So I said... #14 for March 13 to 21

The latest more-or-less weekly collection of comments I've made at various sites on various topics, with come context added where needed for clarity.

2026-03-13
"There is no credible evidence of widespread non-citizen voting"

Hell there's no evidence of even "spread," never mind "wide." Studies repeatedly and I would easily venture invariably show such non-citizen voting at tiny fractions of one percent.

In fact, just today (3/12) came news that in January, the DOJ dropped an investigation into claims of non-citizen voting in Nevada in 2020 after finding just 38 possible - not confirmed, just maybe - non-citizen voters. That's 0.003% of the vote.

==

2026-03-14
[Alina Habba attacked Kamala Harris’ talk at Jesse Jackson's funeral, calling it "comments of desperation at Reggie Jackson’s funeral, and she didn’t even know him."]

I'm with Alina! Obviously, Harris didn't know Jackson. I mean, she didn't even mention "Thriller!"

==

2026-03-14
[Amber (Eevie) Bateman posted about her rejection of MAGA types who now regret voting for The Orange Overlord and "want to find community with the left," saying “I will never forgive them for the chaos, fear and cruelty.” In response, someone said "What would it take?" and that not "accept[ing] those willing to admit that they made a mistake" would make them turn back to TOO.]

I’ll tell you what it would take for me. Genuine contrition. Not just the banal “I didn’t vote for that” which just deflects responsibility onto some unspecified other, but a recognition that “I did vote for that because through my vote I helped it to happen” and “I either knew and did it anyway or damn well should have and it’s on me that I didn’t” and most importantly, “I was wrong.” Not just "I made a mistake," but "I was wrong."

Combine those with an actual commitment to doing something to undo the damage done - and I mean something both positive and goes beyond voting a different way in November - and we’ll have a basis to talk.

I was raised Roman Catholic and I recall the key elements of Confession were admitting your sins, being genuinely sorry, and doing penance. I also remember learning about existentialism, including the principle that you are responsible for your decisions. Put those together in principle and forgiveness becomes a possibility; put them in together in practice and it can be offered.

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2026-03-14

[The Women's Institute announced it would continue accepting trans women despite complaints]

Years ago in another forum I used to have a heading of “Another Small Victory In The Struggle.” This definitely would have made the list. I would have been happier if the WI was active in the US, but I will take what I can get.

==

2026-03-14
[Mindy OkayIloveyoubyebye wrote about returning to it, i.e., writing, modestly dismissing having been in a couple of anthologies.]

“No big deal, trust me.”

I beg to differ. Being in an anthology is a big deal. Period.

For the literally hundreds of thousands of words I’ve written over the years, my entire list of “published by others” is a stolen leaflet text and an acknowledgement over a chapter about deterrence theory in the 1986 book Ammunition for Peace-makers. So being in an anthology would be a thrill.

And I think you for this note because it has spurred me to get back in touch with an old friend, a woman who writes horror fiction and, like you, was in a couple of anthologies - that last being the spark.

==

2026-03-14
And now for today’s Clown Award:

Pete “I’m a manly man” Hogsbreath: “The only thing prohibiting transit in the straits right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.”

And the only reason for a traffic jam is the number of cars on the highway. It would be open if no people were driving.

==

2026-03-17
So when will the Israel-US war on Iran end?

Apparently, when our Orange Overlord feels it in his bone spurs.

==

2026-03-17
[A young Dem candidate was asked on CNN if dems need to "moderate" positions on social issues and "move to the center."]

"Do we need to “moderate, move to the center?”

No effing way. What we need to do is aggressively advocate for what we believe in, for what is just and right and stop trying build campaigns on anodyne aphorisms only to shrink away from even those as soon as the right wing - which should be called the wrong wing - cocks an eyebrow in our direction.

I still remember all these years later polling that was done in the early days of the Newt Gingrich era that found that people didn’t like Democrats - but not because of what they stood for but because they didn’t seem to stand for anything, seemed to have no core values from which they would not shrink in the face of opposition, no convictions that were not subject to focus-group-based re-writes.

This doesn’t mean that we have to make any given issue, including trans rights, the centerpiece of a campaign. Candidates and parties certainly can focus on the issues most important to them or most likely to bring victory.

What is does mean, however, is that we have to have ethical and moral standards on which we will stand.

It does mean that we hold some things to be basic truths - including, as here, that trans rights, including access to health care and full engagement in society, are human rights and therefore worthy of support and we are called to meet that need.

It does mean that we do not evade or hide our commitment to those basic truths and when challenged on them we do. not. back. down. And that includes ditching Gavin Newsom-style triangulation.

And it does mean as a practical and tactical matter that we should adopt one part of the reactionary playbook: Attack, attack, attack. A past world chess champion named Emanuel Lasker advised players that no move should be entirely defensive. Every move should carry some threat. It’s wise advice in politics as well as chess: Even defense should involve counterattack.

“Moving to the center” as a result of political calculation rather than genuine commitment violates all those principles and generally serves to lose you supporters without gaining ground among your adversaries. In all honesty, I can’t say it never works - but it has failed often enough to file it under “Use only as desperation.”

==

2026-03-18
[The TN House has advanced a bill ordering health care providers to give the state personal medical information that would enable the public identification of anyone receiving transgender care.]

I didn't get to the end your subhead before I was looking up HIPPA to confirm my understanding of it.
I'm certainly not known for any Pollyanna-ish tendencies, but I have to say that after spending some time looking at that, including your link to the discussion of exceptions, I am still mystified as to how these buffoons and bozos can think - for all their self-satisfied pretensions to the contrary - that this bill does not violate HIPPA and by passing it Tennessee will not be setting itself up for an embarrassing defeat in court.
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2026-03-18
[This cruel, draconian, and needless bill is designed as a test case for the Supreme Court with the aim of codifying transphobia into law.]

No argument there. But what I think will cripple it in court is that the whole impact on trans folks, desired by the bill's supporters or not, doesn't impact the claim that it violates federal law.
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2026-03-18
[I hope they pass it so they can get their asses sued so hard - problem with that is if it passes, trans folks will be persecuted by this law until it gets thrown out.]

Which is why it would be good for opponents to very publicly note before the bill gets final passage that in the likely event of the bill being tossed there could be potential for legal consequences for those who cooperate.

==

2026-03-18
[An anti-trans ballot initiative was certified for the November ballot in Colorado, leading someone to say Colorado should be scratched fromthe list of “safe” states.]

No, not yet. Remember, what's happened is that a ballot question got certified. That's all. It's a long way from passing. Considering it's common for ballot questions to lose support as a campaign goes on and that we don't even know if it has majority support now (personally, I suspect it doesn't), while there is a battle to be fought, it's way too early to throw in the towel.

