I didn’t think it needed saying, but obviously it does: Having to sit through a half-day’s worth of partisan wrangling, where you have access to water, food, staff, and the warm glow of TV cameras is not worse than (or even akin to) years of indefinite detention in a prison cell on a remote island, cut off from anyone you know or love, subject to routine abuse and frequent torture, all conducted under a cloak of official secrecy, outside the rule of law, without any recourse or any reasonable expectation that this hell will ever end. Further, such jocular comparisons are singularly insensitive to the denigration of human rights perpetrated under the color of authority, and, what’s more, are not in the least bit funny.

We’re going to put up a thread here to share the debate. Oh, and the frustration — I’m sure we all of us don’t want to suffer this alone. 2:00 p.m. EST — Rep. Steny Hoyer making the expected acknowledgment of the historic nature of this debate and following vote. Recognizes the urgency of reform [...]

If Planned Parenthood and NARAL are just going to lie down and let access to reproductive health legislation to be written by Catholic bishops, I guess they think that’s in the best interest of the women who donate to their respective organizations. But I wonder if Bart Stupak’s donors want to be associated with his [...]

The House of Representatives is voting on the rule right now. It’s expected to pass. The rule includes two amendments: the Republican substitute health care bill, and the “Stupak Amendment,” which would effectively ban private insurers and the public option from providing coverage for abortion services in the individual and small group market (and eventually everywhere, as the exchanges will over time be open to large employers, too).

Let’s be clear about this. The only reason that we are in the position where the price of passing health care reform is allowing even liberal Marcy Kaptur to sneeringly dismiss choice activists as narrow class warriors who don’t care about working women is because Planned Parenthood and NARAL have allowed it to happen. They collect millions of dollars in revenue each year. They’ve exacted no price from the Marcy Kapturs of the world, who actually have to care what liberals think of them, and focused instead on anti-choice Republicans who are only empowered by their ire. They have no scalps. There is no price for bucking Planned Parenthood and NARAL. It isn’t a fight that the Democrats want to spend “political capital” on, and these groups insure that they don’t have to.

Stupak and others want to outlaw abortion, but can’t get that to pass, so they’ll settle for making it available only to the rich. But before they preach about morality, perhaps they should go back and look at prophets like Ezekiel and Amos and listen to their words about separate rules for the rich and the poor.

Yet more documentation of the symbiotic relationship between the Republican Party and our legacy media.

So David Dreier and the Republicans are making a bunch of attempted amendments to the rule, none of which are being allowed, as the Democrats vote as a block.

Rep. Alcee Hastings actually read the rule out, and it appeared to me that Rep. Stupak’s amendment on abortion language was going to be allowed on the floor. I’m trying to get confirmation on this. The AP had a story that this would happen, but when Stupak testified in committee he claimed that the deal fell apart and he was “scrambling” in an effort to get the amendment on the floor.

The Little Things Matter…

Well, as I was driving around the other day, I saw how the season has totally changed. The leaves have turned and are falling to the ground; the birds have flown South for the winter; and there is a brisk chill in the air.

Featuring new videos form We Have Band and Joseph Arthur.