Last Call

And with folks around here in the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana tri-state area still cleaning up from Friday's tornadoes, Ron Paul tells each and every one of the victims to go to hell and rot.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, stood by his libertarian beliefs on Sunday, saying that victims of the violent storms and tornadoes that have battered a band of states in the South and Midwest in recent days should not be given emergency financial aid from the federal government.

"There is no such thing as federal money," Paul said, on CNN’s State of the Union. "Federal money is just what they steal from the states and steal from you and me."

"The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance," Paul said.

Ron Paul isn't running to be President of the United States.  He's running to replace it with the Hunger Games.  Let the districts fight among themselves and may the odds ever be in your favor.  Isn't it nice to know that if a tornado rips through where you live, Ron Paul won't lift a finger because the other 305,000,000 of us shouldn't have to help?  It's your fault you happened to be where the tornado was, so screw you and your family and your neighborhood.  Move to a better state.

But you see, Ron Paul isn't the only one.  Gov. John Kasich feels the exact same way about his state.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said thanks but no thanks to immediate federal disaster relief Saturday, even as governors in Indiana and Kentucky welcomed the help.

Kasich did not rule out asking for assistance later, but his decision means tornado-ravaged towns in Ohio will not get federal aid now and are not eligible at this time for potentially millions of dollars in payments and loans.

The governor said Ohio can respond to the crisis without federal help and he would not ask federal authorities to declare the region a disaster area.

“I believe that we can handle this,” Kasich said while visiting a shelter for storm victims at New Richmond High School. “We’ll have down here all the assets of the state.”

Can anyone ever recall a governor turning down disaster aid for multiple tornadoes?  That would be a first.  Of course, there's another first in the White House right now, which most likely explains this first too.

Needless to say, donating to the Cincy Red Cross is much more necessary now.  Donate here.

The American way, indeed.

Stupor Tuesday

Romney and Santorum are effectively tied going into Tuesday's Ohio primary.  Both men need a win here, plain and simple.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has surged into a dead heat with Rick Santorum in the Ohio primary, setting up a cliffhanger race on Tuesday, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday.

The former Massachusetts governor and former senator from Pennsylvania are tied with 32 percent support from likely voters in the Ohio Republican primary, the most important of the 10 state nominating contests on "Super Tuesday" this week.

After his victory in Saturday's Washington state caucuses, Romney is gaining momentum going into Tuesday after trailing Santorum in recent polls in Ohio.

"This race could really go either way between now and Tuesday," said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson.

"If Mitt Romney is able to close this out and win this race, that gives him a leg up in going all the way to the convention and winning the Republican nomination."

And if he doesn't win? Then things get real interesting. The most important thing that happens after Super Tuesday of course is that I firmly believe people will start asking Newt Gingrich to quit. That would help Santorum more than Romney, and pretty much everyone knows it. Things would be much different now if Gingrich had dropped out of the race back when Jon Huntsman did.

Likewise, Gingrich staying in the race helps Romney, at least for now.  We'll see where things fall out on Wednesday morning.

Of course, the real news is that President Obama would beat Mitt Romney by 12 points in Ohio and Santorum by 14.  Keep in mind Republicans have never won the White House without winning Ohio.

StupidiLeak

All those programs for the elderly that are failing are affecting an ever-growing number of citizens.  There are dozens of examples of programs from little local aid to Medicaid that are dying or working at lower capcacity.  While the "corporations are people too" bullshit is the GOP's best defense for their priorities, real people are going without.

People like Fannie Wilson.

Fannie is 69-year-old Texan who got sick and had a hard streak of luck.  Her finances were so tight that when she sprung a leak and could not afford to fix it, she turned her own water off and lived that way for six long years.  She didn't stay at home often, and her house was full of jugs that of water she collected from other places.  She took the occasional bath at a friend or relative's house.  Six years she went without running water.  Millions of people live in that "one small disaster away from bankruptcy" state, and when the inevitable small disaster happens this is the result.

Wilson got help and now has running water.  She can enjoy a drink in the middle of the night, and flush her toilet with wild abandon.  She was nearly evicted from her home because it is illegal to live in a residence without running water (that whole necessary for life thing being the primary reason).  Thank goodness a small charity was able to help her fix the leak and restore the service.

I hope we all think of Fannie when we hear arguments that we have to slash services for citizens at the expense of big business.  Most of us will likely find ourselves there someday.

Bumping Uglies

Yeah, I knew you'd look.

