So for those not following VA politics, I’ll do up a bit of a TL;DR:
Pre-Nov-2023:
- Governor: Republican
- Legislature: 1 house was Dem, 1 house was Republican
- Abortion was used to try to drum up support to make both legislative houses Republican in the Nov 2023 elections (among other things)
Nov 2023 elections happen.
- Plan backfires. Dems get both legislative houses, but Gov seat is still Republican.
New Legislative session starts for 2024.
- Republican filed a bill to remove funding for abortions
- Dems were like “lol no”, wanted to bring a floor vote on the bill to get votes recorded on where everyone stands on it
- Republicans tried to revoke and water down bill, Dems were like “lol no”
- Dems forced the bill to floor vote
- Almost every single Republican decided to vote “no” on bill, so it failed by 97 votes (out of 100).
Just another episode of the GOP’s fascist clownshow.
Not really, the GOP didn’t get far at all in their shenanigans here. The national Dems could learn a thing or two from this…
If this was the normal clownshow, the Dems would roll over and be like “it’s time for unity and reconciliation” or whatever crap they push.
This is a disingenuous take, considering the important distinction between these state Dems and the national Dems:
These guys have majorities in their houses, and thus have significantly more political power. The national Dems don’t.
This is a disingenuous take
No it isn’t. The national Dems are just incredibly ineffective and leadership pushes the bare minimum. Like the national party, Virginia has it’s share of Democrats that are conservative and take issue with broader party goals too.
Let’s look at the legislature make-up:
Virginia Senate: 21D-19R
Virginia House of Delegates: 51D-49R
There is very, very little room for defections.
Yeah this is how you let Republicans self-own, not by trying to pass a draconian border bill that expressly appeases fascists’ sensibilities. It’s far better and easier to drag their asses out into the open, show how awful they are, and then deny them.
Taking the ‘high road’ is Dems saying “We ain’t doing shit about anything. Fuck you.”
Griffin then faulted Democrats for turning his bill into a “circus,” saying he supports exceptions for the life of the mother but was never afforded a chance to amend the legislation to reflect that.
Either you oppose the provisions you wrote into your own bill, or your don’t. Can’t have it both ways, Grif.
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Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, said it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to have their own bills turned against them.
“It’s happened to me. I’ve had some bad ideas before,” Simon said. “You put those bills in, and anything can happen. And you’ve got to be willing to deal with the consequences.”
[I want to believe that’s] refreshingly honest!
seems like maybe someone should review it before they turn it in. these people are making law and seem to do it with very little care.
That’s what the debating and voting is for, no?
this sounds like the polar opposite of kentucky
If there’s any places worth being the polar opposite of, Kentucky would be near the top of that list.
We still have a Dem governor. There are plenty of states farther south that are completely under fascist control. We didn’t, for example, pick a fight with the federal government or the Walt Disney Co.
I will totally concede that point. I mean, it sorta falls in the same category of “Thank god for West Virginia,” but it’s a very reasonable observation.
Although to be honest, if forced to relocate to any state down there, I’d probably just emigrate to Portugal.
Oh no doubt. I’m not saying Kentucky is good, just that it’s probably one of the better red states right now.
Which, uh… Isn’t really a ringing endorsement.
Seems like an “I Was Here” kind of bullshit vote. Fuck these GOP ass clowns for wasting everyone’s time and money though.
“I will not allow these babies and these mothers to be politicized” said Griffin, while actively politicizing those babies and those mothers.
The Democratic majority didn’t allow Griffin to cancel his own legislation. That prompted a warning from Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Caroline, who said the body was breaking with its longstanding tradition of letting members retake control of bills that have gone “totally awry.”
“Understand the consequences that may come home to roost for all the rest of us,” Orrock said, adding that in his 35 years of House service he was aware of just one instance that Republicans had done the same thing to a Democrat.
I suppose this was a trade-off, then. Wonder if it will come back to bite in a future session or not.
Facing The Consequences of the Bill You Yourself Proposed is good actually, and should apply to both parties, yes.
You know how bugs are expected in computer programming? I wonder why this was a long-standing tradition for lawmakers - maybe there’s something I don’t understand.
On the surface it definitely sounds whack to me, I definitely agree.
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