Saturday, September 21, 2024

Music

 

Saturdays, we note music by women.  And I thought I'd grab some questions in e-mails from the public account (common_ills@yahoo.com) about that.


First off, do I love everything that goes up?  Yeah.  It might not be my number one favorite track by an artist but I do love it or it wouldn't make it up here.

Second, do all the songs I love make it up here?  No.  Not even grasping that we've been doing this since the pandemic and including every song posted on a Saturday, we'd still have plenty of songs that I love that have not made it.

Barbra Streisand's doing "Left In The Dark Again" at the top of this entry.

She makes some of the most amazing choices in that song -- she hits notes, caresses them and gives a performance and then some.

Feel the 'but' coming?

It's a piece of a garbage song.

I would never choose to be an artist recording that song.

It's okay that you're cheating on me, just turn off the lights and hop back into bed?

I'm going to keep my mouth shut about the personal aspect of someone deciding to record a song that tells that story.  But I will note that is a hideous message.

And that's the song that killed her pop career.  People forget this, but Barbra did not want to go back to Broadway.  She shot down rumors of a return and made rude comments about going backwards.  But "Left In the Dark Again" destroyed her.  And this is the woman who once thought "It's a right I defend" (from "Woman In Love") was too 'strident'?  That song, "A Woman In Love," was a huge hit and no one took offense to that line. [I'm adding the video of "A Woman In Love" below after this originally posted.]




But everything about "Left In The Dark Again" was offensive.  And that she'd be proudly glorifying someone being cheated on really did not fit her image -- which at the point was beyond 'strident' for her detractors.  She was a strong woman who'd just emerged victorious over sexism -- YENTYL was a hit and it was her baby.  She directed it, she produced it, she starred in it, she co-wrote the screenplay and sang all the songs (eleven) in the film.  She'd fought since 1968 to make the film.  She'd broken through against so many obstacles.  And there she was now singing:


There are so many thing that I've just just gotta knowYou tell me who! You tell me where! You tell me when!But don't tell me now , I don't need any answers tonightI just need some love so turn out the lights andI'll be left in the dark againI'll be left in the dark againI'll be left in the dark againLeft in the dark again


"Make No Mistake, He's Mine" (her duet with Kim Carnes) might have saved Barbra if it were the first single from the album (EMOTION).  But no one wanted to hear the 'message' of "Left In The Dark Again."  It's a shame because Barbra was at her most powerful vocally -- you can hear that on "We're Not Making Love Anymore" in 1989.  Instead of doing some really great singing, she got lost on 'projects.'  THE BROADWAY ALBUM was a strong one but by the time you get to HIGHER GROUND and others, it's just making you realize how Barbra sidelined herself with that lousy 'message.'

Again, she sings it beautifully but no one wanted to hear that.  If Whitney had done something like that in "It's Not Right," audiences would have turned on her.  

That song's mads it up here now and I never reach for a remote to skip the song should it come on while I'm listening to music but it's a really hideous song.


What do I try to avoid when choosing songs?


I can get on people's nerves with music because sometimes all I want to hear is one song.  I don't mean one record or one recording.  I love Neil Young's "Helpless," for example.  And I could post kd lang performing it and the Cowboy Junkies performing it and Patti Smith performing it and . . .


Because I can really do that, listen to about seven different versions from seven different artists in a row.


But I know when friends are listening to music with me, it can get on their nerves.  

One thing I've largely avoided that I'm now stopping?

If it wasn't a live performance or performance with a music video, a lot of times it didn't get up here on a Saturday and there are a lot of songs -- a lot -- that I love that do not have a visual.  I've tried to see if that's going to be a problem by posting Nina Simone's "Rich Girl" and Diana Ross' "Who?" and "Have Fun Again," etc.  It hasn't been a problem so we'll include more.  


What's the point of it?

We started it in the pandemic.  There was enough to stress over and enough to feel bad or worried.  Music on Saturdays was something we could do to take our mind off the pandemic for a moment or two.


And it also let us focus on some great work by women.  There's a lot of lip service about supporting women and their work.  But even with PUMA -- which was supposed to be feminists upset that Hillary Clinton did not get the 2008 Democratic Party's presidential nomination -- their sites would post music and discussions about film and it would be films starring men and songs sung by men.


This is one way of making an attempt to expand the canon.

We note Diana every Saturday.  Diana Ross is a pioneer, a true artist and a true original.  So much of what followed in pop music is a result of what she did and what she does.  And I don't believe -- I consider a good friend -- she's ever gotten anywhere near the credit she deserves.


We try to note trail blazers so that means we've got her, Nina Simone Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, etc.


Cher is a trail blazer and we note her and, in fact, always kick off with her on Saturday mornings.  Why?  She's a good one to kick off with, if you're waking up, a song from the sixties or seventies by Cher is something to put a smile on your face.  


Carly Simon, Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, Cass Elliot, Mary J. Blige, Heart, Stevie Nicks, Tracy Chapman, Janis Joplin, Sade, Valerie Simpson, Carole King -- there's a long list of women that we note regularly.  I also try to work in some new songs whenever possible.  

I wasn't planning on noting Dolly Parton or Patti LaBelle today but saw interviews they'd done this week when I was pulling stuff this morning and so we had those before each of them having a song.  (We did the same with kd lang but I saw her interview earlier in the week and had planned on including it and a song on Saturday.)  