As a footnote, I’ve just seen where Colorado’s second largest school district rejected demands from the Orange Overlord’s Dept. of Miseducation to enact anti-trans policies.

==

2026-03-20
[A woman in Georgia has been charged with attempted murder for taking mifepristone.]

It’s what women have been saying all along. What health care advocates have been saying all along. The drive to ban abortion doesn’t have an effing thing to do with “the sanctity of life” or any of the rest of that bs.

It’s about domination, control, and subjugation. And anyone who tells you otherwise is either a damn fool or a despicable liar.

==

2026-03-21
[Chris Giedner (Law Dork) posted about a recent court action in a case involving employees the Agency for Global Media who'd been placed on administrative leave during the DOGE days of defenestrations.]

Your last line - "it is likely that a number of employees have left the agency for other work" - raises something I think hasn't been considered enough.

The minions and jesters of the court of The Orange Overlord don't have to outright win to do significant damage to the ability of the federal government to do useful work, they just have to stall long enough for the employees booted out to be unable to wait for a resolution.

Suppose half of those employees have gone on to other jobs. The result would be a court-approved 30% cut in USAGM staff with no requirement (or reason to expect) that those open positions would be filled.

For a similar reason, I'm also concerned about another topic up for discussion which I will make bold to refer to here: The Orange Overlord's half-brag, half-threat to issue an EO federalizing the midterms. I keep hearing it said that in that event he'd be sued and he'd lose because the law, the Constitution, and history are so clear on the matter.

But my worry is that, just like with DOGE (which I always pronounce "dodgy," because it was/is), he doesn't have to win - he just has to cause enough confusion and delay to screw things up, disrupt the whole voting process, in enough places to give him a reason (not a good one, just a "reason") to declare a national emergency and start seizing ballot boxes and declaring the vote void.

This doesn't mean he'd succeed or even that he'd try; maybe he'll think the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) raised by his constant ranting about "voter fraud" will be sufficiently useful to convince the faithful the election was "stolen" and enough others that elections are "insecure" and voting must be restricted.

But either way, it is a potential for social chaos that we ignore at our peril.

069 The Erickson Report for January 26 to February 8, Page Two: The anniversary of Roe v. Wade

January 22 marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade - and the first such anniversary without it.

Years of fanaticism, years of lies about abortion and about the people who get them, and particularly years of lies by Supreme Court nominees swearing that Roe is "settled law" even though they knew damn well SCOTUS has the power to overturn such "settled law," and perhaps most egregiously equal years of failure by Democrats to call those nominees out on those lies and evasions, together have brought us to the point where for the first time in US history a protected, recognized right has been stripped away.

And the fanatics, busily chanting "Onward Christian Soldiers," have no intention of stopping.

So let's mark the day by noting some recent headlines on the topic.

For example, Alabama has a near-total abortion ban which targets abortion providers but exempts the people who get abortions from being prosecuted. That creates a loophole for folks who want an abortion to do a self-administered, chemically-induced one.

Well, State Attorney General Steve Marshall doesn't like the idea that people actually have an option. So two weeks ago his office issued a statement that people who use an abortifacient could be charged with a crime under a chemical endangerment law.

Originally passed to protect children from exposure to chemicals and fumes from home meth labs, this law has been expanded in practice to apply to pregnant people who took any drugs while pregnant or exposed their fetuses to drugs. Now they want the term "drugs," until now referring to illegal drugs, to refer to legal ones that the Alabama official fanatics don't like.

Meanwhile, there's a method of doing an abortion called "dilation and extraction," or D&X, which involves dilating the pregnant person's cervix and drawing the fetus out through the birth canal. In 1995 the fanatics at the National Right to Life Committee dubbed it "partial-birth" abortion, a medically-meaningless and deliberately misleading term used by the fanatics ever since.

In floor debate in the Minnesota legislature on January 11, State Senator Bill Lieske showed the level of actual understanding of the issue so common among his ilk, which is why this is important.

He said "We have born alive individuals and we must protect the born alive. In this case, a partial-birth abortion. The child is in part born alive."

In other words, Lieske thinks the aborted fetus is "partly alive!" He didn't specify which part that was. This would surely deserve a Clown Award for utter stupidity if this level of ignorance wasn't so serious and so common among the men making these laws.

What has even greater potential impact is that some states are even looking to prosecute people simply for providing information on openly-available, entirely legal options for people who want to obtain an abortion but live in a state where such rights are being destroyed. Even just telling someone "You could go to such-and-such a state and get it done legally there" would be a crime, aiding and abetting a crime, and free speech be damned.

This is no joke and no exaggeration. The South Carolina legislature is considering legislation to do exactly that*, based on draft legislation from those fanatics at the National Right to Life Committee. Meanwhile, Mississippi is investigating a group called Mayday Health over a billboard advertising a website providing some of that sort of legal information.

And this doesn't even touch on the intensified campaigns to restrict or even ban birth control. Because as we told you many times, overturning Roe was not the goal - it was just a step in the process of achieving the fanatics' vision of the Republic of Gilead.

And the efforts are not limited to the state level, because despite their decades-long screeching that regulations on abortions should be "returned to the states," now they have that they have it they are looking for federal legislation to ban abortion after 15 weeks and to block states that try to preserve access to reproductive care from doing so. "Return it to the states" was just another lie.

Now, not all the news is bad, of course. I mentioned before suits in Indiana, Kentucky, and three other states arguing that abortion restrictions in those states are a violation of the plaintiffs' religious freedom, taking the fanatics' recent practice of making every attempt to combat bigotry into a First Amendment violation and turning it to a good end.

A new example is a challenge to Missouri's ban, one filed on January 19 by a group of 11 religious leaders of varying faiths. As part of their argument, they note that during debate on the bill, several lawmakers, including the bill's primary sponsor, specifically invoked their religious beliefs while drafting the bill, marking it a clear violation of church-state separation and the Missouri state constitution.

The fact is, we face a moment when every aspect of reproductive health care from birth control to post-natal care is under attack and the fanatics seem ascendant, a moment that arose in part because despite the signs, for too many among us, including those most directly affected, the loss of those rights didn't seem "real" until the Dobbs decision actually came down. Fortunately, the resistance lives and continues and hopefully will grow.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023%3A27-28&version=KJV
As for our opponents, the fanatics who proclaim their "freedom" but deny it to others, who proclaim "love" for the fetus but deny it to the mother, who claim to pursue "justice" but deny it to your victims, Matthew 23:27-28 has the words for you, you who are the embodiment of the truism that for the right wing and its acolytes, the right to life begins at conception and ends at birth.

