March 27, 2012
Hypocritical, Theocratic Bullies*
Among other things, this blog has shown that Republicans and the conservative movement are nothing but hypocritical bullies that want to turn our separation of church and state Republic into a 15th century Christian Theocracy. And the recent manufactured, made for Fox "News" controversy over the health insurance contraceptive mandate has proven me right. Not that I need more proof to help my case of course, but as the GOP keeps proving me right, I'm going to keep pointing it out.
Keep in mind that weeks before this even turned into a "controversy," President Obama, as usual
But if Republicans can't get everything they want, they'll go on the attack and turn it into another partisan fight. And that's what they did.
The Hypocrisy
Let me see if I have this straight: "pro-life" conservatives threaten and harass abortion doctors and staff, vandalize abortion clinics, assassinate abortion doctors, and have tried to legalize - yes, legalize - the assassination of abortion doctors, all to prevent abortions from taking place....hang on, that's not the hypocrisy; well it is, obviously, but not the one I'm about to point out...but they vehemently oppose mandating contraceptive insurance coverage which would increase the number of unwanted pregnancies, and therefore, increase the number of abortions! Yup, makes sense to me!
As much as they try, Republicans can't have it both ways. If their objective is
Exponential ignorance and a forced (manufactured) hatred of the "evil, baby-killing liberals" is why conservatives turn logic on its head. And they don't mind looking foolish doing so. But that's what cults get you to do.
There's something else that's going on here. The GOP is naturally taking their cue from their base - Christian fundamentalists - and running with it to score political points. It's a war on religion!
But even Congressional Republicans know that less birth control would lead to more abortions. But that's what they want so when "the number of abortions are on the rise," it'll be the "evil, baby-killing liberal's fault." And they'll use that to incite more rage and anger among the, um, "pro-lifers" - as if they're not enraged and angry enough - by yanking that leash the GOP has tied to their noses so they'll keep throwing money and votes at them.
Side note: If Democrats were smart (insert laughter here), they would have come out for a constitutional amendment on abortion rights a long time ago.
A Christian Conservative Theocracy
When it comes to getting information on birth control, House Republicans went right to the source and convened...wait for it...an an all male panel. Yup, makes sense to me!
But the left and the so called Godless "liberal media" missed something important: it was a panel entirely of clergymen!
Since when does this country get advice, input and information on birth control from clergymen? Since when does this country get advice, input and information on anything from clergymen? If there's anyone Congress should not listen to, it's the clergy and religion.
Were it up to them and the religious conservatives in Congress, the world would still be flat, global warning's a hoax because God said so, and - talk about 15th century - we'd be (wasting time) teaching creationism in our public schools.
Do I have to list the Islamic theocracies in the world that take their cues from religion? Do I have to show that woman are treated like second class citizens in most these countries (hmm...) where they're not allowed to drive or have jobs? Do I have to show how violent, backwards and so 15th century they are? Do I have to show that God and religion is, incredibly and hypocritically, the "justification" behind every terrorist group and terrorist act in the world? Do I have to show what happens when you mix religion and governance? Well, here it is, right here!
There's only two places for religion: the home and house of worship. That's it. So religion should not have any influence on America's politics and policies. Not one bit. And if sanctimonious conservatives want Christianity, or any religion for that matter, to have more and more of a say in our politics, policies and personal lives, then I suggest they look to the Mideast and Africa - and what's behind all their poverty, disease, sectarianism, fundamentalism, terrorism and bloodshed - to see how well it's turned out for them. And then take a look at what the separation of church and state has done for America (that "Godless liberal" Thomas Jefferson, as well as the great Ataturk, were on to something with that one).
But it wouldn't do any good because pig-headed conservatives who think they know it all don't have the level of maturity and intellect to admit they've been wrong. Besides, if you haven't learned by now, the right would rather look foolish and go on the attack with lies and slander then agree with the left. And that's what makes the Republican
Side note: Christian conservatives and clergymen go to such radical lengths to stop abortions and discourage birth control. "A life's a life," they say. But when it comes to guns and gun violence? Crickets.
