed by Republican governors. Kansas’ new law requires abortion doctors to tell their patients right-wing lies: that an abortion puts them at high risk for breast cancer (totally unfounded by science) and that after 20 weeks, a fetus feels pain and “abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.” Again, medical experts say neither is true. In South Dakota, women must wait 72 hours before obtaining an abortion – and weekends don’t count, which means some women will wait six days. Indiana women must undergo ultrasounds. In Mississippi and Alabama, women can no longer obtain a prescription for an early abortion drug via teleconference; they must now go to a doctor’s office. The hypocrites who claim to oppose late-term abortion are ensuring that all abortions will at least be later-term in these states.