Enjoy your time while you have it - because in the long run, we will not let you win.

*At the link, scroll down to Section 44-41-860. But don't stop there. It gets worse.

069 The Erickson Report for January 26 to February 8

 

Episode 69 of The Erickson Report notes the anniversary of Roe v.Wade with some recent news on abortion rights, goes over how Medicare Advantage programs are actually backdoor ways to privatize Medicare, and reintroduces Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages, with three Clowns and the Outrage that is Florida.

The Erickson Report is news and informed commentary from the radical nonviolent left. It is advocacy journalism, dealing in facts and logic but having a point of view. Sometimes serious, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes even flip but always with the intent to inform and inspire,The Erickson Report strives to be a tool for justice

Reactions and comments are welcome.

SOURCES:

Guns
https://www.wbur.org/npr/1150667373/monterey-park-shooting-what-we-know-californi
https://www.gunviolencearchive.org
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Abortion rights
https://hymnary.org/text/onward_christian_soldiers_marching_as
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3809346-alabama-ag-says-women-could-be-prosecuted-for-taking-abortion-pills/
https://www.npr.org/2006/02/21/5168163/partial-birth-abortion-separating-fact-from-spin
https://www.alternet.org/minnesota-lawmakers-partial-birth-abortion/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/freedom-speech-mississippi-abortion-rights/671202/
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess124_2021-2022/bills/1373.htm
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and- analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/05/19/some-states-already-are-targeting-birth-control
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/supreme-court-birth-control-contraception-constitution-matthew-kacsmaryk-deanda-becerra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid's_Tale
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-comment-nationwide-ban-abortion-introduced-us-senate
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-01-19/religious-leaders-sue-to-block-missouris-abortion-ban
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2023%3A27-28&version=KJV
==
Medicare Advantage / ACO HEALTH
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/is-medicare-advantage-a-scam
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/09/08/medicare-advantage-profit-scam-time-end-it
https://www.cms.gov/files/document/fy-2022-medicare-part-c-error-rate-findings-and-results.pdf-0
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/30/congress-asleep-switch-biden-continues-trump-era-ploy-privatize-medicare
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G8B012QNk9rzEJvfYaLcPwr2HJdZe_hcrR7KU_mAibk/edit
https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-announces-increase-2023-organizations-and-beneficiaries-benefiting-coordinated-care-accountable
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Clowns
https://www.newsweek.com/jim-banks-plans-anti-woke-caucus-bolster-gops-war-wokeness-1773778
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/01/hate-pastors-now-speaking-beer-say-makes-men-feminine/
https://sdg.iisd.org/events/2022-un-climate-change-conference-unfccc-cop-28/
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-politics-united-states-government-only-on-ap-john-kerry-b5d6482d465dcc8fa5063af9a0e44041
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Outrage
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-blocks-high-school-african-american-studies-class/ar-AA16x9Ds
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ap-african-american
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/574045-in-andrew-warren-suspension-trial-gov-desantis-officials-answer-what-does-woke-mean/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Maddox
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-releases-results-of-diversity-and-inclusion-report/c-336511848
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2018/11/09/racism-lingers-for-nhl-players-60-years-after-oree-landmark/38451681/
https://www.rawstory.com/desantis-hockey/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/nhl-backtracks-after-florida-gov-ron-desantis-office-blasts-league-for-discriminatory-job-fair/ar-AA16kkpL
https://www.queerty.com/florida-flop-ron-desantis-manages-show-off-anti-blackness-queerphobia-one-sentence-20230124
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/11-black-lgbtq-history-makers-you-should-know-n848631https://www.americanprogress.org/article/black-lgbtq-individuals-experience-heightened-levels-discrimination/

068 The Erickson Report for January 12 to 25

 

Our first show of 2023 looks at two issues we expect to continue to be issues throughout the year:
- the war in Ukraine
- bodily autonomy, including reproductive rights (including abortion) and transgender rights.

We intend to repeat this for the next show or two, giving some attention to other issues that we think will be persistent ones.

We also anticipate the return of our most popular feature, Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrges.

Finally, a head's up: I am in the process of moving to another state. Don't be surprised (or dismayed) if sometime in the next four to six weeks I have to skip a show. I will try to let you know in advance.

060 The Erickson Report for August 24 to September 7

 

 

060 The Erickson Report for August 24 to September 7

- Good News from Colombia and Brazil

- Good News from Singapore

- Good News from Yelp

- Some notes about the economy

- Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages

- A reminder what must not be forgotten

The Erickson Report is news and informed commentary from a self-described "proud member of the 'woke left.' (It's agenda: Justice. Compassion. Community.)"

As "advocacy journalism," we deal in facts and logic without every denying we have a point of view on the topics discussed.

Comments and reactions are welcomed either here or at Http://whoviating.blogspot.com. 

058 The Erickson Report for July 26 to August 8

058 The Erickson Report for July 26 to August 8

Reproductive rights
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/24/progressives-rebuke-dem-leadership-clyburn-dismisses-death-roe-anticlimactic
https://www.businessinsider.com/becerra-pledges-health-agencies-will-increase-abortion-bill-access-2022-6
https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/biden-administration-takes-steps-protect-some-abortion-access-launches-website-help-women-find
https://www.aol.com/news/biden-unlikely-meet-bold-democrat-150011342-220048970.html

Judgeships
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/anti-abortion-kentucky-federal-judge-nomination-biden-mitch-mcconnell-chad-meredith-1376416/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/7/2109018/-Biden-s-awful-embarrassing-deal-with-McConnell-just-keeps-getting-worse
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/29/lunacy-democrats-risk-running-out-time-confirm-federal-judges
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/midterms-pressure-senate-biden-on-circuit-court-appointments

Climate change
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/21/heatwave-heat-texas-us/
https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1550125993200717824
https://press.un.org/en/2021/sgsm20847.doc.htm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b3qn6y
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/15/nothing-short-death-sentence-fury-manchin-tanks-climate-spending
https://www.wbur.org/npr/1112485228/biden-climate-initiatives
https://newsletters.wbur.org/?view_newsletter=dac8d510232a3dec01d991a888cb0d04&id=6125&utm_source=WBUR+Editorial+Newsletters&utm_campaign=3656ca53bb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_07_21_11_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d0781a0a0c-3656ca53bb-136431413
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/20/2111534/-Biden-announces-climate-executive-orders-tackling-extreme-heat-and-support-for-offshore-wind
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/19/2111240/-Biden-said-to-pondering-a-climate-emergency-declaration-soon-along-with-executive-actions