You'd think if there was anyone who was that extreme on abortion and birth control, would despise guns just as much and demand stronger gun laws - even an out-right ban on hand guns - it would be Christian conservatives and clergymen. Well, where the hell are they?
Yea, let's declare a fertilized egg a person so "life can be protected." But when it comes to guns, we don't hear a peep out of them. Yup, makes sense to me!
Actually, it's the opposite because they call for repealing gun laws!
Besides blatant hypocrisy it goes to show that conservatives and the entire Republican "Party" only care about the unborn and clinically dead. And if you're somewhere in the middle, then the hell with you, unless of course you're extremely wealthy or own guns.
They sure have their priorities, and logic, in order, don't they?
(April 5 insert: Rep. Jan Schakowsy throws Republican Biblical hypocrisy right back in their faces, here.)
Conservatives are Bullies
When law student Sandra Fluke testified in an unofficial hearing on behalf of the contraceptive insurance mandate for women's health reasons, Rush Limbaugh attacked her by calling her a "slut" and "prostitute." Then he attacked her again. And again. Forty six attacks in all.
Of course there were. Since Limbaugh and conservatives have zero logic, don't have the facts on their side, and are unable to engage in mature, honest and intelligent discussions, about anything, all they can do is insult, ridicule, lie and attack. And attack. And attack.
Limbaugh went after Fluke the way he did for a few reasons. First, because "liberals" can not, under any circumstances be allowed to win an argument, ever; even on a relatively minor issue like this one, even if the birth control debate was won and settled in 1965, and even if it means making stuff up. Second, to keep his audience distracted, ignorant and enraged so they'll be insulated from the facts, and logic, and therefore, never wise up and leave him and this cult (fat chance as it is). And third, because Mrs. Fluke is smart and articulate. And that's the biggest threat to conservative propaganda and dogma, and therefore, to the conservative movement/cult.
The right's been acting like street thugs for a generation. Unfortunately, it works.
Side Note: The right's argument is that they don't want to pay higher insurance premiums and costs to, in effect, pay for someone else's birth control (denying coverage, as I pointed out, would increase the number of abortions). But they want the individual mandate in the new health care law struck down as unconstitutional (even though it was a Republican idea) even though it would mean conservatives would continue paying higher insurance premiums and costs, not to mention higher taxes, to pay for the (irresponsible) uninsured when they turn up at the emergency room or seek medical care through Medicaid.
So the right doesn't want to pay for someone else's birth control, but is willing to continue paying, one way or another, for Medicaid and out-of-pocket costs for the uninsured's health care.
So not only has the right forgotten their mantra of "personal responsibility," which is what the Republican-initiated individual mandate is all about, but also too stupid to realize that it's in their financial interests!
Sounds like an Abbott and Costello routine, doesn't it?
And you can't deny treatment to the uninsured because that wouldn't be the "pro-life" thing to do.
But wait there's more!
"Obamacare" forces those without insurance - tens of millions of Americans - to go into exchanges that are currently being set up at the state level and buy insurance from the private insurance companies. Um, that's the free market! That's exactly what Republicans are always screaming for! "Competition" and "the free market" so buyers can "shop around" for the best price. Well, here it is. But the right wants it repealed, or at least declared unconstitutional. Yup, makes sense to me!
(May 28 insert: Republicans at the state level have resisted setting up the exchanges, which ironically would force them into a federally-run "big government" exchange.)
But this is what happens when exponentially ignorant conservatives and Republicans spin themselves into knots trying to stand logic on its head when they're forced to disagree with everything that Obama and the Democrats are for.
This is what we're dealing with here. I'd rather deal with Bud and Lou.
Conclusion
It's incredible that birth control is even an issue. It is the 21st century, isn't it? Next thing you know the left will have to defend evolution, climate change and Obama's birth certificate and religion. Oh wait.
