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Jewish law does not consider a fetus to be human. The first 40 days it is a cellular construct. If someone injures the fetus of a pregnant woman, the person must pay a fine. If the woman dies from the injuries, the person pays with his/her life (Exodus 21.) The life of the woman is what's at stake. How in the world can man's arrogance paste the word Christian without having any respect for the Rabbi, whose teaching they pretend to follow. This, in my opinion is creating god in the image of man rather than the other way around.

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How can the conclusion be that they are “thrown into confusion”? From where I sit, they are a cohesive force of evil. The country is sliding into an abyss from which there is no escape unless the truth can be told. And who will do it? Joe tries with every fiber of his being, only to be drowned out by the power-hungry charlatans who Rupert and his ilk dress up in finery and present as saviors for the gullible masses of asses.

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There is no Republican Party. They all want to be slave owners and be able to only adopt a child that fits into their realm of society. Take Amy Coney Barrett as an example. She adopted two children of a different race than her other biological children. She feels child-bearers can merely drop their babies off at police stations, hospitals, or better yet, churches. Yes boys and girls, let the church take you in and then indoctrinate you in their holy teachings. This is how the Federal Society,’s Leonard Leo and that ugly scoundrel, The Mitch, managed to get Catholics onto the Supreme Court. Thus, the woman is only good enough at only spreading her legs so that the man may plant his seeds to impregnate her. Then the man disappears leaving the girl or woman to take care of her own predicament. I thoroughly despise this court and the Pro-Rape party! On Saturday, May 14th, women will be marching again. Find a rally and be there, if you can.

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The question is, how did we not see this coming, when the other side has been resolute in telling us at every opportunity for the past 50 years what it was they wanted and what they were willing to do to get it. But we sat there and told ourselves "It can't happen here!" and then we were shocked the day Trump rode down his golden escalator, even though we had dismissed all those rally crowds cheering for Palin back in 2008.

I thought I did, and yet I have been in reactive mode ever since that day in June 2015. I have felt like Michael York’s character Brian Roberts in “Cabaret” when his good friend Maximilian von Heune, played by Helmut Griem, first shows up in his full SS uniform - shocked, stunned, amazed, that people I thought I knew well turned out to be committed believers in such a thing as Trumpism.

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Does anyone else regularly scream into a pillow “what the f***ing f**k is f***ing happening and how did I get on this f***ing terrible timeline?!!!!!!” Because I’m slapped silly by the absolute bonkers level of insanity we have continued to slide down a razor blade toward. I feel like my brain is broken by the news every day and I think “vote, sure, but how can we stop everything that keeps happening so much all at once all the time.

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6 months is going to seem awful long for us spectators and commentators from now till November, but terribly short for those on the ground organizing to make better things happen. This election is perhaps going to be the "hottest" for a very long time in all possible ways. But I found extremely interesting and highly pertinent the question indirectly posed by Heather "What does the Republican Party do afterwards to stop their people going home after the "Abortion" job is seemingly done? The issue that has fired their people up for 50 years is their "Pro-Life" nonesense? The proposed "level 2" issues that they hope to move on to don't seem to have broken through in anything like the same way. The only real question that the GOP leaders don't want any of their supporters to ask is then "What does the Republican Party now stand for?" They certainly don't want to have to spell it all out clearly in the cold light of day. The Dems can say it, but "that's just politics"....and who listens to them? Hence McC' "no program" platform and 3 wise monkey approach..

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The words "sad" and "scary" and "reprehensible" are inadequate.

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The silly season on womb control and sex with or without Syntex and the pill has commenced. Full blast.

Homosexuality is on deck. The immaculate conception, Good Friday, Easter and Mary’s Surprise are next.

Celibacy will be ignored. Rome will claim celibacy is virtue.

Criminalizing abortion is older than Christmas. Man’s wish to control woman is older than Noah’s Ark.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine ignored abortion.

And GOP pols are proving once again that all politics are local - in Texas, Florida and Arkansas.

Sex sells. The oldest profession is thriving in DC. A whorehouse is a cider house in Maine. There are no secrets and no rules.

Children unwanted are of no interest to the childless. Born Again is death to civilization.

Sex, politics and religion are not dinner table talk.

A republic if you can keep it. Ben Franklin was a ladies man. LBJ had a private room off the Senate floor. Jack liked women and Bill Clinton liked them better. Nixon liked power and tapes. Agnew liked money.

White historians ignore what matters.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s rise and two terms for Obama call Emancipation and lynching to mind. Little Marco and Fat Chris Christie and bleached Donald the Liar typify our politics.

Moscow Mitch McConnell is filthy rich. Kleptocracy is sweeping the globe.

Putin is Orwellian. Zelenskyy’s Team wins, it’s WW III - either way.

Suicides are rising. The microbiome is under attack. Life itself is threatened.

Inflation is deflation of the common denominator.

Back to sleep.