Off the top of my head, here are 100 albums that I listen to the most each year -- off the top of my head, this is not a ranking, just a list:


1) Diana Ross' diana

2) Joni Mitchell's BLUE

3) Aretha Franklin's YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

4) Diana Ross' THANK YOU

5) Lauryn Hill's THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL

6) Joni Mitchell's FOR THE ROSES

7) Rickie Lee Jones' PIRATES

8) Aretha Franklin's ARETHA (1980 -- with her cover of "What A Fool Believes")

9) Aretha Franklin's A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE

10 Aretha Franklin's SPARKLE

11) Aretha Franklin's WHO'S ZOOMIN' WHO

12) Cher's CLOSER TO THE TRUTH

13)  Cher's 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY

14) Cher's STARS

15) Diana Ross' SWEPT AWAY

16) Diana Ross' TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING

17) Diana Ross' EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING

18) Diana Ross' THE BOSS

19) Diana Ross' SURRENDER

20) Diana Ross' FORCE BEHIND THE POWer

21) Diana Ross' EATEN ALIVE

22) Diana Ross' EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY

23) Diana Ross' STOLEN MOMENTS: THE LADY SINGS JAZZ . . . AND BLUES

24) Carly Simon's THE BEDROOM TAPES

25) Carly Simon's HAVE YOU SEEN ME LATELY?

26) Carly Simon's ANTICIPATION

27) Stevie Nicks' ROCK A LITTLE

28) Stevie Nicks' 24 KARAT GOLD

29) Stevie Nicks' WILD HEART

30) Sade's LOVERS ROCK

31) The Pretenders' LEARNING TO CRAWL

32) The Pretenders' PACKED

33) The Pretenders' HATE FOR SALE

34) The Pretenders' THE ISLE OF VIEW

35) Diana Ross & the Supremes' REFLECTIONS

36) Diana Ross & the Supremes' SING HOLLAND-DOZIER-HOLLAND

37) Diana Ross & the Supremes' THE SUPREMES A' GO-GO

38) Dionne Warwick's HEARTBREAKER

39) Tori Amos' UNDER THE PINK

40) Tori Amos' LITTLE EARTHQUAKES

41) Fiona Apple's WHEN THE PAWN . . .

42) Aimee Mann's THE FORGOTTEN ARM

43) Carole King's TAPESTRY

44) Tracy Chapman's TRACY CHAPMAN

45) Tracy Chapman's OUR BRIGHT FUTURE

46) Tracy Chapman's CROSSROADS

47) Dusty Springfield's DUSTY IN MEMPHIS

48) Amy Winehouse's BACK TO BLACk

49) Blondie's PARALLEL LLINES

50) kd lang's HYMNS OF THE 49TH PARALLEL

51) Ashford & Simpson's STREET OPERA

52) Ashford & Simpson's LOVE OR PHYSICAL

53) Mary J. Blige's SHARE MY WORLD

54) Mary J. Blige's MY LIFE

55) Mary J. Blige's THE LONDON SESSIONS

56) Mavis Staple's LIVE IN LONDON

57) Mavis Staples' WE GET BY

58) Mavis Staples' WE'LL NEVER TURN BACK

59) Janis Joplin's PEARL

60) Tina Turner's PRIVATE DANCER

61) Tina Turner's FOREIGN AFFAIR

62) Tina Turner's TINA LIVE IN EUROPE

63) Cris Williamson's THE CHANGER AND THE CHANGED

64) Cherelle's AFFAIR

65) Nina Simone's HERE COMES THE SUN

66) Nina Simone's AT TOWN HALL

67) Nina Simone's TO LOVE SOMEBODY

68) Sarah Vaughan's A TIME IN MY LIFE

69) Judy Collins' IN MY LIFE

70) Joni Mitchell's DOG EAT DOG

71) Joni Mitchell's SHINE

72) Sarah Vaughan's CRAZY AND MIXED UP

73) Heart's THE ROAD HOME

74) Dinah Washington's SINGS FATS WALLER

75) Dinah Washington's SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN

76) Roberta Flack's OASIS

77) Roberta Flack's FIRST TAKE

78) Roberta Flack's KILLING ME SOFTLY

79) Roberta Flack's LET IT BE ROBERTA: ROBERTA FLACK SINGS THE BEATLES

80) Etta James' ALL THE WAY

81) Jody Watley's INTIMACY

82) Jody Watley's JODY WATLEY

83) Dionne Warwick's THE DIONNE WARWICK COLLECTION: HER ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS

84) Jill Scott's WHO IS JILL SCOTT?

85) Maria McKee's YOU GOTTA SIN TO GET SAVED

86) Natalie Cole's DANGEROUS

87) Rihanna's ANTI

88) Rihanna's UNAPOLOGETIC

89) Vanessa Williams' THE COMFORT ZONE

90) Barbra Streisand's THE SECOND BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM

91) Rickie Lee Jones' NAKED SONGS: LIVE AND ACOUSTIC 

92) Laura Nyro's CHRISTMAS AND THE BEADS OF SWEAT

93) Laura Nyro's LAURA: LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE

94) Cat Power's THE GREATEST

95) Joanna Newsom's HAVE ONE ON ME

96) Joss Stone's LP1

97) Nanci Griffith's ONE FAIR SUMMER EVENING

98) The Pointer Sisters' BREAK OUT

99) Chaka Khan's CLOUDS

100) Taylor Swift's REPUTATION


And there are so many others.  I wish I'd said 200 and not 100.  But those are the 100 off the top of my head.


The following sites updated:




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Diana Ross "It's My Turn" Live

Still Diana, still "It's My Turn" but a performance from Oprah's show instead.
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Cher - We All Sleep Alone (Alt. Version) [Official Video]

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Lauryn Hill - Everything Is Everything (Official HD Video)

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joyce kennedy stronger than before

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Matt Taibbi: WTF Happened To This Guy?