Pamela Haag reminds us that this whole war on women isn't completely about health care.  It's also about sex, plain and simple.  We have several good examples of cysts and hormonal conditions that the Pill helps with, but there is also the fact that as adults, women and men alike should be able to conduct their sex lives as they see fit, and enjoy protection from unwanted babies.  Haag reminds us that there are healthy couples in committed relationships who want to enjoy sex without introducing a child into the world.  She's completely right, and while I see the issue as a combination of sexual freedom and medical need, she addresses a valid and relatively quiet point: we enjoy sex and we should be able to enjoy it on our terms.

Sex.

Why that gets those old righteous farts whipped into a frenzy isn't hard to understand.  What is scary is that with a teeny bit of encouragement how far it went, and how fast.  As Zandar pointed out, states are removing choices for women without apology.  This has been going on for a while, but the recent snowball of stupidity is alarming.

It's women who ultimately pay the price for this ego and hypocrisy.  The fathers may or may not have to pay child support, but they won't have to raise a child they never asked for.  They won't have near the social stigma associated with not wanting a child.  They won't have to know what it feels like to have their rights to their body decided by a panel of strangers.  Many women wouldn't put a child up for adoption or have an abortion if they became pregnant, which is why they use birth control in the first place.  Imagine having to give up your child because you know it would likely give them a better life.  How many mothers who couldn't afford simple contraception are going to find themselves in that situation?

The only reason the GOP is giving are their "values" and implying that the "other" people don't deserve equal treatment.  They vote against fair pay for women, but expect women to support babies or live a sexless life to satisfy the moral values of someone they will never meet.  It's not just about discounts on birth control. It's about medical rights, fair treatment and recognition under law, and ending a double standard that women can work as hard as men but are not worthy of the same freedoms and choices.  Just quoting their beliefs and holding us hostage to their ideals isn't enough.  Where is the discussion about the legality and the ethics as applied to all of the citizens?  While we are discussing religion and throwing insults, the real argument is being neglected.  The underlying concept of equality and silly notions like Constitutional checks and balances are ignored while Rush calls women sluts.

What would happen if a female candidate called them on their stupidity?  Can you imagine a woman saying she opposed Viagra, that if God wanted you to have a boner you would have a boner, and that it is offensive for us to see your trouser mouse jump every time there's a breeze?  To have such dirty thoughts that led to an erection is an offense to our religious freedom, and we want you to explain to our satisfaction why you think you should have condoms, otherwise they triple in price.  Any child you had a role in creating will be yours to raise, and how you plan to work full-time and raise a child is your problem, not ours.  We have no plans to help you once you have the child, because you were a slut and brought this on yourself.  Now go make me a sammich.

Walla Walla Ding Dong

Mitt Romney has taken the Washington State caucuses from last night, 38%-25%...over Ron Paul.  Santorum came in a close third at 24%.

Mitt Romney won the Republican caucuses in Washington state, according to unofficial results early Sunday, giving the former Massachusetts governor a shot in the arm heading into Super Tuesday contests.

With 99% of the vote in, Romney had 38%. Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 25% and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 24%. They were trailed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 10%.

At stake in the contest are 40 delegates.

"We're in a good second place, but the good news is we're doing very, very well in getting delegates," Paul told supporters in Seattle, when about half of the vote had been counted. "The enthusiasm for the cause of liberty continues to grow exponentially."

It's certainly a blow to Santorum to come in third, making Ohio all that much more important for all four candidates.  Gingrich, Santorum and Romney were in Cincinnati yesterday rather than Seattle or Walla Walla.

With 72 hours to go before Ohio voters go to the polls, the Republican White House hopefuls made a mad dash across the state Saturday – with the three leading contenders targeting Greater Cincinnati.

They revved up fervent supporters, sought converts and threw jabs at each other in the home stretch of this pivotal primary contest.

Rick Santorum rallied hundreds of his supporters with a passionate speech about “liberty” and “American exceptionalism” in an overheated hotel conference room in Blue Ash. Newt Gingrich talked about gas prices and energy issues at the Back Porch Saloon in West Chester. And Mitt Romney wrapped up a three-stop tour of the state at a “Ribs With Mitt” gathering at Cincinnati’s Montgomery Inn Boathouse.

I can tell you about the venues.  Any hotel in business park laden Blue Ash says "I'm a grown up, why won't you listen,"  The Back Porch in IKEA country of tony West Chester says "I'm pretending to working class but so is everyone else here" and the Montgomery Inn boathouse location down by the levee says "I'm pretending to be working class and failing miserably."  He probably ruined a lot of people's evenings who were planning to go eat ribs, it's pretty much the busiest restaurant in Cincy and he and his Secret Service detail probably put a whole bunch of hungry people out.

In other words, completely a Mitt thing to do.  Douchebag.