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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on December 15, 2017 at 12:06 am
A battle of truly cosmic proportions is about to rage.
In one corner is the dreaded Zika virus, which prevents the brain of a fetus from developing properly—and for which there is no vaccine.
And in the other corner are self-appointed Right-wing “guardians of morality” who refuse to provide abortion services—even in cases of rape and incest.
For the moment, Brazil is the epicenter of the Zika outbreak. But it is certain to expand to other nations, as the virus—carried by mosquitoes—continues to spread across the globe.

Mosquito
Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and a host of birth defects.
Another affected country is Columbia. On February 7, 2016, its president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced that 25,645 Columbians were infected with Zika—of which 3,177 were pregnant women.

Zika virus victim (left)
Zika cases have been confirmed in 73 countries and territories in the Americas.
The barest facts about this epidemic are nightmarish—especially for any woman who is pregnant.
- An estimated 80 percent of those infected—male and female—show no symptoms, and those that do have a mild illness, with a fever, rash and red eyes.
- Babies so affected are born with an abnormally small head resulting in developmental problems, such as retardation, blindness and deafness.
- The virus can be transmitted directly by mosquitoes; by mothers to fetuses; by men to their sexual partners; by saliva during deep kissing; and by blood transfusions.
- There is no vaccine to prevent infection with the Zika virus–and no cure for it once you’ve been infected.
The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued the following guidelines for protection against the virus:
- The best way to prevent diseases spread by mosquitoes is to protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
- Stay in places with air conditioning or window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside.
- Use insect repellents that are registered by the Environmental Protection Agency for their effectiveness.
- If using sunscreen, apply sunscreen before applying insect repellent.
- Sleep under a mosquito bed net if you are overseas or outside and can’t protect yourself from mosquito bites.
But while mosquitoes are responsible for the first half of this nightmarish scenario, responsibility for the second half lies with Right-wing attitudes toward abortion.
In Columbia, abortion became legal only in 2006—and only under the following circumstances:
- The pregnancy poses a danger to the life or health of the mother.
- The presence of life-threatening fetal malformations.
- The pregnancy resulted from rape, incest or non-consensual artificial insemination.
Prior to 2006, abortion in Columbia was illegal without exception.
Faced with the Zika epidemic, Columbia’s government has announced that pregnant women who carry the virus are eligible for abortion services.
Yet many Columbian women struggle to find abortion providers even when they meet strict legal requirements. The result: Illegal abortions are widespread.
According to the CDC, by December 6, 2017:
- 5,601 symptomatic Zika virus disease cases reported within the United States.
- The number of Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States will likely increase.
- 5,324 cases resulted from travelers returning from affected areas.
- 226 cases were acquired through presumed local mosquito-borne transmission.
- 51 cases were acquired via other routes, including sexual intercourse, laboratory transmission and person-to-person through an unknown route.
As the Zika toll inevitably rises within the United States, there will be increasing demands by women to obtain abortion services.
And the Republican party will increasingly strive to deny those services—as the following quotes attest:
- “Once a child does exist in your womb, I’m not going to assume a right to kill it just because the child’s host (some refer to them as mothers) doesn’t want it.”—Virginia U.S. Senator Steve Martin (2014).
- “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”—Former Congressman Todd Akin (2012).

Richard Mourdock
- “I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.”—Former Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock (2012)
- “Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor [Rick] Perry signed the fetal pain bill. It rained that night. Now God has his hold on California.”—California Republican Assemblywoman Shannon Grove. (2015)
- “….We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.”—2016 Republican Party platform
The most important reason why Republicans oppose abortion: There is a ready source of votes for politicians wanting to ban it.
Since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 race, all major Republican Presidential candidates have appeased this voting bloc.
But as the toll from the Zika virus continues to rise, anti-abortionists will face pressure even from within their own ranks.
Many of their own wives and daughters (and, in some cases, mistresses) carrying Zika-infected fetuses will demand the right to terminate such pregnancies.
And then the battle over abortion rights will enter an entirely new dimension.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 4, 2017 at 12:02 am
Donald Trump was the star of the 2016 Republican National Convention. But not even he could fire up the delegates like Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady turned Democratic presidential nominee.
As chants of “Lock her up!” spread across the convention floor, Michael T. Flynn voiced his agreement. “Lock her up—that’s right.”
Movie-star handsome, the former United States Army lieutenant general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency was clearly enjoying his moment as a keynote speaker.
Clapping his hands, he continued: “I’m gonna tell you what. It’s unbelievable—unbelievable.
“I have called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race, because she—she—put our nation’s security at extremely high risk for their careless use of a private email server.

Michael Flynn at the Republican convention
“Lock her up—lock her up. You guys [the audience] are good. Damn right—-that’s exactly right. There’s nothing wrong with that.
“You know why we’re saying that? We’re saying that because if I—a guy who knows this business—if I did a tenth of what she did, I would be in jail today.”
That was July 18, 2016.
Six months and two days later, he was riding even higher: On January 20—the day Donald J. Trump became President—Flynn took office as the nation’s 25th National Security Adviser.
Two days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Flynn was under investigation by U.S. counterintelligence agents for his communications with Russian officials.
On February 8, Flynn flatly denied having spoken to Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December, 2016, about removing the sanctions placed on Russia by the outgoing Obama administration.
The sanctions had been placed in retaliation for Russia’s efforts to manipulate the 2016 Presidential election.
On February 13, The Washington Post reported that Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had warned Trump in late January that Flynn had lied about his contacts with Kislyak—and that he could be blackmailed by Russian Intelligence.

Sally Yates
Flynn was forced to resign that same day—after only 24 days as National Security Adviser.
Officially, the reason given was that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence. But Flynn’s deception had already been known—via the warning to Trump by Yates.
Only after Yates’ warning became known to the media was Flynn forced to resign.
Even worse for Flynn: The same Washington Post story reported that, in December, 2015, he had appeared on Russia Today, the news network that American Intelligence agencies consider “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.”
He had also received more than $45,000 as a “speaking fee” from the network for a talk on world affairs. At the gala where Flynn received the fee, he sat next to Vladimir Putin for dinner.
Flynn had not filed the required paperwork for the trip. Nor had he reported the “fee” to the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, as a Presidential candidate and President, Donald Trump has steadfastly denied the revelations about collaboration between members of his 2016 Presidential campaign and Russian Intelligence agents.

Donald Trump
He has repeatedly attacked the “fake news” media reporting these revelations. Chief among his targets: CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
He has also derided the Intelligence agencies responsible for America’s security.
On December 16, 2016, then-FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. agreed with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the White House.

Trump, however, has steadfastly denied any such role by Russia: “I think it’s ridiculous,” he told “Fox News Sunday.” “I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it….No, I don’t believe it at all.”
On December 1, 2017, Flynn went from “Lock her up!” to “Don’t lock me up.”
He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Kislyak. And he revealed that he was cooperating with the office of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.
One of Flynn’s bosses was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. It’s certain that Flynn is in a position to “roll over” on Kushner—who, if threatened with prison, might be induced to “roll over” on Trump.
For Donald Trump, the holiday season promises to be a very Mueller Christmas.
HAVE YOURSELF A ROBERT MUELLER CHRISTMAS
(To be sung to the tune, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”)
Have yourself a Robert Mueller Christmas
Let your hearts be light.
From now on the Fascists will be filled with fright.
Have yourself a Robert Mueller Christmas
Let your hearts be gay.
I can’t wait till all the traitors go away.
Here we are as in Watergate
Traitors filled with hate feel fear.
Faithless friends now are selling out
Let us give a shout—and cheer.
Soon we hope their Fuhrer will be history
Crying Fascist tears.
When the Traitor’s gone we’ll put away our fears.
And celebrate in Robert Mueller’s name for years.
Here we are as in Watergate
Traitors filled with hate feel fear.
Faithless friends now are selling out
Let us give a shout—and cheer.
Soon we hope their Fuhrer will be history
Crying Fascist tears.
When the Traitor’s gone we’ll put away our fears.
And celebrate in Robert Mueller’s name for years.
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In History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on December 1, 2017 at 12:32 am
Political Correctness kills.
If you doubt it, ask the family of Kathryn Steinle.
Kathryn Steinle
Steinle was shot on July 2, 2015, while out for an evening stroll with her father along the San Francisco waterfront. They were walking near Pier 14—one of the city’s busiest tourist areas—when a pistol shot rang out.
Steinle, hit in the aorta, collapsed, crying, “Dad, help me, help me.”
Her father immediately gave her CPR before paramedics arrived and rushed Steinle to a hospital, where she died.
Steinle, 32, had worked for a medical technology company.
And her accused killer?
Francisco Sanchez, 45, had a history of seven felony convictions. He had been deported to his native Mexico five times, most recently in 2009.

Francisco Sanchez
On March 26, 2015, agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) turned Sanchez over to San Francisco police on an outstanding warrant.
On March 27, a San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed charges of possession and distribution of marijuana against Sanchez.
Sanchez was released on April 15.
ICE had issued a detainer for Sanchez in March, requesting to be notified if he would be released. But the detainer was not honored.
San Francisco has been a “sanctuary city” since 1989. Its officials—acting as though they govern a city-state instead of a small, tourism-dependent city—openly defy Federal immigration laws.
Thus, city and local money cannot be spent on cooperating with Federal immigration authorities.
According to Freya Horne, counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, Federal detention orders were not a “legal basis” for holding someone.
So Sanchez was released on April 15—without anyone notifying ICE.
Seventy-eight days later, illegal alien Francisco Sanchez crossed paths with American citizen Kathryn Steinle—and Steinle died.
San Francisco does not turn over illegal aliens to ICE unless there’s an active warrant for their arrest.
It’s a policy shared by cities openly defying Federal immigration laws and their enforcers.
San Francisco is just one of 31 “sanctuary cities”: Washington, D.C.; New York City; Los Angeles, Chicago; Santa Ana; San Diego; Salt Lake City; Phoenix; Dallas; Houston; Austin; Detroit; Jersey City; Minneapolis; Miami; Denver; Baltimore; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; New Haven, Connecticut; and Portland, Maine.
But the Steinle case is is not the first time San Francisco officials have defied Federal immigration authorities—with brutal consequences for American-born citizens.
One of those officials—Kamala Harris—is now California’s Attorney General.

