NEW: THREAD: A new ruling from Judge McBurney in Georgia overturning the abortion ban and allowing the procedure to continue has some REMARKABLE quotes. Let's take a look at just a few. 1/
"While the State’s interest in protecting “unborn” life is compelling, until that life can be sustained by the State -- and not solely by the woman compelled by the Act to do the State’s work -- the balance of rights favors the woman." 2/
"Women are not some piece of collectively owned community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote. Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy, even taking into consideration whatever bundle of rights the not-yet-viable fetus may have." 3/
"For these women, the liberty of privacy means that they alone should choose whether they serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability. It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a Commander from The Handmaid’s Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more so than society could -- or should -- force them to serve as a human tissue bank or to give up a kidney for the benefit of another." 4/
"When someone other than the pregnant woman is able to sustain the fetus, then -- and only then -- should those other voices have a say in the discussion about the decisions the pregnant woman makes concerning her body and what is growing within it." 5/
"There is nothing so urgent or important to the State about the medical records of women who end pregnancies that the privacy rights of those women -- and the Fourth Amendment protections that attach to those rights -- can be bulldozed away by statutory enactment." 6/
"...liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices." 7/
"Accordingly, Section 4 of the LIFE Act is hereby DECLARED unconstitutional. The State and all its agents, to include any County, Municipal, or other local authority, are once again ENJOINED from seeking to enforce in any manner the LIFE Act’s PECAP termination ban in Georgia." END/
Um, wow. The evidence and testimony Jack Smith has is DAMNING. For instance, the government has testimony that Donald said of the voter fraud claims that the "details don't matter." There is also testimony that trump said it didn't matter if he lost, he would just declare he won. 1/
There are also multiple conversations Pence had with his running mate that they'd lost and it was time to "take a bow". I'm just digging into this, but Trump is cooked. None of this is immune (or the presumptive immunity can be easily rebutted.) 2/
HA! When Trump was on the phone with Michigan, lying to them about voter fraud, Trump was corrected and reminded he lost two counties becuase he "underperformed with educated females", which pissed him off. 3/
THREAD: Okay, so after my JAWS thread, I asked which movie I haven't seen to watch next - and the winner by a mile was Hunt for Red October - which happens to be on right now. So here we go 1/
THREAD: BREAKING: JD Vance says he would consider privatizing Veterans health care. This is something I know a little bit about. 1/
I worked for the Veterans Health Administration for over a decade, and that entire time, republicans have been trying to privatize our healthcare. Spurred by private health providers, big donors, and lobbyist's money - the want to move Veteran care to the private sector. 2/
There are several reasons that is a terrible idea, and why for so long Veterans and Veteran Service Organizations and Unions continually push back on the idea. First and foremost, it increases the wait time to get an appointment. 3/
Tim Pool is claiming that $100K per podcast episode is the normal market value of a show that gets 100K-200K views. I own a podcast network with shows that outperform his, and that’s absolutely not true. 1/
Market average is about $9 CPM (per thousand spins) per brand. Even with a 100% fill rate (unheard of) with 6 brands (also unheard of), that’s about $7,200 per episode for 100K views. $14,400 for 200K. Reality is closer to half. And that’s gross (before the network, ad agency, and talent agents take their cut). $100K per episode is market value for a show that gets MILLIONS of downloads. 2/
Also, Tim would be wise to stop talking publicly about this. Not just because I’m personally tired of his lies, but because he’s part of a criminal investigation now. Just my two cents. END/
THREAD: GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: The republicans are threatening to shut down the government by attaching the SAVE Act to the government funding CR.
The SAVE Act penalizes CITIZENS by forcing them to prove their citizenship in order to vote - when it's already illegal for non-citizens to vote. 1/
This is a voter suppression tactic designed to stop CITIZENS from voting - particularly marginalized communities. The goal is to wear people down with paperwork to get them to give up on voting, because republicans never pass bills that make it EASIER for citizens to vote. 2/
The other equally insidious goal of the bill is to give them pretext to shut down the government so they can blame Biden when working Americans are furloughed and Military Members don't get their paychecks. In fact, no government employees do. 3/