She’s shaking her finger at us again.

Since the whole defunding of Planned Parenthood has worked out so well in Texas, Arizona’s Jan Brewer has decided that, yahoo!, she’s going to spend taxpayer dollars fighting a losing battle, too.

Brewer, who recently replaced Christine O’Donnell as the new Republican Women Against Mental Health spokeswoman, is trying to ban Planned Parenthood from providing preventative health care for 20,000 women in Arizona.  Because she freekin’ hates women.  Hates them.  To the bone.

Thank you, Jan Brewer, for helping women with y’all’s new  Flee the GOP program.  We love women over on the bright side.

Thanks to Marcie, Sam, and David for the heads-up.

I love yew, Texas.

I’ll be spending the afternoon at the Democratic booth at our local Cinco de Mayo celebration and then off to a major fiesta tonight.

You have any plans?

Well, the ball’s back in the home court.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Texas cannot ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds, at least until a lower court has a chance to hear formal arguments.

A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday with a lower court that there’s sufficient evidence the state’s law banning Planned Parenthood from participating in the Women’s Health Program is unconstitutional. Appellate Judge Jerry Smith had stayed an injunction keeping the law from being enforced earlier this week so the court could review it.

As you recall, first the lower judge said Texas could NOT ban Planned Parenthood from providing women’s health care.

The next day, Judge Crazypants executed a stay and also executed any shred of dignity he had left.

Now, we’re back to where we started before Judge Jerry Smith Crazypants started playing politics with women’s healthcare.

Oddly, the ball batted back and forth in badminton is called a shuttlecock.  I do believe it’s named after this event, but I cannot prove that.

It makes sense, though.

Thanks to Carl for the heads-up.

There are people who think that the Texas State Board of Education cannot get any worse.

They are so wrong.

Meet Gail Spurlock, a Republican from Richardson running for the Board of Education.

She says the Pilgrims were “required to be communists” and that’s why half of them died the first year.  Once “they turned it into a free market system and they flourished from there.”  Yep.  And Ronald Reagan helped them.

Thanks to Anthony for the heads-up.

California.

After years of being labeled the “Party of No” by majority Democrats, California Republican leaders stood under rainy skies Thursday outside the Capitol to dub themselves the “Party of Yes.”

The newly christened party kicked off its campaign by asking for a “no” vote on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax hike. California Republican Party leaders organized the press conference to launch a statewide “whistle-stop tour” just as Brown had finished collecting signatures for his $9 billion tax initiative.

I can’t think of anything to say.

Thanks to Ralph for the heads up.

Last night, for two looong boring hours, Texas Senatorial candidates attempted to out mumble each other on statewide teevee.

It was like watching a school play your kid isn’t in.  Even Democrat Paul Sadler, who I love, needed a glitter enema.  He should learn from Bill White that if you’re gonna run successfully in Texas, you need a dog and pony show.  And it helps if your dog knows a few tricks and your pony ain’t dead. I love you, Paul, but at the next debate I’m going to hold a Bic lighter under your tail.

Ted cruz, He's Here Because He Ain't All There

The only slightly interesting part was Republican Ted Cruz, who is currently filling the anti-mental health vacuum of leadership in Texas, try to swat David Dewhurst with a short stick.  At one point in the debate, Cruz tried to claim that fracking cannot possibly be dangerous because it’s done “thousands of miles underground.”  I suspect he left his ruler at home.

The Texas towns of Colleyville and Southlake would humbly like to disagree with Ted Cruz. Independent studies there have shown that fracking is trying real hard to kill them.

Gordon Aalund, an MD with toxicology training who lives in Southlake and practices emergency medicine said, “Exceeding long and short term exposure limits to these toxics places us all at increased and unneeded risk.” He went on to say, “When your government fails to protect you and the company cannot be trusted, private citizens are forced to act.”

The only thing thousands of miles underground is Ted Cruz’s soul.

And Craig James, the former pro football player and current entertainment promoter, might turn out to be a little fun.  He believes that everyone in America can be rich if they just work hard enough and can play pro football, which kinda leaves me out.  He wants a corporate tax rate of 0%.  He’s kinda Michelle Bachmann with a few more concussions.

And David Dewhurst was David Dewhurst – a white bread and mayo kind of guy.  He’s creepy.