War on Women

As I write this there are about four hours until the federal government shuts down.  There has been talk for the past several hours that another stopgap measure is being prepared, and it's safe to speculate that there is a lot of furious engagement going on in Washington right now.  Because over the course of the day, the game has changed, and the Republicans have gamed themselves into potential disaster.

"If it sounds ridiculous," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "that's because it is ridiculous."  He announced--and other Democrats have been on this all day--that Democrats gave in further on budget numbers and had an agreement last night, but GOPers are balking because of one thing: they demand funding be cut off for Title 10 services: women's health services.  They trumpet this as cutting off Planned Parenthood, but there are a lot of other clinics serving the growing number of women (and therefore children) who have little or no affordable alternative for a range of health services, including screening for cancers. (Planned Parenthood, by the way, also offers prostate cancer screening for men.)

House Speaker John Banal is going around insisting it's about the numbers, but this particular funding is .008% of the federal budget.  Title 10 was signed into law by President Richard Nixon, and one of its cosponsors was George Herbert Walker Bush.  The funding cannot by law go to abortions. It is imperious overreach for the extreme Rabid Right, and this time they may have reached too far.

The pictures today were dramatic, for anyone paying attention.  Women Democrats in Congress were all over the media, passionately denouncing this. Women Republicans in Congress held a press conference, but it turned to disaster when they refused to answer any questions about Title 10.   Commentators of nearly every ideology expressed disbelief.

There was some question about who would be blamed for a government shutdown, before today.  Now there is no question.  Democrats reportedly agreed to about three-quarters of cuts the GOPers demanded.  When Reid and others announced that the sole remaining issue was Title 10, a very popular program, the GOPers have been on the defensive all day.  Had they accepted this deal, declared victory, they would be in stronger position on upcoming and bigger budget and fiscal battles.  They may well be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

There are only two possibilities for some salvation for the GOPer fringe running things.  That in the next few hours they agree to a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open and then in the next few days to a deal.  And/or that today's furor doesn't ripple out and "go viral" politically in the coming weeks and months, but is confined to a one day embarrassment.

This is a blunder of proportion, but it is not inconsistent for the Rabid Right.  In the onslaught of extreme proposals GOPer governments are ramming through in various states, there are plenty that attack women's rights and callously endanger the health and well-being of women and their families.

Now perhaps the basic inhumanity of their ideology has been exposed.  They are engaged in extortion, not caring who they hurt and the proportion of that harm.  In effect, they want to recreate this country with narrow sectarian rule, a mirror image of the Sharia law that they and only they are so afraid is coming to America.  If it does, they will bring it.