[subego]

Originally Posted by OreoCookie 

I think it is quite likely given how few clinics typically provide abortions. That analysis doesn’t have to be done by the state either. Note that identifying patients need not be the only goal, identifying clinics and doctors might be another aim that might require less information.

The main purpose is to intimidate women and medical workers.

Can’t I more easily identify clinics by… looking them up on google? These are businesses. Businesses typically want to be found, otherwise they don’t get patrons.

Likewise, can’t I more easily identify the doctors who work at the clinic by watching the clinic they work at?

Work smart, not hard.

[andi*pandi]

considering that people have noticed amazon ads for baby items after being in the room with an alexa and discussing pregnancy, it's not a far leap for me to see that finding out who is or has been pregnant would not be challenging for bad actors. By bad actors I mean republican congresspersons.

[subego]

Amazon doesn’t just hand that info out. You have to pay them for it.

Also, like I said, veto-proof Republican majority. They can just ban abortion.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

Amazon doesn’t just hand that info out. You have to pay them for it.

Also, like I said, veto-proof Republican majority. They can just ban abortion.

The point isn't to ban abortion - like you said, they could do that if they wanted. The point is to dangle the carrot and make a big display of punishing "bad" people.

[subego]

This seems like an impractical way of doing it.

[andi*pandi]

These are the people who have set up hotlines for people to call to rat out anyone they think might have got an abortion. So practical isn't really it.

[subego]

That honestly sounds like a more practical solution than squeezing ultrasounds out of the DoH as a prelude to big data analysis.

It’s not this hard to dox people.

[reader50]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

These are the people who have set up hotlines for people to call to rat out anyone they think might have got an abortion. So practical isn't really it.

Are those hotlines for real? What happens if someone is reported? It sounds ... useful. Will they just receive pro-life literature, or will someone show up to talk to them?

I have several neighbors that don't impress me. They could use an intervention, though they may not realize it. And the more calls the hotline gets, the more polluted their database becomes. Less harassment of pregnant women, less free time for the harassers, and intervention for neighbors who are shakey on personal property issues. Or parking.

[andi*pandi]

From the ones I recall, they would get a visit from the police.
I think the internet solved it by spamming it with reports on legislators.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by subego 

Can’t I more easily identify clinics by… looking them up on google? These are businesses. Businesses typically want to be found, otherwise they don’t get patrons.

I don't think clinics providing abortions in red states want to more media exposure as an attempt to turn the thumb screws even further. Like Laminar said, it isn't about effective policy, it is about intimidation and throwing meat to a part of their electorate.

There is no policy reason to publicize ultrasounds, anonymized or not. It is just another measure among many to make lives difficult for women seeking access to health care and the clinics providing it. This is done in lieu of banning abortion.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by subego 

This seems like an impractical way of doing it.

Impractical way of doing what? It's standard Republican/Conservative fare.

[subego]

Impractical way of generating a list of those they wish to punish.

Like I said, it seems much easier and cheaper to simply watch a clinic.

[Spheric Harlot]

That’s something that activists can do though, not politicians.

[subego]

A politician who can’t get their hands on an activist isn’t much of a politician.

I still say in terms of targeting people that publishing anonymous ultrasounds is tantamount to publishing random noise… except for the part where there’s blowback on the publishers despite themhaving accomplished nothing. I don’t see this as a likely scenario, and instead see it as more likely the Senator made some unlikely shit up because he knew would push hot buttons.

[Spheric Harlot]

Do you not understand the difference between putting pressure on people through policy, and hiring individual crackpot activists?

[subego]

I do understand the difference.

For policy to put pressure on people, it has to actually put pressure on them. Publishing anonymous ultrasounds does not.

I mean, maybe it does for one 24-hour news cycle, after which everyone will forget it exists.

To put it another way, this plot could use some more frothing lunacy if we want it to get anywhere. Anonymous ultrasounds are low energy.

[Thorzdad]

Says the man for whom these actions have no bearing.

[subego]

Show me the bearing.

Or does it only have bearing if it gets cross referenced to some other database they likely don’t have access to.

