As you read this, I’m flying to Chicago for Yearly Kos. I will be on two panels: Evolution & Integration of the Blogosphere Friday morning at 9:15 and Blogging While Female Saturday morning at 10:30. I’ve also RSVP’d for events involving pro-choice politics and labor issues, and plan to do small amounts of online radio and TV while there. I’ve left the rest of my schedule flexible, but what I do know is that Jesse Taylor and I are finally going to have a chance to meet in person, which beats all in terms of seeing famous candidates, etc. Pam Spaulding will be there as well, as will far more cool bloggers than I have time to list here without accidentally forgetting someone.
I’ll try to post updates regularly, but if my morning blogging is a little lean during the next few days, it’s because I’m putting together materials for my panels. I won’t be able to moderate as often, so please, if your comment doesn’t go up right away, don’t copy and paste it a bunch of times. It will come out eventually.
So, go ahead and open thread it. Or, if you want something to comment on, I recommend Jill’s post demanding that anti-choicers tell her what they think the punishment for abortion should be and her follow-up post about the crickets she got in response.
Why don’t anti-choicers want to get down to brass tacks and spell out the punishments for women who have abortions? A variety of reasons. Some haven’t stopped to consider that banning abortion doesn’t mean the end of abortion. Some think women who have abortions or use contraception are mental children being pushed around and that if they were in their right mind, they’d realize they don’t really like sex and would only do it to procreate. But mostly the unwillingness to advocate penalties is a P.R. move, as Sophist says.
Avoiding actually laying out a potential punishment like this is a calculated ploy to keep people from thinking about the issue in anything but emotional terms. It’s easy to say “abortion should be illegal”, but when you start naming specific punishments suddenly you’re talking about doing specific things to specific people. Daughters. Sisters. Wives. It’s a lot more real.
25 Responses to “Going to Yearly Kos….”
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God, I wish I could tolerate the Kos. The comments section especially is so…typical. Good luck.
I checked out the Feministe post. I’m not really fond of this “What punishment then?” angle. We have to reframe the issue to focus on the basic human rights of the women and girls involved. If push comes to shove, you better believe anti-choice activists will charge women and girls with murder. I remember a case about a Nicaraguan woman who needed to abort her child or else she would die and they let the woman (or “walking womb”) die. Never think it can’t happen here. My God, we live in a country that glorifies serial killers who just so happen to universally target women and girls for brutal torture and death (Hate crimes, anyone?).
Have a great time. I can’t make it of course, being in the UK and being up at the edinburgh festival (yeah!). I have put together a greatest hits post. Also the latest carnival of the feminists in case anybody missed it!
Do the new posting rules only allow one link per post? Well ok - I was just saying I can’t make the kos, being in the UK and currently up at the Edinburgh festival. Those left behind however could come over and play at the latest carnival of the feminists!
Oh and the other link I was going to offer was to a greatest hits post I put together recently.
What? Kos? Don’t you know that’s a hate site! You’re a hater! You’re Amanda Hatey McHater! Boo! Hiss!
And if you are flying Jet Blue then you will need these helpful instructions!
I should go to yKos this year. It will likely never be closer. I planned on it until my wife got reassigned and I had to take that week of vacation in order to move. (@#&^!*^!)
the whole “what should the punishment be” question can backfire. my (almost 26 year old) cousin wants women to be held for first degree murder, with all the attendant penalties. when he said that i was just like “huh, wasn’t expecting *that* answer.”
HOW ARE THE TWIN CITIES PANDAGONIANS DOING?
I hope y’all are well, that you don’t know anyone involved in the collapse.
I got out of the Simpsons movie last night, and called my dad to yell about McHale trading KG to the Celtics, and he told me about the collapse. All my people are safe, but even here in Boston, it’s been dominating the news, and I’m feeling in a bit of shock–that’s my home and it’s hurting.
Be well everyone.
Jeff - the civil engineers here in the firm are going apeshit today. A lot of references to ASCE report from two years ago and discussion about how many of the bridges in Iowa, particularly the east and west borders over the rivers, are not in much better shape. Kansas City and St. Louis, which see similar traffic over their Interstate bridges during commute hours are in a panic.
