Just a few weeks ago it seemed like people thought the American economy needed fixing. We we having debates - albeit silly ones - about deficit reduction, entitlement spending, and taxes. Although one side was offering a forward-looking vision and the other was rehashing old and worn out ideas, there was still some value to the debate.
Now, either the economy has recovered or we have forgotten it was ever in peril. Now we have shifted the debate on to the important topics, those that will really shape the future: women's health and reproductive issues.
If you were under the impression that women should be able to make decisions about their bodies, or if you think that women should have access to adequate healthcare you are sorely mistaken. In fact, women's health issues should be determined by panels of old men none of whom have any experience with women's health.
Republican's bizarre war against women's health, women's rights, and sex has become a hot topic in the last few weeks. Most recently, Rush Limbaugh had the audacity to call a college student a slut because she was campaigning for her collegiate insurance to cover contraceptives. The irony of this is that Rush Limbaugh is on wife number four, I'm pretty sure that means at least one of the following:
A) Rush Limbaugh is also a slut
B) Rush Limbaugh has no credibility to be talking about conservative social issues
C) Rush Limbaugh doesn't want others to have sex because he is literally a fat ass and is certainly not having any himself despite having been married four times
As I typed those it occurred to me that the correct answer is of course choice D) All of the above.
But I'm not here to slam Rush Limbaugh, it's an activity that is neither difficult nor productive. I am here to ponder, again, the backwards thinking, hypocrisy, and level of disconnect of the Republican party. The Republican view on women's health is not unlike the Republican view on a host of other social issues: puritanical and backwards. The problem with America is that our women have gotten out of line. They want things like "rights" and "opportunities" and "jobs." Yeah right, back to kitchen with you. This country would be much better off if we let old white men in Washington DC determine what is best for women. If we can just ban abortion then we'll be able to strip away other rights like voting and driving. It won't be long before American women are on the same playing field as Saudi women, and we all know that if we could just be more like Saudi Arabia we could regain the former glory that Republicans are always grasping for willy nilly.
Letting old men determine what is best for American women doesn't just fulfill criterion one - backwardness - of the agenda, it is also another glaring example of Republican hypocrisy. Republicans after all, hate big government. They can't stand it. Republicans want to chop, chop, chop away at the size of government until all that is left of it are the laws telling us what we are not allowed to do: burn flags; have abortions; give equal rights to women, gays, or other minorities; the list could go on and on indefinitely. Yes, Republicans have no need for government except to use it as a tool of oppression.
Finally, of course, we wouldn't be talking about Republicans without mentioning social disconnect. After all, there are more women than men in America, and while not all women are in favor of abortion rights and women's health, many are, and most men and women that I know are strongly in favor of sex. The assault on sex really isn't going to win many people over to the conservative cause. I don't have figures, but according to exit polls, sex is popular. Furthermore, even if most Americans were up in arms about women's ability to have adequate healthcare or abortion, the economy is the paramount concern of most people. Other issues that need to be addressed include: education; energy independence; a nuclear Iran; the rise of China; the national debt; entitlement reform; and immigration reform. Sex doesn't really need fixing. Unlike some things, it has worked well for eons.
Abortion rights are clearly linked to America's future. After all, if we outlaw abortion, cut entitlement and education spending, and repeal the healthcare law we will have taken the first crucial steps in creating the American proletariat and making Communism a real threat again. Once that happens, all the Republican rhetoric about the threat of socialism won't just be empty scare talk.
Now if only they had some potential solutions about the real issues.
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