The Serious Matter of McCain's Crude Jokes ... John McCain's 'sense of humor' may just be a red flag for a man who disregards women as something lesser than men. On MSNBC's Countdown last night Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow examined some of the crude anti-woman jokes McCain has told, in public, throughout his career in Washington. The McCain campaign did not really apologize for the jokes, including one about an ape raping a woman, saying instead that these jokes are examples of "McCain being McCain" and evidence of his "authenticity."
McCain's Speaks Out On Abortion ... John McCain spoke openly about his devout anti-choice stances at a town hall meeting in Kansas City yesterday:
Sen. John McCain went out of his way to speak against abortion twice today at a town hall meeting before a friendly audience that vigorously applauded a range of conservative proposals. It’s a subject he rarely raises on the campaign trail unless asked directly about it—and one where Democrats think they have the edge.
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“I also would like to say one other thing very quickly to you–that is I am proud of my record of protecting and advocating the rights of the unborn. I believe this is also an important issue,” he said. He said the noblest words every written were the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
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Abortion rights advocates believe that many voters mistakenly believe that McCain supports abortion rights and that they will be less inclined to vote for him once they realize he does not.
McCain's Opposition to Birth Control ... Katha Pollitt has a great piece in the Chicago Tribune today explaining that McCain, like the Bush administration, is opposed to birth control and voted against requiring insurance companies to cover contraception:
So, John McCain is so opposed to contraception he voted against requiring insurance plans to cover it like other drugs, and either so indifferent to women's health and rights or just so out of it he doesn't even remember how he voted. That's the way to show American women you really care.
This is not a trivial issue. There's the basic unfairness of not covering these essential—even life-saving—drugs and devices, so fundamental to women's health and well-being. And then he adds the insult of denying coverage while men are lavished with cut-rate erections. There's the craven submission to religious extremists that moves the politics of that denial.
It's a pocketbook issue too: A year's worth of contraception can cost a woman $600. That's a lot of money. Is it too much to expect the next president of the United States to understand that? Especially now that every politician in America prides himself on knowing the price of a gallon of milk, and talks like he's just finished doing the week's shopping for a family of 10?
More Responses to Bush's Anti-contraception Proposal ... We're on the fourth day of newsmaking for a leaked HHS proposal that would limit women's access to birth control. Yesterday Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray jointly sent a letter to HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt condemning the proposed rule change.
Murray and Clinton said the proposed rule change is a "poorly veiled attempt to roll back women's health care options before the current Administration leaves office."
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"This misguided attempt to restrict health care services and limit access to contraceptives defeats our common goal of reducing the number of abortions in this country," said Murray.
They said one of the most troubling aspects of the proposed rule is the overly-broad definition of "abortion."
"This definition would allow health-care corporations or individuals to classify many common forms of contraception - including the birth control pill, emergency contraception and IUDs - 'abortions,' and therefore to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it," they said.
Murray and Clinton go on to say "the regulations could even undermine state laws that ensure survivors of sexual assault and rape receive emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms."
The far-right blogs have been strangely slient on this development. The Catholic World News did publish a short piece simply restating the major aspects of the proposed rule change with no mention that it will have the effect of severely limiting women's access to birth control pills and IUDs.
Daily Show's Senior Women's Issues Commentator Kristen Schaal Takes on the 'Cougar' Label ... After all this seriousness we need some comic relief and there's nobody doing comic relief right now better than the Daily Show. Kristen Schaal goes to great lenghts to prove to Jon Stewart that the term 'cougar' is dehumanizing:
