Saturday Round-up: SCOTUS nonsense, funeral of a friend, and delving into crime-adjacent novels

The Supreme Court announced its rollback of abortion right yesterday. Now that Christian Nationalists have a majority on the court, this regressive move will be followed by others in birth control, LGBTQ rights, civil rights, voting rights, etc. This court wants to wipe away all of the progressive measures enacted since the 1960s. They can probably do it, too, as SCOTUS is the law of the land. But there are ways that states can toss a wrench into the right-wing steam roller. Not my state, solidly red, but other states in the region, Colorado and New Mexico to name two. Some major companies have announced that they will subsidize travel for employees and other wishing to escape their State of Gilead to get abortions. Other entities are doing the same thing. This is a feminist issue but also one of human rights and states' rights. SCOTUS seems perfectly willing to throw back gun rights to the states. Yesterday's action signals the same approach to states. Thing is, we will have half the states where abortion is limited or forbidden. Then we will have the more progressive states, or at least states that believe in a woman's right to choose. Where this will lead is anybody's guess. Nowhere good. 

I watched a funeral of a friend today on YouTube. The funeral was at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Ormond Beach, Fla. I watched from Cheyenne, Wyo. The funeral mass was for David Rogers, an old high school friend. I saw some gray heads in the congregation so some of my classmates might have attended. David's widow and kids attended, as did his sister Dorie whom I knew from high school. She delivered a eulogy, mostly about family and David's passion of fishing. David and I shared a house out in the woods 50 years ago. David spent his time fishing in the Tomoka and Little Tomoka rivers. I spent my time hiking around the property, some 40 acres of woods and swamps. Spiders as big as my hand. Rattlesnakes and water moccasins and coral snakes. Possum and armadillos. Lots of birds. A beautiful spot that holds many memories. Rest in peace, David.

Our daughter Annie moved to Laramie and started school at UW. She rents an apartment on the edge of campus. Chris and I have been there several times, first to help her move in and then take her to lunch. College campuses in summertime are green, beautiful places, more park than academic setting. I always liked summer sessions. The classes were of short duration and laid back, for the most part. Afterwards, a great time to settle under a tree in the quad and read. Because we have distinct seasons here, with cold-ass winters, the summer afternoons at UW are particularly sweet.

Just finished reading "Good Girl, Bad Girl" by Australian writer Michael Robotham. I saw a reference to him in an interview with another Aussie writer, Geraldine Brooks. She called his books "crime-adjacent" and I was taken by that phrase and had to look up Robotham's books. Crime-adjacent features characters that aren't necessarily cops or private investigators. "Good Girl, Bad Girl" main character is Cyrus Haven, a forensic psychologist in Nottingham, England, who is trying to help the police solve a crime while he also tries to help Evie Cormac, a teen girl adjust after years of abuse. Fascinating. Cyrus has his own twisted past which gives him insight other psychologists don't have. Chapters alternate between Cyrus and Evie with the nickname "Angel Face." I liked the back and forth between characters once I read the first few chapters. Other CA books listed on Goodreads include John D. MacDonald's "The Lonely Silver Rain" which features Travis McGee who, as he puts it, does favors for friends. It usually involves tussles with bad guys. Bail bondswoman Stephanie Plum probably fits into this category. So do many of Elmore Leonard's books. I've read many CA books but didn't know it had a label. Until now.

Women's March Wyoming organizing update

The Women's March Wyoming is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, in Cheyenne. Gather at the Depot Plaza, march to the State Capitol, where surprises await, and then march back to Depot Plaza for speakers. This year, organizers have arranged for a super-duper sound system that will allow you to hang on the words of every speaker -- and we have some great ones.

Starting at about 11:30 a.m., the WMW food committee will dish up hot and cold luncheon items, including desserts and beverages. We will have vegetarian items and possibly some gluten-free selections. Feel free to bring your favorite pot-luck food item. You can drop it off inside before the march. Food committee solicits crockpot items, such as chili, stew or soup, but keep in mind that our crockpot extravaganza at last year's march blew some circuits at the Depot. Pizza and sandwiches always welcome, as are casseroles in cloth food warmers, which can be pink or any other cool color. We also welcome brownies and cookies and other assorted desserts.

If you are interested in being a part of the organizing committee, feel free to attend the next meeting on Sunday, Jan. 7, 1 p.m., in the library's third-floor Sunflower Room.