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Dionne Warwick | Who Can I Turn To | Live | 1965

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UH OH! Gov Mark Robinson's WILD Comments EXPOSED in SHOCKING SCANDAL!

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Dolly Parton - Touch Your Woman

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Dolly Parton Replies to Fan Mail with Her Sister Rachel Parton George | ...

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Diana Ross: I Will Survive (TOTP 1996)

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Author SPILLS THE BEANS on Trump’s Digital SLEEPER CELLS

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Gwen Stefani - Somebody Else's

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LOL: Homophobe Joe Rogan Shares DELUSIONAL Reason He Doesn’t Want to be ...

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Bird On A Wire - KD Lang Max Sessions 2005

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k.d. lang knows she’s ‘not an ordinary music star’

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Patti Labelle - If you Asked me To Live in NY

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Ageless at 80, Godmother of Soul Patti LaBelle visits Memphis and tells ...

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12. Carly Simon - Halfway Around The World (Grand Central 1995) FHD 24bi...

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Carly Simon Opens Up About Her Turbulent Marriage to James Taylor

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Ashford & Simpson - Found A Cure (1979)

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Angela Bassett: ‘The Best Is Yet to Come’ — Extended Interview

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Samara Joy - Autumn Nocturne (Visualizer)

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Demi Moore on Her Latest Role Stirring Oscar Buzz and Intrigue

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Coco Jones - Sweep It Up (Visualizer)

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Leslie Jones Unfiltered: Dating, Voting, and Her Message to Gen Z — Digi...

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Diana Ross ft. Rhonda Ross Kendrick | Count on Me

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Baldwin Leads Resolution Protecting Women’s Right to Emergency Health Care

 09.19.2024

Baldwin Leads Resolution Protecting Women’s Right to Emergency Health Care

New report shows abortion bans are causing preventable deaths; Under Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, women were denied emergency reproductive care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a resolution in support of every woman’s basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care, regardless of where they live. The introduction comes as new reporting from ProPublica makes plain that Republican abortion bans are preventing women from receiving lifesaving emergency health care and resulting in preventable deaths.

“Under our state’s 1849 criminal abortion ban, Wisconsinites learned firsthand what it meant to not have the right to access lifesaving abortion care. For 15 months, we heard stories about women with unviable pregnancies or suffering miscarriages who were denied care until they were on the brink of death all because Republicans overturned Roe v. Wade. These are not exaggerations, they are real stories about what it means when we strip Americans of their freedom to control their own bodies,” said Senator Baldwin. “I’m in this fight until every woman has the freedom to decide what is best for her health, family, and future, without interference from judges and politicians – and that most certainly means when her life depends on it.”

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade over two years ago, nearly two dozen US states led by Republicans have passed, banned, or severely restricted access to abortion. These strict laws have created confusion around the treatment doctors can provide even when a pregnant patient’s life is in danger, as physicians fear that they may lose their medical license, be sued, or even charged with a felony if they perform life-saving emergency care. Despite the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act’s (EMTALA) requirements that Medicare-participating hospitals treat and stabilize pregnant patients in need of emergency medical care, women are being turned away from emergency rooms following the Dobbs decision, including in Wisconsin.

In Moyle v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court had the opportunity to reaffirm that federal law requires pregnant patients to have access to life-saving emergency care in every state, but instead, the Court dismissed the case and sent it back to the lower courts, effectively punting on making a decision on the case itself. While the litigation continues in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the health and lives of women remain at risk as uncertainty around emergency abortion care persists.

Senator Baldwin continues to lead the charge to restore women’s reproductive freedoms, championing several key initiatives that will make care more accessible for Wisconsin women and remove medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. Senator Baldwin recently released a report on the dire state of reproductive health care in Wisconsin since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, including new findings on how many women were denied access to care, the impacts of those who were forced to travel out of state, and the long drive times that are continuing to limit access to health care.

In addition to leading 48 senators on legislation to restore reproductive rights nationwide, Senator Baldwin also cosponsors the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, which would protect abortion providers in states where abortion remains legal from Republicans’ attempts to restrict their practice and create uncertainty about their legal liability.

Along with Senator Baldwin, the resolution was led by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Full text of this resolution is available here.

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Victoria Monét, USHER - SOS (Sex on Sight) (feat. USHER) (Visualizer)

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On Senate Floor, Murray Shines Spotlight On How Trump Abortion Bans are Killing Women in America

 

On Senate Floor, Murray Shines Spotlight On How Trump Abortion Bans are Killing Women in America

ICYMI: Murray Leads Congressional Democrats in Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Affirm that EMTALA Requires Hospitals to Provide Emergency Stabilizing Care Including Abortion Care, Preempts Idaho’s Draconian Abortion Ban

ICYMI – FROM PROPUBLICA: Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.

Murray: “Here in America, in the 21st century, pregnant women die, not because doctors don’t know how to save them—but because doctors don’t know if Republicans will let them.”

***WATCH: SENATOR MURRAY’S FLOOR SPEECH HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), spoke on the Senate floor following introduction of her resolution which simply expresses the sense of the Senate that every patient has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care, regardless of where they live. Murray’s speech touches directly on new reporting from ProPublica that makes plain that Republican abortion bans are preventing women from receiving lifesaving emergency health care and resulting in preventable deaths.

“Here in America, in the 21st century, pregnant women die, not because doctors don’t know how to save them—but because doctors don’t know if Republicans will let them,” said Senator Murray in her floor speech. “Make no mistake—this is the policy outcome Trump and Republicans moved heaven and earth to achieve.”

