An Annoying Sort of Friend

This is a mystery … we hope:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Monday that he’d be willing to sign a 20-week abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest, adding that women were mostly concerned about those issues “in the initial months” of pregnancy, television station WKOW reported.

“I mean, I think for most people who are concerned about that, it’s in the initial months where they’re most concerned about it,” Walker said of pregnancies caused by rape and incest.

“In this case, again, it’s an unborn life, it’s an unborn child and that’s why we feel strongly about it,” Walker said. “I’m prepared to sign it either way that they send it to us.”

(Garcia)

We are possibly witnessing a spaghetti-meet-wall moment in conservative politics as the various factions of social conservatism dealing with sex and gender undergo what seems a complete meltdown. Mr. Walker is emblematic. The Cowardly Clown decided to come out swinging on this issue, going on conservative radio to explain that using force of law to put things in women’s vaginas was “just a cool thing out there”. And for whatever reason, he wants this fight; he went back to the same radio program to push his case. It was a particularly dishonest sleight, at that, suggesting the law “doesn’t designate which type” of ultrasound, but transvaginal is the standard medical procedure. Additionally, as Steve Benen explained, “no one’s opposed to ultrasounds in general, but plenty of people are opposed to state-mandated, medically unnecessary procedures imposed by right-wing politicians who choose to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship as part of a larger culture war”.

Remember that the purpose of this is to subject women to an unnecessary medical procedure, the standard method involving vaginal penetration by a foreign object, under force of law and with the intention of persuasion.

Yet Mr. Walker is not finished finding ways to molest women for the sake of his own moral satisfaction.

Governor Scott “Forcible Insertion Is Cool” Walker

This is a basic difference:

Walker told Loesch that criticism he received about the ultrasound bill was merely an attack from the “gotcha” media, and that he was in fact just trying to provide women with “a cool thing.”

“The thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea,” he said. “Most people I talked to, whether they’re pro-life or not, I find people all the time that pull out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids’ ultrasound and how excited they are, so that’s a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, we still have their first ultrasounds. It’s just a cool thing out there.”

“We just knew if we signed that law, if we provided the information that more people if they saw that unborn child would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child,” he said.

(Blue)

The question of how one advocates using force of law to insert foreign objects into a woman’s vagina for no medical purpose is beside the point.

Try that again: Using force of law to insert foreign objects into women’s vaginas. If this notion seems remotely appropriate to you?

Hello?

Governor Rapist Walker?

No, Governor, it is not cool.

This is not one of those things you should need reminding of.

____________________

Blue, Miranda. “Scott Walker: Ultrasounds Should Be Mandatory Since They’re ‘A Cool Thing'”. Right Wing Watch. 26 May 2015.

The Ted Cruz Show (Twitmix)

Cruelty is an American virtue, and nowhere is it more exhaustively celebrated than in our political discourse; which, in turn, kind of makes sense and explains why we not only tolerate such vice but encourage and even demand it. Oh, hell, let’s just run with the explanation from DeadState:

Just before Ted Cruz’s announcement today that he’s running for president, he sent out a cryptic message on Twitter that seemed to forebode the event.

Almost immediately, the folks on Twitter cobbled together the hashtag #TedCruzCampaignSlogans, and it was all downhill from there. Mocking Cruz with everything from suggested campaign slogans to referencing his birthplace in Canada, the onslaught was relentless.

And, of course, the thrashing ranged from policy to stupidity and even on to aesthetics:

• “The wisdom of Bush, the fearmongering of Cheney, the ideology of Rand Paul, and the face of the drama mask.”

• “Like Sarah Palin’s annoying younger brother.”

• “An ocean in every house and a probe in every woman.”

• “Just in case Rand Paul wasn’t crazy enough for you.”

• “Because Joseph McCarthy deserves a second chance.”

Right. Pick your favorites. Grimace at the tasteless ones. Let it be.

That is to say, yeah, sure, it’s kind of fun to make these jokes, but there is no alternate campaign slogan we might invent that will surpass the sublimely vicious humor inherent in the idea that Ted Cruz thinks he can be president.

____________________

(h/t to D.P.)

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Cruz was scheduled to speak on the scope of treaty power in the U.S. Constitution. Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Palma, Sky. “Ted Cruz jumps in for 2016, Twitter destroys him accordingly with #TedCruzCampaignSlogans”. DeadState.org. 23 March 2015.