State Sen. Alberta Darling, (R-River Hills), had been a champion of women's rights and a member of Planned Parenthood's board.
Back in the day when a person could be a Republican and think independently, and not necessarily look for guidance from the Glenn Grothmans of the party, or its think-tank ideological commanders whose white papers and talking points have now become one-dimensional marching orders.
Them days are long gone: Darling has made the calculation that she does not want to end up like this guy.
By voting on Joint Finance to deny state aid to Planned Parenthood, to willfully starve the non-profit agency knowing that none of the funding would be used to finance abortions - - but would be used to provide medical service to low-income women - - Darling is playing to her farthest-right constituents to stave off defeat in the recall election she has certainly earned.
Planned Parenthood's clientele - - light years away from River Hills in more ways than you can count - - will suffer as a result.
Too bad Democrats didn't have a plan to force GOP committee members to put up or shut up.
The politics behind her vote and the 11 other Republicans on Joint Finance are beyond cynical.
Craven fits.
Darling is my State Senator, and is facing a recall election.
Her endorsing of a state prescription drug for seniors, a gesture less towards moderation and towards political survival with older voters at the polls is transparent window-dressing that fails to mask her support for Walker's destruction of public workers' bargaining rights.
She even thinks out loud about cuts to the state's support for recycling while Senate leadership was saying "no cuts," and pushing a 30% cut annually through 2020 in the state's signature, bi-partisan land stewardship and open space program - - while denying such a cut is "backpedaling."
Please!
I hope her tenure is coming to an end.
It's pretty obvious now that the Republican agenda re: Planned Parenthood extends BEYOND the abortion issue to include all forms of empowerment and self-control for women. There are many ways of engaging in Dog Whistle politics. Whether you are using "code phrases" to attract your fellow racist brethren, or speaking in anti-Semitic code, or rallying slash-and-burn style business who want to decimate laws that restrain them, that's what we see here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just about abortion.
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ReplyDeleteJust glad to see you are back up. Was this a service issue, or were the republicans using their internet kill switch to shut down the opposition like Mubarak did in Egypt?
I'll answer that: My understanding is that thousands of Google-run blogs went down for an extended period, mine included. Apparently it was an error in new coding that caused the problems.
ReplyDeleteFunny though, I read at Badger Blogger (as much as anyone can wade through that mess) there were people who really thought libs were behind it all.
I hope Democrats get out in force from your district and get the voters to the polls. KICK that little Walker poodle OUT (darling).
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