September 20, 2008

Funniest Video Ever

This right here? Best political video I’ve seen all year.  Love it.  Click that link!

September 13, 2008

So Shocked I Can’t Breathe

I read this article and nearly collapsed:

In an article focusing on newly appointed vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, prominent feminist Camille Paglia admits that, much like Gov. Palin, she also believes abortion involves the murder of an innocent life - but unlike Palin, Paglia says she is a “firm supporter” of abortion.

A liberal feminist admitting that abortion is murder was enough to cause my head to spin.   And then I read this:

“Let’s take the issue of abortion rights, of which I am a firm supporter. As an atheist and libertarian, I believe that government must stay completely out of the sphere of personal choice. Every individual has an absolute right to control his or her body,” said Paglia, voicing the commonest argument put forward by feminist supporters of abortion.

Unlike her fellow pro-abortion colleagues, however, Paglia continued on to - as she termed it - “face the ethical consequences” of embracing abortion. “I have always frankly admitted that abortion is murder, the extermination of the powerless by the powerful,” she said.

Paglia then admitted that in order to rationalize and accept abortion, one would have to not only accept, but logically condone other atrocities against life - that is, one would have to accept murder for the sake of protecting a particular, more important “right”, as she does. The author criticizes those on the social left who parrot the scientifically untenable position that the fetus is just a “lump of tissue”, saying that those who do so are simply afraid to face the consequences of their pro-abortion position.

And this:

Paglia also criticized some on the social left for their logical inconsistency in condoning the killing of the innocent, but not of the guilty. “I have never understood the standard Democratic combo of support for abortion and yet opposition to the death penalty. Surely it is the guilty rather than the innocent who deserve execution?” she said.

“What I am getting at here is that not until the Democratic Party stringently reexamines its own implicit assumptions and rhetorical formulas will it be able to deal effectively with the enduring and now escalating challenge from the pro-life right wing.”

Is hell freezing over, or is this woman saying these things to keep those pesky pro-life, right-wingers on their toes?  (And for the record, I am one of those pro-life, right-wingers.)

September 3, 2008

The Inevitable Abortion Post

I’ve stayed away from political blogging for several months.  Don’t get me wrong, I keep up with the news and this election, but I’ve refrained from putting my hat into the ring.  It may be because I’ve been frustrated with the non-stop, down and dirty, tooth and nail fighting that is going on between us.

It’s no longer a war between Democrats and Republicans.  Political party has little to do with our personal beliefs these days.  I know liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats and Libertarians who are struggling to find their footing in a divided political world.

I have a confession to make.  I didn’t watch a single moment of the Democratic National Convention.  It’s true.  I read about it in newspapers and online news sources, but I refused to watch any coverage on television.  I was angry.  Too angry, to even turn on the TV.

I saw this video and lost my mind.

And then, I saw this video and became outraged.

Barack Obama, I voted for you in my state’s primary.  I was confident about it.  I was fully aware of your pro-choice stance.  I was fully aware that with you as President of the United States, Roe v. Wade would remain in tact.  I don’t agree with it.  Not one bit.  I’m pro-life.  I’m Catholic.  I’m a conservative Republican. Yet, I chose you, for more reasons beyond the abortion issue.

And then, I read this:

Barack Obama is drawing gasps from pro-life advocates today over comments he made during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The leading Democratic presidential candidate appeared to back a potential decision by his daughters to seek an abortion saying he wouldn’t “punish” them with a baby.

Obama’s comments came in the context of off-the-cuff remarks addressing the issue of AIDS.

The candidate indicated he favored teaching both abstinence education as well as sexual education and he appeared to be hard-pressed to come up with something else to say when he brought up his daughters.

“When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include — which should include abstinence education and teaching the children — teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual,” he said.

“But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old,” he added.

“I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby,” Obama said.

And then, you lost my vote.

Punished with a baby?  Since when are children a punishment?  What happened to teaching our children responsibility?  I mean really, if my son got his girlfriend pregnant, or if my daughter became pregnant, the best lesson I could ever teach my children is to be responsible for their actions.

Barack Obama used the words “if they make a mistake.”  Is he saying that sex before marriage is a mistake?  Or is he saying that sex before a person is ready is a mistake?  Is he saying that sex before the person is ready to be a parent is a mistake?  If so, shouldn’t we be more diligent about teaching our children to not have sex until after they are married or in a committed, stable relationship?

I mean, really, I hear all the arguments that teenagers have the right to decide when they’re ready to be sexually active.   I realize that teenagers are going to have sex if they want to, regardless of what parents have to say about it.  If they are mature enough to make the decision to have sex, well then damn it, they better be ready to accept the responsibility and the fact that having sex may lead to babies, not punishments.  They better be mature enough to become parents.

I’m so sick and tired of careless women (yes…I said careless) having sex, getting pregnant and “making a choice” to end the lives of their unwanted children.  It’s insulting.  I thought women were smart enough to be responsible, to not have unprotected sex, and to not make choices that lead to the pregnancies that they find “unfavorable”.

The other day I heard someone say that women should be allowed to the pleasures of sex without worrying about pregnancy.  Okay fine.  Then use birth control, right?

But wait!

Statistics show that 54% of all abortions happen despite contraception use. Only 8% of women having abortions have never used birth control, and 90% of the women most likely to have an abortion are on birth control.

