Mississippi is racing South Dakota in outlawing access to abortion services.

Welcome to the Domino Theory, Edition 2006.

Wonder if the Mississippi legislators will, like the South Dakota legislators, refuse to open the question up for a vote by the people in November elections. I'm thinking the answer is: "Yes."

Fuck dat noise.

Whenever you're proposing to strip people of their rights, I'm thinking you better damn well ask them if it's okay that you do just that.

You just know, just know that the reason why these "pro-life states" (in quotes because I'd actually believe these states were "pro-life" if they weren't so damned tight-fisted about spending money on actually taking care of, feeding, and educating the living, breathing, walking-around children they've already got living in poverty...) won't do it is because they know they will lose and lose very, very badly if they put the question up for a general vote.

It says something when my mother, the staunchly anti-abortion woman that she is, actually volunteered on the phone with absolutely zero prompting from me: "This banning abortion business. Looking at it now, I'm starting to think that this is not such a great idea."

Something about suddenly remembering how there were dead women back in the day before Roe and that maybe "safe" is just a little bit better than "not safe." My parents are thinking that the days of underground networks where you may or may not have been able to get a safe, sterile surgical procedure is not exactly a day they want anyone to revisit. Cause, at the end of the day, healthy, safe, and living women are a hell of a lot better than sick, trapped, or dead women.

Something I've only been saying since, oh, forever.

See? This is why I used to start fights in my religion class back at my Unnamed Catholic High School. Good thing I was a straight-A student, otherwise they would've expelled my ass.

Hmmmm, if someone like my mother is taking a step back and thinking the better of banning abortion now that it just might become reality in some states, it might not be as hopeless as we think.

Of course, that's assuming these wonderful state Legislatures have the balls to let their constituents actually vote on the issue.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

Am I getting any fanfic writing done?

Why, no. No, I'm not.

Wanna know why?

I'm too busy beating my head against the wall and screaming obscenities. That's why.

Now, saying George Bush lied is sort of like saying that grass is green and the sky is blue. I know this.

But when you've got a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions like Hurricane Katrina and you lie about it?

Well, now. We're talking about something else entirely.

The RudePundit (as the name implies, most of the language in this blog is not worksafe) went home for the holidays and documented in excruciating detail with pictures how the entire region is still in dire straights. (The Katrina links, however, are worksafe.)

The photos are devastating and Mr. Rude's exploration of his hometown and environs will make you sick with grief.

Read his journey home, then read the latest from AP. Better, go watch the video.

Remember Bush how said, "No one knew the levees would break?"

Remember how quite a few people called bullshit on that?

I really hate being right. Especially when you've got, to quote Editor & Publisher:

In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage - along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press - show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Excuse me. I need to go somewhere and scream very loudly. I'm feeling just a little bit overwhelmed.