Kamala Harris
From 2004 to 2011, Harris served as San Francisco District Attorney. In total defiance of Federal immigration law, she set up a secret unit to keep even convicted illegal aliens out of prison—and in the United States.
Click here: San Francisco D.A.’s program trained illegal immigrants for jobs they couldn’t legally hold – Los Angeles Times
Her program, Back on Track, trained them for jobs they could not legally hold.
One such alumnus was Alexander Izaguirre, an illegal alien who had pleaded guilty to selling cocaine. Four months later, in July, 2008, he assaulted Amanda Kiefer, a legal San Francisco resident.
Snatching her purse, he jumped into an SUV, then tried to run Kiefer down. Terrified, she leaped onto the hood and saw Izaguirre and the driver laughing.
The driver slammed on the brakes, sending Kiefer flying onto the pavement and fracturing her skull.
The program, Back on Track, became a centerpiece of Harris’ successful 2010 campaign for State Attorney General.
Until she was questioned by the Los Angeles Times about the Izaguirre case, Harris had never publicly admitted that the program included illegal aliens.
According to Harris:
- She first learned that illegal aliens were training for jobs only after Izaguirre was arrested for the Kiefer assault.
- It was “a flaw in the design” of the program to include illegal aliens.
- “I believe we fixed it,” she told the Times.
- After Izaguirre’s arrest, she never asked—or learned—how many illegal aliens were in Back on Track.
- When Harris learned that illegal aliens were enrolled, she allowed those who were following the rules to finish the program and have their criminal records expunged.
- Harris said it is not the duty of local law enforcement to enforce Federal immigration laws.
From 2005 to 2009, 113 admitted drug dealers graduated from Back on Track. Another 99 were kicked off the program for failing to meet its requirements. They were sentenced under their guilty pleas, the District Attorney’s office claimed.
Meanwhile, Amanda Kiefer left California.
Interviewed by the Times, she said she could not understand why San Francisco police and prosecutors would allow convicted illegal aliens back onto the street.
“If they’re committing crimes,” she said, “I think there’s something wrong that they’re not being deported.”
On November 30, 2017, more than two years after Steinle’s death, a San Francisco jury acquitted Sanchez of second-degree murder. He was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Sanchez claimed that he found the gun wrapped in a piece of cloth under a swivel chair at the pier. He said he picked it up and it accidentally fired, hitting Steinle in the back.
Thus, the lives of illegal aliens—even those with a criminal background—are deemed more valuable than those of law-abiding American citizens.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on November 24, 2017 at 1:40 am
Alone among major world powers, the United States feels it must apologize for the right to control its own borders.
A flagrant example of this occurred in May, 2010.
First Lady Michelle Obama—accompanied by Margarita Zavala, the wife of then-Mexican President Felipe Calderón—visited a second-grade class in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Michelle Obama (right) talks with students
During a question-and-answer session, a Hispanic girl said to the First Lady: “My mom said, I think, she says that Barack Obama’s taking everybody away that doesn’t has papers.”
Michelle Obama replied, “Yeah, well, that’s something we have to work on, right, to make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right?”
To which the girl replied, “But my mom doesn’t have [papers].”
“Well, we have to work on that,” said Obama. “We have to fix that. Everybody’s got to work together on that in Congress to make sure that happens.”
But many Americans believe the United States has no right to control its own borders. Among these is Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change.
“The truth is that more mothers and fathers were deported in Obama’s first year as president than were deported in the last year under Bush.
“Mr. Obama, who so eloquently spoke of the pain and anguish caused by tearing families apart as a candidate, as president has only ramped up that pain and anguish,” said Bhargava.
Michelle Obama’s husband, Barack, was then the nation’s chief law enforcement officer—the President of the United States.
Yet on the day following the girl’s public admission, Obama’s Department of Homeland Security announced that its immigration agents would not be pursuing the family:
“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is a federal law enforcement a gency that focuses on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities.
“Our investigations are based on solid law enforcement work and not classroom Q and As.”
This was echoed by Brian Edwards, chief of staff for the Montgomery County public schools:
“The girl is in school and we’re doing everything we can to keep her safe.”
So the fact that this girl admitted that her mother was in violation of American immigration laws counted for nothing.
The estimated number of illegal aliens within the United States ranges between seven and 20 million or more.
Among other equally disturbing statistics:
- Between 1992 and 2012, the number of offenders sentenced in federal courts more than doubled, driven largely by a 28-fold increase in the number of unlawful reentry convictions.
- As unlawful reentry convictions increased, the demographics of sentenced offenders changed.
- In 1992, Latinos made up 23% of sentenced offenders; by 2012, they made up 48%.
- The share of offenders who did not hold U.S. citizenship increased over the same period—from 22% to 46%.
Now, contrast this with the way Mexico insists on controlling its own borders.
Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:
- In the country legally;
- Have the means to sustain themselves economically;
- Not destined to be burdens on society;
- Of economic and social benefit to society;
- Of good character and have no criminal records; and
- Contribute to the general well-being of the nation.
The law also ensures that:
- Immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;
- Foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;
- Foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal politics;
- Foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported;
- Foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or deported;
- Those who aid in illegal immigration are sent to prison.
Mexico uses its American border to rid itself of those who might otherwise demand major reforms in the country’s political and economic institutions.
The Mexican Government still remembers the bloody upheaval known as the Mexican Revolution. This lasted ten years (1910-1920) and wiped out an estimated one to two million men, women and children.
Massacres were common on all sides, with men shot by the hundreds in bullrings or hung by the dozen on trees.

A Mexican Revolution firing squad
All of the major leaders of the Revolution—Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, Venustiano Carranza, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Alvaro Obregon—died in a hail of bullets.

