Space command move delayed as Biden administration weighs reproductive care. Whither Ellsworth?

According to Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) the interim US Space Command Headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs is near or even at full operational capability so moving it to deep red Alabama where women's rights have been eviscerated seems politically motivated. But so far, the Biden administration insists access to reproductive care is not part of its strategic decision.

“Colorado Springs is the best place for Space Command because it’s already at work here, with tangible results, about which all of us should be proud,” Hickenlooper said on the Senate floor earlier this month. “We shouldn’t risk our national security. We should keep Space Command in Colorado Springs where it belongs.“ [New investigation opened into Space Command decision]

The 45th Space Wing has been around since my dad's days in the United States Air Force and Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota was an alternative emergency landing site for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Space Transportation System. 

In 2005 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) Republicans like Bruce Rampelberg helped to make Ellsworth an even bigger target for retaliatory attacks but today exercises over the Powder River Training Complex are suspended because of the poor condition of B-1 bombers stationed at Ellsworth.

Contractors say the B-21 Raider isn't expected to be delivered until maybe 2030 so which will it be: a bomber base in South Dakota or is a state law targeting pregnant people already jeopardizing military readiness? 

TriCare pays for some abortions chosen by military personnel so after Kristi Noem becomes some Earth hater's Veep choice will a Governor Larry Rhoden sue to overturn a winning ballot measure codifying Roe?

New Mexico has the bases for the B-21 and the space for women’s rights, too.

OMGs kill more in New Mexico

Update.

All eight individuals involved were identified as OMG members. The three deceased individuals have been identified as Anthony Silva, 26 of Los Lunas, NM, Randy Sanchez, 46 of Albuquerque, NM, and Damian Breaux, 46 of Socorro, NM: New Mexico State Police.

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A 2015 shootout in Waco, Texas between the Bandidos and Cossacks resulted in the deaths of and injuries to several members of motorcycle clubs encouraged by a law enforcement industry that benefits from programs like Policing for Profit. Nobody was ever convicted because Texas has a "stand your ground" law.

Hells Angels, Bandidos, Sons of Silence and other outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) own property in the Black Hills area to serve as bases of operation for sex and meth trafficking much of it through what appear to be legitimate businesses but New Mexico is hardly immune from gang activity.

Three people have been killed and five others were injured during a shootout Saturday (May 27) in Red River, the Taos News has confirmed, putting an early end to the town's 41st Annual Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally. "We plan for this event every year, it's our 41st year to do this," [Red River Mayor Linda] Calhoun told the Taos News in a phone interview around 10:30 Saturday night. "And we had about 40 state police in town, our five law enforcement, and we had some county sheriff's [deputies]. Always, when there's that big of a group in town, you know 25,000 people, there's the possibility that something could happen. "Be advised, there is another shootout going on — a rolling shootout — between Banditos [Motorcycle Club] and someone else," an officer reported at approximately 5:45 p.m. over Taos County Central Dispatch. [Taos News]

Yes, Republicans would rather blame immigrants on the southern border for trafficking drugs like fentanyl but ignore the Trump-loving OMGs for killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.

“The Missoula Bandidos chapter has allegedly been involved in an interstate drug distrabution pipeline with the club's chapters in Gillette, Wyoming, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Denver, Colorado.” https://t.co/wCDFhqzBtV

— interested party (@larry_kurtz) April 30, 2022

Montana joins New Mexico, North Dakota, Wyoming in protecting Indigenous foster care

The Supreme Court of the United States is hearing arguments in Brackeen v. Haaland to determine whether the Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA violates the constitution by considering placement of Indigenous children solely based on race. Tribal nations are recognized by the federal government as political sovereigns and not a racial group. 

New Mexico codified protections in 2022 and according to attorney Kate Fort ICWA is constitutional so it's not impossible Justice Neil Gorsuch will side with the sane members of the Court like he did in McGirt v. Oklahoma.

The Montana bill was amended by lawmakers to sunset after two years. Its Democratic sponsor, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, said he initially introduced the measure a decade ago after some state district court judges were not following the federal law in Native children custody cases. In Montana, nearly 11% of all children are Indigenous, but they made up 37% of those in foster care in 2021, according to the National Indian Child Welfare Association. [Montana acts to protect Native American priority in adopting Native children]

In my home state Republican former South Dakota Governors Mike Rounds, Denny Daugaard and Attorney General Marty Jackley covered up their state's abuses after NPR took on that state’s Duck Dynasty in a three part exposé. Pennington County's behavior has been called shocking and the late Democratic former US Senator James Abourezk even urged the federal government to sue the State of South Dakota after the Guardian published a long piece on the plight of thousands of American Indian children seized by the South Dakota Department of Social Services. Sen. Abourezk shepherded the passage of ICWA in 1978.

South Dakota's current Republican governor conspired with the Trump Organization in their effort to exterminate Indigenous Americans by introducing a deadly virus to Native communities creating a raging pandemic.

The far white wing of the Republican Party has been working to erase tribal sovereignty in states like Montana for decades.

ip photo.

Who is behind the attack on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)?

ICWA protects Native children & ensures Tribal Nations make decisions regarding the welfare of their citizens. Right now, ICWA is in the hands of #SCOTUS & a decision is expected at any time. 1/🧵… pic.twitter.com/D11LaHIPLx

— IllumiNative (@IllumiNative) May 18, 2023

Gibson Dunn represented Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, a project that continues to threaten the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s drinking water, Treaty lands & sacred sites. 4/🧵…@gibsondunn

— IllumiNative (@IllumiNative) May 18, 2023