If you are a crafty person and wish to make buttons and pussy hats to sell at the march, assemble from 5:30-8:30 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at a location to be announced. Update: Location is Danielmark's Brewing downtown.  Go to the Facebook page for more info.

Wordsmiths are invited to the Wines & Signs March Prep Party on Friday, Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m., at the UU Church in Cheyenne. BYOB or BYOW. Also, snacks.

Next Women's March on Wyoming set for Jan. 20 in Cheyenne

Last year, the day after the presidential inauguration was a lot more interesting than the inauguration itself.

The inaugural Women's March was held around the U.S. on Jan. 21, 2017. Cheyenne mustered a crowd of at least 1,200. Not bad for a community of some 64,000 souls. I was a food volunteer at the event -- and a marcher -- and I summarized my experience in this Jan. 22 post.

On that gorgeous January day, many of us marchers were still in shock from the election results. Trump was (and is) a sexist, misogynistic jerk who openly bragged about grabbing women's body parts. I couldn't believe that America would choose this guy over a much more qualified and intelligent woman. Hillary Clinton. I couldn't believe that we had a black president for eight years and had taken a few steps forward and now we were taking giant leaps backward. Events during the past 11 months have shown how bad things can get.

The Women's March did not derail Trump's nefarious plans. One thing we Baby Boomer activists have learned is that one march does not lead to immediate consequences. Wars do not end. Civil rights are not achieved. It takes many years and hundreds of marches and legal actions and elections to achieve the stated goal.

That's a tough lesson for Americans. We expect instant results. But it's hard-headed patience and persistence that wins the day.

See you at the next Women's March on Wyoming in Cheyenne on Jan. 20, 2018, 10 a.m., at the Historic Depot Plaza downtown. A potluck will follow. Get updated info at http://www.wywomensmarch.org. See today's WTE for an article about the march. The theme for this year is voting -- both GOTV tactics and getting women elected to public office. You can't expect progress when your state legislature is dominated by a cabal of Male Republican Know Nothings.

Bobby Jindal to RNC: "We've got to stop being the stupid party"

Wyoming Republicans: Bibles in schools, roadkill in the freezer, silencers on hunting weapons, an aircraft carrier on Crow Creek, a Dept of Ed Director who's ruining the schools, highest suicide rate in the nation, crumbling roads, Rep. Gerald Gay who says that gays are evil, "coal is your friend" classes for middle school students, what global warming?, the earth is 6,000 years old, "public employees are bums," "Obamacare is a commie plot," Dick Cheney, Agenda 21, Tea Party, wolves are four-legged terrorists, drug tests for poor people, etc. Stupid is as stupid does, Gov. Jindal. 

Regressive bills to watch out for during the 2013 Wyoming Legislature w/update

Gregory Nickerson at wyofile does a great job of outlining the possible social issue bills that will emerge during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 8. The usual players (those that survived the recent election, anyway) on the Republican side will offer up the usual regressive anti-gay and anti-woman legislation. They will try to force pregnant women to undergo invasive ultrasounds. They will attempt a demonize the LGBT community. For those of you who thought that the recent national election showed once and for all that America believes in a progressive social agenda, think again. This just about sums it up:

“Wyoming’s quite a little bit different than the rest of the country,” said Curt Meier, the longtime Republican senator from LaGrange. “You see that in the last presidential election. We’ve got a different idea about what America should be than what it is right now.”

I'm always amazed that some Republicans think that we don't live in an interconnected age, where lamebrain policies concocted in LaGrange won't end up on the national stage. We have the Internet Tubes now, Sen. Meier. When Wyoming thinks it needs an aircraft carrier or silencers on hunting rifles, it goes viral and people laugh at us from sea to shining sea. And lest you think that tourism will keep us afloat, that backwards policies won't affect the stream of visitors to gawk at the Tetons, think again. Word gets around.

There may be another way to look at this. Perhaps Wyoming, if it regresses far enough, will actually become a worldwide curiosity. People might say, "Let's go see those strange natives who live in that almost-square state sandwiched between Colorado and Montana." Wyoming already is somewhat of a oddity to urban dwellers on the coasts. That could end up being a big draw as the rest of American moves forward and we keep lurching backward.