Francisco “Pancho” Villa

Emiliano Zapata
As a result, every successive Mexican Government has lived in the shadow of another such wholesale bloodletting. These officials have thus quietly decided to turn the United States border into a safety valve.
If potential revolutionaries leave Mexico to find a better life in the United States, the Government doesn’t have to fear the rise of another “Pancho” Villa.
If somehow the United States managed to seal its southern border, all those teeming millions of “undocumented workers” who just happened to lack any documents would have to stay in “Mexico lindo.”
They would be forced to live with the rampant corruption and poverty that have forever characterized this failed nation-state. Or they would have to demand substantial reforms.
There is no guarantee that such demands would not lead to a second—and equally bloody—Mexican revolution.
So successive Mexican governments find it easier—and safer—to turn the United States into a dumping ground for the Mexican citizens that the Mexican Government itself doesn’t want.
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In Business, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary on November 23, 2017 at 11:09 am
On April 19, 2016, in a blog post, Target announced that its customers could use any bathroom or fitting room that matched the gender they thought they belonged to.
“We welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity,” read the official Target statement.
“Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”

Target corporate headquarters
Target posted its new policy in response to North Carolina’s HB2 law requiring men to use bathrooms marked “MEN” and women to use bathrooms marked “WOMEN”.
This was clearly a Politically Correct sop to the “transgender” community.
To drive home this point, Target converted half of its famous red bull’s-eye logo into a gay-pride rainbow.
The announcement won Target much praise on social media. On Target’s Facebook page, the following posts appeared:
“I want to tell you that I will forever be a Target shopper.”
“You have, again, shown that your stores are inclusive and meant to be a safe haven, and I intend to repay your loyalty with my own.”
But others were enraged, and made no effort to hide it.
“Shame on Target,” read one post. “Restrooms have placards depicting gender on them for a reason. I will not step foot in another Target.”
Since its 2016 announcement, more than 1.2 million people have signed a pledge to boycott the store owing to its transgender policy.
The protesters’ goal: Force Target to reverse its policy—or, failing that, to hit the retailer in its pocketbook by persuading customers to shop elsewhere.
So far, Target CEO Brian Cornell has refused to budge: “We took a stance and we are going to continue to embrace our belief of diversity and inclusion,” he said on CNBC.
Critics have held protests at Target stores across the country—and show no signs of ending.
Many are demanding access to bathrooms of the opposite sex to prove that “perverts” can now prey on women and children as a result of the policy.
One male protester entered a Target store and asked an employee if he could use the women’s bathroom because that’s where he felt comfortable. The employee gave him permission and said that if any women complained, “they can come and we will speak to that.”
Eighty million Americans shopped at Target’s stores every month before the bathroom policy change.
“The boycott is not going to last very long,” predicted Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business in New York: “There is a big difference between signing a petition compared to not taking advantage of a big sale at Target. People will always take advantage of the sale.”
The boycott has cost Target millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the revised bathroom policy announcement.
Target has been forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to appease critics of the policy-change.
In 2016, sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the announcement—compared with the same period in 2015. Same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post.
Yet Target continues to stick to its revised bathroom-use policy.
Right-wingers have loudly claimed that Target’s bathroom policy puts women in danger. But they have refused to condemn their own leader—Donald Trump—for entering “women’s only” locker rooms.

Donald Trump
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in 2005, Trump described going backstage at the beauty pageants while the contestants were undressed.
“Before a show, I’ll go backstage and everyone’s getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it. You know, I’m inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good.
“You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody okay?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.”
According to a BuzzFeed story, Trump did just that in 1997 with former Miss Teen USA contestants. Four contestants—including one who was 15—said that Trump walked into the dressing area while they were changing.
One of them called it “shocking” and “creepy” and said she rushed to cover herself. Another recalled that the contestants were “just scrambling to grab stuff… whatever garments they had.”
And when insults, threats and boycotts fail to gain the results they desire, Right-wingers can always be counted on to resort to violence.
Anita Staver, president of the Orlando-based Liberty Council, a theocratic law group, says she will be taking her gun inside the restrooms at Target stores from now on.
On April 22, 2016, she posted on Twitter: “I’m taking a Glock .45 to the ladies room. It identifies as my bodyguard.” #BoycottTarget @Target

Those opposed to Target’s bathroom policy aren’t going to change their minds—no matter how Neanderthal this appears to Target’s management.
Eventually, the retailer will be forced to choose between placating the “needs” of a minority most Americans regard as perverted freaks—and its own bottom line.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Military, Politics, Social commentary on November 17, 2017 at 12:07 am
The 1960 Kirk Douglas epic, Spartacus, may soon prove to be more than great entertainment. It may also turn out to be a prophecy of the end of the American Republic.
In the movie, Spartacus (Douglas), a Roman slave, entertains Marcus Crassus (Laurence Oliver) the richest man in Rome. He does so by fighting to the death as a gladiator.

Poster for Spartacus
While Spartacus and his fellow gladiator/friend, Draba, slash and stab at each other in the arena, Crassus idly chats with his crony, Marcus Glabrus.
Crassus has just secured Glabrus’ appointment as commander of the garrison of Rome. Glabrus is grateful, but curious as to how he did it.
After all, Gaius Gracchus, the leader of the Roman Senate, hates Crassus, and stands ever ready to oppose his every move.
“I fought fire with oil,” says Crassus. “I purchased the Senate behind his back.”
Draba defeats Spartacus in their gladiatorial bout, but refuses to kill him. Instead, he throws his spear at Crassus—and is immediately slaughtered by Roman guards.
Soon afterward, Spartacus leads 70 other gladiators against their Roman masters, forms an army of freed slaves, and marches against Rome.
Just as Crassus bought the Roman Senate in Spartacus, billionaires similarly bought the 2016 Presidential election.
In 2016, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, ran as the pet candidate of casino billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson. Since 2007, Adelson had spent millions in support of Gingrich and his causes.

Newt Gingrich
Adelson put up seed money and, ultimately, $7.7 million between 2006 and 2010 for a nonprofit group that served as a precursor to Gingrich’s presidential campaign.

