The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Ramona's picture

    The Vagina Comicals

    By Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 10:19am | Politics
     

    In the petty police state of Michigan (used to be Michigan, My Michigan; now it isn't) two state reps got a time out yesterday for talking naughty during a pre-vote session on some fancy new man-made anti-abortion bills. These two elected representatives of the people were told they could not speak for an entire day because they "ignored the rules of decorum" and got a little huffy with the menfolks. (It probably won't surprise you, given what you may already know about our once great state, but both of them were Democrats and both of them were women.) 

    One of them, Rep. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield,  actually used the word "vagina" in a sentence on the House floor. She spoke for a few minutes about her own Jewish faith and how it understands the legitimacy of medically necessary abortions. She ended by saying, "Finally, Mr. Speaker,
    I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'"

    Oh. My. God.  That word.  That nasty, wasty word:

    VAGINA

     [vuh-jahy-nuh] 
    noun, plural va·gi·nas, va·gi·nae  [-nee] . 1. Anatomy, Zoology .
    a.
    the passage leading from the uterus to the vulva in certain female mammals. Compare oviduct.

     Yesterday's Detroit News reported (with a straight face--at least in public):

    Brown's comment prompted a rebuke Thursday by House Republicans, who wouldn't allow her to voice her opinion on a school employee retirement bill.
    "What she said was offensive," said Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville. "It was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company."

     Lisa Brown responded:  “If I can’t say the word vagina, why are we legislating vaginas?”

    On that same day, Wednesday, Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, wickedly suggested that if the gentlemen of the Republican persuasion want to dictate how a woman uses her body by putting up a Draconian bill limiting existing abortion laws, she would introduce an amendment to the bill requiring that all men seeking vasectomies in Michigan provide proof that the procedure was necessary due to a medical emergency or that the man's life was in danger.

    "If we truly want to make sure children are born, we would regulate vasectomies," Byrum told reporters Thursday.

    (The law passed, anyway, 70-39 with a Republican majority--minus the proposed 20-week abortion ban, which will be taken up at a later date.  It passed in spite of over 10,000 protest signatures, which were apparently invisible to the Republicans and thus weren't recognized.  It goes to the Republican majority senate in September.  Some are calling this anti-abortion bill "the nation's worst."  The specifics are here.  You be the judge.)
     

    Photo courtesy Eclectablog.  More on the story here.

     

    Yesterday was the last day the legislature was in session before summer recess.  Numerous bills were discussed before voting, it being the last day and all, but neither Brown nor Byrum were allowed to speak on the floor.   These two elected representatives of the people (I repeat) were not allowed to voice their opinions on the House floor because of a few legitimate words spoken in legitimate discussion the day before:

    Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger (R), said the women “will not be recognized to speak on the House floor today after being gaveled down for their comments and actions yesterday that failed to maintain the decorum of the House of Representatives.”
    So.  You want to see what the end of democracy looks like?  Outside of an apocalyptic, dystopian blockbuster at the movies, that is?  Take a gander at my state.  It's a thrill a minute.  "Nineteen Eighty-Four", with liberal but not necessarily satisfying doses of comic relief.
     
    It's Pure Michigan with a rotten core in Lansing and we have until November to throw the bums out.  In the meantime, women of our state, how about we make "Vagina!" our new "Towanda!"  Can't hurt.  Might even help.
     
    (Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices)
    Topics: 
    Politics

    Comments

    comment deleted


    by wabby on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:49am

    There has been surprisingly limited coverage of the takeover of city governments in Michigan by overseers​ special masters. The main stream media spends more time on nonsense than things that directly impact democracy.

    Voter purges in Florida. Attacks on labor unions in Wisconsin and Ohio. Government dictatorship in Michigan. Democracy is under siege. 


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:52am

    There are only a few sources for information of this kind in the media and hard as they/we try, we can't get the coverage these attacks really need.  People are beginning to think this is the new norm.  That's dangerous.  Wish I knew what to do about it, other than raising my own pitiful voice.


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:05pm

    Flower, I heard about it first on NPR while I was driving and when I got home I went looking for it.  The progressive Michigan bloggers hadn't picked it up yet, so, you're right--it was nowhere until they came aboard. 

    I tried to finish this yesterday but got bogged down with other things.  In the meantime HuffPo wrote about it and Ezra Klein talked it up on "Maddow" last night.  The one good thing is that the Repubs apparently felt forced to table the 20-week limit, but they'll be back.  They're not going to let it die.  We can shout all we want but really--who's going to stop them?  It's a long road between here and November and they're relentless.  They WILL take us over and they've got big money behind them saying IT WILL BE DONE.

    Not that any of us plan on keeping quiet.  We're not built that way.

    Thanks.


