The dead elephant in the room

It is rather fitting that the Republicans were prevented from winning much on Election Day since they ignored a majority of the American voters throughout the campaigns. Though I am exactly in their target demo: older white male, professional job, college degree, fiscally conservative, and from a very conservative family, there is no way I can support most of the Republican Party’s platform. (Don’t mistake that to think I vote Democratic; I don’t. I usually vote Libertarian but it depends on the issue and the candidate.)

                Listening to certain radio ilk the past month made one think Romney was a shoo-in. Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved and other mouthpieces of the far right fringe have been citing poll after poll showing that Romney had not only caught up with Obama, he had surpassed him in various demographics and was on a roll that would take him into the White House. It is a perfect example of the old adage ‘If you believe a lie long enough, it will become the truth to you.’ It has now been exposed that many of the pollsters didn't have a clue as to what was happening. They asked the wrong questions of those polled, and in a good number of cases because the questions were ‘loaded’, they got the result they wanted to hear. When polling is based on what you want to hear, you’ll get a skewed result.

One of the talk show hosts tried mightily to show that the evangelicals were going to come out in record numbers and vote for a Mormon for president; not because of his conservatism, but because he was a ‘man of faith’. Supposedly, they should be able to relate to that even though the evangelicals’ own ‘holy book’ denounced anyone who didn't think like them. I know from dealing with many 'born-again christians' that they DO NOT believe a Mormon is even close to being a christian. I can’t wait to read how the talk show host will interpret Romney’s loss, if he bothers trying. My bet is on him claiming that it became evident that god could not allow a Mormon to become president. (Then why the call to support him? Didn't he check with god first?)

                Not helping the Republican cause were the various incidents of ‘hoof-in-mouth’ disease that made some of the candidates look like air-headed lemmings and became well-deserved targets of scorn and ridicule. Voters remember that kind of buffoonery when it comes time to cast their ballot. If the Republicans hope to win in the future, they’d be advised not to take the advice talk show annoyance Dennis Prager. Just days after the election, he was telling callers on his show that the Republican Party didn't abandon the voters, they abandoned the party, and encouraged his listeners to go out and ‘re-sell’ Republicanism to everyone they know. They should pitch all the things that reflected Republican Party values, and convince people that those values are what make good candidates, and a party worth following. He didn't advise them to take a look at how many Republicans interpreted planks in their party's platform. Maybe they should. 

        Because just how do you sell to anyone that ‘rape is a blessing from god’, gays who simply want the right to marry just like heterosexuals, can’t, an attitude of ‘I don’t want the federal government taking away my freedoms, just the freedoms of any woman who wants an abortion’, that you should be fiscally conservative, except when it comes to the Drug War and funding every military weapon system that can be conjured up, and regardless of the Establishment Clause, insisting that the Republicans are the only faith-based party and that god only supports right-wing (Republican) decisions?

       Good luck with that.

Faithfully Dumb

What is it about the Republican mindset that causes the men in that party to abandon common sense when it comes to pregnancy and rape?

Last month, Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock became the latest in a collage of Republican dimwits to say something astonishingly idiotic regarding women and rape. In a debate with his Democratic opponent Joe Donnelly, Mourdock explained his abortion stance saying that “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” There you have it…God intended it to happen. God knew the rape was going to occur and did nothing to stop it…which means rape should be taken off the books as a crime, since it is something God foresees and wants. Following biblical law, maybe Mourdock should also introduce legislation demanding that the victim then marry her rapist and he must pay the woman’s father fifty pieces of silver. After all, that’s precisely what it says in Deuteronomy 22:28-29. God’s law is great, isn’t it?

God often sneaks over to watch down on some of his "intended" rapes as they occur

Prior to Mourdock stuffing both feet in his mouth, we had Tom Smith, a candidate for the Pennsylvania state senate comparing rape to having a baby out of wedlock. Smith said if you “put yourself in a father’s situation”, it’s a similar kind of thing. So guys, when you rape a woman, look at it as though she’s having your baby without the hassle and inconvenience of a wedding. The whole point of rape is just recreational procreation, right?

Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, on August 23^rd during an interview on WJHL in Roanoke, VA stated  "I'm very proud of my pro-life record, and I've always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn't change the definition of life." What he is referring to is rape as a "method of conception" when asked if it should it be legal for a woman to be able to get an abortion if she's raped. If that sperm makes into you, the method is acceptable for obtaining protection from the government and it is now your responsibility to see it through to its 21^st birthday. The rape victim’s health, mental and otherwise, isn’t up for consideration in Ryan’s view. Only that of the newly engaged sperm and egg. They must now be federally protected and the 'method of conception' carried to full term. The Republicans don't really give a damn about what happens after the birth of the baby though.

                And lest we forget (although, much to his chagrin, I doubt most people will), there was Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin in an August interview stating, “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Leaving aside what exactly constitutes ‘legitimate rape’ (maybe that’s Paul Ryan’s definition as well), not one Medical School I know of teaches that a woman’s body can shut down the consequence of a rape. The implication behind his statement is; if the victim is not really being raped but just fooling around with her rapist and enjoying the ‘sex’ involved, then any conception is automatically intentional, should have the full protection of the federal government, and the woman must carry the result full term. Republican logic isn’t baffling, it can be completely understood from the viewpoint of an alternate universe where only men understand a woman's reproductive capabilities.

                         Mourdock, Ryan, Smith, and Akin…a Mount Rushmore of Republican stupidity.

What do all these poor excuses for XY chromosomes have in common, aside from the fact that they are arch-conservative right-wing GOP standard-bearers? To one degree or another, they are Christian fundamentalists. That can’t be stressed enough; they are all Christian fundamentalists. Why should that be the emphasis? Because it is that bible-infected influence resulting in narrow-minded (or rather brainless) thinking that leads them to make such asinine and morally-bankrupt remarks. When rape is thought of as nothing more than a method of conception, can be legitimized through some magical process, or that the Christian God intended it to happen, I have to wonder why ANY female would vote for a Republican…or attend a Christian church. (Who knows, maybe God rounded up a few rapists with ‘intent’ on their minds and are now lurking behind the altar.) Don’t be concerned ladies, following God’s law, your dad will be bribed with a token amount of money, and you’ll get a guaranteed husband out of the deal. Oh, and most likely that unplanned baby too!