http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/v-fullstory/2154351/from-the-florida-house-to-national.html
QuoteTALLAHASSEE -- A little thing happened in the Florida House two weeks ago. A Democrat from Orlando said "uterus" during a floor debate.
No one much noticed, or cared, until word leaked that Republicans told Democrats they couldn't say the word.
Now people can't stop saying it.
Angry with cuts to education? Democrats say uterus.
Don't like giving Gov. Rick Scott more power? Uterus.
Upset with the way the Legislature is treating unions? Uterus!
The story caught the attention of national media and the legislator, Scott Randolph, made it on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show.
"Uterus?" It has a Facebook page, Twitter hashtags, and— because it's politics — pink buttons.
But most importantly, Democrats looking for a unifying theme amid dour legislative prospects have found it in a single, unlikely word.
Randolph, 37, got the idea from his wife.
If she would incorporate her uterus, she said one night over dinner, maybe Republicans would drop 18 anti-abortion measures they are considering during the legislative session.
Republicans, after all, are against regulations for businesses.
So March 25, during a debate about union dues collections, Randolph used his time on the floor to make her point.
"It's easy to practice an ideology of convenience," he said. "If my wife incorporated her uterus, you all would say hands off. If my friends incorporated their bedroom, you'd say hands off. But now we're standing here and we're saying we're going to increase regulation on a specific type of membership organization. And that's unions."
Watching, Susannah Randolph said: "Oh my God, I can't believe he used that."
Republicans, apparently, couldn't believe it either.
Soon after, Randolph was told by the Republican House leadership — through Minority Leader Ron Saunders — that he was not to discuss body parts on the floor.
The reason? Because of the 12-to-14-year-old pages watching.
"The speaker believes it is important for all members to be mindful of and respectful to visitors and guests, particularly the young pages and messengers," said Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon.
In the past, Betta said, if debate was going to contain language that would be considered inappropriate for children, House members would advise people in attendance ahead of time.
Some wondered if Cannon knew uterus to be the word for a woman's womb. He does.
Who declared uterus off-limits in this case, and how strong the scolding was, is up for debate. Saunders said the message came from Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Lopez-Cantera says it wasn't him.
Cannon, for the record, said Wednesday that the word isn't banned, and Randolph and Democrats are playing up the issue.
"This is silly," Cannon said. "No. 1, I haven't spoken to Scott Randolph in many weeks. And I think one of the reasons he is probably one of the least effective members of the Democratic caucus is he substitutes things that have provocative value or shock value rather than making policy arguments."
Randolph responded by declaring Cannon the most effective legislator — "when it comes to waging war on middle-class Floridians."
In between the he-said, he-said, uterus talk continues.
The Uterus Facebook page has more than 2,500 members, and people have tried to flood the official House of Representatives page with comments — many of which are simply "Uterus!"
"Time to chastise Mr. Speaker Cannon. Apparently he voted for a bill back in 2009 with the word 'utero' in it," someone posted on the Facebook page.
Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, commented: "That is crazy! In front of pages? little children...? OMG!"
Susannah Randolph joked that she's forming a U-PAC to support like-minded candidates, calling the group The Uterati. She's behind an anti-Rick Scott website www.pinksliprick.com, and previously ran the campaign of former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson.
And the Florida chapter of the ACLU has launched www.incorporatemyuterus.com, where people can — for fun — do just that.
"If Republicans would have let it go, that would have been the end of it," said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. "For some reason, they didn't."
House Democrats have started wearing pink buttons that say uterus in capital letters.
Saunders, the minority leader, warned members at the end of a Wednesday caucus meeting not to wear the buttons on the House floor.
"You have to leave your uteruses in your offices," joked Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg.
Rep. Steve Perman, D-Boca Raton, hid his button inside his jacket, Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, slyly pinned hers on the reverse of her lapel, and then the Democrats walked to their seats in the last two rows of the House chamber.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/v-fullstory/2154351/from-the-florida-house-to-national.html#ixzz1IwCouNnm
that's IT, I'm done. I'm OUT! I'm tearing up my voter registration card.
the stupidity finally got to me.
:lulz:
But now I want to be part of the Uterati.
Gov't: Officially The New Comedy Theatre
I mean it's always been hilarious, but now they're not even playing it straight.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on April 08, 2011, 02:37:51 PM
But now I want to be part of the Uterati.
yeah, that part got me. There should be business cards made up.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on April 08, 2011, 02:37:51 PM
But now I want to be part of the Uterati.
I think that's a club that is probably easier to get kicked out of than to join.
Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name? on April 08, 2011, 02:45:32 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on April 08, 2011, 02:37:51 PM
But now I want to be part of the Uterati.
I think that's a club that is probably easier to get kicked out of than to join.
Now where did you birth that idea?
Quote from: Rev. What's-His-Name? on April 08, 2011, 02:45:32 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on April 08, 2011, 02:37:51 PM
But now I want to be part of the Uterati.
I think that's a club that is probably easier to get kicked out of than to join.
I have a feeling they all sit in section C.
THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
WE HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF THE CHILDREN WHO WATCH SESSIONS FOR THEIR RESEARCH PAPERS. :lulz:
ALSO CHILDREN OBVIOUSLY HAVEN'T BEEN TAUGHT BASIC ANATOMY AND THE WORD UTERUS WILL SCAR THEM FOR LIFE.
So, the new GOP battle cry is, apparently, "we can't argue the point, so we won't let you use that word!"
Speechless.
It's like Florida is being run by the mod team from TCC.
And the Democrats are totally trolling with the uterus buttons.