[reader50]

Speaker News:
McCarthy was voted out by 8 hardliners.
Scalise dropped his bid rather than try to wheel-and-deal with hardliners.
Jordan (the preferred hardliner candidate) has been dropped by the house GOP.
McHenry has threatened to resign (as Speaker-pro-tem) if they attempt to expand his powers. Reportedly that plan has been scrapped.

Several Reps (9 at last count) have floated their own names, and they have to announce they're candidates by Sunday at noon. GOP secret ballot to select a candidate will be Tuesday. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled - we'll see if any candidate gets a majority in the GOP ballot.

Liz Cheney has been floated as a possibility, but by a Dem. I've yet to hear a Rep suggest a compromise candidate with Dems to bypass the hardliners. But it looks increasingly likely as the only viable path. That, or the hardliners get so scared of a compromise Speaker, that they buckle and agree to vote for McCarthy after all.

[Spheric Harlot]

Meanwhile, some hardliners are attempting to frame it as „Democrats voted out McCarthy and refused to accept a successor“, rather than „we are so lost that we can’t get our basic shit together because a handful of fascists are holding the party hostage“.

[Thorzdad]

[Laminar]

Is this photo supposed to represent Republican representatives exclusively? I'm always careful about helping to further a "both sides" narrative, as that's the go-to security blanket of Republican shitheads when Republicans are being shitheads.

[Spheric Harlot]

No, the clowns in the House are only on one side of the aisle, in this case.

The Democrats are in no way to blame for the complete dysfunctionality of the Republican party.

Obviously, there's a bunch of right-wing pundits who are trying to place the blame on the Democrats, but why on earth would you expect them to vote for a majority-party clown candidate?

Put up a candidate at least some of the Democrats can get behind, and you might organise a majority in the House. As it is, it's simply not their problem.

[reader50]

Mike Johnson has been elected Speaker.

Near as I can tell, Johnson is on the periphery of the hardliners. He voted to question the 2020 election results, and is a vocal Trump supporter. However, he was not among the 8 hardliners who voted McCarthy out - Johnson voted to keep McCarthy.

I predicted Reps would either choose a hardliner Speaker, or would have to power-share with Dems. This outcome is closer to the hardliners-in-charge, but may not be the full package.

[Thorzdad]

Isn’t being on the “on the periphery of the hardliners” kind of like someone being “on the periphery of a black hole?” The GOP has moved so far to the right that even the ones called “moderate” are way to the right of any Reagan or Bush republican.

I wouldn’t exactly be happy about Johnson. He’s a huge anti-LGBTQ+ extremist. He’s expressed a belief that same-sex marriage will ultimately result in a person marrying his pet. He introduced a federal version of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in December, called the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act.” It threatens to cut federal funding to libraries, school districts, hospitals, government entities, or other organizations for “hosting or promoting any program, event, or literature involving sexually-oriented material,” including “any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related topics.”

He wants to end social security and medicare. He was a signatory on a 2020 amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit that aimed to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He also voted with nearly two-thirds of his conference not to certify the 2020 election in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

He’s still a staunch election denier to this day. He’s deep-red MAGA through-and-through. It’s just that, with MTG and Gaetz on the team, he looks semi-reasonable by comparison.

[Spheric Harlot]

So does he come with the same built-in ejection seat as his predecessor?

[reader50]

To my knowledge, the current House Rules have not been updated. So a single member of the majority can still force a motion to vacate. In which case the current Speaker needs a majority of votes to remain Speaker.

I'm interested too in any updates to that rule. But I don't expect one - at least half the 8 hardliners would have to break ranks, in order to reduce their own power. This is unlikely.

[Spheric Harlot]

Well, "bring it on," I guess.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by reader50 

To my knowledge, the current House Rules have not been updated. So a single member of the majority can still force a motion to vacate. In which case the current Speaker needs a majority of votes to remain Speaker.

This just tells me that the slow spiral towards craziness is continuing. Johnson will be as weak as McCarthy for that reason. The whole conflict with McCarthy (or why other candidates for speaker didn't get broad support from the Republican reps) wasn't about their conservative bona fides or any concrete policy dispute. At the same time, the “moderates” in the GOP have ceded more of their power, cowering in fear rather than trying to take back the power they were given by their voters. In an alternate universe, them entering a coalition with the Democrats and getting things done would have strengthened their appeal amongst the suburban centrist demographic.

