I don't like Mondays


Georg Baselitz, Akt Elke, 1977

* Top ten conservative idiots. excerpt:

3. Stacey Campfield

"Last week State Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-Naturally) introduced a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly which would 'collect death certificates for aborted fetuses,' according to the Associated Press. Campfield said 'his bill would provide a way to track how many abortions are performed in Tennessee.'

"Strangely enough though, 'Tennessee law already requires abortions to be reported to the Office of Vital Records.' So there already is a way to track how many abortions are performed in Tennessee. Why would Campfield want to go through the trouble (and expense) of requiring that an aborted fetus needs a death certificate?

"Perhaps because according to the AP, under the current law in Tennessee, 'the identities of women having abortions are not included in the reports.' However, 'Death certificates require identifying information like Social Security numbers.' See, it's not really a way to track abortions at all. It's a way to publicly shame women who get an abortion in Tennessee. Nice.

"One thing that's confusing to me though: if Campfield wants to give death certificates to aborted fetuses, why not give them to miscarried fetuses as well? The end result is the same, after all. Why should miscarried fetuses not be given the honor of a death certificate? Has Rep. Campfield got something against them?

"Anyway, Rep. Camfield's obvious prejudice against miscarried fetuses aside, I think you'll agree that we could all use a public list of women who didn't complete their pregnancies for whatever reason.

"Actually, better yet, why don't we just force them to wear shirts with a big red letter on the front? We could have 'A' for abortion and 'M' for miscarriage. While we're at it, let's put a big red letter 'C' on women who are using contraception, the shameless hussies."

* Military amputee uninvited from Bush event because the press would see him with no legs. [via]

"Perks and stardom do not come to every amputee. Sgt. David Thomas, a gunner with the Tennessee National Guard, spent his first three months at Walter Reed with no decent clothes; medics in Samarra had cut off his uniform. Heavily drugged, missing one leg and suffering from traumatic brain injury, David, 42, was finally told by a physical therapist to go to the Red Cross office, where he was given a T-shirt and sweat pants. He was awarded a Purple Heart but had no underwear.

"David tangled with Walter Reed's image machine when he wanted to attend a ceremony for a fellow amputee, a Mexican national who was being granted U.S. citizenship by President Bush. A case worker quizzed him about what he would wear. It was summer, so David said shorts. The case manager said the media would be there and shorts were not advisable because the amputees would be seated in the front row.

"'Are you telling me that I can't go to the ceremony 'cause I'm an amputee?' David recalled asking. 'She said, 'No, I'm saying you need to wear pants.'

"David told the case worker, 'I'm not ashamed of what I did, and y'all shouldn't be neither.' When the guest list came out for the ceremony, his name was not on it."

* "The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure." -- George Washington