“Let’s be clear, providing emergency stabilizing care is the bare minimum to keep a patient alive,” continued Senator Murray. “These women may have undergone tremendous trauma and suffering up until they meet the threshold for emergency stabilizing care. It shouldn’t have to get to that point! Women shouldn’t have to lose organ function before they can get medical care… I am not going to stand for that. This will not become a new, accepted normal. Democrats are going to continue telling these women’s stories. We are going to continue pressing to fully restore reproductive freedoms for every woman in America. We are going to continue to put a white-hot spotlight on the devastating, deadly fallout of Republicans’ extreme anti-abortion policies—of Donald Trump’s abortion bans, and on the cruel callousness Trump has offered in response—never missing an opportunity to gloat about overturning Roe v. Wade. Women and families are listening to him gloat. They won’t forget.”

Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade over two years ago, nearly two dozen US states led by Republicans have passed, banned, or severely restricted access to abortion. These strict laws have created confusion around the treatment doctors can provide even when a pregnant patient’s life is in danger, as physicians fear that they may lose their medical license, be sued, or even charged with a felony if they perform life-saving emergency care. Despite the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act’s (EMTALA) requirements that Medicare-participating hospitals treat and stabilize pregnant patients in need of emergency medical care, women are being turned away from emergency rooms following the Dobbs decision.

In Moyle v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court had the opportunity to reaffirm that federal law requires pregnant patients to have access to life-saving emergency care in every state, but instead, the Court dismissed the case and sent it back to the lower courts, effectively punting on making a decision on the case itself. While the litigation continues in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the health and lives of women remain at risk as uncertainty around emergency abortion care persists. 121 Congressional Republicans, including 26 Senators, filed an amicus brief arguing that EMTALA does not require hospitals to provide abortion care as emergency stabilizing care in order to save a patient’s life.

Senator Murray is a longtime leader in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights, and she has led Congressional efforts to fight back after the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Murray has introduced more than a dozen pieces of legislation to protect reproductive rights from further attacks, protect providers, and help ensure women get the care they need; Murray has led efforts to push for passage of these bills on the floor multiple times. Senator Murray also co-leads the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore the right to abortion nationwide. This January, Murray led her colleagues in hosting a “State of Abortion Rights” briefing with women who have suffered firsthand from Republican abortion bans. On June 4th of this year, Senator Murray chaired a HELP Committee hearing titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.” Recently, Murray also helped lead efforts to force Republicans on the record on votes to protect access to contraception and access to IVF (twice). Murray has also led her colleagues in raising the alarm about how a second Trump administration intends to wage an all-out assault on reproductive rights and abortion access in every state, as outlined in Project 2025.

Senator Murray’s full floor remarks as delivered are below:

“I rise today to speak about a new resolution that I introduced, which reaffirms the basic principle that when you go to the ER, they should be allowed to treat you. When your life is in danger, doctors should be able to do their job. When you need emergency care—including an abortion—no politician should stop you from getting it. This is so simple.

“And yet when President Biden and Vice President Harris tried to make that clear Republicans worked to stop them—opposing the basic notion that—yes—ER doctors might have to provide emergency abortion care to save a woman’s life.

“Make no mistake, we are talking about women whose water breaks dangerously early, or who are experiencing uncontrollable hemorrhage, sepsis, or pre-eclampsia. These are the patients we are saying doctors should treat under the basic right to emergency care. These are the women Republicans don’t think deserve access to emergency care. 

“I don’t know where on the long path of anti-abortion extremism that saving lives became a bridge too far for so many Republicans—but that is where we are. It’s not just an extreme position—it is a very dangerous one and it is a deadly one.

“There are so many tragic stories about how Republican abortion bans are hurting women. Those stories include women who have been unable to get an abortion after a pregnancy became bad for their health, unable to get one after the situation had become a medical emergency, unable to get one until the only option was a hysterectomy that totally ends their dream of having a child one day, and in some heartbreaking cases—women have been unable to get an abortion until it is too late.

“They have died, they have died because Republican bans denied and delayed the care they needed.

“Just this week, we have heard the stories of two Black mothers who lost their lives in Georgia due to the state’s draconian abortion ban. According to a report from Pro Publica—in 2022, after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban went into effect, a pregnant woman went in to the ER—she was a single mom.

“She had a serious infection and needed a ‘D-and-C’—a routine procedure, and the standard of care for her condition. Her case was not a mystery. 

“But even if it was clear that a D-and-C would save her life, it was not clear her doctors could provide that without facing legal danger under the state’s abortion law.  Her condition worsened. Her blood pressure dropped. Her organs started failing. And by the time she got the procedure–19 hours after she arrived at the ER—it was too late. Tragically—she died.

“The state’s medical review committee concluded there is a “good chance” that she would have survived if the procedure had happened sooner. Her name was Amber Thurman.

“Another Black woman in Georgia died without ever seeking medical care—she was too afraid to see a doctor given ‘the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.’ The state’s medical review committee also found her death to be preventable. A heartbreaking outcome for the three children she left behind. Her name was Candi Miller.

“How can that be the status quo in our country in the 21st century? How is anyone okay with that? How does anyone think these extreme abortion bans are a good idea? How does anyone oppose clarifying that women have a right to emergency care? Don’t we want our hospitals to saves lives? 

“And how can anyone look at this wreckage, how can you hear the stories from doctors who are wracked with guilt for decisions Republican politicians made for them? How can you hear the stories from women who have bled, suffered, and nearly died—how can anyone hear the chilling accounts of women who HAVE died? And shrug it off? And say: ‘Well I am sure this will blow over.’ ‘Well I’m sure it’s not so bad.’

“And yet—we have Republicans by-and-large just trying to ignore this, just trying to get everyone to whistle past the graveyard they spent decades digging. 