One of the best things about Greg's article -- he names all the possible players on these issues. Wyoming Equality, led by Jeran Artery, is a force to be reckoned with on LGBT legislation, notably marriage equality. My wife Chris and I are Wyoming Equality members and plan to get behind the organization 110 percent during the legislative session. The org has 650 members and can be very persuasive when energized. To borrow a phrase from Anonymous -- Expect us!

UPDATE: Just received my Wyoming Equality United Voice newsletter in the mail. WE plans to expand its lobbying force for the upcoming legislature. If you're interested, get more info at the Wyoming Equality Web site.

Progressive Wyoming lawmakers can now look to ALICE for model legislation

ShockandAwed reports on Daily Kos that there's a new group working to provide a progressive counterweight to the ultra-conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. The American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange, or ALICE, has a web site that provides model laws that move us FORWARD instead of backward. The recent election showed that most Americans are much more interested in moving ahead than moving back into a  past where women were in the kitchen, people of color were out in the fields, working people were forced to shop at the company store and children were yoked to the assembly line (or hauling coal out of underground mines). Read the rest of ShockandAwed's article here. Meanwhile, keep on eye out for ALEC-sponsored legislation in our upcoming Wyoming Legislature. You will know it by its retro conservative POV. For some of my previous posts on ALEC in Wyoming, go here and here. Read the DKos article here.

Obama speech launches flood of Romnesia memes

Here's one, for example

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meme: Romney still uses binders?

Meme from Kaili Joy Gray at Daily Kos

From tonight's debate:

CROWLEY: Governor Romney, pay equity for women?

ROMNEY: Thank you. And important topic, and one which I learned a great deal about, particularly as I was serving as governor of my state, because I had the chance to pull together a cabinet and all the applicants seemed to be men.

And I — and I went to my staff, and I said, "How come all the people for these jobs are — are all men." They said, "Well, these are the people that have the qualifications." And I said, "Well, gosh, can't we — can't we find some — some women that are also qualified?"

ROMNEY: And — and so we — we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet.

I went to a number of women's groups and said, "Can you help us find folks," and they brought us whole binders full of women.

Mitt has "binders full of women" -- and they're priced to sell!

Funniest line of this debate night -- Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" comment. Read more at Meg's Place: http://cognitivedissonance.tumblr.com/post/33752141771/i-still-cant-get-over-the-binders-full-of-women

Magical thinking makes the GOP go 'round and 'round and 'round... like a hurricane

Neat column by Beau Friedlander on the Huffington Post:

While I was reading commentary about Rep. Todd Akin's overshare regarding abortion, the female body and the dark night of the GOP's soul, it occurred to me that the same attitude that allowed him to say what he said (call it ignorance, anti-intellectualism, magical thinking) has been at work in the GOP fight against Dodd-Frank, gay marriage, food and product safety, government spending and all the other GOP panic button social issues that have been causing a bottleneck in Congress since Obama took office.

Akin is today's GOP. The grease that moves things is magical thinking, whether we're talking about "self-regulating" businesses that can make or break the world economy or federal roads that build themselves or schools that somehow have everything they need to prepare kids for life without much in the way of tax revenue. What Akin thinks matters, because his thinking reveals a lot about the cultural conservative movement in the United States. It's the dunderheaded certainty of a religious person who believes God is not only concerned with individuals in a granular way, but that He will quite literally provide. This is a version of God that assures his followers there is no cause for alarm with regard to climate change (after all God knows what He's doing). This is a God that says, "Truly I say unto thee, shopping is beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. Nothing to see here. Get back to work."

Rest the rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beau-friedlander/while-i-was-reading-comme_b_1821617.html

Petersen: Diverse voices needed in Wyoming Legislature

Kathleen Petersen: Diverse voices needed in Legislature -- Wyoming Tribune Eagle Online:

Giving a voice to the people, especially minority groups, is what prompted Kathleen Petersen's run in state House District 8. 

She hopes to increase the number of women and Democrats in the Wyoming Legislature to offer a more balanced mix of perspectives, she said. 

“I just feel for a good, balanced government, you need to hear from more than one demographic.”

That one demographic is old (or aging) conservative white guys. I have nothing against aging legislators, it's just their calcified brains and hardened hearts that piss me off. So, if we can just get a few more women or minorities or just-plain Democrats in the Legislature, we'll be light years ahead of where we are now, which is somewhere in the Triassic Era.