053 The Erickson Report for May 6 to 18

053 The Erickson Report for May 6 to 18

This episode:

US COVID deaths hit 1,000,000
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covids-toll-us-reaches-1-million-deaths-unfathomable-number-rcna22105

SCOTUS to overturn Roe v. Wade
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473
https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/roe-v-wade
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/833/case.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenstadt_v._Baird
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/02-102
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/478/186
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/obergefell_v._hodges
https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx
https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2021/new-marquette-law-poll-finds-sharp-decline-in-public-opinion-of-the-supreme-court-s-job-performance.php
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/16/post-abc-poll-abortion-supreme-court/
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abortion-roe-v-wade-polling-where-americans-stand
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/politics/cnn-poll-abortion-roe-v-wade/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-texas-california-foster-care-scott-wiener-b17a53196d54c7929d3c340b1bf3410c
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/09/08/study-banning-abortion-would-boost-maternal-mortality-double-digits
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23021104/texas-abortion-murder-charge-starr-county
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/02/abortion-ban-roe-supreme-court-mississippi/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/22/braun-supreme-court-interracial-marriage/
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/sen-braun-open-to-u-s-supreme-court-rescinding-ruling-that-legalized-interracial-marriage/article_19cf8eaa-f75a-5642-865e-5ce88b374160.html
https://www.vogue.com/article/anti-birth-control-movement

Inflation is driven by corporate greed
https://apnews.com/article/us-inflation-rate-historic-high-4ba3435cc3730198e299690a9d968038
https://www.wbur.org/npr/1092291748/economy-recession-inflation-federal-reserve-interest-rates
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/13/1080494838/economist-explains-record-corporate-profits-despite-rising-inflation
https://truthout.org/articles/corporate-profits-reached-record-high-of-nearly-3-trillion-in-2021/
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/30/executives-hike-prices-us-corporations-rake-biggest-profits-1950
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3n5m3/applebees-wayne-pankratz
https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1509634830505426952
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/20/intergenerational-wealth-middle-class-spiral/
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/07/richest-1-took-38-new-global-wealth-1995-bottom-half-got-just-2

David H. Gans on originalist roots of abortion under the 14th amendment:
https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Issue-Brief-Reproductive-Originalism-FINAL.pdf

Jordan Smith of "The Intercept" on Alito's reasoning:
https://theintercept.com/2022/05/04/roe-abortion-supreme-court-samuel-alito/

052 The Erickson Report for April 21 to May 4

052 The Erickson Report for April 21 to May 4

This week:

 

Correction: Ketanji Brown Jackson

 

Julian Assange closer to being sent to US

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1516718259382464513
 

Constitutional convention

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2022/01/a-constitutional-convention-would-further-endanger-democracy-i-opinion.html
https://defendourconstitution.org/
 

"Bodily Autonomy" is abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/10/2090807/-Biden-s-proposed-budget-left-out-the-Hyde-Amendment-and-advocates-hope-it-stays-that-way
https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2021/12/state-policy-trends-2021-worst-year-abortion-rights-almost-half-century
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Health_Organization
https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2021/10/26-states-are-certain-or-likely-ban-abortion-without-roe-heres-which-ones-and-why
https://www.azmirror.com/2022/04/20/states-rush-to-revise-their-abortion-laws-as-a-major-u-s-supreme-court-decision-nears/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/5/2090241/-Colorado-governor-signs-bill-guaranteeing-the-right-to-an-abortion-regardless-of-SCOTUS-decision
https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/oregon-abortion-providers-gear-increased-demand-idaho-and-elsewhere
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut  -  1965
https://www.newsweek.com/blackburn-says-scotus-ruling-protect-birth-control-couples-unsound-1690259
https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/eisenstadt-v-baird-1972
https://wapo.st/3NyCcQX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_love_that_dare_not_speak_its_name
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Kingdom#Decriminalisation_of_homosexual_acts
 

A fun question to ask anti-transgender folks
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-ketanji-brown-jackson-woman_n_624c9967e4b0d8266ab22274
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/6/2090386/-What-s-a-woman-Republicans-struggle-to-answer-their-own-gotcha-question
https://www.nature.com/articles/518288a.pdf
https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/vaginal-agenesis
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/male-or-female
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/21/2087237/-Nonbinary-people-deserve-so-much-more
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/stop-using-phony-science-to-justify-transphobia/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/14/more-than-half-of-transgender-male-adolescents-attempt-suicide-study-says/
https://thefocusfoundation.org/x-y-chromosomal-variations/

Social panics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-care_sex-abuse_hysteria
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-modern-witch-hunt/2015/07/31/057effd8-2f1a-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html
https://www.bizarrepedia.com/hysteria/
https://jacobinmag.com/2018/02/childcare-abuse-sex-offenders-satanic-panic/
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/182807

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/the-great-day-care-sexual-abuse-panic

Link to previous discussion of the case of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks: http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2022/03/050-erickson-report-for-march-17-to-30_66.html

041 The Erickson Report, Page 4: Noted in Passing

041 The Erickson Report, Page 4: Noted in Passing

Next up, we turn to an occasional feature, Noted in Passing, which is where we run through a few things quickly to make sure they get mentioned without spending a whole lot of time on any of them.

First up, the picture below is of Eric Zemmour, a rabble-rousing television pundit in France who is finding fervent audiences for his anti-Islam, anti-immigration invective and may run for president.

The sickening similarities to Tweetie-pie aside, what I wanted to point to was his for lack of a better term smile. Does it ever strike you that all of these reactionary bigots, no matter who they are, no matter where, all seem to have the same sort of supercilious, self-satisfied smirk, that creepy haughty expression that looks like Hannibal Lecter after a good meal?

Seriously. Watch for it.

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Here's something to cheer you up - not.

It seems that in a closed-door meeting on October 26, Democratic leadership advised House progressives that even as Build Back Better was on the verge of "being gutted beyond recognition" they better start acting like they are getting a major win whatever shreds of tattered cloth finally emerge.

"If we don't act like we are winning, the American people won't believe it either," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. So progressives should, according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "Embrace this and have a narrative of success."

Eric Zemmour

In other words, instead of campaigning against the lobbyists, the grifters, the corporations, and their enablers :cough: Manchin Sinema :cough: just lie and proclaim "there's an awful lot good in this package" even though you'd be hard put to find anything that impacts the corporations or the rich, that is, anything that they didn't want there.

That is, we can have whatever small gains or incremental improvements we want so long as the interests of our overlords continue to get priority.

It can be really depressing.

