Friday, August 18th, 2017
NOOR AL-SIBAI, - The Raw Story
Stephan: In the Christofascist world as this makes clear in their own words, race and power trump -- I use the word deliberately -- Jesus' teachings.
As CEOs criticize President Donald Trump en masse for his response to the white supremacist violence at last weekend’s “Unite the Right” rally, religious leaders have held steady in their support for the president.
CEOs from Merck, Blackwater, General Electric and now Aetna have all withdrawn their support or outright condemned the president for failing to properly address the white supremacists who, at times, issued Nazi salutes in his name at the Charlottesville rally.
CNBC Now ✔ @CNBCnow
JUST IN: Aetna CEO says he is “ashamed of our President’s behavior and comments” after Charlottesville http://cnb.cx/2vEasnM
1:34 PM – Aug 16, 2017
39 39 Replies 337 337 Retweets 483 483 likes
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While captains of industry line up to criticize Trump, however, religious leaders have, at best, turned a blind eye to the bigotry the president fails to condemn.
16 Aug
Jack Jenkins ✔ @jackmjenkins
Replying to @jackmjenkins
Trump evangelical board member James Robison has posted a prayer that is none-too-subtlety about Charlottesville. 1/ https://twitter.com/revjamesrobison/status/897853404000784384 …
Jack Jenkins ✔ @jackmjenkins
NEW: Johnnie Moore, a key organizer of Trump faith advisors, issues firm statement saying he will NOT stop advising the White House. https://twitter.com/JohnnieM/status/897914778793857025 …
1:33 PM – Aug 16, 2017
7 7 […]
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Friday, August 18th, 2017
AMANDA MARCOTTE, Political Writer - Salon
Stephan: Here is some good news. Blue value California, the most populous state in the Union is pushing back against the corruption of the Trump administration. Bravo Jerry Brown and the Democrats in the legislature. May other Blue value states follow the Golden State's lead.
Donald Trump; Xavier Becerra
Credit: AP/Alex Brandon/Marcio Jose Sanchez
After Donald Trump’s shocking meltdown on Tuesday afternoon, it’s even clearer that progressives need effective strategies to blunt the effect of having a conspiracy-theory-driven, racist authoritarian in the Oval Office, backed by a congressional majority that is still too afraid to offer meaningful checks on his worst behavior. The good news is that some of the nation’s biggest cities and states remain controlled by Democrats. Activists and politicians in those states are looking for meaningful ways to throw wrenches in the Trump agenda.
At the top of that list is California, which not only has the largest population of any state but is controlled by progressive Democrats (relatively speaking) who seem ready and eager to fight Trump, especially on the issues of climate change and immigration. (New York is the next biggest state controlled by Democrats, but intra-party warfare has crippled the ability of progressives to get much done.)
California fired a significant shot across the bow at Trump on Monday, when state Attorney General Xavier Becerra declared that […]
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
ANDREW SELSKY, Reporter - The Columbian/Associated Press August 16, 2017, 9:13 PM
Stephan: If you live in the United States as I do then you have probably spent part of the day watching The Great Schism Trend play out. And witnessed Donald Trump declare which side he is on. It was quite amazing. I did not think I would ever hear an American President speak such words in the 21st century, and I am sure you have also noted the cowardly behavior of the Republican congressional leadership. If we're not clear about equality as a fundamental we're not clear about anything. And we don't seem to be clear.
The good news in all this is that I think formerly somnolent Americans may be waking up to the man who has been elected, and the 62.9 million of us who voted for Trump may at last be opening our minds. Maybe. We will see what the polls show.
But underneath the toxic miasma surrounding the White House is an operational level that will have even more impact on individual lives day-to-day. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in social programs to control women. This story, and the next one illustrate how the Great Schism Trend is playing out at the state level.
First, the good news.
Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown
Credit: Associated Press
SALEM, OREGON— Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed into law a bill expanding coverage on abortions and other reproductive services to thousands of Oregonians, regardless of income, citizenship status or gender identity. Proponents called it America’s most progressive reproductive health policy.
The Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon said it is the first legislation in the United States to comprehensively address systemic barriers to accessing reproductive health care. Chris Pair, Brown’s press secretary, confirmed Brown signed the bill Tuesday.
Opponents have noted it will force taxpayers, even those who object morally to abortions, to assume some of the costs.
“Brown has enshrined into state law forced abortion funding, including for illegal aliens, even late-term and sex-selective abortions,” Republican state Sens. Kim Thatcher and Dennis Linthicum said in a joint statement. Linthicum predicted lawsuits will be filed over the issue.
Oregon’s legislation was introduced largely in response to Republican congressional attempts to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law, which includes minimum coverage requirements for reproductive services.
The law […]
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
Jon Herskovitz , - Reuters
Stephan: Now here's how this same issue is playing out in a Red value state, Texas. What will happen? Texas will see increases in self-inflicted abortions, some of which result in the mother's death; increased sexually transmitted diseases; increased breast cancer reaching advanced stages before being diagnosed. More deaths of women. A general degradation of healthcare for the women of Texas, thanks to the ignorance and bias of Christofascists who are obsessed with limiting a woman's right to control her own body.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott
Credit: AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/Jay Janner
AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Republican governor of Texas signed into law on Tuesday a measure that will restrict insurance coverage for abortions, compelling women to buy a supplemental plan if they want coverage for the procedure.
Governor Greg Abbott said the measure known as House Bill 214 would protect abortion opponents from subsidizing the procedure. Democratic critics decried it as forcing people to buy “rape insurance.”
Texas, the most-populous Republican-controlled state, has been at the forefront in enacting abortion restrictions, with many of its measures followed by other socially conservative states. But when HB 214 goes into law on Dec. 1, Texas will be the 11th state to restrict abortion coverage in private insurance plans written in the state.
“As a firm believer in Texas values, I am proud to sign legislation that ensures no Texan is ever required to pay for a procedure that ends the life of an unborn child,” Abbott said in a statement.
The Republican sponsor of a Senate bill on abortion insurance […]
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Thursday, August 17th, 2017
Stephan: And just to make the point a little clearer, another Texas story.
Credit: Sam Cammack
Charnesia Corley was a 21-year-old college student with no criminal record when two cops from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office stopped her in June 2015 for running a red light.
After searching her car, police claimed to have found .02 ounces of marijuana. That was enough, they apparently felt, to justify a full-body cavity search. When Corley refused to remove her clothes in the dimly lit parking lot where she was being detained, one of the officers threw her to the ground, pushed her partially underneath her own car, and yanked Corley’s pants down to her ankles. For the next 11 minutes, dash cam video of the incident shows, she was held down by two officers while being searched. Corley claims that fingers repeatedly probed her vagina and that the officers ignored her protests. A third officer stood nearby holding a flashlight. No drugs were found on Corley’s person.
Sam Cammack, an attorney representing Corley in a multi-million-dollar civil rights lawsuit against the county, calls the search “rape by cop.”
“It is undoubted that […]
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