The New Comstock Act?

Bonnie pointed this out in the comments; I wanted to be sure y’all saw it —

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), one of the most die-hard anti-choice lawmakers, has jumped on the bandwagon by sneaking a radical anti-abortion amendment onto a completely unrelated piece of legislation. DeMint’s amendment would ban women and their doctors from discussing abortion over the Internet:

Anti-choice Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) just filed an anti-choice amendment to a bill related to agriculture, transportation, housing, and other programs. The DeMint amendment could bar discussion of abortion over the Internet and through videoconferencing, even if a woman’s health is at risk and if this kind of communication with her doctor is her best option to receive care.

Under this amendment, women would need a separate, segregated Internet just for talking about abortion care with their doctors.

It’s not clear to me whether this act would censor all information about abortion on the Internet or whether it only applies to doctors using video conferencing or email to consult with patients. If the latter, I don’t even know what DeMint is trying to achieve, other than inconvenience and annoy people.

Also, last week the House passed the “let women die” bill. But they can’t pass a jobs bill.

Update: Digby figured it out. The bill is supposed to stop any federal funding of the RU-486 drug, including grants for webcam consultations, in which a woman is prescribed the abortion drug after a webcam conversation with the doctor.

Stuff to Read

Charles Pierce on David Brooks. A feast of snark. Enjoy.

And the GOP wonders why Latinos don’t like them?

The knives come out for Cain. Interesting that the other GOP candidates had to do the stabbing, though. Unless I missed something, the GOP establishment has been oddly silent. They must really hate Mittens.

Speaking of Cain, do see the very long graph.

Speaking of Romney, see “The Dangers of Accidental Candor.”

Bill Keller learns that OWS is the new sacred cow of the Left. Two things Leftie Groupthink does not allow — criticism, even skepticism, of OWS or the opinion that four more years of President Obama really would be a whole lot better than whoever the GOP might nominate.

Note to Justin Elliott and Marina Sitrin: There’s no time for this. Sitrin’s “process” amounts to calling a meeting to re-design the sprinkler system after the building has caught on fire. I’d say if OWS doesn’t get over itself and turn into an actual movement pretty soon, they’re going to find the days of reasonably sympathetic media coverage turning into the days of no media coverage at all.