“As if a woman would ever in her life forget the time her doctor said yes she is in danger, yes they know how to treat her, but no they can’t do it—politicians won’t let them.

“As if a mother would ever forget losing her daughter because she was denied care. As if a husband would ever forget losing his wife. As if a kid growing up without a mother because she was denied emergency abortion care will ever—for a single day of their life—forget it.

“We have Republican-led states hearing from providers about how completely unworkable and dangerous their bans are—and not really lifting a finger to meaningfully address the problem.

“We have states where people are trying to put it to the voters—trying to let the people have their say on these bans—and Republicans have been fighting tooth and nail to block them.

“And we have Donald Trump still—after all that has happened saying everyone wanted Roe overturned, that’s what he said! Everyone wanted Roe overturned? Who is he listening to? Saying it’s great states can cause this chaos—it’s great politicians can effectively lock patients out of the emergency room.

“Make no mistake—this is the post-Roe world Republicans spent decades fighting for. This is the policy outcome Trump and Republicans moved heaven and earth to achieve.

“And they make that clearer and clearer every time they not only refuse to lift a finger to stop it, but Republicans even filed a brief telling the Supreme Court, essentially ‘No, we DON’T think doctors should be required to provide abortion care when a patient’s life is at stake.’ When a patient’s life is at stake!

“If Republicans thought—even in the slightest—that this is a problem, they could start by co-sponsoring our resolution saying it’s a problem. That should not be too hard of a step! Let’s see who takes me up on that offer. I am waiting to see. 

“M. President, when I think about the carnage Republican abortion bans have caused, I truly cannot put my outrage into words. But I can be here and I can share the horror stories I am hearing here on the Senate Floor. I can give voice to the patients and providers who are living this nightmare firsthand.

“Dying women being turned away from an emergency room, being left to bleed out—left to grow sicker, left to miscarry on their own. The lucky ones—the LUCKY ONES—get air lifted to a state like mine where abortion is legal and protected.

“By July of this year, one hospital in Idaho—next to my state—had already airlifted six pregnant women out of the state for emergency abortion care. And the unlucky ones—died. We must not look away from that hard reality.

“Here in America, in the 21st century, pregnant women die not because doctors don’t know how to save them, but because doctors don’t know if Republicans will let them.

“We have a maternal mortality crisis in this country, and these bans are making it worse. We are moving in the wrong direction.

“And to Republicans who have the gall to talk about exceptions for the life of the mother—while arguing against abortion as emergency care, even when it is life-saving—what do you think emergency care is for? What do you think emergency care is for?

“And let’s be clear, providing emergency stabilizing care is the bare minimum to keep a patient alive. These women may have undergone tremendous trauma and suffering up until they meet the threshold for emergency stabilizing care. It should never have to get to that point! Women shouldn’t have to lose organ function before they can get medical care. They shouldn’t have to bleed out in a parking lot. They shouldn’t have to miscarry on their own. Their husband shouldn’t have to find them bleeding and unconscious, and call 911 in a panic.

“This is what is happening.

“I am not going to stand for that. This will not become a new, accepted normal. Democrats are going to continue telling these women’s stories. We are going to continue pressing to fully restore reproductive freedoms for every woman in America.

“And we are going to continue to put a white-hot spotlight on the devastating, deadly fallout of Republicans’ extreme anti-abortion policies—of Donald Trump’s abortion bans, and on the cruel callousness Trump has offered in response—never missing an opportunity to gloat about overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Women and families are listening to him gloat, M. President. They’re not going to forget.”

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Carly Simon - Hello Big Man

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Mika: Trump’s bogus claim about pet-eating Haitians reveals exactly who ...

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"Fire" The Pointer Sisters at The Attic 1981

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Trump rally EMPTIES as his fans POUR OUT

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Tina Turner-Proud Mary and I Wanna Take You Higher-Warner Theatre 1978

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0 Days Until the Election in Virginia

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Diana Ross & Donald McKayle - Soulful Strut @ Hollywood Palace [3/8/69]

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Trump RUNS OUT OF STAMINA in Cases at PIVOTAL TIME

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Sonny & Cher March 6, 1972 I'm Gonna Make You Love Me / My World Is Empt...

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TOTAL CONTROL of Women: What Christian Nationalism Means

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MERYL STREEP talks with Kamala Harris and Oprah -- Unite for America vir...

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Kamala Harris blames Donald Trump for abortion bans

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Trump Speech Gets DROWNED OUT by Kamala POWER MOVE

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Friday, September 20, 2024

Is Trump's Fate Going to Play Out Like the Sopranos?

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As The Stomach Churns Sketch ft. Pat Carroll | The Carol Burnett Show Clip

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GOP’s Porn-Loving Black Nazi Could Cost Trump BIG TIME

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Trump SHOCKED by Kamala HITTING Metric HE FEARED Most

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Iraq snapshot

Friday, September 20, 2024. Oprah hosts a powerful townhall for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump's best buds Mark Robinson and Robert Kennedy Junior are both caught in scandals of their own making.





Yesterday in Michigan, Democratic Party presidential nominee Kamala Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey and hundreds of others.  Betty's dubbed it "Oprah's townhall for Kamala" and it was strong and powerful.  

There was joy and hope throughout the conversation.  Meryl Streep, participating via ZOOM, brought up a key issue: We do our work, we vote, we get out the vote and then what?  What happens when Donald Trump refuses to abide by the vote?  What happens on January 6th?  7th?  8th?

Kamala explained that not only were there legal preparations in place, there were also Americans.  A natural revulsion had set in to January 6th and the country wouldn't stand for a repeat of 2020.

And the revulsion is felt not just by Democrats.  Independents and Republicans feel it as well -- as do non-political people.  That's why Republicans are endorsing her for president.