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:57am

    I was just over at Michigan Liberal. A comment made on this post suggests that a protest be made "at the Capitol, see if we can get several thousand people to chant "Vagina! Vagina! Vagina!" while the House is in session."  I do believe that's do-able. I don't know if it would help anything, but it would be interesting. No?

    You know, there were 500+ pink wearing protesters in the Capitol building in Lansing while this legislation was being rammed through. I never heard word one about it on local TV or radio. Not one frickin' word, Ramona. If it wasn't for the leftie bloggers, we wouldn't be hearing anything.

    My favorite image is found here. ( I am unable to embed it in this post.)

    Now, does this not say something?

    So few protesters on the anti-choice side. Why? If this unenlightened abortion law is so goddamn important to them, why aren't they out there in full force giving these anti-choice legislators their full-throated support? Or is it because they already know they are going to get what they want so why bother showing up?

    This kind of makes me crazy, Mona.

    Why are the numerous wearers of pink being unheard?

    There is something wrong with this picture!


    by wabby on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 11:50am

    Thanks for the link to the image, Flower.  I had no idea how to fix it!

    So much of what's happening in our beautiful state makes me crazy.  Every success on the Republican side just serves to feed the monster.  It's not just crazy, it's scary.  I've never seen anything like it anywhere in this country.


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:02pm

    See, if Jolly Roger had been there, they'd have been relieved to hear something as tame as "vagina".

    One day y'all will appreciate him.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 2:34pm

    It is perhaps a statement against my own interest, but I sincerely hope Ramona would have been no less censorious had I called Coulter "a hideous v----a".


    by jollyroger on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:11pm

    Hmmm.  Let's see...  Using the word "vagina" to describe an actual body part doesn't need censoring.  Calling Ann Coulter "a hideous vagina" makes the caller an ass.  If the caller can't figure out why, I'll bet Ann Coulter could explain it to him.


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 5:13pm

    There is silliness and I love this female dem; for sure.

    What is not funny is the restriction on voting rights 37 years following the Voting Rights Act and the martial law invoked by states removing the rights of municipalities to vote.


    by Richard Day on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 4:07pm

    It's that old Vast Right Wing conspiracy, DD.  They recognize that the way to whack the Federal government into submission is to turn the states against their own daddy.  Looks like it's working.  Lucky for us, huh?


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 5:19pm

    Case in point:
    Genesee County, a Democratic stronghold in Michigan, recently had a serious bout of flooding. Lots of homes in a soggy mess.
    Our benevolent overlord, Gov. Rick Snyder, who signed off on declaring a state of emergency, asked FEMA for help.

    He was just denied.

    Now, how is that gonna be spun politically?

    Like this:

    Obama turns his back on Dems in Michigan.

    Doesn't it just make ya wanna puke?
     


    by wabby on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 6:10pm


    Aiyiyi. And yikes.  And gasp.  I don't understand what went on but wouldn't a sane governor FIRST declare a State of Emergency, THEN go to FEMA for help? 

    Seems even he didn't really believe it was an emergency.  So much for thumbing noses at the Feds.  But I'm sorry for the folks in the path of the flooding,  Where do they go now?

     


    by Ramona on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:15pm

    Oh, that is exactly what he did, Ramona. Declared a State of Emergency then go to FEMA. I did not write that right. My apologies for goofing up. frown


    by wabby on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:34pm

    The "skuttlebug" here in Florida is don't expect much from FEMA.  There is not enough money for them to cover all the needs if we have a rough hurricane season. The plan for a hurricane is to pack the kids, pets, pictures, valuable papers, credit cards and the last 6 months of your pay stubs then head for higher ground.  Six months of your last pay stubs are very important so you can file bankruptcy and let the bank eat your underwater mortgage.  


    by trkingmomoe on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 3:35am

    When I first heard the story yesterday, I laughed! Are there still dudes so retro they cannot utter or even hear the word vagina and if they are subjected to the dreaded word they become apoplectic. It seems like the beginning of a horrible movie, but it isn't, and that is where the story quit being funny.

    Now two women who were legally elected to the state house aren't allowed to speak on the floor any more because the word Vagina was uttered? At first I thought it was kind of unbelievable, but then I remember what Republicans have become, and I guess it isn't that unbelievable after-all.


    by tmccarthy0 on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 7:15pm

    It's pretty hilarious, all right.  Someone commented on my blog--a guy, by the way--that it wasn't the word "vagina" that made them so mad, it was the word "no."  Ha!


    by Ramona on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:22pm

    Vajayjays unite!

     


    by wabby on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 1:16pm

    The Vagina Monologues on the Capitol steps in Lansing!  Wish I could be there.  Too bad the legislators are gone.  We'll just have to send them videos. 

    Thanks, Flower.


    by Ramona on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 2:20pm