The Florida GOP should consult with TCC's mod crew on how to deal with this. :lulz:
this really doesn't surprise me. This god damned city is so baptist conservative that when Vagina Monologues was put on here, they had to marquee it as The HooHaa Monologues. Oh, and UNF's newspaper just caught shit from the college director for a front page image of a guy with his head between a girls legs, in an article talking about oral sex and the risk of HPV.
how dare the picture match the topic of the story. :lulz:
Just god damn it all. I'm too young to be this fed up with humanity.
Quote from: Sigmatic on April 08, 2011, 05:44:46 PM
Speechless.
That's exactly what they want, Sigmatic. They want to stifle YOUR ability to tell them to shove it up their asses, pointy ends backwards so the barbs hook when they pull it back out.
Well, I meant it figuratively. I have a number of select words in mind.
Words like "demagogue".
Quote from: Pickled Starfish on April 08, 2011, 02:28:06 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/v-fullstory/2154351/from-the-florida-house-to-national.html
QuoteTALLAHASSEE -- A little thing happened in the Florida House two weeks ago. A Democrat from Orlando said "uterus" during a floor debate.
No one much noticed, or cared, until word leaked that Republicans told Democrats they couldn't say the word.
Now people can't stop saying it.
Angry with cuts to education? Democrats say uterus.
Don't like giving Gov. Rick Scott more power? Uterus.
Upset with the way the Legislature is treating unions? Uterus!
The story caught the attention of national media and the legislator, Scott Randolph, made it on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show.
"Uterus?" It has a Facebook page, Twitter hashtags, and— because it's politics — pink buttons.
But most importantly, Democrats looking for a unifying theme amid dour legislative prospects have found it in a single, unlikely word.
Randolph, 37, got the idea from his wife.
If she would incorporate her uterus, she said one night over dinner, maybe Republicans would drop 18 anti-abortion measures they are considering during the legislative session.
Republicans, after all, are against regulations for businesses.
So March 25, during a debate about union dues collections, Randolph used his time on the floor to make her point.
"It's easy to practice an ideology of convenience," he said. "If my wife incorporated her uterus, you all would say hands off. If my friends incorporated their bedroom, you'd say hands off. But now we're standing here and we're saying we're going to increase regulation on a specific type of membership organization. And that's unions."
Watching, Susannah Randolph said: "Oh my God, I can't believe he used that."
Republicans, apparently, couldn't believe it either.
Soon after, Randolph was told by the Republican House leadership — through Minority Leader Ron Saunders — that he was not to discuss body parts on the floor.
The reason? Because of the 12-to-14-year-old pages watching.
"The speaker believes it is important for all members to be mindful of and respectful to visitors and guests, particularly the young pages and messengers," said Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon.
In the past, Betta said, if debate was going to contain language that would be considered inappropriate for children, House members would advise people in attendance ahead of time.
Some wondered if Cannon knew uterus to be the word for a woman's womb. He does.
Who declared uterus off-limits in this case, and how strong the scolding was, is up for debate. Saunders said the message came from Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Lopez-Cantera says it wasn't him.
Cannon, for the record, said Wednesday that the word isn't banned, and Randolph and Democrats are playing up the issue.
"This is silly," Cannon said. "No. 1, I haven't spoken to Scott Randolph in many weeks. And I think one of the reasons he is probably one of the least effective members of the Democratic caucus is he substitutes things that have provocative value or shock value rather than making policy arguments."
Randolph responded by declaring Cannon the most effective legislator — "when it comes to waging war on middle-class Floridians."
In between the he-said, he-said, uterus talk continues.
The Uterus Facebook page has more than 2,500 members, and people have tried to flood the official House of Representatives page with comments — many of which are simply "Uterus!"
"Time to chastise Mr. Speaker Cannon. Apparently he voted for a bill back in 2009 with the word 'utero' in it," someone posted on the Facebook page.
Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, commented: "That is crazy! In front of pages? little children...? OMG!"
Susannah Randolph joked that she's forming a U-PAC to support like-minded candidates, calling the group The Uterati. She's behind an anti-Rick Scott website www.pinksliprick.com, and previously ran the campaign of former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson.
And the Florida chapter of the ACLU has launched www.incorporatemyuterus.com, where people can — for fun — do just that.
"If Republicans would have let it go, that would have been the end of it," said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth. "For some reason, they didn't."
House Democrats have started wearing pink buttons that say uterus in capital letters.
Saunders, the minority leader, warned members at the end of a Wednesday caucus meeting not to wear the buttons on the House floor.
"You have to leave your uteruses in your offices," joked Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg.
Rep. Steve Perman, D-Boca Raton, hid his button inside his jacket, Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, slyly pinned hers on the reverse of her lapel, and then the Democrats walked to their seats in the last two rows of the House chamber.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/06/v-fullstory/2154351/from-the-florida-house-to-national.html#ixzz1IwCouNnm
that's IT, I'm done. I'm OUT! I'm tearing up my voter registration card.
the stupidity finally got to me.
:lulz:
Definitely :lulz:
I'm gonna 'share' this link.
On a kind of side note-- We're all really fucked.
A +100k salary to play silly buggers with pink buttons and made up bad words. That's politics in America.
Quote from: Sigmatic on April 09, 2011, 07:26:57 PM
A +100k salary to play silly buggers with pink buttons and made up bad words. That's politics in America.
I wanna be a politician now.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208567_10150151486104069_710084068_6738577_3566834_n.jpg)
Quote from: Nigel on April 10, 2011, 04:48:56 AM
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208567_10150151486104069_710084068_6738577_3566834_n.jpg)
:spit:
Quote from: Nigel on April 10, 2011, 04:48:56 AM
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/208567_10150151486104069_710084068_6738577_3566834_n.jpg)
:lulz:
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on April 08, 2011, 05:55:05 PM
It's like Florida is being run by the mod team from TCC.
And the Democrats are totally trolling with the uterus buttons.
The story made my brain hurt, but THIS is hilarious!