It's not about signing off on every one of her policy proposals or even on one policy proposal in some cases.  It's about saving our country and protecting our democracy.  And it's about coming together as a people and working together for a greater good. "Unite For America" was the name of the event for that reason.


A powerful moment was when they addressed Donald Trump's appointment of three liars to the Supreme Court and the overturning of ROE V WADE.  "I want you to know," Shanette Williams declared speaking about her daughter Amber Nicole Thurman, "that Amber was not a statistic."  Ebony Davis and Fredreka Schouten (CNN) report:

             A discussion of reproductive rights included Hadley Duvall, an abortion rights advocate who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12 – as well as members of the family of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia mother who ProPublica reported died in 2022 from a treatable infection due to delays to her medical care stemming from the state’s restrictive abortion law.

Shanette, Thurman’s mother, spoke publicly about the case for the first time during Thursday’s livestream, saying, “Initially, I did not want the public to know my pain.”

“I wanted to go through in silence, but I realized that it was selfish. I want you to know, Amber was not a statistic, she was loved by a family, a strong family,” she added.

Harris, who is set to travel to Georgia on Friday to deliver remarks on women’s reproductive rights, apologized to Thurman’s family.

“I’m just so sorry,” the vice president said. “And the courage that you all have shown is extraordinary, because also you just learned about how it is that she died. … And Amber’s mom shared with me that the word over and over again in her mind, is preventable. Preventable. That word keeps coming to her.”

 

Abené Clayton and Lois Beckett (GUARDIAN) also note that section of the conversation:


Also in attendance were the mother and sisters of Amber Nicole Thurman, a woman who died after failing to receive prompt medical care in 2022 when she experienced complications from taking abortion pills, just weeks after Georgia’s abortion ban went into effect. A recent report deemed her the first “preventable” death to be confirmed as a result of Georgia’s ban.

Her family blamed Donald Trump and his supreme court picks for her death. “They just let her die because of some stupid abortion ban. They treated her like she was just another number,” Thurman’s older sister said of the medical professionals she had turned to for help.

“You’re looking at a mother who is broken,” Thurman’s mother said, through tears. “It’s the worst pain that a parent could ever feel. I want you all to know that Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a strong family and we would have done whatever to get our baby the help that she needed. Women around the world need to know that this was preventable.”


Another powerful moment took place when the issue of school shootings took place.  Kamala spoke about how she'd been addressing college students and tech school students this year and would ask, at the start, for a show of hands to determine how many had participated in an active shooting drill?  She noted that this wasn't normal and shouldn't be treated as though it was.  She spoke of growing up with fire drills and, because she grew up in California, earthquake drills.  But shooting drills?

Ebony Davis and Fredreka Schouten (CNN) report:

Harris and the livestream audience also heard from 15-year-old Natalie Griffith, a student from Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, who was shot twice during a campus attack earlier this month.

Natalie, who had a cast on her left arm, was joined by her parents, Marilda and Doug, who demanded more action. “We have a job, that job is to protect our children,” an impassioned Marilda Griffith said. “We have to stop it.”

Harris, who discussed owning a gun during her recent debate with Trump, reiterated Thursday that she believes it is a “false choice” to suggest someone is either in favor of the Second Amendment or wants to take everyone’s guns away.     


Aaron Navarro (CBS NEWS) types:

The parents of Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old injured in the deadly Apalachee High School shooting earlier this month in Winder, Georgia, spoke. Griffith's mother, Marilda, made an emotional plea for a "change to be made" to address gun violence. Her father, Doug — who noted that he was not a registered Democrat — called for metal detectors to be placed inside schools. 

Harris did not explicitly say if she agreed with the call for metal detectors, but said "we just need to apply common sense." She repeated her calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. When Winfrey made note of Harris being a gun owner, as she revealed in prior campaigns and repeated in her debate with Trump, Harris said that "if somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot."

 

Doug?  Doug's response -- messed up by Aaron Navarro -- was that this was a common sense issue.  Kamala, when she spoke of that, noted her agreement with Doug that this was basic and common sense.  I don't know whether she thinks metal detectors are part of that approach or not but it does Doug a disservice for CBS to report it that way.  And Doug's argument there was that metal detectors weren't always in courthouses but we have them there now, they weren't always in airports but we have them now.  

Marilda Griffith spoke about getting a call at work asking if she'd heard about the shooting at her daughter's school.  She hadn't.  She spoke of how her heart dropped, how she had to rush out of work, how she was praying the whole time and then she can't get near the school and has to walk a few miles to get there because it's blocked off.  And the whole time she's living in fear that her daughter's dead.


FOX 5 ATLANTA notes:


Natalie, still wearing bandages, was accompanied on either side by her parents, Doug and Marilda. She was visibly fighting back emotions as she described being injured in the school shooting.  

"Oprah, before that thing, that video, I was very happy, I still am very happy to be here and to tell my story to tell what happened because it was a terrible thing," she said. "And it should have not... um..." The teen trailed off in emotion and reflection.  

Natalie was in an algebra class when the shooting started. She was shot twice.  

She pointed to the spots on her arm and wrist where she was shot. She was also grazed across the chest.  

"I've had intruder drills and fire drills and stuff," the teen said, but added that they had not yet had one at Apalachee that year. She said she wasn't even sure where to go when it happened.  


Marilda noted that her daughter was wounded but she was alive; however, some students and teachers were killed in the shooting. In terms of national outlets,  Erica L. Green (NEW YORK TIMES) does a strong job covering this exchange: 


Also in the crowd at the forum, held outside Detroit, was Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old student who was shot twice in algebra class by a classmate during a campus attack on Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School, also in Georgia. Her mother, Marilda Griffith, sobbed telling the story of how that day unfolded.

