Tough times for the ladies

I have been lamenting of late that an America who derives its “nutrition” from twinkies, its “entertainment” from “reality television” and its state of being from prozac… is not going to be populated with the kind of people able to push-back when the forces of totalitarianism descend upon them. And hence, my never-ending quest to note the outrageous injustices being committed by our government in the name of “security” over and over again here always has a backdrop of a cowed people generally unwilling to do much, or anything, about them. Today, just a few minutes looking on Memeorandum, and we see… other things developing.
Item: Both houses of the legislature of the state of Utah passed a bill that would criminalize having a miscarriage, with penalties for not bringing a fetus to full term and live birth up to life in prison. “Having too many drinks while pregnant,” even if it cannot be proven that this even caused miscarriage, or seemingly, “not trying hard enough to keep the baby,” are crimes under the bill, which has not yet been signed into law. Why go all the way to Afghanistan to have Taliban-style repression of women… save hours and hours and thousands of dollars not to mention not needing a passport…
Item: In Orlando, FL, the center of America’s bread-and-circuses axis, Dawn Brancheau, a female animal trainer, was killed by an all-too-aptly named killer whale. This 30-year old orca named “Tilikum” had apparently been involved in at least two prior human deaths, though this would be the first time that he intentionally grabbed a trainer into the water with him. While hundreds sat in the sun oohing and ahhing, in this case, the audience was promptly removed lest their dosages need to be upgraded. While perhaps some might question the arrogance of confining an intelligent high order natural predator into a swimming pool so he can jump through hoops and make cute noises, particularly given the intrinisic dangers of such a departure from the natural order… naaa, why do I bother?
Item: The former (legacy hire) governor of Florida tells us that the former (self-made) governor of Alaska would be an excellent candidate for President… “if she only had a brain.” Specifically, JEB Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush, criticizes Sarah Palin for her lack of “intellectual curiosity.”
Item: The current (legacy hire) governor of New York is under investigation for his own and his office’s apparent “intervention” in the abuse case of one of his aides. Rank has its privileges?
And finally…
Item: As noted here by Lindsay Beyerstein, there is a story-line out there (in contrast to, you know, the actual facts) that (as we go into today’s much vaunted but much pointless “health care summit”) that the treatment of abortion in the health-care reform bill will be essential and may even be dispositive of much broader health-care reform… that way, when, as it inevitably will, health-care reform proves a bust… we can blame the ladies again for their insistence on control of their bodies, and their assertion of some “constitutional right” or something.
This has been… “tough times for the ladies.”