Sheldon Adelson
Such a contribution is no small amount to the average American. But Adelson is listed by Forbes as the eighth-wealthiest American, with a net worth of $21.5 billion.
Naturally, Adelson denied he had any selfish motives for shelling out so much money to a candidate for the most powerful office in the world:
“My motivation for helping Newt is simple and should not be mistaken for anything other than the fact that my wife Miriam and I hold our friendship with him very dear and are doing what we can as private citizens to support his candidacy.”
Unfortunately, Gingrich was not the only candidate of the rich, by the rich and for the rich seeking the Presidency.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney relied heavily on a small group of millionaires and billionaires for support.
By February, 2012, a quarter of the money amassed by Romney’s campaign came from just 41 people. Each contributor gave more than $100,000, according to a Washington Post analysis of disclosure data. Nearly a dozen of the donors had contributed $1 million or more.

Some of Romney’s biggest supporters included executives at Bain Capital, his former firm; bankers at Goldman Sachs; and a hedge fund mogul who made billions betting on the housing crash.
Like Adelson, Bain has directly profited from the losses of others.
Fast forward to 2016:
In early May, Adelson met privately with Republican Presidential nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump. Nevertheless, at least this much has leaked:
Adelson promised to contribute more to secure Trump’s election than he had contributed to any previous campaign—up to and exceeding $100 million.
Meanwhile, Trump bragged that he was “not beholden” to any “special interests” because “I’m really rich.” This myth proved a main reason for his popularity as a candidate.

Donald Trump
All of this can be directly traced to the 2010 “Citizens United” decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ended limits in corporate contributions to political campaigns. The decision is so named for the group that successfully sued over federal campaign finance laws.
The 5-4 decision led to the rise of Super PACs—outside groups affiliated with candidates that can take in unlimited contributions as long as they don’t directly coordinate with the candidate. The overwhelming majority of this money goes for negative ads—that slander opponents without saying anything about what a candidate proposes to do.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia brushed aside criticism of the corrupting role money played in politics: Change the channel or turn off the TV.
“I don’t care who is doing the speech—the more the merrier,” Scalia said. “People are not stupid. If they don’t like it, they’ll shut it off.”
On the contrary: A fundamental principle of propaganda holds that most people are stupid—or can be made to behave stupidly. If they are ceaselessly bombarded with mind-numbing lies, they will eventually substitute these for reality.
In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler laid out his formula for successful propaganda: “All effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials.
“These must be expressed as far as possible in stereotypical formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward.”
During the early 1960s a series of movies about the Roman Empire—like Spartacus and Cleopatra—hit the big screen. In these, rich criminals like Marcus Crassus openly bought the favors of ambitious politicians like Julius Caesar.
No doubt millions of moviegoers thought, “Boy, I’m glad that couldn’t happen here.”
But it has happened here—and it’s happening right now.
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In History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on November 8, 2017 at 12:08 am
On October 30, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller unveiled a pre-Halloween trick for President Donald Trump.
He unsealed indictments against Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, and his business partner Rick Gates.
And George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his dealings with foreign officials close to the Russian government.
The charges:
- Conspiracy against the United States
- Conspiracy to launder money
- Unregistered agent of a foreign principal
- False and misleading Foreign Agent Registration Act statements
- False statements, and
- Seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
These are the first indictments in Mueller’s probe of collusion between Russian Intelligence agents and members of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign.
They directly link a Trump campaign associate to such collusion. They make hash of Trump’s claims that he is the victim of a “witch hunt.” And they make it politically hazardous for Trump to fire the special prosecutor.
For those who are not ardent Trump supporters, it’s definitely Mueller time.

* * * * *
THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION
(To be sung to the tune of “The Rainbow Connection”)
Why are there so many
Tales about Russians
And Right-wingers taking bribes?
Russians are Commies
And have lots of rubles
For traitors with something to hide.
So I’ve been told
And some choose to believe it.
It’s clear as the old KGB.
Someday we’ll find it
The Russian Connection–
The bribers, the traitors–you’ll see.
Abraham Lincoln is watching and asking:
“How much more slime must there be?”
What’s so amazing is we just sit gazing
While traitors destroy liberty.
Someday we’ll find it
The Russian Connection–
The bribers, the traitors–you’ll see.
All of them under its spell
We know that it’s probably treason.
Why are we waiting
To throw out the traitors?
Let’s send them all straight to Hell.
Is this the money
That calls forth the traitors?
Their defenders are called G-O-P.
I’ve heard it too many times
To ignore it.
We are supposed to be free.
Someday we’ll find it
The Russian Connection–
The bribers, the traitors–you’ll see.
* * * * *
DONALD TRUMP: CRIMINAL
(To be sung to the tune of “Physical”)
I’m telling all the lies that my base will like
Making good Tweet sensation.
I gotta handle treason right–
You know what I mean.
I called the Russian KGB late at night
Said, “Come on in soon and see me.
I’ve got some secret stuff to share
That only Vlad can see.
“Let’s get criminal, criminal.
I wanna get criminal.
Let’s get into criminal.
Let me have that Russian gold, that Russian gold.
Let me have that Russian gold.
“Let’s get criminal, criminal.
I wanna get criminal.
Let’s get into criminal.
Let me have that Russian gold, that Russian gold!
Let me have that Russian gold!”
I’ve been evil, I’ve been bad
I’ve tried to keep Jim Comey at bay.
And now the FBI is after me
They’ll get me any day.
I’m sure they understand that I’m a crook
My whole life’s been one big crime-spree.
Committing treason is my latest thrill–
For rubles–yessirree!
Let’s get criminal, criminal
I wanna get criminal
Let’s get into criminal
Let me have that Russian gold, that Russian gold!
Let me have that Russian gold!
Let’s get criminal, criminal.
I wanna get criminal.
Let’s get into criminal.
Let me have that Russian gold!
Let me have that Russian gold!
* * * * *

