When I hear the right wing attacks on Planned Parenthood–which are really attacks on abortion–I remember something I used to say to the conservative ladies I knew in Texas: You can’t have it both ways. Actually, the whole controversy should be moot because Federal tax dollars are not allowed to pay for abortions, no matter who facilitates them–and I think this is the right thing to do, when it comes to such a controversial topic. But here’s what I used to say to the ladies: You can’t be against both the problem (in this case, abortion) and the solution–which is contraception and sex education.
There is always the fallback position of abstaining from sex entirely, but anyone who knows their history knows how impossible it to ensure that teens, who are at the point in their lives when they are boiling over with sex hormones, will be able to do this. I giggled when I heard that a well-known Texas politician, who shall remain unnamed, recently announced to the legislature that celibacy had always worked for him. He got a big laugh for that one, since he was caught in bed with another man by his wife a few years ago–something that made the local papers but which he managed to keep out of the national news (maybe there were just too many other sexual peccadilloes going on with politicians all over the country for it to make interesting reading).
I thought about this once again when I read (and heard) the rants about balancing the budget. And again I say: You can’t be against both the problem (the deficit) and the solution (which in this case is higher taxes for wealthy corporations–and perhaps fewer subsidies to big oil and agriculture, not to mention aid to places like Pakistan, which sheltered bin-Laden for 5 years. And how about closing down those two wars!
But no–a group of hyperbolic politicians want to balance the budget on the shoulders of the most vulnerable in our society: school kids and the elderly. I hate to play the "Hitler" card here, but it reminds me of the Nazis blaming all their troubles on the Jews. Without social security and Medicare, we may start to see "tent cities" in our parks, filled with old people. Is that what we really want? These guys are even using rhetoric and "spin" to get these same old people to vote AGAINST their own interests and FOR cutting these programs. Hey, the Nazis once talked a whole nation–one that was formerly considered to be the most civilized place on Earth–into believing in the silly concept of Aryan superiority. And voters, while you’re at it (as P.T. Barnum said, "there’s a sucker born every minute"), how about cutting those onerous taxes on the rich?
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Thank you Anne!
Thank you Anne!
I also find the kind of total
I also find the kind of total disconnect in logic — that you describe here so well — in many of the social and economic issue solutions of the Republican Party Leadership. But people seem to be waking up (jolted by current events perhaps) and just in time, too. I find that most people are better at pinpointing and/or describing problems than in coming up with solutions. Hopefully this will change more rapidly from here on end . . . Also, I hope more people see a more direct connection between their choices at the poles (as well as the choice not to show up) and the dramatic effect those choices can have on their lives in a very short time. I understand that some people want change and they want it now (like everything else) — but its kinda weird when they call themselves conservatives, isnt it?
Remember when teachers,
Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes?