The Escalation of Anti-Abortion Violence Ten Years After Dr. George Tiller’s Murder

The Escalation of Anti-Abortion Violence Ten Years After Dr. George Tiller’s Murder

By Jill Heaviside & Rosann Mariappuram. First published on Rewire.News

As we mark the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, it is incredible to think that, just over a month ago, Republican Sen. Ben Sasse was really asking how “the pro-life position is in any way violent.”

Violence has been a central tenet of the anti-abortion movement since before the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. As activists have sought control over the reproductive freedom of millions of people—particularly women of color, low-income women and families, and queer, gender-nonconforming, and transgender communities—they have used violence as a tactic of control, abuse, and fear across the United States.

Dr. Tiller was Wichita’s only abortion provider for 40 years and was known for his deep commitment to trusting women and their families’ reproductive health decisions. Because of his work, Dr. Tiller was a target of many anti-abortion groups; before he was killed, he survived a clinic bombing and a prior shooting.

Dr. Tiller’s murder wasn’t an isolated incident. Anti-abortion extremists have killed at least 11 people since the 1990s. Their violent history includes the first recorded murder of an abortion provider, Dr. David Gunn, in 1993, and the 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, which claimed three lives and injured nine people.

Major Film Studios Follow Netflix In Putting Georgia On Notice Over Illegal Abortion Law

Major Film Studios Follow Netflix In Putting Georgia On Notice Over Illegal Abortion Law

It was a slow start on whether or not America’s film industry would become involved in Georgia politics, threatening to abandon existing projects and future expansion of filming major projects like the revolutionary, Oscar-winning ‘Black Panther’ movie.

Netflix was the first major studio to take a stand against the medical-quackery ‘heartbeat bill banning abortion at about six weeks, joining the ACLU lawsuit in fighting the law not only as an infringement of Roe v. Wade, but as pseudo-science that has no basis in medical facts.

Today, an onslaught of new studios including Viacom, CBS, Sony, AMC, NBC Universal and Warner Media raises their collective business voices against the new law.

How One State Has Become a Model for Protecting Abortion Rights From Supreme Court Conservatives

How One State Has Become a Model for Protecting Abortion Rights From Supreme Court Conservatives

As Republican-controlled state legislatures across the United States pass near-total abortion bans, Vermont Democrats are looking to establish the country’s most comprehensive abortion rights protections.

The pro-choice effort in Vermont is two-pronged: a constitutional amendment via Proposition 5 to guarantee personal reproductive liberty, and bill H 57, which codifies the right to an abortion and prohibits public entities from interfering with a person’s right to choose.

Vermont’s Democratic-majority house and senate have passed both measures this session, and H 57 will soon head to the governor’s desk, where he can either sign it, allow it to become law by taking no action, or veto it. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) does not plan to veto H 57, his spokesperson told Rewire.News.

The Century-Old ‘Science Fiction’ Behind Ohio Rep’s Bill Covering Nonexistent Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment

The Century-Old ‘Science Fiction’ Behind Ohio Rep’s Bill Covering Nonexistent Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment

Ohio Rep. John Becker (R) drew widespread criticism last week for an anti-abortion bill that would allow insurance coverage for the “reimplantation” of an ectopic pregnancy into the uterus—a treatment that does not exist. Physicians and pro-choice advocates have called the line in the bill “science fiction,” but Becker told Rewire.News he does have sources to back up his claim: two articles—one more than 100 years old—with anecdotal stories from physicians who claim that “reimplanting” ectopic pregnancies into the uterus is possible.

HB 182, which Becker first introduced in April, seeks to ban almost all insurance coverage of abortions in cases where the pregnant person’s life is not endangered. It also bans coverage of what Becker called “abortifacients,” or “drugs or devices used to prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” (This language seems based on a fundamental misunderstanding of pregnancy, medication abortion, and some forms of contraception.) Becker has saidthe intention of the bill is to “save lives” and cut costs for employers and insurers.

