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We’re #1: 2012 Election Was An Election Of Firsts For AAPIs
This year’s election was an election of firsts. Not least of all for our people, who are often left out of election and post-election talk altogether. A brief recap:
MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI) becomes the first Asian American woman elected to the Senate, and the first woman senator representing Hawaii. She’s also the first Senator born in Japan, and she’s Buddhist. Plus her name is Mazie–from the Japanese “Meiji,” pronounced “May-zee”–which officially gives her the coolest name in Congress.
TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL), who will represent the 8th Congressional District of Illinois, becomes the first Thai American and the first disabled woman veteran elected to Congress. She’s fluent in Thai, Indonesian, and before she was deployed to Iraq in 2004, she was pursuing her Ph.D. She was a US Army combat helicopter pilot in Iraq when the Black Hawk she was co-piloting was hit by an RPG, causing damage to her right arm and the loss of both her legs. Now, thanks to prosthetics, she is fully mobile. So yes, she is more badass than anyone you know.
GRACE MENG (D-NY), from New Yorks’s 6th Congressional District, becomes the Continue reading We’re #1: 2012 Election Was An Election Of Firsts For AAPIs
Filed under: 2012 election, 2012 Presidential Election, AAPI Vote, Asian American Vote, Asian Americans and Voting, Asian Americans in Congress, Asian Americans in Government, Asians Voted Democratic 2012, Badass Women, Badasses, Barack Obama, Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, Congress, election, firsts, GOP, Grace Meng, Heroes, LGBT, Mark Takano, Mazie Hirono, Mike Honda, Most Asian Americans In Congress Ever, Oh The Times They Are A Changin', Openly-Gay Politicians, Pacific Islanders, President Barack Obama, Tammy Duckworth, Tulsi Gabbard, United States Congress, US Congress, War Veterans, We Love Being First, Yay Us
As If Rep. Todd Akin Weren’t Enough Of A Joke Already
The homepage of the New York Times brings you this headline today, chock full of hilarious innuendo:
The NYT: shutting that whole thing down!
Filed under: Anti-Abortion Crazies, Anti-Abortion Platform, Claire McCaskill, GOP, In and Out, Legitimate Rape, Missouri Politics, People Who Are Total Jokes, Phallic References, Politicians, Rep. Todd Akin, Republican Party, Republicans, Todd Akin Legitimate Rape
Republicans Have Rape On The Brain, But Who Said Anything About Rape?
There’s been a lot of talk about rape lately from the Republican party, specifically from Republican men, whether it’s the discussion of what defines rape or whether rape can actually cause pregnancy or how the official GOP platform on abortion will not include an exemption for victims of rape (or incest or mothers whose lives are in danger.)
Lack of common sense aside, there’s more than a little political positioning going on here, some fuckery on the extreme right that then allows Mitt, the party’s presidential candidate, to swoop in looking like a moderate-seeming Rape Savior by contrast–never mind that his sidekick Paul Ryan seems to have a rape problem, too–who can then say, I’m not as crazy as these dicks! Therefore, I’m pro-women!
But it’s 2012. I’m not fighting for women’s rights only in the case of rape, incest, and life-threatening danger. I’m fighting for women’s rights, period. I should not have to be raped, made the victim of incest, or have some life-threatening condition in order to be allowed to make decisions about my own body.
[CNN: GOP prepares tough anti-abortion platform]
[NY Times: Senate Candidate Provokes Ire With ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment]
[Boston Globe: Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan seek distance from ‘legitimate rape’ remark, but records show narrow support for abortion]
Filed under: 2012 Presidential Candidates, 2012 Presidential Election, Anti-Abortion Platform, Anti-Abortion Rape Exemption, Appealing to Women Voters, Forcible Rape, GOP, Legitimate Rape, Missouri, Mitt Romney, Official GOP Platform, Paul Ryan, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Pussy Riot, Rape, Rape and Pregnancy, Rep. Todd Akin, Republican Party, Right-Wing Extremism, Roe v. Wade, Smokescreens, The Dark Ages, This is Bullshit, Todd Akin, Turning Back the Clock, Women Voters, Women's Rights
AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Democratic Congressional Candidate Colleen Hanabusa
Name: Colleen Hanabusa
Hails from: Wai’anae, Hawaii
Occupation: Labor lawyer, Hawaiian State Senator, and Democratic nominee for Hawaii’s 1st congressional district
Known for: Becoming Hawaii’s first woman President of the Senate in 2006, thereby becoming the first Asian American woman to preside over a state legislative chamber in the U.S.; getting endorsed by U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, former President Bill Clinton, and President Barack Obama; running a close race against Republican incumbent Charles Djou, who won the seat in a May special election, in part because the liberal vote was split among Hanabusa and several other candidates.