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Quickly noted because it's a topic that requires and deserves a fuller treatment, but I wanted to note that during oral arguments at the Supreme Court on that insane Texas anti-choice law - you know, the one that says you can't sue the state to stop it because the state isn't the one enforcing it, it's a vast sea of potential plaintiffs suing anyone in any way connected with an abortion so you'd have to deal with them one at a time - a couple of the justices who voted in September to allow it to go into effect appeared to be having second thoughts.

Brett Accused Rapist Kavanaugh and Amy Bugs Bunny Barrett both had skeptical questions for the lawyer for Texas - and with John Roberts, who I still think looks at cases with an idea of how the Roberts Court will look to history having in September voted to block the law while appeals continued, a switch by either of those Trumpite wackos would block it.

That wouldn't be the end of it since there's no time frame for a ruling and who knows how many lives will be ruined in that time - but at least it should put a damper on other states such as Ohio already considering their own version of a "ha ha can't touch us" ban.

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Finally, we have an RIP.

Mort Sahl

Mort Sahl, a trailblazing political satirist with a biting wit whose rapid-fire monologues earned him the nickname “Rebel Without a Pause” died October 26 in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 94.

In 2011, his live 1955 recording “Mort Sahl at Sunset” was cited as the first standup comedy album and was named by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry.

Unhappily by the 1970s, Sahl had been labeled a conspiracy kook and had lost most of his audience, particularly after he worked for New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, whose claims about a wide-ranging conspiracy among anti-Castro activists and the CIA to assassinate John Kennedy eventually came down to a single indictment against a businessman named Claw Shaw, who was acquitted in less than one hour. Sahl didn't return to Broadway until a one-man show in 1985 - but he remained defiantly contrarian until the end of his life.

A favorite quote from Mort Sahl: “Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen.”

Indeed. RIP, Mort Sahl.

The Erickson Report, Page 1: Good News: Hope for abortion rights

Good News: Hope for abortion rights

We start with something I used to do a lot but haven't in some time - but even here there is a twist. So we start with Good News - but it's Good News with an asterisk. Because it might be Good News, it hints at Good News, but won't know for a while if it truly is.

On the morning of March 4, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo. This case arises out of Louisiana's attempt use the law to regulate abortion out of existence, following the path blazed by other reactionary, anti-women state governments that, having faced the fact that they can't outright ban abortion, try to put so many practical and regulatory roadblocks in the way that it's virtually impossible to get one.

In this case, it's Louisiana’s law that requires abortion providers to obtain “admitting privileges” at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. No admitting privileges, no legal abortion services. The argument is that this provides the benefits of protecting the patient's health and ensuring continuity of care.

Now, these arguments are straight-up lies. First, an abortion is one of the safest medical procedures: During the oral arguments, Justice Elena Kagan noted one clinic in the court record has served around 70,000 women over the course of 23 years and has transferred only four patients to a hospital. In fact, studies have shown that the mortality rate for live childbirth is nearly 15 times that of abortion.
What's more, in the event of an emergency, a patient will be taken to the nearest hospital, the doctor's admitting privileges or no. Which is to the good because getting admitting privileges is not simply a matter of sending a letter or filing a form. Some hospitals will refuse to grant such privileges because they outright oppose abortion. And a good many hospitals require doctors to admit a certain number of patients per year to get and keep admitting privileges, which is difficult for abortion providers precisely because they so rarely need to admit anyone.

As for continuity of care, that is more maintained now by computer file than physical presence; in fact, a growing number of hospitals have "hospitalists," who function as your primary care physician while you are in the hospital; in fact, the doctor that you think of as you own PCP may well not see you at all during the time you're an in-patient.

There is only one reason for these restrictions: to force as many clinics providing abortion services as possible to close to make it as difficult as possible - and from their perspective, hopefully outright impossible - for a woman to exercise her right to a legal health procedure.

But this is where it gets interesting. Just four years ago, in 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of a Texas law almost identical to the Louisiana one. In that case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Court found that the requirement of admitting privileges provides no medical benefit, since abortion patients who experience complications can go to any hospital. The Court also found that the rule would force many clinics to close - which was of course the point - which would impose substantial burdens on women who might be required to travel hundreds of miles to reach an open clinic. Creating burdens plus adding no benefit equaled the law was unconstitutional.

So why are we here again? Because the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also upheld the Texas law, essentially ignored the Supreme Court's binding precedent in order to uphold the Louisiana one by claiming not only that the requirement of admitting privileges does provide a medical benefit but that under the Louisiana law, the closing of clinics didn't create as much of a burden as in Texas and getting admitting privileges is easier. In short, instead of hitting you with a big stick five times, Louisiana was only going to do it four times and that makes it okay.

So the Supreme Court is hearing a case almost identical to one it ruled on four years ago. The big difference is that Rat Kavanaugh is on the bench now, leading many abortions rights advocates to fear that the Court will use the opportunity not only to uphold that Louisiana law but to overturn Roe v. Wade - and that the 5th Circuit corruptly upheld the Louisiana law against precedent for precisely that reason.

So where is the Good News is any of that? Well, as I said, it's not Good News, it's potential Good News and it lies in the unusual or at least unexpected line of questioning pursued by Chief Justice John Roberts during oral arguments.

The issue, of course, is that given that it is undeniable that the law would require at least some clinics to close, what is the additional burden to women that the requirement of admitting privileges would create versus the supposed medical benefits to those same women. In 2016's Whole Woman’s Health, the high court had ruled that there was no such medical benefit. And surprisingly, John Roberts, who dissented in Whole Woman’s Health, seemed to understand that this time around.

For example, he asked Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill

Do you agree that the benefits inquiry under the law is going to be the same in every case, regardless of which state we’re talking about? I mean, I understand the idea that the impact might be different in different places, but as far as the benefits of the law, that’s going to be the same in each state, isn’t it?

He later said much the same thing to Deputy Solicitor General Jeff Wall, who was defending the law for the Tweetie-pie administration, asking "Why do you look at each state differently if the benefits of the law - they’re not going to change from state to state.”

Chief Justice John Roberts

Which means that it is possible, it is not unreasonable to think or at least hope, that John Roberts will join with the four more liberal justices to again overturn the 5th Circuit and strike down the Louisiana law as unconstitutional.

Why Roberts, who is widely believed to be favorably disposed not only toward allowing states to restrict abortion but to overturning Roe v. Wade, would take such a tack is uncertain, but there are some possibilities.

One and the one most devoutly to be hoped for but is the least likely, is that he has changed or at least is changing his mind on the matter and now that it is coming down to an actual decision to empowering states to ban abortions, he is hesitating.