So really, that just means that we women are making stupid choices, doesn’t it?  We aren’t smart enough to understand that having sex can lead to pregnancy.  And we aren’t smart enough to accept responsibility, and become mothers or place unwanted children for adoption.  So instead, babies are aborted.

To those who are fighting to keep the right to abortion; what are you fighting for?  Seriously?  Really?  Don’t you find it absurd that you’re grasping for the right to end the life of a baby?  I mean, doesn’t that seem outrageous?

I know, you will defend your position by saying that pro-life activists and/or the government have no right to decide what women “do with their bodies”.  You’re absolutely right!  We have no right to tell you when you should or shouldn’t have sex.  But once another life is in the picture, we have every right to be concerned and outraged about abortion.  We are concerned with the rights of the unborn.  They are human beings.  Not cells.  Not burdens.  Not punishments.

Religion aside, abortion is murder.  There is no gray area when it comes to the right to life. There are no justifications for ending a life.  It’s not right.

I understand that there are extreme circumstances, such as the life of the mother is threatened or that the child may be born with severe birth defects and would die after birth (Down Syndrome is not a severe birth defect.  So many beautiful babies are born with DS and live wonderful lives with the families that love and care for them).  I’m not even going to argue those cases, because the number of abortions performed due to medical necessity, rape or incest are small.

The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

I’m sick and tired of abortion as form of birth control.  It’s unacceptable and irresponsible.  I know a woman who’s had three.  Three abortions because she “didn’t want to be stuck with a baby” and “didn’t want to have kids with that guy” or the other guys.

What’s ironic is now, at age 36, she wants to have children with her husband of 3 years and she hasn’t been able to get pregnant.  I watch her cry because she believes now, years later, that those babies were supposed to be born.  And there’s nothing I can do or say to comfort her.  She made those choices because she “had the right” to do so.  It makes me sad.

I realize I sound preachy.  I understand that my point of view pisses people off.  But, do you realize that abortion is the issue that divides this nation?  It’s not Democrats vs. Republicans anymore.  It really isn’t even about liberals and conservatives.  It’s pro-choice vs. pro-life that divides the nation.  And I’m damn tired of hearing people throw around the words “anti-choice”.  It’s insulting.  Would you rather me call you “anti-life” or “pro-abortion”?

There needs to be a way for us to come together in this country, but I’m afraid it will never, ever happen because abortion is legal in this country.  Pro-life activists will not compromise the right to life for the unborn.  Pro-choice activists will not give up the right to end pregnancies.  So what’s a country like ours to do?

I don’t have the answers.  Barack Obama doesn’t have the answers.  John McCain doesn’t have the answers.

This is the reason I may not vote in this election.   I thought my support for Obama was unwavering.  Turns out it isn’t.  I don’t know if I can switch sides just yet, but I’ll be watching and waiting until someone comes up with the right answers.

May 2, 2008

Apparently I Just Need More “Training”

I’m pissed off. No, I’m furious. I’m extremely angry at John McCain. I wanted to tackle this topic last week but I was seething after reading this:

Republican Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.

Senate Republicans killed the bill on a 56-42 vote Wednesday night. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had delayed the vote to give McCain’s Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.

McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.

Yes. You read that correctly. John McCain skipped this important vote because he was campaigning.

I have been sputtering about this for days. It’s just another piece of evidence that proves that Republicans do not care about women like they say they do. I’ve always wondered why women my age are mostly Democrats and I think I figured it out. The Democrats actually give a damn about the rights of women. And while I may disagree with abortion as a “reproductive right” I do understand why so many women vote Left.

The GOP is out of touch with reality. They are perfectly content on believing that a woman’s “place” is in the home. Never mind that many women choose to be home with their children. So says McCain, “They [women] need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else, and it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.”

This remark just doesn’t make sense to me. I can’t see the correlation between women finding it difficult to leave their families to go to work and pay inequality.

When I worked outside the home I struggled with “mom guilt”. It was hard to take my son to daycare each day, without feeling as though someone else was raising my child. But my family needed my income to make ends meet, and I actually liked working. It wasn’t the worst thing I could be doing. But just because I found it difficult to be a mother and an employee, does that mean I shouldn’t be upset that my male co-workers, with the same qualifications, and the same job training, received a higher salary than I did?

And what about the women who are college graduates, educated women with pertinent job training? Do they need more training and education to get paid equally? If a woman does the same work as a man, and has the same qualifications, education and work experience as that man, why is she paid less? Does that seem fair? Because the man has a penis he automatically gets a salary increase? Is he paid based on testosterone? Does producing estrogen automatically knock a woman’s wage down?

It’s true, more women are the heads of their households. More women control the purse strings. More women are in charge of family decisions. More women have greater influence in matters of business. It’s also safe to say that women are better able to influence other women on how to vote in this coming election. But the one area where women are jipped is in salaries. We are still treated as second class citizens.

Why are we treated so unfairly? Is it because we tend to be more nurturing? Because we are partners, wives and mothers? Because we have vaginas? That’s it, isn’t it? Men are afraid of the power of the va-jay-jay so to punish us, we get paid less money so they can still feel in control. On top. Like they have more authority.

I’ve got a vagina that says these men better use their salary boosts to buy protection for their man parts, you know, just in case millions of angry women can’t fight the urge to kick them in the balls.

From Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008:

It’s men like John McCain that make it impossible for women to escape these stereotypes. (I’ve found another reason to be glad I didn’t vote for McCain in the Wisconsin primary.)

**Cross-posted at Mommybloggers.