Karl Rove has spent more than $16 million on ads trying to defeat Democrats like Hanabusa and install candidates in Congress like her opponent Djou, who favors extending Bush’s tax cuts even to the most wealthy Americans and limiting government spending even at the expense of job creation. The irony, of course, is that Rove is one of the main architects of our current deficit that the GOP has been so keen on blaming on Obama and Democrats. The last thing Hawaii–which had the ninth-highest foreclosure rate in the 3rd quarter–needs is to put someone in office supported by Rove.
The GOP also wants this seat so badly because it’s in Obama’s home state and district, and a win would be “hugely symbolic”–so it’s time to show your mahalo spirit, Hawaii, and not let that happen!
[Colleen Hanabusa for Congress]
Source
Thanks, Cate!
Filed under: American Crossroads, Asian-American Politicians, Bush Tax Cuts, Charles Djou, Colleen Hanabusa, Congressional Races, Deficit, George Bush, GOP, Government Spending, Hawaii, Hawaii 1st Congressional District, Hawaiians, Karl Rove, Karl Rove Acolytes, Pacific Islanders, Tight Congressional Races, Turd Blossom
DISGRASIAN OF THE WEAK! Texas Rep. Betty Brown (UPDATE)
Dear Betty,
Girl, we gotta hand it to you. You are one badass motherfucker when it comes to bringing people together. We can’t tell you how many people wrote in Thursday all hepped up about you saying before the Texas House of Representatives Election Committee that Asian-Americans should get names that are easier for real-Americans to “deal with” so that we can retain our right to vote. Not only did our Asian readers (or “our citizens,” as you call them) write in to complain, but our white, black, Latino, bi-racial, bi-curious, gay, straight, and every other color of the rainbow-brethren did, too. You could seriously give Barack Obama–who should also get a name that’s easier to deal with, don’t you think?–a run for his money in the “unifying people” category.
But we’re not writing to chasten you today, we’re writing to thank you. Because you’ve actually done us a great service. For one thing, you’ve made the Republican Party look baaaaad. In an age where the GOP is desperately trying to rebrand itself as a more inclusive and, like, fun party, you’re a soft-spoken, gently-coiffed, silvery reminder that it’s not. For another, you’ve driven a whole new group of voters with annoyingly difficult names to the Democrats, people who might have voted for you once upon a time but who have been fleeing your party in droves for the last 20 years because they’ve just found the Democratic party easier to “deal with.” Which is unfortunate for you and yours since Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing minority group in the country (Need a transliteration? We’re taking over everything). Thank you for reminding us, too, that voter rights aren’t something we can take for granted, and that we can’t rely on lawmakers like you to, say, actually make laws that ensure those rights. So we need to make sure our vote counts–first and foremost–by voting people like you, with your easy-to-deal-with-names and your hard-too-fathom-ignorance, right out of office.
with gratitude,
DISGRASIAN
p.s. How awesome is Ramey Ko, the nice, articulate, good English-speaking Asian gentleman who testified before you and the House Elections Committee? Did you learn his difficult name? You should, because you’re going to be working for him someday.
To write Rep. Betty Brown your own thank you-note, click here.
To see the video of Brown’s comments, click here.
[UPDATE: Betty Brown apologizes. Then the incident makes SNL.]
Filed under: Asian-American Voters, Betty Brown Asian-American Names, GOP, President Barack Obama, Ramey Ko, Really Stupid People, Republicans, Texas Rep. Betty Brown
Beware the Jindal
Oh, Bobby Jindal. You are so smooth. So eloquent. So Rhodes Scholarly. So American Dream-y. And that accent!
I want. To hump. That accent.
Which is why we should be afraid of the Jindal (aka “Their Obama”). Be very afraid.
Thanks, Jasmine!
Filed under: 2012, Bobby Jindal, GOP, Governor Jindal, Immigrants, Indian-Americans, Louasiana, Louisiana, People to Watch, Republican Party, Rhodes Scholars, Southern Accents, The Republican Obama