TRUMPY TRAITOR
(To be sung to the tune, “Rockin’ Robin”)
He Tweets in the White House all the day long
Screamin’ and a-schemin’ and a-doin’ what’s wrong.
All the Special Agents in the FBI
Hope he goes to prison in the bye-and-bye.
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Go Trumpy Traitor
‘Cause they’re gonna bust your ass tonight
Every act of treason, every act of crime—
America has never seen a bigger slime.
Bob Mueller’s ready, the cops are closin’ in
To put a grand finale to your reign of sin.
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Go Trumpy Traitor
‘Cause they’re gonna bust your ass tonight.
Eric’s getting ready for his next big steal
While Daddy hugs Ivanka—who lets out a squeal.
Don Junior’s got the Russians coming once again—
It’s party-time for traitors and their lives of sin.
He Tweets in the White House all the day long
Screamin’ and a-schemin’ and a-doin’ what’s wrong.
Handing out secrets to the KGB
The biggest Right-wing traitor that you’ll ever see.
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Go Trumpy Traitor
‘Cause they’re gonna bust your ass tonight.
Well, Eric’s getting ready for his next big steal
While Daddy hugs Ivanka—who lets out a squeal.
Don Junior’s got the Russians coming once again—
It’s party-time for traitors and their lives of sin.
He Tweets in the White House all the day long
Screamin’ and a-schemin’ and a-doin’ what’s wrong.
Handing out secrets to the KGB
The biggest Right-wing traitor that you’ll ever see.
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Trumpy Traitor (tweet tweet)
Go Trumpy Traitor
‘Cause they’re gonna bust your ass tonight.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on November 6, 2017 at 12:33 am
On August 7, Hal Gordon (not his real name) a San Francisco resident, double-parked his Toyota Sienna in front of an apartment building, hoping for a parking space to open.
As he sat behind the wheel, a man came up to the driver’s window and started berating him for using his emergency brake lights. The next thing Gordon knew, the stranger was throwing punches at him through the window.
After a passenger in Gordon’s car stepped out of the vehicle, the attacker got back into his own car—a green Jeep—parked behind Gordon’s.
Then—wham!—the Jeep plowed into the back of Gordon’s Toyota Sienna. Luckily for Gordon and his passenger, both were wearing seat belts.
The Jeep then took off, with Gordon giving chase. About a block later, both cars stopped at a red light.
That was when Gordon took out his cell phone, turned on its camera, and took a photo of the license plate of the road-raging Jeep.
And that was when the Jeep suddenly backed up—right into the front of Gordon’s car. Then the Jeep sped off.
Gordon decided to file a police report. So he and his passenger then drove to Central Station of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).

At the front desk, they were each given an incident report page to fill out. They agreed on the appearance of the attacker: A white male, 50-60 years old, about 5’6″ tall, with gray, bushy hair.
And both driver and passenger gave separate interviews to the uniformed desk officer.
A subsequent record check on the license plate revealed that the Jeep was registered to a female resident of San Francisco, whose address was given.
That was on August 7.
Almost three months have since passed–and neither Gordon nor his passenger has been contacted by the SFPD. Nor, to their knowledge, has an arrest been made of the road-raging assailant.
For anyone familiar with the workings of this agency, none of this will come as a surprise.
In 2002, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a series on the need for major reforms within the SFPD. Among its findings:
- Violent criminals who preyed on San Francisco’s residents and visitors had a better chance of getting away with their crimes than predators in any other large American city.
- A victim who was shot, treated at a hospital and then released was not guaranteed an investigation—unless he could name his assailant.
- Inspectors often investigated cases from their desks—by phone—rather than leave their offices to interview victims and find evidence.
- Due to budget cuts, violent crime inspectors lacked such basic investigative tools as portable radios, cell phones and even cars.
- No formal performance standards existed in the Inspectors Bureau. Inspectors were required to provide a monthly account of their activities, but were not evaluated on performance.
- Police needed only to make an arrest to claim a crime as solved or cleared, without regard for what happened in court.
- Police also could list a crime as solved for “exceptional” reasons. These included: The suspect was dead or in jail elsewhere, extradition was denied or the victim wouldn’t cooperate.
Most citizens would expect the top priority of the SFPD to be protecting citizens from crime. But in Politically Correct San Francisco, the SFPD Police Commission makes protecting the “rights” of illegal aliens its most important goal.
San Francisco is one of 31 “sanctuary cities” in this country: Washington, D.C.; New York City; Los Angeles; Chicago; Santa Ana; San Diego; Salt Lake City; Phoenix; Dallas; Houston; Austin; Detroit; Jersey City; Minneapolis; Miami; Denver; Baltimore; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; New Haven, Connecticut; and Portland, Maine.
These cities have adopted “sanctuary” ordinances that forbid municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws, usually by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about a suspect’s immigration status.
Anyone who believes that Political Correctness isn’t a killer need only ask the family of Kathryn Steinle.
Kathryn Steinle
Steinle was gunned down on July 2, 2015, while out for an evening stroll with her father along the San Francisco waterfront.
Steinle, 32, had worked for a medical technology company.
And her charged killer?
Francisco Sanchez, 45, has a history of seven felony convictions. He’s been deported to his native Mexico five times, most recently in 2009.

