SCOTUS..I have some questions..

Today, SCOTUS decided in favor of free speech over the safety of women walking into abortion clinics in Massachusetts. Wow..the highest court in the land has sent the message that it's okay if women are bullied and harassed. So I guess I have some questions:

When the verbal turns physical, am I protected then? Or will I need to stand there and take the physical punishment? Because I don't know the answer to that now. If someone puts his/her hands on me, can I defend myself? I'm a martial artist, after all. Yes, my illness prevented me from working out for a long time, but I'm better now. I'm sure I could effectively stop someone from preventing me from entering an abortion clinic. Will I be arrested though? Because I figure, if someone touches me, how do I know it will stop with a simple touch? Is grabbing me allowed? Or is that too far? What if they just surround me and prevent me from moving forward? Am I safe then? Should I trust them to do nothing else? How far will they go to prevent me from seeking medical care? Regardless of their opinions, that's why women go to these places. To seek care. Not to seek bullying, harassment or physical assault. 

When they take my license plate number down and then find out where I live, do I have any rights then? What if they come to my home? What if they also express their 2nd amendment rights and bring a weapon? If I call the police, will they even bother to come? Or will they cite freedom of speech?

When they obtain my phone number and call me to say whatever disgusting thing they want to say, can I change my phone number? Or do I have to live without a phone? Or am I required to have one so that their right to free speech is preserved?

35 feet. That's all the buffer zone was. SCOTUS has their own buffer zone, I've read. Is that constitutional? What about the protest zones created when Bush was in office? Were they constitutional? He came to the Redmond Fairgrounds to discuss his Healthy Forest Initiative after we had a major fire in the area. A small group of protesters was there ranging from 5 years old to a woman in her 80's. They never even got close to the President. They stood there quietly with their signs, while expensive, out of state vehicles sped by them, middle fingers raised, yelling all kinds of curse words while the children stood there, bewildered. Bush supporters.

Years ago, I worked at a charter school which was housed in the same building as Planned Parenthood. Parents dropping their children off for school were prevented from entering the parking lot by anti-abortion protesters blocking the driveway. There was only one way in. The kids were subjected to all the disgusting signs that these people held up. Finally, we were able to make them move down the street a bit. That city had an ordinance that prevented anyone or anything impeding sight. Parents complained that they couldn't see to drive out of the parking lot, assuming they made it in to begin with. So we won that day. The protesters continued to protest 20 feet further down the street, and the kids could begin their day without drama. Eventually, the protesters went home.

If anti-abortion folks have a right to their free speech as a constitutionally protected right, then so do women entering an abortion clinic. We shouldn't fear abusive comments and physical violence, but evidently our illustrious Supreme Court doesn't care about us. It's sad we need boundaries from each other. It's sad SCOTUS doesn't get that, but then they think corporations are people and have the same rights as individuals. The problem with that is, few of us have the money these corporations have to buy influence. Because that's what they do. It's not about living by a set of principles or values, it's about what the almighty dollar can buy. They also seem to side with the voter-suppression crowd. Somehow they think that racism is in the past. Right.

We need a new court. This one is broken. It doesn't serve the American people anymore. Some day, we'll find out just who it is they do serve. But clearly, it's not us. Just as anti-abortion protesters have the right to protest abortion, women have the right to safely pursue one. Protest on public sidewalks, then it is what it is. I actually support your right to do that. But come within my personal space, now we have a new problem. Apparently, SCOTUS decided a 35 foot buffer zone for our safety is too much to ask. Today, instead of clarifying the issue, in my opinion SCOTUS has created a whole host of new ones.

Thanks so much..like we don't have enough to deal with.

Disrespect over governing..

Once again, Senate Republicans have blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act..evidently this makes the third time. Why can't these idiots understand that women deserve to be paid the same as a man for doing the same work? Oh, they'd have a hissy fit if it happened to any of them. But women aren't apparently worth the same in the workplace. Or any other place it seems.

It's sad that we need a law enacted to protect us from business owners who can't seem to do right by us. Equal pay should be a given. I remember when I was in high school and my mother was dealing with this crap. She did everything a male supervisor did and got half as much in her paycheck as the guy did. The company's attitude was that men were the breadwinners and women worked to bring in fun money to the family. Fun money..can you imagine that? My mother, at that time, was still married to my father and we needed both paychecks to make it each month. This inequality continued after they were divorced and she was a single mother. Women were second class citizens then, and if the Republicans have their way, we will be again.

Women work hard. We work hard at our respective jobs (many times minimum wage jobs) and then we have to come home and work hard there as well, taking care of our families. We put up with sexual harassment and if we speak up, we're denigrated even further. After all, it's just a compliment, right? We're too emotional, right? Wrong. We also want affordable health insurance for ourselves and our families. The Republicans have voted over fifty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. What's wrong with them??? Why do they not want us to have health insurance that actually covers what we need it for? What are they afraid of?

