More politics

More diverse, interesting stuff to come, promise!!

First of all, how over the line good old Rush has gone lately? 

Personally, I find the entire discussion over contraceptives to be patently ridiculous anyways.  Not so much the discussion about who should pay for contraceptives, because, maybe surprisingly, I understand (don't agree, but do understand) where some of these arguments are coming from.  But the fact that we are now discussing the availability of birth control in general now?  I can't understand how this is a topic of conversation in this country, at this moment in time.  Seriously people, we have much bigger things to think about, don't we? 

But back to Rush...  I generally have a high tolerance for crap that comes out of this guys mouth, because I know how much trouble he has being a civilised human being, but this steps over the line.  Suggesting that because we (women) use birth control, we are sluts?  Actually calling out one woman in particular, as a prostitute, and suggesting that she should compensate tax payers by posting home-made porn?  This man should have his radio show taken away.  There is no place in this country for ANYONE who makes such inflammatory comments for the sake of what he calls humor.  I don't think anyone found that comment funny, Rush.  One positive thing out of all of this though, is the almost universal recognition that this behavior is completely unacceptable.  Seriously, kudos to the conservatives out there who, despite the press this episode gains for their cause, have publicly come out and condemned their usual pet.  It shows that whether or not we agree on the issue itself, we all have a threshold for common decency.  And that is something that cannot always be said.

I think the fact that this issue (women's reproductive freedoms) has taken over the airwaves so much at this time says something about our political psituation, and I don't think its a good thing.  There is a contest going on right now, to decide who will be the "other guy" in this year's presidential race.  Now, whether you like them, hate them, or don't want to be bothered with any of them, this is important.  We have some serious stuff to deal with here.  And we are focusing on a social issue (that I hold dear to my heart, don't misunderstand) that is not at all urgent.  We can deal with this next year, when maybe the economy will be on its way to a steady and solid recovery, and when maybe we are not on the brink of a war that could consume all of the middle east.  The republicans have the choice of a guy who is trying desperately to be conservative, who has some good economic ideas, and maybe some questionable social ones, and the other guy who really is conservative, but who has no clear, defined economic policy, let alone a plan, and who thinks its more important to make sure that gays cannot get married and that women can be kept barefoot and pregnant for many generations to come.  Not that I at all support Mitt Romney, but how is this even a discussion?  In my opinion, this should be a contest between Mitt Romeny and Ron Paul, because they both have economic ideas that could turn into an actual plan.  We need to turn down some of this noise, and look at what our priorities are, collectively. 

One of those priorities HAS to be middle east policy.  That situation is just getting scary.  I think that it can be recognised as a nearly universal truth that Iran is run by one scary, bat-sh*t crazy lunatic.  This is a situation that we need to address.  And it can't be because Israel (or the U.S.) is twisting the world's proverbial arm to attack attack attack!  I don't pretend to know what the right answer to this is, probably no one does.  But we need to talk about it.  We need to know who's going to do what, and at what point.  If someone (Israel) goes off half cocked, that could land us all in a dire situation.  Maybe I'm being overly fatalistic about this, but I really, honestly believe that if this situation starts a war, it could turn into the biggest one of our generation.  Maybe not World War III, but certainly one that will affect us all for a long time to come.

"Nation", we need to get our SH*T together!