I especially welcome Kathleen's District 8 bid. That's my district. We used to have a woman legislator representing us -- Lori Millin. Our current rep, Repub Bob Nicholas, is another predictable Republican with predictably bad voting patterns.

Take a serious look at Kathleen for the upcoming election. Read the WTE profile at above link.

Wisconsin defeat as seen from Wyoming

There you have it (from Blowing in the Wyoming Wind):

"...with surprising support from union households, Wisconsin voters retained a governor who promised to destroy the labor movement in a state with a proud history of protecting worker's rights... Nearly 40% of Wisconsin union members voted to retain the man [Scott Walker] who loathes them."  

This union member in Right-to-Work Wyoming is disgusted. We start every day knowing the cards are stacked against us. We have to stand together or perish. 

New to the WY Progressives' blogroll: The Bucking Jenny

Pleased to add The Bucking Jenny to hummingbirdminds' Wyoming Progressives blogroll (see right sidebar). She launched the blog in February, tackling the big topics: the Republican war on women, the state legislature's weird need to drug-test everyone but themselves, controversy over the Trayvon Martin shooting, the GOP's vengeful God fixation, etc. Especially liked her exploration of the spirituality in Norman Maclean's "A River Runs Through It." Jenny, I wish you many thoughtful comments. 

Tea Party Slim (a.k.a. Snow Bird Slim) returns from Arizona early for Wyoming Republican caucuses

Face it, Tea Party Slim has the best of both worlds. He spends his winters in Arizona and summers in Wyoming.

"I should call you Snow Bird Slim," I said. Slim drove his massive RV back into town last Sunday. He parked the RV in his driveway and he and his wife Nancy were unloading their luggage. His wife looked askance at me; she did not like Slim consorting with Liberals.

"You're just jealous of us retirees," Slim said to me. "Foot loose and fancy free."

"You're early," I said. "Usually you're not back until April."

Slim hefted a suitcase in each hand. "Caucuses," he said.

"Caucuses?"

"The Republican caucuses. The party is holding them early this year. We wanted to be back to cast our votes."

Slim and I have been neighbors for years. He's hardcore conservative. I'm reliably liberal. We'd never been shy about sharing our views. Our exchanges have sharpened over the two years since the Tea Party emerged from the primordial slime. He'd been gone since Halloween. I missed the big lug.

"Who are you voting for?" I asked.

He glowered. "None of your business."

"C'mon, Slim. I'll tell you who I'm voting for on the Dem side."

"No choice," he said. "You're stuck with Obama."

"Our caucuses will be boring. Not like last time. They were held this time four years ago. We had to rent the Civic Center to hold the crowds."

Slim harrumphed. "Every lily-livered, weak-kneed liberal within 50 miles crawled out from beneath their rocks for that one."

I was a bit nonplussed by Slim's words. "They arrived in droves, Slim. A few did have weak knees, but not sure about their livers."

Slim disappeared inside with his suitcases. When he reappeared, he carried two beers. "Thirsty work," he said. He handed me a beer. It was a sunny pre-spring day in Cheyenne. We drank in silence, at least for a few minutes.

"Rick Santorum has been stepping in it," I said.

"What do you mean?

"You know, all of his crazy talk about denying birth control to women."

"Churches shouldn't have to pay for birth control."

"It's not about religion," I said. "It's about health care."

"It's about religious taxpayers being asked to pay for birth control for sex-crazed feminists."

I almost choked on my suds. "Too much Rush Limbaugh, Slim."

"Rush is right," he said. "He told that college girl where to get off."

"If I'm not mistaken, both of your daughters are college graduates."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"How would you like it if Rush called one of them a slut and a prostitute?"

"Neither of them would have testified before Congress about birth control. They're good girls. Religious."

"It's a fact that 98 percent of Catholics practice some form of birth control."

"We're not Catholics."

"Most people practice some sort of birth control. They deserve to have insurance to cover the costs."

"Fooey," he said. "I don't want to pay for a liberal feminist's birth control."

"Most people pay for their own birth control," I said. "Don't they deserve to have a choice in the free-market of health care coverage? Don't you Republicans believe in free markets? Don't you rail against Obamacare because it's that darn federal gubment interfering in our personal lives?"

Slim sipped his beer. "On Tuesday, I'm voting for Rick Santorum."

"I thought so," I said. "Next month, I'm voting for President Obama."

"I thought so," summarized Slim.