Which brings up reproductive rights..you remember those..we dealt with this a long time ago. Abortion and birth control are legal. But you'd think the Republicans were absent that day because they are still sticking their noses in our constitutionally protected business. Leave us alone. Mind your own business. No one is going to tell me what I can do with my body..not now..not ever. And guess what..I don't know any women out there who feel any different about this than I do. Except those empty headed idiots on FOX. Where on earth did they find these women? They're beyond clueless and only serve to further on the ridiculous Republican male obsession with our vaginas. 

Michael Hayden, former Director of the NSA, thinks that Senator Dianne Feinstein is too emotional when talking about the report on torture. I love it when men go there. She put him in his place..fussy baby that he is. Emotional? Just listen to my husband talk about torture. Emotional doesn't even begin to describe how he feels about it. He's a disabled Vietnam Veteran. He wants the entire Bush Administration put in prison for, well, everything. It doesn't matter if it's torture or the financial crisis, he wants all of them in jail. Here's the thing about torture. It's illegal. Any service member who was given the order to torture has the responsibility to refuse that order. To participate in such atrocities is a war crime in his belief. He goes completely ballistic (emotional) when he hears Cheney or Rummy defend what they did. And for President Bush to say now that he's concerned about the soldiers that served is too appalling for words. He should have thought about that before instituting stop-loss. He can save his concern for someone who buys into his crap, because no one is listening anymore.

I would like to see all of them lose in the next election because that's what they deserve. We have to get our country back on track. We need lawmakers who understand the constitution and have a genuine desire to make life better for the American people. We need Congress to behave like adults and remember why they were elected. We need compassion and respect that clearly doesn't exist now. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist in the Republican Party or their Tea Party subset. When conservatism devolves into the radical destruction of our country, we cannot afford to have them in government any longer.

Besides..the sisterhood is weary of it all. So, either learn to play nice or go away. Or we'll make your lives a living hell..you know, by voting.

Oh, Ricky..

Rick Perry is a shitty guy. He made the predictable, misogynistic response to Wendy Davis's filibuster of SB5. He's calling another special session next week to vote the anti-abortion bill into law. And it will be successful unless or until a court stops it.

You'd think a governor would have more dignity than to dismiss Senator Davis's graduation from Harvard as something she "managed" to do.  Mr. Oops also suggested that as a child of a single mother, as well as a teenage mother herself, that she should understand this issue. And yet, he lamented, she doesn't.

Mr. Perry, you look small because you are small. Your condescension only demeans you. Watching all the people in the gallery that night stand in support of Wendy Davis and the women of Texas gives all of us hope that a voice of reason still exists in your state. It's sad that as governor, that doesn't apply to you. 

Texas has joined other states that evidently believe that the Constitution really doesn't apply anymore. Abortion is constitutionally protected, yet, states are doing whatever they can to circumvent that. With the conservative activists on the Supreme Court, the Voting Rights Act was effectively gutted when they threw out Section 4. Now, voter ID laws are being implemented. In the case of Texas, that happened just hours after the decision was released. This disenfranchises minority voters the most. But that's not convenient for the conservative agenda. Whatever doesn't serve their needs, they just find a way around...until a court stops them. 

The problem is, people suffer while conservatives do this dance. And women in particular will not forget what happens. Three words, Ricky: Governor Wendy Davis. 

Texas is screwing over women again..

The Texas legislature is trying to ban abortion statewide with HB60. Extensive testimony was given last night until it was stopped. Rumor has it they may actually vote on Sunday. This is a travesty. It was stated that the testimony was stopped because it was "repetitive". Nice. They didn't want to hear any more personal stories. Because that's what they were. Personal stories that were no doubt difficult to tell, but necessary because no one is listening to us.

Who do these idiot men think they are? You misogynistic assholes make comments as we walk down the street that are unwelcome. You come into our workplaces and make comments that are unwelcome. You continually craft legislation that will make life difficult for us. And yes, that's unwelcome. You control us in our marriages and partnerships because you can't stand the fact that we can think for ourselves and God forbid if that means we disagree with you. Boy are we ever in trouble then! But you know what? We do disagree with you. Vehemently. 

The Constitution says that we can have abortions if we want to have them. That doesn't mean that it's now time for states to decide how to circumvent the law and deny us what is our constitutionally protected right. You look like idiots. And women have had enough of idiots making their lives impossible and disrespecting their rights. I'd suggest that women in Texas speak up, but they tried that and were branded "repetitive".

I'm so sorry men didn't get the memo that we don't live in a patriarchal society. You don't own us. You never did. And you never will. Because eventually, life will get difficult for you. Trust me.