“The whole world needs to hear that we women, that have our children — we have a job,” Ms. Griffith said. “That job is to protect our children. That job is to protect our nation.”

Ms. Harris agreed, citing the “bone-chilling” sight of a sea of students raising their hands when, on tours across the country, she asks if they have participated in active-shooter drills. 


There were many other strong moments.  Stream it if you haven't already.  This morning, WIRED has posted a Kamala video.



Let's move across the aisle now to find out what's going on in the world of MAGA.  Here's Ronny Chieng on THE DAILY SHOW last night.




Yes, Moms for Bigotry and Donald Trump suffered a big loss yesterday when their dream boat Mark Robinson got exposed for the liar he is.  Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ NATION) explained yesterday:


Rumors have been spreading today that Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson – known for his bombastically extreme anti-LGBTQ+ statements – is dropping out of the 2024 gubernatorial election less than 50 days before Election Day because a CNN story with numerous new accusations is about to be published.
Those accusations include him allegedly peeping in women’s locker rooms when he was a student at North Carolina A&T State University, saying he wanted to own slaves, and saying in online forums that he enjoyed pornography featuring transgender models, according to North Carolina journalist Bryan Anderson.
[. . .]
The Carolina Journal reported earlier today that unnamed sources told them that Robinson is being pressured by campaign staff and the Trump-Vance campaign to drop out of the election due to a scandal “that involves activity on adult websites in the 2000s.” The paper notes that today is the last day candidates are allowed to withdraw from the election under North Carolina law but that it’s too late for his name to not appear on ballots.

Instead of doing the right thing and stepping aside so that another bigot could be found to run in his place, Robinson elected to pull his long standing ploy: Deny, deny, deny. 


Robinson's past antisemitic comments have drawn scrutiny and condemnation.[16][47] Prior to running for lieutenant governor, he frequently made Facebook posts that invoked antisemitic stereotypes and downplayed the harms of Nazism.[48][49] He claimed that the Marvel movie Black Panther was "created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxists" that was "only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets" (using a Yiddish word for "black people").[14][13] Robinson also appeared at an interview with fringe pastor Sean Moon, who claimed that he planned to become "king of the United States"; in the interview, Moon claimed that the Rothschild family was one of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" and promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory of a cabal of Jewish "international bankers" that rule every country's central bank. Robinson endorsed Moon's claim as "exactly right".[47] Robinson's statements, as well as his refusal to apologize for or retract them, drew much concern from the leaders of North Carolina's Jewish community,[16] as well as criticism from the Jewish Democratic Council of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).[48] Robinson declined to publicly apologize for any of his remarks, although he said he privately apologized to local Jewish leaders in a meeting in 2021.[48] In 2022, Robinson said that his Facebook post about Black Panther was "the only time I've ever apologized for anything I put on Facebook" and said "I knew the truth of what I was trying to say, but I should have chosen different words."[35]

In October 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel, Robinson said he supported Israel and, when asked about his past antisemitic comments, said "I've never been antisemitic...There have been some Facebook posts that were poorly worded on my part, did not convey my real sentiments, and I have addressed those issues and moved on from those issues."[50] When asked if he apologized, Robinson said, "I apologize for the word — not necessarily for the content, but we apologize for the wording."[50] Robinson's opponents in the gubernatorial election questioned the sincerity of the apology and called his prior statements hate speech and antisemitism.[8][50]

In September 2024, CNN reported that Robinson had allegedly used antisemitic slurs on various porn forums from 2008-2012.[17]

Holocaust denial

In March 2023, more of Robinson's past social-media statements emerged, including Facebook posts appearing to call the figure of 6 million Jews perishing in the Holocaust into question;[49] for example, Robinson wrote: "this foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash,"[7] and "There is a REASON the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the NAZI and the '6 million Jews' they murdered."[49] Both Democrats and Republicans criticized Robinson's statements.[48][7]



He's trashed the LGBTQ+ community repeatedly and especially transgender people but he gets off watching transgender porn.

Everything he's publicly railed against?  He's a fake ass.  Not unlike JD Vance who rails against LGBTQ+ people and drag queens while wearing more eyeliner than anyone since the Cleopatra look took off in the early sixties.  JD Vance also pretends to be deeply religious but how could someone deeply religious convert to a faith without his wife and children -- a religion that leaves them behind.  Like the founder of Moms For Bigotry Bridget Ziegler who was actually getting in bed with women (sometimes bringing her husband along although the woman's texts we've seen make it clear that she and Bridget had a stronger bond with Bridget's husband), Mark Robinson preached hate and attacked while secretly living the life he railed against.

He's a fake, he's a liar and he's misled supporters.  Instead of taking one for the team, he's decided he can lie his way out of this.   Megan Lebowitz (NBC NEWS) reports:
 

Less than 24 hours after CNN published a bombshell report on comments that it said Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, made on a pornographic website, the Democratic National Committee unveiled new advertisements linking him to former President Donald Trump.

The DNC plans to launch a new digital advertisement and nearly a dozen billboards highlighting how Trump has praised Robinson, who is North Carolina's lieutenant governor, according to a source familiar with the matter and a news release by DNC regional press secretary Kenny Palmer. NBC News was the first to report the new ad push.

By linking Trump to Robinson, Democrats hope to cut into Trump's support in the state, which a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since 2008.



Robinson is linked not to just to Donald Trump but to MAGA itself.  As Elaine noted last night:

I don't think anyone considers Marjorie Taylor Greene a good judge of anything.  However, let me note this video.  The man involved is, according to MTG, "a man of high character."