The bill received national attention when Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OB-GYN and director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California, San Francisco, described ectopic pregnancies in a viral Twitter thread criticizing the bill. Ectopic pregnancies occur when a pregnancy grows outside of the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube, though Grossman wrote that they can rarely develop in the cervix or the abdomen as well. According to the Mayo Clinic, “an ectopic pregnancy can’t proceed normally. The fertilized egg can’t survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated.”

Ectopic pregnancies are the leading cause of maternal death in the first trimester.

Rolling Stone March 2019 Profiles Nancy Pelosi + New Female Dem Voices In 'Women Shaping the Future'

Rolling Stone March 2019 Profiles Nancy Pelosi + New Female Dem Voices In 'Women Shaping the Future'

The Republican hate machine has obsessed over Nancy Pelosi for years. At least now the Speaker has four young women besides her. They are all WOC -- ironically or not? We've not seen anything like the Republican hate machine being readied in particular against these four young women: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.

At least they've got broad shoulders to lean on and the best possible advice. And Madame Maxine will be in there, too, offering support. Right on, ladies!

We may not agree all the time, but I am one person who will not tolerate needless attacks and misrepresentations of these young women -- solely because Republicans always need a female she-devil to obsess over.

With 37 new Democratic women in Congress, the Repubican right wing — which is the only one active at this point — will probably lose their minds as the weeks go on. Especially if they ask smart questions like they did of Trump fixer Michael Cohen during last week’s hearing, these young women are standing on solid ground. That was a masterclass.

American Women's Satisfaction W/How They Are Treated Hits All-Time Low, But Men Think We Are Fine

American Women's Satisfaction W/How They Are Treated His All-Time Low, But Men Think We Are Fine

How interesting that Republican white men are saying that Democrats are undoing all the progress women have made. Politico has photographed the 36 new women members of the House. 35 are Dems; 1 lone WV woman is a Republican.

I would say that Republican white men are really running scared if electing women to Congress -- unlike their white men party -- represents a step backwards for women in 2019. Let that sink in. The party that elected 1 freshman woman to the House is telling the party that elected 35 freshmen woman to the House that we are setting women back.

Hey, boys, maybe your War on Women worked so well that once and for all, you stirred up a heap of trouble for yourselves. As for your inner fears . . . you probably should be runnin' scared.

For most of you -- the ones left -- you embrace a version of Christianity that says women must be subservient to men and obey you. No wonder you're confused about the hurricane arriving in DC. All your witches on brooms jokes will get you nowhere. DEAL WITH THEM. And just remember that you and your egregious, anti-people policies are a key reason they are so pissed off.

Related: Women’s satisfaction with how society treats them hits a record low. Marketwatch


Eye: KKW Beauty Classic Red Crème Lipstick Is Perfect Color For Democratic Women Going Bold!

Eye: KKW Beauty Classic Red Crème Lipstick Is Perfect Color For Democratic Women Going Bold!

Superwoman Kim Kardashian is set to fire up followers worldwide with the launch of her first, straight-up red lipstick. Using her own incredible star power, Kardashian West has used her KKW Beauty Instagram pages to create the buildup to launching KKW Beauty’s Classic Red Crème Lipstick online and in a pop-up at South Coast Plaza on Friday Jan. 25. Images by Greg Swales.

There’s no doubt that the new shade — which is very Old Hollywood glam — creates a new wing of the previously neutrals, nudes, and pinks KKW Beauty assortment. Is KKW becoming as bold as America’s new women presidential candidates, and the newly-elected Democratic party lady posse that has arrived in Washington, DC?

I seem to recall that Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was just sworn in as the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress, used the public response to her red lipstick as a means of honoring a Supreme Court justice.

Who's For Burning It All Down? American Women Are Thinking About The French Revolution

I've been thinking and reading a lot about the French Revolution this past week. The willingness of the French to have both a carving of Lilith AND Eve with Adam on the Notre Dame Cathedral tells me not to be afraid.

Unlike John Ashcroft throwing a drape over Lady Justice's naked breast in the nation's capitol, the French have never covered up Adam, Lilith and Eve -- Adam's first wife but she was too bossy and stormed out of the Garden of Eden, refusing to submit to Adam.

So France survived the French Revolution. I haven't checked on the tiki torches or just how unruly the mobs became, but France survived -- white male superiority intact, but they did get rid of the king. Writer Maya Singer is on the same track, and she makes a lot of sense.

And this pondering of a burn it down revolution is written for Vogue magazine. VOGUE MAGAZINE IN AMERICA. Bob Dylan would be proud.

When Trump tells you all those college-educated white Republican women leaving the party are running home to take care of their men and male children after the Kavanaugh hearings, don't take the bite of this poison apple.

Educated Republican women can walk and chew gum at the same time. You know . . . womanly multitasking, brains firing on all cylinders.. . that sort of thing. I quote Maya Singer:

"If you’d asked me, before last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, where we were on the road to revolution, I’d have said we were somewhere around “the people are very mad but they’re working within the system.” As of today, I feel like the revolution could kick off any minute now, because with the vote to send Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the GOP (and Joe Manchin) have officially flipped us the bird.

When I say “us,” I mean all of us. Not just women. Not just Democrats. Standing by Brett Kavanaugh—a historically disliked nominee, with crappy poll numbers (even before Dr. Ford came forward with a credible allegation that he’d sexually assaulted her in their teens) who walked right up to the line of perjuring himself in his Senate testimony and exposed himself as a both a jerk and a partisan hack—was, make no mistake about it, a display of power. A president who badly lost the popular vote, abetted by 51 Senators who represent a mere 44 percent of Americans, rammed through their nominee just to show us they could. Trump and McConnell could have easily jettisoned Kavanaugh in favor of an equally conservative replacement; instead, fearful of looking weak, they stuck with him, not in spite of all the protest but because of it. God forbid they seem to entertain the concerns of their constituents, because then those constituents might think they have a claim on how this country is run, and who for.

Ask yourself: For whom, right now, is this country being run?"

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen Named Head Of Planned Parenthood

Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen Named Head Of Planned Parenthood

Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen has been named the new head of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Growing up poor in California as a Chinese refugee, Dr. Wen, her little sister and mother received ongoing health care from Planned Parenthood.

Wen is a prodigy who enrolled at Cal State University at age 13, graduating at 18 with a degree in biochemistry. She attended Washington University in St. Louis for medical school and was a fellow at Harvard. Dr. Wen also studied public health at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Before taking the health commissioner position in Baltimore, Dr. Wen forked as an emergency room doctor at George Washington University, where she was also a professor.

Dr. Wen says she is leaving a job she loves in Baltimore because of growing attacks by the Trump administration and other conservatives on Planned Parenthood and women’s reproductive health rights.

“I see how the single, biggest health catastrophe of our times is the threat to women’s health,” Wen said. “I am deeply troubled by how women’s health issues are singled out, stigmatized and attacked.”

Planned Parenthood’s need for an articulate and fierce public voice is filled by the outspoken commissioner who is widely known for her newspaper op-eds and TV appearances, writes The Baltimore Sun.

MGM.Lot18 Pull Table Wines Inspired By Women Slaves In 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Handmaids across America turned sour this week when Lot18.com announced a wine collaboration with MGM, producer of the Hulu series 'The Handmaid's Tale'.  As Trump Republicans move against American women, MGM got the novel idea that creating three wines based on characters in Hulu's critically acclaimed adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel was an inspired business opportunity. 

Lot 18 announced the MGM collaboration as Trump announced his new candidate to the US Supreme Court U.S. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh. While Judge Kavanaugh has stated that he regards abortion rights case Roe v. Wade as binding precedent, Kavanaugh ruled against a prominent case of a 17-year-old immigrant's request for an abortion. 

Within this reality for American women, Lot18.com thought it would be a brilliant marketing opportunity moment to offer two reds inspired by Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel's characters, Offred and Ofglen and a Yvonne Strahovski character Serena Joy white.  The idea was born of an effort to sell "table wine based on one of the most tragic and disturbing shows on TV."

Darkness reigns on Lot18.com/thehandmaidstale.  The Washington Post headline by Avi Selk summed on the reaction of women to this bottom of the barrel marketing idea:'Similarly seductive:' Someone decided to brand wine after slaves from 'The Handmaid's Tale' says it all. 

Sen. Susan Collins Tells ABC 'This Week' That She Will Oppose Any SC Judge Nominee Who Would Overturn Roe v. Wade

Sen. Susan Collins Tells ABC 'This Week' That She Will Oppose Any SC Judge Nominee Who Would Overturn Roe v. Wade

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), is potentially a key swing vote  in passage of Donald Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee. And while the pressure on Collins will be enormous, the senator said on ABC's 'This Week' Sunday that she would oppose any individual who would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision.

“A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v. Wade would not be acceptable to me because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have,” Collins said “And that would indicate to me a failure to respect precedent of fundamental tenet of our judicial system.”

Collins, who is one of two pro-choice Republicans in the Senate -- the other is Lisa Murkowski from Alaska -- joined other 'swing' senators at the White House last week to discuss the vacancy. “I emphasized that I wanted a nominee who would respect precedent, a fundamental tenet of our judicial system,” Collins said in CNN’s State of the Union, adding that she asked the president to “broaden” his list of 25 possible nominees.

Conservative Writer Kevin Williamson's Call For Lynching Women Who Have Abortions Ends Gig At The Atlantic

Conservative Writer Kevin Williamson's Call For Lynching Women Who Have Abortions Ends Gig At The Atlantic

Large numbers of liberals -- progressives with an open mind -- really do want to hear and read intelligent dissent from the opposition. But when in-the-know folks learned that conservative writer Kevin Williamson had been hired by The Atlantic, there were gasps. I -- for one -- am not keen to read anti-abortion views calling for the mass lynching of women who have abortions, a public stance Williamson has taken more than once. 

Writing for The Daily BeastErin Gloria Ryan points out that a bit of due diligence by The Atlantic could have saved both Williamson and readers a whole lot of drama. Conservative pundits went crazy, arguing that contrary opinions were being silenced in liberal media. I left a comment on The Washington Post in their article Kevin Williamson loses Atlantic job after controversy over abortion rhetoric

As a woman forced into police protection for a year by a man who heard me say one word -- "yes" -- on a TV panel, when asked if I supported Roe, I'm not objective on this topic. Atlantic readers -- and I am one -- are not narrow-minded liberals for not wanting to hear that we should be hanged for having an abortion, when I already was judged deserving to die by a real man big-shot who took Williamson's words literally. This is Trump authoritarianism in high-gear. It's right-wing authoritarianism in high gear. 3 women die every day in America by intimate partners and husbands who talk big like Williamson. The reverse is not true. I freely admit that you scare the f##k out of me, okay? In defense of strong women, I will add that when the masked testosterone-infused chicken (the mask was pathetic) flew across my windshield as I backed out of a parking lot on a dark night, I put my car in gear and tried to run him over. 12 months of daily stalking rendered me a total basket case. Sobbing into the phone, I called the lieutenant at home -- he was so concerned about me that he gave me his home # -- saying "I don't know; I may have killed him." If this is what saying "yes" to a question about supporting a SC decision gets women in this country, I'd think Kevin Williamson should be neutered. How's that.

Mary Alice Carter Leads New Equity Forward, Monitoring Women's Reproductive Health Care Rights At HHS

Mary Alice Carter Leads New Equity Forward, Monitoring Women's Reproductive Health Care Rights At HHS

Hearings opened for on Jan. 9 for HHS nominee Alex Azar to replace Tom Price as HHS Secretary. Women's health groups launched a full-scale confrontation around women's reproductive health -- clearly under assault by the Trump administration. The issues go far beyond abortion rights and into contraception. Trump has stacked HHS with women who don't believe in birth control. 

A new group Equity Forward will be acting as a watchdog focused on reproductive health care at the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Mary Alice Carter, the executive director of Equity Forward, which officially launched Friday, said the nonpartisan group will hold accountable organizations and individuals they argue limit access to reproductive health care.

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

Apparently, House Speaker Paul Ryan didn't ask Pennsylvania Republican Representative Patrick Meehan if there was any private reason outside of his position on the House Ethics committee that would prevent him from conducting an effective role in redefining how sexual misconduct claims are handled in Congress.  

Revelations that Congressman Meehan actually made a settlement with a decades younger aide in 2017 caught Speaker Ryan by surprise. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for the said that “this is new information to us” when asked about the settlement in a brief interview on Friday.

The New York Times interviewed 10 people including friends and former colleagues of the former aide and others who worked around the office. The young woman is a family friend of the Meehan's and became so demoralized by the Congressman's antagonistic behavior when she became involved with a new boyfriend, that she filed a complaint with the congressional Office of Compliance in the summer of 2017, alleging sexual harassment. The events that followed underscore why women typically don't file complaints against members of Congress. Now Meehan is theoretically empowered to change those procedures with new ones much fairer to victims. The Times writes a Rep. Jackie Speier's playbook expose. Speier's is leading the charge in Congress to reform current procedures:

Four Women Allege A Younger Roy Moore Pursued Sensual/Sexual Relationships With Them As Underage Girls

Four Women Allege A Younger Roy Moore Pursued Sensual/Sexual Relationships With Them As Underage Girls

The Washington Post has placed reporters in Alabama for over a month, speaking to at least 30 people who support the blockbuster allegations made in the paper this afternoon. Roy Moore is the Bible-toting former Alabama judge who was twice removed from the state's supreme court for making legal decision based on the Bible and not the US Constitution. Moore is now the Steve Bannon/Donald Trump-supported, Republican candidate for the US Senate vacated by now Trump administration Attorney General Jeff Sessions, running against Democrat Doug Jones. 

None of the four women contacted the Post reporters directly. While working in Alabama on a profile about Senate candidate Moore, a Post reporter was told that Moore allegedly had sought relationships with teenage girls in the past. The four women say they do not know each other and only chose to go public after extended interviews and conversations with Post reporters.  

The four women making the allegations against Moore were very young in early 1979, when the 32-year-old assistant district attorney introduced himself to 14-year-old Leigh Corfman and her mother. Moore offered to sit with the girl while her mother attended a custody hearing. 

NJ John Carman Now Has Time To Cook His Own Damn Dinner As Ashley Bennett Gains Sweet Revenge

NJ John Carman Now Has Time To Cook His Own Damn Dinner As Ashley Bennett Gains Sweet Revenge

By now women should find a sense of humor, right? John Carman, a Republican member of the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, a county legislative body in New Jersey, wondered in January 2017 if the millions of women -- accompanied by beyond decent numbers of men -- who attended the Women's March would be home in enough time to cook dinner. New Jersey resident Ashley Bennett was not amused.

"Seriously," Carman responded when dozens of women showed up at a freeholder meeting , one carrying a box of macaroni and cheese and telling Carman to "cook his own damn dinner."  Professing good humor and urging women to find the same, Carman insisted that ". . . the women I'm surrounded by, my family, my friends, my colleagues are all strong, confident women, women who are sure of themselves. They didn’t get offended by this." Vox explains:

Bennett, a psychiatric emergency screener, attended the meeting but walked out when she heard Carman’s response. "I walked out because you had the entire time to sit and collect your thoughts, and hear what people were saying, and instead of apologizing and saying you could do better, you disrespect people and say the people you surround yourself are strong," she said at the time. "There are a lot of people who are strong."

Adding to Ashley Bennett's irritation was Carman's fashion choice of wearing a confederate flag over his state of New Jersey patch. Other voters agreed. 

Federal Appeals Court Reverses Trump Administration's Scott Lloyd's Refusal To Allow Abortion For Immigrant

Federal Appeals Court Reverses Trump Administration's Scott Lloyd's Refusal To Allow Abortion For Immigrant

The full US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that a 17-year-old immigrant held in federal custody in Texas must be allowed to obtain an abortion. The teen, known only as Jane Doe, is about 15 weeks pregnant and entered the US in September. 

The federal government did not appeal the decision and the ACLU writes that the abortion is concluded. 

Lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for sheltering children who illegally enter the country unaccompanied by a parent, have said the department under the Trump Administration has a policy of "refusing to facilitate" abortions and that releasing the teenager would require arranging a transfer of custody and follow-up care. E. Scott Lloyd, the head of the federal refugee agency that oversees detention centers for minors, is a longtime antiabortion activist.

Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion

Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion

There is no disputing the fact that Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tim Murphy engaged in an extramarital affair with Pittsburgh forensic psychologist Shannon Edwards. The husband of Shannon Edwards sought to depose Murphy in his own divorce action. 

Today the Pittsburgh Gazette dropped a new bombshell about Murphy, in regard to his response to a text from Edwards taking him to task for an anti-abortion statement posted on his public Facebook page. 

"And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.

A text from Mr. Murphy’s cell phone number that same day in response says, "I get what you say about my March for life messages. I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more. I will."

Study: Republican Men See Women Political Leaders As Less Competent & With Lower Integrity

Study: Republican Men See Women Political Leaders As Less Competent & With Lower Integrity

NPR reports on a new study analyzing data about Americans' attitudes toward their House of Representatives  members from 2010 through 2014. Ideally, the analysis would be more current, because the presidential election both confirmed and negated some of these conclusions. 

Mia Costa and Brian Schaffner, political scientists from the U of Mass, Amherst concluded that women tend to think "more highly of female legislators on a variety of measures", regardless of party. Republican men express serious reservations about the women representing them, whereas Democratic men often rate women higher than men in governing. 

The research isn't broken down by education, and I would argue here that high-school educated women tend to be more traditional in their beliefs that men should govern. These attitudes have been explored in depth post presidential election, like PRRI/Atlantic analysis and direct interviews with a large sampling of Trump voters. 

In studying members of the House, and not the Senate, the research results are also impacted by districts that are seriously gerrymandered and representing rigid attitudes among both parties, and also racial attitudes. Within these caveats, Costa and Schaffner concluded:

"While Democratic men evaluate women legislators more favorably, the opposite is true for Republican men," the researchers write. "Republican men are the one group who provide lower evaluations of female elected officials."

GOP Congressman Are Dueling Till Dead, Now Slapping Around Republican Women Senators Over Healthcare

GOP Congressman Are Dueling Till Dead, Now Slapping Around Republican Women Senators Over Healthcare

It's been a tough week for Republican women senators. On Monday, Congressman Blake Farenhold of duck pjs fame was quoted on Texas radio as saying that if Republican senators Collins (Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) -- who voted against a Republican plan on ending Obamacare last week -- were men, he would challenge them to a duel. 

Presumably Farenhold would be the last man standing, although after his jammies pic and sexual harassment lawsuit, coupled with his girth, AOC is not so sure.

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In an interview with MSNBC's Ali Velshi, Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA) defended Donald Trump’s Wednesday morning Twitter attacks on Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “Somebody needs to go over to the Senate and snatch a knot in their ass.” (For those of you who are not fluent in Carter's Georgia boy male lingo, to “snatch a knot” means to smack someone).