Another is that he may be disturbed by the idea of overturning a precedent set in his own court just four years ago, which would seem like a slap in the face in a Roberts-court-legacy sense and he does seem rather sensitive to how the Roberts court will look to history.

Yet another is that he may be just ticked off at the 5th Circuit for ignoring the precedent and has no intention of putting up with that.

And one more, suggested by at least some observers, is that the case Louisiana presented was so sloppy, so full of deceptions and so lacking in actual fact and data, that even if he wanted to uphold the law he couldn't justify to himself doing in on the basis of such a poor presentation.

Whatever the reason, we have been given some hope that even with Rat Kavanaugh on the bench, the loss of access to abortions is not a forgone conclusion. This does not mean that given another case, under other circumstances, that Roberts would not happily side with the reactionaries. But it does mean that despite what many of us had feared, the fight is not yet lost.

And that, well, it isn't Good News, but at least it's a possibility of it. Which is more than we usually get these days.

The Erickson Report for March 11-24

The Erickson Report for March 11-24

Good News: Hope for abortion rights
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/june-medical-john-roberts-louisiana-abortion-case-arguments.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22270271
https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/hospitalist
https://legaldictionary.net/whole-womans-health-v-hellerstedt/

Good/Bad News: Help with medication costs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/03/06/this-couple-goes-mexico-buy-low-cost-insulin-strangers-who-need-it/

Everything You Need to Know: about the health care industry
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/20/1920420/-Report-20-of-adults-in-the-U-S-donated-to-crowdfunding-campaigns-to-cover-medical-costs
https://www.norc.org/NewsEventsPublications/PressReleases/Pages/millions-of-americans-donate-through-crowdfunding-sites-to-help-others-pay-for-medical-bills.aspx
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/02/which-side-are-you-ask-progressives-health-insurance-stocks-spike-after-centrists

The death penalty is the death of justice
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/us/nathaniel-woods-executed-reaction/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/nathaniel-woods-alabama.html
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/dont-look-away-this-nation-is-so-cruel-rights-advocates-decry-execution-of-nathaniel-woods-by-alabama/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/nathaniel-woods-execution-cast-scrutiny-alabamas-death-penalty/story?id=69433694
https://whoviating.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-erickson-report-page-7-two-weeks-of.html
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/06/after-alabama-executes-nathaniel-woods-ayanna-pressley-leads-fresh-calls-us-abolish

Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages [the Clowns]
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/paula-white-how-do-you-get-from-the-trailer-park-to-a-white-house-job-give-money-to-trumps-spiritual-adviser/
https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/trump-spiritual-adviser-tells-followers-to-skip-paying-monthly-electric-bills-so-they-can-send-her-church-more-cash/
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nina-turner-cnn-hilary-rosen-bernie-sanders-joe-biden-mlk_n_5e63b624c5b605572805b6e0
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages [the Outrages]
https://whoviating.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-erickson-report-page-4-two-weeks-of.html
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/484196-supreme-court-allow-public-charge-rule-to-take-effect-across-country
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/federal-court-gives-trump-a-big-gift-but-exposes-the-impeachment-trials-biggest-fraud/
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000170-8dbe-d93c-a979-bfff3cf80000
https://www.thedailybeast.com/heres-the-law-that-requires-steven-mnuchin-to-turn-over-trumps-taxes-or-lose-his-office-and-go-to-prison
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https://www.aclu.org/mckesson-v-doe-new-petition-writ-certiorari
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/03/07/will-us-supreme-court-protect-right-protest
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV1.pdf

The Erickson Report, Page 6: Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages [the Clowns]

The Erickson Report, Page 6: Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages [the Clowns]

Ah, our regular feature and a crowd favorite, Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages.

Starting as we usually do with the Clowns, our first example is poor, beleagured Susan Collins. Her approval rating among her constituents in Maine has plummeted from the sky-high 78% at one point in 2015 to being underwater now: 45% approval and 48% disapproval, a fact which which she blames on "unceasing attacks by dark money groups" but does not, apparently, see any connection to having sold her soul to Tweetie-pie, particularly with her vote to put Bret Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court after her risible claim she was sure, oh so sure, that he will never ever nohow how can you even suggest the idea that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Susan Collins

Making her even more of a clown is the fact that she has already benefitted from dark money and that of the $2 million she raise last quarter for her re-election, less than $100,000 came from people in Maine.

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Our loser Clown of the week is Rep. John Ratcliffe, who auditioned for the post of Director of National Intelligence by berating Robert Mueller with the totally false claim that he didn’t follow the special counsel regulations.

Of course, in the wake of his act his name shot to the top of Tweetie-pie's list, and His High Orangeness announced on July 28 that he was going to nominate Ratcliffe only to change his mind just five days later after even Senate GOPpers couldn't stomach the idea of this thoroughly unqualified prat.

John Ratcliffe

With the withdrawal of the nomination, this may seem borderline irrelevant now but I still want to take the opportunity to point and laugh.

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Next up, we have a candidate for the Least Self-Aware Award.

William Perry Pendley, a right-wing lawyer and commentator, is the new head of the Bureau of Land Management. He has argued that climate science isn’t real, that environmentalists want to “destroy” civilization, that diversity is killing people, and that the best thing for managing public lands is for the feds to sell off more of it.

He also said in a 2018 interview that a real problem in government is that federal employees aren’t held “personally liable” or “personally responsible for the harm that they do” regarding federal land management.

William Perry Pendley

He better hope that his own standards don't apply to him. Which of course they won't, but we can dream.

=

Finally, I know I said I wasn't going to mention El Paso or Dayton but I came across this as I was preparing the show and it is just so jaw-dropping stupid that I had to include it.

Mike Huckleberryhound insists that there is only one thing that can put a stop to mass shootings.

A ban on guns? Don't be absurd.
A ban on assault or military type weapons, then? Forget it.

Mike Huckabee

Universal background checks? A ban on large-capacity magazines? Nope and nope.

Nope, not even better mental health programs or a ban on video games. The only thing that will help is - wait for it -

thoughts and prayers.

No joke. That's what he said in so many words, adding that until, quoting now, "kids are brought up once again to believe that we are all made in the image of God, that life is sacred and superficial differences like skin color are meaningless” - don't know when thinks kids in this country were brought up that way but I want some of what he's been smoking - anyway, until we are, um, again he said all pacifists and totally nonracist, until then, quoting again, "passing more laws is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Shorter Mike Huckleberryhound: I don't give a damn and stop bothering me

Outrage: forced birthers charge pregnant woman with getting shot

I had a fall during the taping of Episode 4 of The Erickson Report, delaying production for a week. So I thought I would post a couple of things intended for that show but which will not be used now.

