Republicans Are Ridiculous on FISA Spying-on-Trump Posturing

Amid concerns about President* Trump's ongoing threat to fundamental rights, as noted by Emma Kohse at Lawfare, the U.S. Senate "voted 65 to 34 to extend FISA Section 702, [communications surveillance], authorities for six years on Thursday, one day before the temporary authorization was set to expire. The House passed the reauthorization measure on Jan. 11," signed by Trump this afternoon.

The bill is S.139, FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 — 115th Congress (2017-2018).

What's seems improbable is how quickly congressional members voice grave concern about rights and then vote for FISA, (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), anyway.

Notes Glenn Greenwald:

Amazing this bill to increase spying powers and block safeguards was passed by 1) Republicans who have spent a year warning of the corruption of the Deep State and 2) Dems who spent the year saying that officials who get this power - Trump and Sessions - are racist tyrants and traitors https://t.co/0dAXgtrvgg

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 19, 2018

Whatever the merits of the FISA, Trump, Republicans, and most Democrats in Congress do offer credible concerns.

Linked are Senate Roll Call Vote on FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017.

Meanwhile, Republicans continued ridiculous posturing today that Trump is a victim of surveillance by the Deep State and the Republican-led House has the intelligence memo to prove this, though Republicans refuse to make public their secret memo.

Such posturing earlier prompted Greenwald to ridicule:

This makes no sense for multiple reasons: 1) your dod could declassify the docs, which he should do if they really show pervasive criminality & spying abuses; 2) it's not "stooping" to reveal high-level crimes; it's a duty; 3) refusal to release this suggests it's all bullshit. https://t.co/c1mhXVHPwu

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 19, 2018

Walker, GOP's Anti-Choice Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Party legislators fooled many Wisconsin citizens with their 2013 Act 37 to stop a woman's choice to an abortion, but the federal judges in the Seventh Circuit ridiculed the anti-abortion intent and effect of the law from its inception, and ruled it unconstitutional.

Yesterday, a three-judge panel upheld U.S. District Judge's William Conley's 2013 opinion concluding the GOP-imposed law is "motivated by an improper purpose, namely to restrict the availability of abortion services in Wisconsin," (Bice, Spivak, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

The case is Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin et al v. Attorney General Brad Schimel (N0 15-1736). Orals were heard October 1, 2015.

Schimel is a Republican who performs political work in the legal arena for the Scott Walker administration.

Writes Judge Richard Posner for the three-judge panel (with rightwing Judge Daniel Manion dissenting):

There are those who would criminalize all abortions, thus terminating the constitutional right asserted in Roe and Casey and a multitude of other decisions. And there are those who would criminalize all abortions except ones that terminate a pregnancy caused by rape or are necessary to protect the life or (in some versions) the health of the pregnant woman. But what makes no sense is to abridge the constitutional right to an abortion on the basis of spurious contentions regarding women’s health—and the abridgment challenged in this case would actually endanger women’s health. It would do that by reducing the number of abortion doctors in Wisconsin, thereby increasing the waiting time for obtaining an abortion, and that increase would in turn compel some women to defer abortion to the second trimester of their pregnancy—which the studies we cited earlier find to be riskier than a first-trimester abortion. For abortions performed in the first trimester the rate of major complications is 0.05-0.06 percent (that is, between five one-hundredths of 1 percent and six one-hundredths of 1 percent. It is 1.3 percent for second-trimester abortions between 22 and 26 times higher. [p.23]

Notes Posner on Republican end-around and disingenuous legislative initiatives to halt the Constitutionally protected women's' choice to choose to have an abortion:

A great many Americans, including a number of judges, legislators, governors, and civil servants, are passionately opposed to abortion—as they are entitled to be. But persons who have a sophisticated understanding of the law and of the Supreme Court know that convincing the Court to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey is a steep uphill fight, and so some of them proceed indirectly, seeking to discourage abortions by making it more difficult for women to obtain them. They may do this in the name of protecting the health of women who have abortions, yet as in this case the specific measures they support may do little or nothing for health, but rather strew impediments to abortion. [pp 24.25]

Concluded Posner: "[I]t is apparent that the defendants have failed to make a dent in the district court's opinion granting the permanent injunction sought by the plaintiffs." [pp 28, 29]

Roe, (upheld in Planned Parenthood of Se. Penn. v. Casey (1992)), is a landmark case acknowledging the personal, "fundamental" right to liberty and privacy (against state action) individual women retain in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Scott Walker, GOP Deny Their Anti-choice Views in Court, Public Statements

The effect, "purpose" and "intent" of Scott Walker's TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) law is to shut down access to abortion in Wisconsin.

Judges Richard Posner and David Hamilton note these facts in a hearing yesterday at the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, (hear the audio), and are dismissive of Walker, Attorney General Brad Schimel (R) (who sat in the audience) and the Republican Party of Wisconsin's pretensions to the contrary.