Love to your people - many, many of them are lucky to be alive today and I think they and the town know it.
Surely the blogosphere was the product of intelligent design . . .
STrib Columnist Nick Coleman smashes it today, WRT the bridge collapse:
Please remember, people that since Guvvmint is BAD! then, naturally, stealing money from people to keep the bridge maintained and safe is also Bad.
Really, I’m surprised at you all. Isn’t it obvious?
the whole “what should the punishment be” question can backfire. my (almost 26 year old) cousin wants women to be held for first degree murder, with all the attendant penalties. when he said that i was just like “huh, wasn’t expecting *that* answer.”
i’d be obnoxious by getting him to say it on film and then distributing it far and wide. just because you can get an anti-choicer to say they want to punish women with jail time doesn’t mean the question has backfired. the point of the exercise is not merely to put that person on the spot. it’s about putting all anti-choicers on the spot by forcing them to confront this extremist position.
the hard part about dealing with anti-choicers is getting them off the ‘Oh the poor BABYEZZZZ!@!!@!’ crap (which is a sympathetic stance) and getting them to cop to their real agenda — punishing and controlling female sexuality.
It’s similar to people who say we need to stop pussyfooting around and be more brutal in Iraq. They never say what that means exactly - child rape squads? Asking the followup moves it from purely emotional bluster to something real.
Blogging while female. What’s that like? Less ball scratching?
I’ll be at YearlyKos in Second Life - the virtual world with virtual parties! Lots of fun; they’ve put up a huge and beautiful venue there.
Sbasi Caldera in SL
Wait, wait, wait. MAJeff, is it your fault that KG went to Boston instead of my beloved Warriors (as had been rumored)? Did he move to follow the biscuits?
On a serious note, glad your family is ok.
BizarroSuperman, I imagine the “blogging while female” is a response to things like the shameful treatment of Kathy Sierra.
Knock ‘em dead Amanda.
Just watched Bill O’R practically FROTHING, as he attacked Chris Dodd for attending YK- the man is a raging lunatic! All because of some idiotic photo… How afraid he and his ilk are of people communicating openly and exchanging thoughts and ideas. When the “MEDIA” is scared of people talking, we are in a very bad place indeed.
Bridges and tunnels terrify me- they are necessary, but I still hate them. I can’t imagine what the families are enduring right now- how hellish this must be.
Listen up, abortion harlots and your accomplices. The Priests for endless supply of altar boys to diddle Life have compiled a list sample LTTEs to put the smackdown on your prevarications about anti-abortion laws.
http://www.priestsforlife.org/lte/lte26.html
According to them, it is YOU who are calling for the jail sentences! Yes, you. Pro-choice legislators are inserting jail sentences on perfectly reasonable laws that merely aim to guide your whorish self gently toward accepting your godly ordained incubator role. Or you can die or be maimed by a back alley.
But I digress. The point is that people who want you to have reproductive freedom want you to go to jail to prove that you should have reproductive freedom. Or something. Anyway, despite the fact that the lttes offer no documented instances of an actual pro-choice legislator calling for jail sentences - maybe because they’re usually too busy trying to get the entire laws defeated - it must be true because “some pro-choicers” will ask what the penalties should be.
You got that? Well good because I have a strong feeling that it will be an oft-repeated talking point fairly soon.
I did the cross out thingy on endless supply of altar boys to diddle but I had to refress the page and it didn’t come across in the cut-n-paste. Curses! It looked really good the first time.
the whole “what should the punishment be” question can backfire. my (almost 26 year old) cousin wants women to be held for first degree murder, with all the attendant penalties. when he said that i was just like “huh, wasn’t expecting *that* answer.”
That’s not backfire. That’s exactly what had to be expected. It’s just not something one would want to hear from a loved one.
Penalties should be talked about to actually call the bluff on part of GOP. Do they support the death penalty for the mother, the boyfriend involved, husband, doctor. Also what about testing all women who leave the country to make sure they don’t commit murder while in Mexico or South America.
[According to them, it is YOU who are calling for the jail sentences!]
Damn, and here I was thinking it was a “put up or SHUT UP” ploy… glad those priests could tear themselves away from da boyz and clarify! What would we do without ‘em.