==

Outrage: forced birthers charge pregnant woman with getting shot

Another example of just how far the forced-birthers are prepared to go to enforce their dystopian view of women's independence.

Back on December 4 a 27-year-old Alabama woman named Marshae Jones got into a fight with a women named Ebony Jemison. In the course of the fight, Jemison shot Jones in the abdomen, leading Jones, who was five months pregnant at the time, to have a miscarriage.

Jemison was charged with manslaughter but a grand jury failed to indict and the charges were dropped.

Frustrated, prosecutors went after Jones, arguing she began the fight and therefore was responsible for her own shooting.

Why? Because they were unwilling to lose this opportunity to have a five-month old fetus declared a victim of manslaughter and thus a person. So on June 26 she was indicted for manslaughter and ordered jailed on $50,000 bond.

Charges were dropped on July 3 after an outcry and after it developed that Alabama's Criminal Code states that the prosecution of "any woman with respect to her unborn child" should not be permitted under criminal homicide charges like manslaughter. Police and prosecutors were so desperate for another woman to prosecute that they didn't even read the law.

After her arrest, police at least twice referred to her "unborn baby" (and to her as "the mother of the child") despite the medical fact that at roughly 21 or 22 weeks, the fetus is only barely and hypothetically viable.

But of course viability isn't the issue; "fetal personhood," treating even a fertilized egg as if it were a born child, giving a zygote more protection than the fully-grown woman, that is the point.

Marshae Jones

In fact, Alabama leads the country in criminal cases involving women accused of endangering their fetuses. Over 600 women have been charged since 2005 with alleged crimes related to their pregnancies.

The vast majority of them were prosecuted for exposing their embryo or fetus to controlled substances under the state’s “chemical endangerment of a child” statute. That law was passed in 2006 and mandates 10 years in prison for drug use during pregnancy even if the fetus, once born, shows no ill effects. Penalties run up to 99 years if the fetus dies.

But those aren't the only cases: Pregnant women have been charged for getting in a car accident, failing to leave a physically abusive partner, or attempting suicide.

Alabama’s Yellowhammer Fund, which advocates for abortion rights in the state, said that Jones’ treatment was part of “a new beginning” in Alabama’s zeal to undermine women’s reproductive rights. "Today, Marshae Jones is charged with manslaughter for being pregnant and getting shot," the group stated. “Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care.” And as always, "it will be poor, marginalized and black people who will feel this pain the most.”

Two footnotes: Ten states now have laws requiring physicians to tell patients that medically-induced abortions can be "reversed." What they really mean is that the procedure can be stopped after the first of two steps of the first part can be undone. Maybe. It's unproved, experimental, and based on anecdotal evidence. But anything to stop an abortion, even if it requires physicians to actively lie to patients.

Early in June, 42 elected prosecutors representing jurisdictions in 24 states, including Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and Ohio, issued a statement vowing not to enforce extreme anti-abortion restrictions passed in their states.

The Erickson Report - Page 2: Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages

Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages

Next up, a new feature that's a redesigned and somewhat revamped version of popular features f rom the old show, a feature now called Two Weeks of Stupid: Clowns and Outrages

Going chronologically, first up is May 11, the day when a new poll from CivicScience, a Pittsburgh-based market research firm, was released. They had polled more than 3600 Americans on the issue of mathematics instruction.

In response to one question, 56% of the respondents said Arabic numerals should not be taught in American schools; 29% said they should be part of the curriculum; while 16% offered no opinion.

And if you don't get why that is some Clown combination of ignorance and bigotry, these are Arabic numerals: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9.

And before you start going "Oh those stupid right wingers again," know that when respondents were sorted into three categories, GOPper, Democrat, and Independent, not one of those three showed a majority in favor.

Here are a couple of cases where you can't tell if it should be Clown or Outrage, so I'll leave it to you. I report, you decide.

Andrew Napolitano

On May 16 on "Fox and Friends," Andrew Napolitano, who is Fox News' Senior Judicial Analyst, said that tossing out Roe is no big deal because if you want an abortion, you just go to New Jersey or New York "where infanticide is legal."

During legislative debate on May 17, Missouri state representative. and former cop Barry Hovis said “most of my rapes [during his time as a cop] were not the gentlemen jumping out of the bushes that nobody had ever met. That was one or two times out of a hundred. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes.”

Later that day, Hovis said he intended to say “date rapes or consensual or rape.” Which in contact actually makes no more sense than the original statement.

The reporter who covered the story noted that Hovis did not correct himself at the time despite, according to a witness, "A lot of 'What?'s ringing around the chamber."

Here's an oldie but a goodie for you: On May 20, NPR reported on a 40-year-old California law that requires public school teachers on extended sick leave to pay for their own substitute teachers - an amount that can easily mean half their paycheck.

The law is finally getting some overdue attention - and of course there are those who say changing it is a bad idea because, of course, it only makes sense that the cost of a substitute can't be borne by the budget of the entire district but must be dumped on the back of a single sick individual.

Ben Carson

Here's the Clown you knew: On May 21, during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, HUD Secretary and man perpetually in REM sleep Ben Carson couldn't describe basic terms related to the agency.

For one, he thought that REO, which stands for "real estate owned," which is what happens when a property goes into foreclosure, referred to Oreos, the cookie/

You've heard about that; why it's here is that he didn't even have the self-awareness to be embarrassed or ashamed by his cluelessness about the agency he heads. After the hearing, he tweeted that he planned to send a member of the committee a box of Oreos.

Ben Carson is a classic Clown: He's not stupid - he was a famed brain surgeon, he's not stupid - but it's clear he's lazy and just doesn't give a damn as long as he gets his check and doing nothing for it.

Meanwhile, the Tweetie-Pie administration -

By the way, I call him "Tweetie-Pie" because of his love of tweeting. I used to call him TheRump because he's so obviously an ass, but this seems even more appropriate as he gets more cartoonish every day.

Anyway, the Tweetie-Pie administration continues its attack transgender rights.

On May 22, HUD announced it intends to reverse the requirement that operators of homeless shelters receiving department funding have to “provide equal access ... in accordance with an individual’s gender identity.” The change would allow shelters to segregate transgender people and to consider a person’s biology when determining if they will be admitted to the shelter in the first place.

Then on May 24, Health and Human Services published a proposal to remove a section of the Affordable Care Act that defined discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include gender identity. The change would make it acceptable under law for healthcare providers to refuse care to transgender patients and for for insurance companies to refuse to cover them.