The case is (15-1736) Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin v. Brad D. Schimel, heard October 1, 2015.

Wisconsin Act 37 (2013) is designed to stop abortions, a law in the words of Judge Posner that represents a "clear flaunting of Roe v. Wade."

Roe, (upheld in Planned Parenthood of Se. Penn. v. Casey (1992)), is a landmark case acknowledging the personal, "fundamental" right to liberty and privacy (against state action) individual women retain in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Walker and the extremist Republican Party—which enacted this law with unanimous GOP support and against unanimous Democratic Party opposition—know most Americans want individual women to make the choice to bear a child, and not Republican-led state governments.

So Walker and Republicans pretend to the position abortion should be left between a woman and her doctor, while enacting laws such as Wisconsin Act 37 crafted to stop abortion.

Judge Posner actually cited Walker's public statements in the hearing, noting Walker's public stances against abortion in all cases, even in cases to save the life of a mother, speaking to the intent of the law (Marley, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

Walker through his spokeswoman denied his own anti-choice view:

Spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said Posner was wrong about Walker's views.

'The appropriate role of a judge is to make decisions based on the rule of law, rather than to insert inflammatory political commentary,' she said in an email. (Marley, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

A 2013 restraining order against the Republican-enacted law remains in effect. And Roe and Casey remain the law of the land, protecting women again undue burdens such as Walker's TRAP law heard at the hearing.

Meanwhile Republicans across the nation, including all major Republican candidates for the presidency continue their stance the state and not women should make the decision on whether women bear children.

Misogynistic Republican Anti-choice Stand Needs More Light

Replace legitimate rape with legitimate health and legitimate life concerns and the new Republican Party position on women's choice comes to life: Complete ban of all abortion, and avoid talk about what a woman wants to do with her body

Republican presidential aspirants struggled to condemn rape to the chagrin of decent Americans and GOP political strategists one election ago.

Little has changed.

"This is actually pretty simple. If you’re about to talk about rape as anything other than a brutal and horrible crime, stop," said Republican strategist Kevin Madden in 2013, as a former senior adviser in Mitt Romney’s campaign. (Haberkorn, Politico)

Today, evangelicals and Republicans' perverse misogyny has GOP presidential candidates avoiding "legitimate rape" comments (ala Todd Akin), instead casting incredulity about the health, life (and implicitly the will) of women contemplating what to do with their bodies.

This comes as Republicans close Planned Parenthood clinics, tried to defund all clinics or shut down the U.S. government, force ultrasounds and "waiting periods" onto women to "provide information" for women among other "cool thing(s) out there," as Scott Walker put it in his Todd Akin moment earlier this year. (Mal Contends)

Scott Walker — and all GOP presidential candidates — now pretend to attainment in medical science and bio-medical ethics as exemplified by Walker declaring there are no circumstances in which the life of a woman is threatened by bringing pregnancies to full term, no matter what women and their doctors say and want.

Must be frustrating for Scott Walker and Republicans because women are not listening to the information Walker and Republican governors "provide" for women.

At the Fox News debate, Megyn Kelly, asked Walker, "Would you really let a mother die rather than have an abortion? And with 83 percent of the American public in favor of a life exception, are you too out of the mainstream on this issue to win the general election?"

Walker responded: "Well, I'm pro-life, I've always been pro-life, and I've got a position that I think is consistent with many Americans out there. I believe that that is an unborn child that's in need of protection out there, and I've said many a time that that unborn child can be protected, and there are many other alternatives that can also protect the life of that mother. That's been consistently proven." (Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Walker likes to make things up as he goes along, and has an odd incapacity to think on his feet, especially when explaining his commitment to an abortion ban, including cases of rape, incest, health, life and of course the will of a woman.

Walker's spokesperson didn't help matters.

Writes the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Spicuzza:

When asked what better medical options are available — and whether Walker believes there are no instances in which a family and doctors have to choose between the life of the pregnant woman and the life of her fetus — his campaign spokeswoman AshLee Strong repeated late Friday (August 7) that he is '100% pro-life.'

'He acknowledges what science says, and that is that an unborn child is that — a child, and deserving of protection,' Strong said.

Replace legitimate rape with legitimate health and legitimate life concerns and you have the new Republican Party position on women's choice, with appeals to "science," the "false choice" and misunderstanding women have when they believe their health, life and will require an abortion, ... or even access to birth control.

The up side is the 18-point gender gap of women against Mitt Romney in 2012 will likely grow in 2016 with the spreading radicalism of the Republican Party. (Bassett, Huffington Post)

The GOP solution is actually pretty simple. If Republicans enact laws or talk about laws threatening women's health, lives and will as anything other than a brutal and horrible assault against the humanity of women, stop.