Francisco Sanchez
On March 26, agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) turned Sanchez over to San Francisco police on an outstanding warrant.
On March 27, a San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed charges of possession and distribution of marijuana against Sanchez.
Sanchez was released on April 15.
ICE had issued a detainer for Sanchez in March, requesting to be notified if he would be released. But the detainer was not honored.
So Sanchez was released on April 15–-without anyone notifying ICE.
Seventy-eight days later, illegal alien Francisco Sanchez crossed paths with American citizen Kathryn Steinle-–and killed her.
Robert F. Kennedy, during his three-year tenure as Attorney General, said it best: “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.”
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In Bureaucracy, Entertainment, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on November 3, 2017 at 12:13 am
Islamics are quick to assert that they, too, are Americans. But getting Islamics to point out the terrorists within their ranks is an entirely different matter.
According to author Ronald Kessler, this has caused serious problems for the FBI. In his 2011 book, The Secrets of the FBI, Kessler notes the refusal of the Islamic community to identify known or potential terrorists within its ranks.

Says Arthur M. Cummings, the Bureau’s executive assistant director for national security: “I had this discussion with the director of a very prominent Muslim organization here in [Washington] D.C. And he said, ‘Why are you guys always looking at the Muslim community?’”
“I can name the homegrown cells, all of whom are Muslim, all of whom were seeking to kill Americans,” replied Cummings. “It’s not the Irish, it’s not the French, it’s not the Catholics, it’s not the Protestants. It’s the Muslims.”
Occasionally, Muslims will condemn Al Qaeda. But “rarely do we have them coming to us and saying, ‘There are three guys in the community that we’re very concerned about.’” said Cummings.
“They don’t want anyone to know they have extremists in their community. Well, beautiful. Except do you read the newspapers? Everybody already knows it. The horse has left the barn.
“So there’s a lot of talk about engagement. But, realistically, we’ve got a long, long way to go.”
At one community meeting, an Islamic leader suggested to Cummings that then-FBI director Robert Meuller III should pose for a picture with his group’s members. The reason: To show that Islamics are partners in the “war on terror.”
“When you bring to my attention real extremists who are here to plan and do something, who are here supporting terrorism,” said Cummings, “then I promise you, I will have the director stand up on the stage with you.”
“That could never happen,” replied the Islamic leader. “We would lose our constituency. We could never admit to bringing someone to the FBI.”
Cummings has no use for such Politically Correct terms as “man-caused disasters” to refer to terrorism. Nor does he shy away from terms such as “jihadists” or “Islamists.”
“Of course Islamists dominate the terrorism of today,” he says bluntly.
In May, 2014, Steven Emerson, a nationally recognized expert on terrorism, posted an ad in The New York Times, warning about the dangers of PC-imposed censorship:
“Our nation’s security and its cherished value of free speech has been endangered by the bullying campaigns of radical Islamic groups, masquerading as ‘civil rights’ organizations, to remove any reference to the Islamist motivation behind Islamic terrorist attacks.
“These groups have pressured or otherwise colluded with Hollywood, the news media, museums, book publishers, law enforcement and the Obama Administration in censoring the words ‘Islamist’, ‘Islamic terrorism’, ‘radical Islam’ and ‘jihad’ in discussing or referencing the threat and danger of Islamic terrorism.
“This is the new form of the jihadist threat we face. It’s an attack on one of our most sacred freedoms—free speech—and it endangers our very national security. How can we win the war against radical Islam if we can’t even name the enemy?”

He has a point—and a highly legitimate one.
Imagine the United States fighting World War II—and President Franklin Roosevelt banning the use of “fascist” in referring to Nazi Germany or “imperialist” in describing Imperial Japan.
Imagine CNN-like coverage of the Nazi extermination camps, with their piles of rotting corpses and smoking gas ovens, while a commentator reminds us that “Nazism is an ideology of peace.”
Then try to imagine how the United States could have won that life-and-death struggle under such unrealistic and self-defeating restrictions.
It couldn’t have done so then. And it can’t do so now.
Then consider these Islamic terrorist outrages of our own time:
- The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which snuffed out the lives of 3,000 Americans.
- The 2004 bombing of Madrid’s commuter train system.
- The attack on the London subway in 2005. The killing of 13 U.S. Army personnel at Fort Hood, Texas, by a Muslim army major in 2009.
- The bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013.
- The kidnapping of 300 Nigerian school girls by Boko Haram in 2014.
- The slaughter of 12 people at a Paris satirical magazine that had published cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed in 2015.
- The slaughter of more than 100 people in ISIS attacks across Paris in 2015.
- A series of deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, killing 31 and injuring 270 in 2016.
- The mashing of eight bicyclists and pedestrians by a truck-driving ISIS supporter in 2017.
In every one of these attacks, the perpetrators openly announced that their actions had been motivated by their Islamic beliefs.
In his groundbreaking book, The Clash of Civilizations (1996) Samuel Huntington, the late political scientist at Harvard University, noted:
“The fundamental problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilisation whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.”
The West may not be at war with Islam—as countless Western politicians repeatedly assert. But Islamics have no qualms about declaring that they are at war with the West.
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In Bureaucracy, Entertainment, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on November 2, 2017 at 12:12 am
The 2016 Boston Marathon was scheduled for April 18, 2016.
And local, State and Federal law enforcement authorities had been planning security for the event since October, 2015.
So it was only natural that these agencies wanted the public to know the Marathon would be as safe as more than 5,000 law enforcement officers could make it.