Also on May 24, Alabama was amending its marriage law to let bigots off the hook.

Under existing state law, couples are required to obtain a marriage license from a probate judge and hold a ceremony to “solemnize” the union. Under the new law, the solemnization requirement is eliminated and it is the responsibility of couples themselves to record their own union.Probate judges then would simply pass those records along to a state office.

In other words, this is being done so that bigot judges can say they have no part in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and bigot ministers can refuse to do a ceremony.

Here's a deep outrage that can be filed under the heading "We Are Not Alone," that is, we are not the only nation with problems: On May 25, Felix Klein, Germany’s commissioner on anti-Semitism warned German Jews that in the face of last year's 20% rise in anti-Semitic crimes, it could be dangerous for Jews to wear kippahs, the traditional skullcaps also known as yarmulkes, in public. He had already cautioned against wearing kippahs while visiting big cities.

On May 26, in a remarkable and quite typical Clown case of lack of self-awareness, White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley claimed Democrats receive “complicit” and “compliant” treatment from the news media "in a slant that makes everything negative no matter how positive the subject matter may be.”

I usually ignore Tweetie-Pie for the Clown category because he's such an easy target that it seems unfair to others, but I couldn't let this one pass:

Sebastian Gorka

On May 28, during his trip to Japan, Tweetie-Pie claimed he did Joe Biden a favor by calling him a “low IQ individual” because Kim Jong Un had called him a “low IQ idiot.”

In that spirit, I promise that the next time someone calls Tweetie-Pie - or T-P for short, also quite appropriate - an imbecile, I'll do him a favor and call him a moron.

The Clowns keep coming:

On May 29, after Robert Mueller's presser, right-wing blowhard and all-around creepy person Sebastian Gorka said Mueller wasn't qualified to park a car. Here are Gorka's own qualifications in that area. (He also got an expired meter ticket for the latter one.)

On the other hand, here is a real Outrage: The European Union and EU-member states had donated two classrooms to be used in the West Bank for Palestinian children in grades 1-6.

In October the Israeli Civil Administration, which is in charge of policy in the occupied territories, seized and dismantled the schools. The EU missions in the West Bank called for the immediate reconstruction of the classrooms.

Israel not only ignored that call, on May 31 it emerged that in what can only be considered a deliberately cruel move, Israel is auctioning off the stolen classrooms, not only denying Palestinian children access to an education but looking to profit off doing it.

The auction is expected to be held in the week or so.

Oh, but don't forget: BDS is anti-Semitic. Just ask Israel.

Also on May 31was the mass murder in Virginia Beach. The best summation of the meaning was delivered quite unintentionally by CNN, which opened it's report by saying, quote,

At least 12 people were killed Friday after a gunman opened fire at a municipal building in Virginia Beach. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the US since November.

I'll leave you with this, an oft-reprised headline from The Onion:

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

Finally for now: On June 1 Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin admonished Catholics in not to support or attend any LGBTQ Pride Month commemorations in June, warning that such events promote a “culture” and “activities” that are “especially harmful for children."

This from a bishop of a church with a long and demonstrated history of child sexual abuse that was actively covered up by the church hierarchy - including in a diocese in Pennsylvania where Thomas Tobin served as an auxiliary bishop.

By the way, Pride Month is particularly significant this year because it marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Manhattan, and if you don't know about that event, look it up.

The Erickson Report - Page 1: Following Up on reproductive rights

Following Up on reproductive rights

Last time, I spent some time talking about the recent attacks on the right to an abortion.

I want to follow up on that by noting that not all the news is bad - for one thing, you know those so-called “heartbeat” bills, the ones banning abortions once a so-called “fetal heartbeat” can be detected, which is usually around six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant -

Interrupting here to raise something important to remember: I say “so-called” because the term “fetal heartbeat” in this context is completely bogus. It’s a PR ploy. What’s being detected is cardiac activity, more specifically, some pulsing indicating communication among a group of what will eventually become cardiac cells. There is at this point no cardiovascular system so it is not by any sane understanding of the term a “heartbeat.”

Getting back to where I was, four states have passed such mislabeled bills this year, but they failed in several more, including Republican-led ones. Efforts in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia all fell short.

Just as importantly, there is a form of pushback in that some places are taking steps to protect that right in the unhappy but unfortunately not unlikely event that Roe v. Wade is overturned.

For example, The Guttmacher Institute reported that 2018 was "the first in recent years when the number of proactive policies enacted outpaced new restrictions." 29 states and the District of Columbia enacted 80 measures that expanded access to reproductive health care.

This year, A variety of states are expanding access to abortion services, repealing restrictions, and updating their codes to do away with decades-old measures that are not enforced.

- Early this year, New York enacted a law to enshrine the protections of Roe intro law and removed abortion from the criminal code.
- Vermont lawmakers passed a state constitutional amendment to ensure abortion rights.
- In Maine, a bill is moving through the legislature requiring the state Medicaid program and private insurance companies to cover abortion care.
- Nevada has removed criminal penalties for people who terminate a pregnancy without consulting a physician.
- llinois removing old measures requiring spousal consent, waiting periods and criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions and now treats abortion as health care.
- At the end of April, the state Supreme Court of Kansas ruled by 6-1 that the state’s constitution enshrines a woman’s right to an abortion.

Beyond that, it turns out that that Alabama law is not particularly popular there: According to a poll done last year but only released in May, only 31% of Alabama voters support a law as extreme as the one passed.

And it's not just Alabama: According to a new USA TODAY/Ipsos poll, by 55%-45% Americans oppose the so-called "fetal heartbeat" laws and by nearly three to one, 73%-27%, they oppose seeing all abortion facilities in their states closed.

Fifty percent say SCOTUS should uphold the Roe v. Wade decision; another 30% say Roe should be upheld but maybe within stricter limits; only 20% say it should be overturned.

And finally for now, in Georgia At least five county DAs say they will not enforce the state's new anti-choice law

So yes,  not all the news is bad. On the other hand, here are two things to keep in mind:

An Indiana law barred abortions based on the fetus’ sex, race, or disability. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the law and SCOTUS recently refused to hear an appeal from that decision. But as part of that, Clarence Thomas took the opportunity to launch a vicious and wholly irrelevant attack on birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger. I told you - if they kill Roe v. Wade,  they'll be coming for birth control next.

The other thing - and never forget this - is that Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, and Kentucky, all sporting their new more-restrictive anti-choice, anti-women's health, laws, all of them rank among the 10 worst states for maternal mortality, infant mortality, or both. The connection between lack of access to abortion and lack of access to pre- and post-natal health care is very real.