In the long run, I expect that Johnson is a half-step away from someone like Jim Jordan, the GOP is the frog that is slowly being cooked. This is not a win.

[Spheric Harlot]

Another thought:

Speaker of the House is second in line to the presidency. Imagine, for a second, the President falling ill while the Veep is on vacation.

A single House Rep can oust the Speaker and force a re-vote…

What is the potential here — however remotely possible? (We're talking about a party that authorised their own fake electors and sent them into several state capitols, on the ever-so-slim chance that they could pull it off at least once.)

[Thorzdad]

Even if the veep was out of the country, power would automatically transfer to them. They need not be in the country. For any shenanigans as you describe to be effective, both the president and veep would have to be functionally incapacitated.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

Even if the veep was out of the country, power would automatically transfer to them. They need not be in the country. For any shenanigans as you describe to be effective, both the president and veep would have to be functionally incapacitated.

And what could happen then?

[Thorzdad]

Then the Speaker would have presidential power immediately transferred to them. They would no longer be the speaker at that moment.

[Thorzdad]

More on Johnson...
Here's a quote tying Roe v. Wade to cutting funding to social security and medicare...

"Roe v. Wade gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children in America,” Johnson said, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. “You think about the implications of that on the economy; we’re all struggling here to cover the bases of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest. If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this,” he added.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

Then the Speaker would have presidential power immediately transferred to them. They would no longer be the speaker at that moment.

So the power of a single representative to call for removal would no longer be applicable?

Asking for 330 million friends.

[Thorzdad]

Sorry to keep banging this Mike Johnson drum, but...

[andi*pandi]

Uggh.

[reader50]

What a sweetheart.

On the plus side, news stories have confirmed the House Rules have not been altered. A single member of the majority can call a vote to oust the current Speaker. Johnson only has to tick off one fellow Rep.

Changing that Rule (or any other) would require a majority of the House. Since it's tradition that the minority party routinely votes against Rules, such a change would require the same votes needed to elect the Speaker in the first place. Currently 217 votes or more. So virtually every Republican would have to vote for the change, to reduce hardliner power. I don't see that happening.

[Spheric Harlot]

I felt better knowing nothing about this Johnson.

[Thorzdad]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I felt better knowing nothing about this Johnson.

It’s really fucking scary how quickly and quietly the guy has risen to power in the party. His election campaign reportedly received over $37,000 from a group of Russian oligarchs, funneled through a US corporation. His campaign claims they returned the money once the russian connection was discovered (which you could interpret as “once the press discovered it), but it still raises concerns as to why Russians were so supportive of such a seemingly benign politician.

[Thorzdad]

And, then, there’s Mike Johnson’s wife and her counseling service.

[Spheric Harlot]

Second in line to the White House.

I stand by my assertion: I felt better knowing nothing about these people.

[Thorzdad]

Knowing nothing about the guy is a lot of why he’s now second in line to the White House.
Stealth isn’t just for fighter jets.

[OreoCookie]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

And, then, there’s Mike Johnson’s wife and her counseling service.

Apparently, they are also hosting a podcast together.

Their political views are really medieval and far outside the bell curve (to the right). I really wonder how long it will take until the GOP completely disintegrates.

[Thorzdad]

The highlight, so far, in today’s voting is Ohio voting to legalize weed, and to make abortion a constitutional right.

[andi*pandi]

phew.

our local city elections were mostly a carbon copy of the business owners on main street.

[Laminar]

Our school district once again rejected the Qanon candidates and went with the good ones. Very grateful, as that has not been the case around the metro.

[Thorzdad]

The city just to the west of me (Indiana’s wealthiest, most republican city) elected a new mayor. Republican, of course. In the only debate, she refused to denounce the actions of Moms for Liberty. The crowd actually gasped when she declined. They voted for her anyway. So, I guess the fine people of Carmel can’t act surprised when the book bannings begin. They’ve been warned.

[Thorzdad]

Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s results, some republicans (Rick Santorum, for example) are quietly floating a new, very scary, talking-point that democracy (or direct democracy) doesn’t work.

[Spheric Harlot]

Heh. "Santorum". That's a funny name for a politician. I wonder if he knows what it means.