We haven't seen the bottom yet, even in Texas.
Fresh from his triumphal "sonogram" bill signing, aka the emergency legislation restricting abortion in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry today announced he will consider running for President. Apparently he thinks he's the leader of the anti-woman pack refusing to do the work of state and federal governments in these economically trying times, until at least one more hurdle to reproductive rights has been erected.
We have not earned this disrespect, we women.
"They have no right to do women this way. We have not earned this disrespect in this house. We fight here, we get elected just like you do. … And men, if you don't stand up for us today, don't you walk in this chamber tomorrow." — Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, on the floor of the House on Thursday
(Fuller transcript of this video will be added below the fold as soon as I can find one)
That's Texas' own Senfronia Thompson, on the floor of the Texas Legislature yesterday, talking about the trashy sensationalistic flyers promoting one position on insurance bills during this session. The activist group that turned this propaganda out denied it intended them for release and apologized, or at least its mouthpiece appeared to do so.
E. Lee Parsley, the president and general counsel of the Texas Civil Justice League, wrote in an apology email that the flyer was a draft that was "never considered appropriate," and that the existing copies should've been destroyed. He said he "showed extremely poor judgment" in handing the flyer to someone not associated with the Texas Civil Justice League, who scanned and distributed it.
The Texas Civil Justice League united one of our best legislators with Debbie Riddle (of "it comes straight from the pit of hell" fame, regarding public schools and medicaid), one of our worst (at least from the point of view of a liberal, Democratic Texan) examples of the breed -- on the common issue of respect for women.
Today, the Texas Tribune notes that the waning days of the 82nd Texas Legislature have taken a decidedly prurient turn:
Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, took to the microphone to denounce the Texas Civil Justice League, which in the flyer targeted an insurance bill by stripping the line "Don't Expand the 'Nanny State'" across a picture of a baby suckling a woman's breast.
Then we get Presidential Aspirant Gingrich, as explained in Delawareliberal's excellent diary:
What the GOP thinks of women can be seen quite clearly in the actions of its leaders, its shining lights, and its activist groups. Not that Democrats -- John Edwards being a case in point -- are all angels on this issue; but at least the Democrats don't rub our noses in it on the legislative floor ad nauseam.
Legislature
82nd Legislative Session
Texas House Women Angry Over "Despicable" Flyers
by Emily Ramshaw
The lower chamber erupted into a gender war of sorts this afternoon, with Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, angrily accusing a special interest group of sexism and using exploitative images, and Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, suggesting that some lawmakers have pornography visible on the House floor.
Thompson gave an impassioned personal privilege speech over flyers passed out in the House chamber about an insurance bill, HB 2093. The flyer, which was printed by the Texas Civil Justice League, said "Don't Expand the Nanny State," and had a graphic picture of a child suckling a woman's bare breast.
"I am really disgusted, and I’m really ashamed, that there’s nothing better for some organizations than kicking women," Thompson said, at times screaming into the microphone as many female lawmakers gathered in support. "I am appalled that the Texas Civil Justice League would go so low that they would put out these kind of hateful, resentful, bitter, despicable and violent flyers toward women just to get at a piece of legislation passed."
It's not the breastfeeding image. It's the salacious misuse of it:
n an emotional personal privilege speech on the floor, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, blasted the fliers as objectifying women and said that while she doesn't condone violence, "if they (the creators of the fliers) were here, I'd probably bloody their nose right here on this floor, I guarantee it."
(And no, the House women aren't offended by the breast feeding, and they don't find it disgusting. They're offended because it's a graphic picture, that both the woman's breasts are bared and that it makes light of a naturally occurring thing in order to fight an insurance bill.)
Furthermore, the imagery is misleading regarding the bills' intent:
The final straw for Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, was fliers from the Texas Civil Justice League designed to lobby against an insurance bill. The fliers contend that amendments added to the bill would expand the "nanny state" in Texas. One flier featured a graphic depiction of a baby nursing from a woman's breast. Thompson mentioned more than once during her speech that her bill was about regulation of consolidated insurance programs and had nothing to do with women's issues.
"Some of you may find them funny, but I find them despicable," she said.
Thompson repeatedly spoke directly to male House members, urging them to denounce such political messages.
SNIP
Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, then asked Thompson whether she thought a symptom of the disrespect toward women was the "pornography on the floor of this House." Riddle later said she was referring to an isolated incident when she saw pornography on a lawmaker's cellphone.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/...
If we don't fight harder to elect better Democrats, we can all look forward to more of this disgusting behavior. Who will stand with the women of the Texas Legislature against it?
Thompson called a special point of personal privilege to address the House, which was frantically passing final versions of bills before the session ends May 30. She began her speech chiding her colleagues for focusing too much on abortion, saying the House had "spent 30 to 40 percent of the time kicking the reproductive organs of women down the road." She then focused on the flyers.
SNIP
A line of female lawmakers formed to speak after Thompson and denounced a general atmosphere of sexism in the House. Rep. Carol Alvarado, another Houston Democrat, said, "we have had almost 50-plus amendments and or bills come across the floor this session that I think have demeaned women."
SNIP
The Texas House has passed a series of abortion-related measures, some as amendments to otherwise unrelated legislation. It and the Senate approved a measure requiring doctors to perform a sonogram before conducting an abortion — a law that Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed during a special ceremony Tuesday.
Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/...