The Boston Marathon
“‘Leave the worrying to us’: Security Ramped Up for Boston Marathon,” read the headline of the April 16 issue of USA Today.
And it gave the reason for this: Three years earlier, on April 15, 2013, two bombers had wreaked havoc at the finish line of the race.
It also named the bombers—brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev—whose terrorist act killed three people and injured about 264 others.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
It further noted that Tamerlan had died in a shootout with police three days after the marathon–and police had captured Dzhohkar several hours later. (He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death.)
But the story said nothing about their citing Islam as the reason for their murderous rampage.
Click here: ‘Leave the worrying to us’: Security ramped up for Boston Marathon
The April 16 edition of The Boston Patch carried this headline: “Boston Marathon 2016: Security Changes You Can’t See All Around You.”
The article stated that most of these precautions couldn’t be revealed. Then it added that even though law enforcement officials hadn’t identified a credible threat to this year’s Boston Marathon, “recent events make the world feel less safe today than in 2013.”
But the article said nothing about those “recent events,” such as:
- In 2013, two Muslims butchered and beheaded a British soldier on a busy London street.
- In 2014, an ax-wielding Muslim slashed two New York police officers before being shot by other cops.
- In 2015, Muslims slaughtered 12 people at a Paris satirical magazine for publishing cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed.
- In 2015, more than 100 people were murdered in ISIS attacks across Paris.
- In 2016, a series of Islamic terrorist bombings in Brussels killed 31 and injured more than 300.
Nor did the story say that all of these “recent events” were carried out by followers of the Islamic religion. Or that the perpetrators openly announced that their actions had been motivated by their Islamic beliefs.
Click here: Brussels attacks add urgency to Boston Marathon security | US News
On April 6, 2016, The Boston Globe announced: “Tight Security Planned for Upcoming Boston Marathon.”
The story noted that, in drawing up their security arrangements, “authorities analyzed terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Calif., and Brussels in recent months.”
The San Bernardino attack had occurred on December 2, 2015.
The story said that Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, had slaughtered 14 people and wounded 22 at a Department of Public Health training event and birthday party.

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook
But the article did not inform readers that Farook and Malik were Muslims acting in the name of Islam.
The story quoted Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office, as saying: “San Bernardino taught us something very significant. They [the killers] were not on the radar.”
But the article omitted “something very significant”: Farook and Malik had melded perfectly into American society before their outrage.
Thus, the only factor that could have put them “on the radar” as potential terrorists was their being Muslims.
And in an America driven by Political Correctness, noting that would have been verboten.
Click here: Tight security planned for upcoming Boston Marathon – The Boston Globe
NBC News carried a story on “How the Boston Marathon is Using Security Technology.”
The story then described how police used a high-tech partner, Esri, to track, in real-time, the progress of the morning’s race.
“When you look [at] security, there’s three legs to the stool: People, process and technology,” said Arnette Heintze, CEO and co-founder of Hillard Heintze, an investigation and security risk management company.
Click here: How the Boston Marathon is Using Security Technology – NBC News
Yet for all the gushing kudos leveled at the new uses of sophisticated technology for keeping people safe, one thing was conspicuously ignored.
The opening paragraph, “Three years after a deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon….” left unnamed those had made the use of this technology necessary–Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Nor did it mention that Dzhokhar had laid out, in a note, his reason for attacking innocent men and women: “We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all.
“Well at least that’s how Muhammed wanted it to be forever. The ummah [Islamic community] is beginning to rise.
“Know you are righting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven, how how can you compete with that. We are promised victory and will surely get it.”
Click here: Text from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s note left in Watertown boat – The Boston Globe
Of all the Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates in 2016, only Donald Trump dared to say the politically un-sayable: Islam is at war with us.
And this candor—coupled with repeated Islamic atrocities—gained him both the Republican nomination and the White House.
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THE COMING WAR: ZIKA VS. REPUBLICANS
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on December 15, 2017 at 12:06 amA battle of truly cosmic proportions is about to rage.
In one corner is the dreaded Zika virus, which prevents the brain of a fetus from developing properly—and for which there is no vaccine.
And in the other corner are self-appointed Right-wing “guardians of morality” who refuse to provide abortion services—even in cases of rape and incest.
For the moment, Brazil is the epicenter of the Zika outbreak. But it is certain to expand to other nations, as the virus—carried by mosquitoes—continues to spread across the globe.
Mosquito
Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and a host of birth defects.
Another affected country is Columbia. On February 7, 2016, its president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced that 25,645 Columbians were infected with Zika—of which 3,177 were pregnant women.
Zika virus victim (left)
Zika cases have been confirmed in 73 countries and territories in the Americas.
The barest facts about this epidemic are nightmarish—especially for any woman who is pregnant.
The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued the following guidelines for protection against the virus:
But while mosquitoes are responsible for the first half of this nightmarish scenario, responsibility for the second half lies with Right-wing attitudes toward abortion.
In Columbia, abortion became legal only in 2006—and only under the following circumstances:
Prior to 2006, abortion in Columbia was illegal without exception.
Faced with the Zika epidemic, Columbia’s government has announced that pregnant women who carry the virus are eligible for abortion services.
Yet many Columbian women struggle to find abortion providers even when they meet strict legal requirements. The result: Illegal abortions are widespread.
According to the CDC, by December 6, 2017:
As the Zika toll inevitably rises within the United States, there will be increasing demands by women to obtain abortion services.
And the Republican party will increasingly strive to deny those services—as the following quotes attest:
Richard Mourdock
The most important reason why Republicans oppose abortion: There is a ready source of votes for politicians wanting to ban it.
Since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 race, all major Republican Presidential candidates have appeased this voting bloc.
But as the toll from the Zika virus continues to rise, anti-abortionists will face pressure even from within their own ranks.
Many of their own wives and daughters (and, in some cases, mistresses) carrying Zika-infected fetuses will demand the right to terminate such pregnancies.
And then the battle over abortion rights will enter an entirely new dimension.
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