WY ACLU: "Religious Freedom or an Assault on Women's Health Care?"

From the The Republican War on Women Facebook page. 

Methinks it's the latter. So does the Wyoming ACLU. To read the grisly details, go to http://acluwyomingchapter.blogspot.com/2012/03/religious-freedom-or-assault-on-womens.html

Republican war on women -- illustrated version

From Daily Kos

Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson calls fellow Republican Rick Santorum "rigid and homophobic"

From Face the Nation on CBS:

Former Senator Alan Simpson had some choice words for his one-time colleague, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. 

"I know Santorum, I served with him," he said. "He is rigid and a homophobic. He believes that gays and lesbians, he mentioned in an interview in 2003, about bestiality, and gays and lesbians. I think that's disgusting," said Simpson. 

The former three-term Republican senator from Wyoming, who has always been known for both his candor and his ability to work across party lines, said Republicans are hurting themselves by focusing on social issues. 

"Here's a party that believes in government out of your life, the precious right of privacy and the right to be left alone. How then can they be the hypocrisy of fiddling around in these social issues? We won't have a prayer," he told Bob Schieffer in an interview for CBS News' Face to Face, a weekly web interview from the staff of Face the Nation. 

Those social issues are a defining part of Santorum's candidacy and his newfound support as a the leading conservative candidate. "And they asked him, well he said I want a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and they said well what about the people who are already married? And he said well they would be nullified. I mean what is, what's human, what's kind about that? We're all human beings, we all know or love somebody who's gay or lesbian so what the hell is that about? To me it's startling and borders on disgust," said Simpson, who would be considered a centrist Republican by today's standards and served at a time when the two parties in Congress were not as far apart on the ideological spectrum as they are today.

Read a transcript of the full interview with Simpson.

Wyoming legislators with ties to ALEC

This list goes a long way toward explaining some of the more extreme laws proposed in this session of the Wyoming Legislature (last year's session, too). This is an updated list to the one we ran in August 2011. Thanks to Larry Kurtz at Interested Party for the update:

ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) They fund almost all of ALEC's operations.  

Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. It might be right. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door. Learn more at ALECexposed.org.

Wyoming Legislators with ALEC Ties

House of Representatives 

§  Rep. Peter Illoway (R-42), State Chairman
§  Rep. Allen Jaggi (R-18)
§  Rep. Lorraine Quarberg (R-28)
§  Rep. Richard L. Cannady (R-06), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Lisa A. Shepperson (R-58), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Carl R. Loucks (R-59), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
§  Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R-43), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Rep. Rosie M. Berger (R-51), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Charles P. Childers (R-50), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Bryan K. Pedersen (R-07), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
§  Rep. Tim Stubson (R-56), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Rep. Lorraine K. Quarberg (R-28), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Rep. Thomas E. Lubnau, II (R-31), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
§  Rep. Kathy Davison (R-20), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Rep. Thomas Lockhart (R-57), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
§  Rep. Matt Teeters (R-05), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate and Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. John Eklund, Jr. (R-10), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. Allen M. Jaggi (R-18), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Rep. Pete S. Illoway (R-42), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Jon A. Botten (R-30), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Clarence J. Vranish (R-49), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
§  Rep. Sue Wallis (R-52), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
§  Rep. Amy L. Edmonds (R-12)^[16], ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
§  Rep. Pat Childers (R-50), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate  

Senate 

§  Sen. Grant Larson (R-17), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member

§  Sen. Bruce Burns (R-21), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member

§  Sen. Stan Cooper (R-14), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Sen. Curt E. Meier (R-03), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
§  Sen. John M. Hastert (D-13), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
§  Sen. Eli D. Bebout (R-26), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force and International Relations Task Force Member
§  Sen. Leslie Nutting (R-07), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Sen. Dan Dockstader (R-16), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
§  Sen. James Anderson (R-02), ALEC Education Task Force Member
§  Sen. Cale Case (R-25), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Alternate and International Relations Task Force Member
§  Sen. Henry H. Coe (R-18), ALEC Education Task Force Alternate

Wyoming ACLU: Keep track of anti-choice HJ7 in Wyoming Legislature

Wyoming ACLU tracking anti-choice bill in Wyoming House. The right-wing whackadoodles are at it again. Read more at http://acluwyomingchapter.blogspot.com/2012/02/action-needed-to-stop-resolution-hj7.html