Here's MEDIA MATTERS on Mark Robinson:


Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is reportedly facing calls to drop out of his race due to an impending bombshell story that could torpedo his candidacy. Some of Robinson's biggest supporters have been prominent right-wing media figures, including people Donald Trump Jr., Dan Bongingo, and Charlie Kirk. 

Robinson is a right-wing commentator who became lieutenant governor of North Carolina in January 2021. He has a history of toxic remarks, including about women and LGBTQ people. 

Media Matters previously uncovered that Robinson claimed in 2018 that Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby were victims of a left-wing “plot” to destroy them for their “so-called sexual crimes.” Robinson also called on his followers to “stand up against” the supposed “plot to build up a climate of fear, to shut people's mouths.” Media Matters also reported that he said mass shootings are “karma” for allowing abortion.

Despite his well-known history of extremist remarks, Robinson has gotten support from numerous Republicans. That list includes former President Donald Trump, who endorsed him by claiming he’s “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Since Robinson began running for governor last year, numerous right-wing media figures have endorsed him with strong praise. Here is a look at those remarks prior to today's reporting about Republicans urging him to leave the race.

Donald Trump Jr. said “we need more” people like Robinson who are “not afraid to say” what they’re thinking. During his Rumble show, Trump Jr. said that he likes Robinson and he’s a “good guy, funny guy, not afraid to say what he is thinking, which I think we need more of.” 

Eric Trump: “Amazing, amazing, amazing guy. Amazing guy. … Mark is a wonderful person, a wonderful guy. A person I’ve gotten to know very, very well. And I think not only are we going to win the state, I think he’s going to win the state.” 


 MAGA is shorthand for?  Liar.


They lie.  They attack others because it helps them lie.  And when it all comes out and they could help their bigoted team, they instead refuse to step aside and instead make it all about themselves.  










Donald and his boys can't work together because they hate each other and, most of all, they hate themselves.


Did someone say Junior?

Another MAGA boi takes a hit.  Khaleda Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports that, through a spokesperson, Junior is denying an entanglement.  They do love to lie, don't they?  Aaron Johnson (RADAR) notes:

The star political reporter at the center of the love triangle involving one-time presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and his Curb Your Enthusiasm star wife Cheryl Hines copped to an inappropriate relationship — but has insisted it was all an online fling.

In declaring the relationship was never physical, New York magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi, 31, admitted that "the nature of some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal" in a statement issued late Thursday night.



Nuzzi said in a statement to The New York Times on Thursday, without elaborating on the exact nature of their relationship, that "some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal" earlier this year.

She said that despite having covered the subject previously she did not report on him directly during this time.

"The relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict. I deeply regret not doing so immediately and apologize to those I’ve disappointed, especially my colleagues at New York," she said.

NBC News reached out to Nuzzi overnight for comment.

While neither Nuzzi or New York Magazine named the reporting subject, both CNN and the New York Times have reported that it was Kennedy.


The truth always tends to come out and Donald hangs with a lot of creeps and liars because they remind him of himself.  You gotta wonder though, is it really worth it for Junior?  He had a level of respect until recently.  

When he declared Sirhan Sirhan was not the killer of his father, even people who thought the assertion was insanity made a point to listen to Junior because they regarded him with some level of respect.  No longer.  In Junior's mind right now, he's probably got a new conspiracy theory going -- this one where the CIA took him out as an authentic voice, that it was all The Agency's doing.  Of course, that would mean the first person he'd have to rethink was his own daughter-in-law and he'd have to wonder did she really leave the CIA?  

While he goes crazy ass trying to harness some nut job theory onto this latest disgrace, let's keep it simple.  A lot of stuff he did, a lot of us looked the other way.  We felt sorry for him in some cases.  But then nut job proved he was not deserving of sympathy and that he'd destroy our country.

That's why, for example, Ava and I noted on August 28th:

A mutual friend of Junior's had told us earlier in the week about the call that was put in.  Was he making a mistake if he endorsed Donald Trump?  Yes, the friend told him.  


"It was so different from the call a decade ago," he explained.  "That time it was him asking if he should marry Cheryl [Hines] and my yes answer got a lot more push back."


Indeed.


Junior raised the issue of Cheryl's name value (not as high as he wanted) and her "horse face" and the dangling boob that was smaller than the other and -- Well, let's leave it there.  We don't want to be unnecessarily cruel.  Besides we had to jog his memory on the fourth complaint Junior had about Cheryl, he'd forgotten.


We hadn't because Junior made four calls that time, to four trusted friends, who'd repeated the story over the years.  Three of them didn't think the marriage would last five years and that Junior would leave her.  Fortunately for Cheryl, with her, he just cheats and, but "she gives him time, [he] makes it back home." That was from another man he called about whether or not he should marry Cheryl.  When we found out he'd called at least one about both (whether to marry Cheryl, whether to endorse Donald), we decided to check and see if he'd called all four.

Junior's used the campaign to cat around -- there have been multiple women he's had entanglements with over the last 18 months.  And don't feel sorry for Cheryl.  She could have left him when he endorsed Donald and announced he'd be taking a job in a Trump administration.  If she'd have walked then, the story would have been that politics busted up their happy marriage.  Instead, the world's finding out differently.  She chose to be a doormat.  She was aware he was cheating . And she kept taking him back and looking the other way.

She had no love for her country -- that would have led her to rebuke his choice of embracing Donald Trump.  But she also had no self-respect.

Now the world sees what a charade the marriage was and how a desperate and pathetic Cheryl was willing to do anything -- and endure anything -- to stay married to him.

And, for the record, Junior, we're not done with you yet.  There are more leaks to come.




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