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Year: 2030, two years into DeSantis' second presidential term. Headline: "Congress Certain to Pass Parental Screening Bill." The bill would require screening of future parents to determine if they possess "traditional American values and virtues" in order to obtain government approval to procreate. It would also stiffen current abortion laws in which women who sought and failed to obtain an abortion would be put to death upon the birth of their child.

As Leonard Cohen sang, "I've seen the future, brother. It is murder."

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First, I just need to thank you, Heather. Your columns are such a pleasure to wake up to. Well, "pleasure" is a strong word -- perhaps I should say "reassurance" instead, as they remind us of the reality of our everyday life in America and should serve as not only informing us, but waking us up to action. I could easily spiral into greater despair based on the onslaught of the everyday hateful legislation and inflammatory words coming at us from the right (along with the criminal actions, misuse of the bible/torah and stretching the meaning of democracy). And to be honest, at times I do. Yet, action is required by all of us. And it must start now with ensuring that we and everyone we know are registered to vote and then making a true plan to vote in every election we are eligible for. Yes, school board elections. Yes, city council elections. Yes, state assembly races and county executive seats. But we must also get involved -- if we have the time (and that is precious for many). I am strengthened by being on the board of the LGBTQ Victory Fund -- where we recruit, mentor and support LGBTQ candidates for local, state and national office, and also a smaller organization, Hope in a Box, with a simple aim: to make LGBTQ-inclusive education the norm in public schools vs the exception. As Heather points out, most of these draconian bills/laws are crafted by white men -- and not representative and reflective of our population. I aim for the day, when I see one of the populations I belong to being fairly and equally represented in elected offices. And lastly, a big boo hoo to Susan Collins and Brett Kavanaugh. They complain about peaceful protests outside their door, but do nothing to help stop the non-stop bullying that young LGBTQ students face everyday at school.

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The church is at its most dangerous point when it has a government supporting it.

(Brian Tyler Cohen does a great job.)

Of all the gods ever formed in the minds of humankind, not one has ever reached out its hand to alter the course of our history. They have only served as a shield for men to do their evil deeds against each other. There is nothing outstanding about the god of the christians. His creators commit the same atrocities in his name as have all the followers of all the other gods that came before.

It appears that we are indeed going to visit the dark ages again. The inquisition is under way.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” - Maya Angelou

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May 11, 2022·edited May 11, 2022

Just as you bring up the John Birch Society of the 1960s and their racist and antidemocratic views, many of us are wondering how we got to a place that makes it seem as if nothing has been accomplished and nothing learned in the last sixty or so years. Yet much has happened. We have learned much. I don't see how the energized, frothy right can keep rehashing the same tropes decade after decade, when liberals and history have moved on. Maybe we should be talking about the wealthy Republican business elite that uses issues of cultural identity, especially white cultural identity, to stoke the fires of anger, paranoia, and resentment among low-information white communities. Even if Roe falls and additional throwback legislation is enacted in some of the states, I fail to see how this business elite can continue to win on manufactured resentment over the changes wrought in society over these many years. There has to be a hard limit to how far they can get with their tactics. What with sixty years of history and two or more generations of younger adults embracing the world as they found it, how can Republicans keep up their numbers with the old misogyny and racism prevalent in the 1960s? Their numbers should drop off drastically especially as they won't change their tactics. Maybe they should just speak honestly about the parameters of the society they'd like to promote, where the corporate owners control all the levers of power.

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Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! NYT has published an excellent calendar of the upcoming primaries in each state. I find it very easy to follow. Unfortunately, I do not see where it allows me to gift it. I did receive it through PBS NewsHour, if that helps. Maybe someone else knows how to gift it.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/elections/midterm-elections-calendar.html?utm_source=PBS+NewsHour&utm_campaign=5196f335d7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_01_18_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47f99db221-5196f335d7-324894758#state-virginia

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Republicans are becoming more brazen about their goal of permanent minority control of the US, as victory seems within their grasp. Before the Opus Dei 5 majority took over the Supreme Court, right-wingers on the court contented themselves with nibbling away at women’s rights, gay rights and minority rights. Alito’s draft overturning Roe makes no bones about their plan to undo the 14th amendment and establish their theocracy. His language is medieval, and triumphant. Rubio had been a fence-sitter, tepidly embracing Trump, while pushing for caution and moderation. Now he’s going full-bore Lindsey, apparently seeing that the Trumpists hold all the power and he better jump on board. We’ve been saying for a while now that, in choosing between democracy and power, Republicans would abandon democracy. Now they’re saying it too, no longer pretending that they care about democracy.

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I am frightened for this country. There is no stopping these evil white men.

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Two thoughts: one based on the recent Supreme Court Leak on Roe v. Wade pre-decision, and one based on Ryan Kelley's comment regarding Democracy leading to socialism. Thought #1: Since, in the near future, it appears that women will have fewer rights than men, by law, when will that same law regarding inequality, rescind women's ability to vote or hold office, or to receive equal compensation for employment, or to receive equal consideration for loans, mortgages, or, or, or? Thought # 2: If in the future, the US no longer considers itself a Democracy, why would they continue to support Democracies around the world, including Ukraine and Europe, or organizations like the UN or NATO?

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