ARE YOU A SLUT FLOWCHART– via Mother Jones
- Jezebel translates this NY Times piece for us: Why do Republicans oppose the Violence Against Women Act, the once-bipartisan legislation extending domestic violence protection services to women across the U.S.?
But the part of the Violence Against Women act that really chaps Jeff Sessions’ ass is the provision that would grants temporary visas to undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse and expand domestic violence services to same-sex couples. Those wiley liberals with their sneaky and divisive plans to reach out to underserved women and acknowledge the need for domestic violence services for same sex couples! What a bit of despicable political gamesmanship.
- Mitt Romney finally figured out the perfect solution for ending the deficit: getting rid of programs that aren’t “essential.” Of course, he means essential to him personally. Read: Planned Parenthood. [via Colorlines]:
“The test is pretty simple. Is the program so critical, it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And on that basis of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one. But there are others: Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that. The subsidy for Amtrack, I’d eliminate that. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, both excellent programs but we can’t afford to borrow money to pay for these things. PBS, likewise. It’s going to have to start advertising or collect more from subscribers.”
- NPR looks at some “Dastardly Dames” as part of their Women’s History Month series. Woohoo!
- According to HuffPost, same-sex marriage is still seen as a “politically sensitive issue” for some influential members of the Democratic Party. Debates have ensued over whether it will be on the DNC platform for 2012.
- Think Progress reports that a former Rick Perry campaign chair in Iowa has come out in support of marriage equality. Read her entire opinion piece in the Iowa Gazette.
- Michael Kimmel, Michael Kaufman, and Harry Brod publish at Women’s Media Center about their new initiative, Men for Women’s Choice. Here is their manifesto.
- Richard Kim at The Nation asks important questions of/about Occupy Wall Street as Spring approaches. The movement changed and dissipated this winter, but it will be back–the question is, in what form?
Will it continue to function largely as a set of loosely connected, issue-based campaigns? Or will it retake public space and re-establish physical encampments and general assemblies as the heart of the movement? How much attention will it pay to the upcoming elections? Is Occupy’s chief value as a branding device to focus the attention of the 99 percent on the issue of inequality? Or is it the leading edge of what will become a more radically anti-capitalist revolution?
Re/Visionist 