But just like health care, the recent budget battles, and the raising of the debt ceiling, this contraceptive insurance mandate is just another GOP-manufactured partisan fight. That's what Republicans do. That's all they can do because God, guns, gays, abortion, "lower taxes," "less government" and "liberal media" is all they got. And when you have a record that couldn't be more wrong, incompetent and disastrous, the only way to "win" the, um, "debate," at least among their conservative base - who have moved the "center" far, far to the right insane neanderthal to counter the left's sprint to the center right - is to keep them perpetually enraged at Obama, Democrats or whoever the "liberal" enemy of the hour happens to be (a few weeks ago it was Sandra Fluke. Before her it was Planned Parenthood. Now it's back to Mrs. Fluke.). And with a massive right-wing propaganda machine, they do that with lies, attacks, ignorance, fear/paranoia - of Democrats, liberals, Muslims, unions, the media, the (made up) threat of taking guns and health care away, etc. - manufactured confrontation, double standards, partisan vitriol, a mountain of spin, and a bigger mountain of hypocrisy. Next time it'll be about someone or something else.
Anyone who believes you can build a healthy, vibrant, prosperous society around all that is an ignorant, self-righteous Christian fundamentalist who wouldn't know intelligent governance and leadership if it fell on them (but with their abhorrence of big government - at least not when it benefits them, or when it forces women to undergo an extremely invasive and unnecessary medical procedure - they wouldn't even want it!). And it's scary because there are tens of millions of them and their objective is a white Christian nation where white Christians rule with a Bible in one hand, an assault rifle in the other, and vigilante justice is promoted.
Not only is that the sort of thing cults get you to do, but it's what "God, guns and sectarian justice" Islamic fundamentalist theocracies are.
Hey, I said they were scary.
April 29 insert:
You think I was kidding when I just said that the right's objective is a White Christian nation?
In a segment on Mitt Romney's immigration policies, Rachel Maddow explains that he's hired Kris Kobach as an immigration adviser. Kobach is one of the author's of Arizona's SB1070 "paper's please" law, among others, that Romney has called a "model."
Maddow pointed to an article in the Washington Post about Kobach and Michael Hethmon, also a SB-1070 author:
Immigration is “on track to change the demographic makeup of the entire country. You know, what they call ‘minority-majority,’ ” said Hethmon, who is general counsel at the Washington-based Immigration Reform Law Institute. “How many countries have gone through a transition like that — peacefully, carefully? It’s theoretically possible, but we don’t have any examples.”
Maddow was incredulous:
Wait, that's why we need anti-immigration bills like the ones you guys wrote...? To make sure that America stays white enough? To keep the number of non-white people in America low? That's why we need immigration reform, that's what motivating these bills?
...the justification for anti-immigrant laws like the ones he wrote...is maintaining an adequate proportion of white people in this country.
Yes, I know we're talking about illegals here. But that's not what SB-1070 and the rest of the drastic anti-immigration laws are about. It's the un-American objective behind them.
In a discussion with Steve Kornacki later on in the segment, Maddow wonders:
...if (Hethmon is)...explicitly for a racially designed outcome in the United States in order to maximize the white population vis-a-vis the non-white population...
Yes, he is, along with Kobach and the entire right-wing conservative movement who despise the thought of, and feel threatened by, a black president and a diversified America.
May 10 insert:
I originally said the right's objective is a white Christian nation and the previous insert concentrated on the "white" part. Well, here's Rachel Maddow reporting how Republicans push Christianity and prayer, publicly. She also noted, to mark National Prayer Day, Speaker Boehner allowed a Christian prayer event in the Capitol's Statuary Hall that was headlined by Christian radicals.
Later on in the segment Maddow spoke to Rev. C. Welton Gaddy who said:
...the preachers are doing politics and politicians are trying to preach...I'm stunned what happened today. This is a group of people who are the finest in the world as revisionist historians. Our nation's history didn't provide them what they wanted for their agenda so they changed the history...
...these people gathered to pray, with the backdrop of the National Day of Prayer...on the television, on the screens, all of its publicity says 'this is for Christians'. This isn't for the whole nation. It's for Christians that pray just like these individuals do. Why in the world would the Speaker of the House of the United States Congress want to send a message to people all over this nation that if you're not a Christian like these people, your rights are threatened? They have an agenda to make this nation just like them...(Bold mine.)
Republicans and the right always prove me right. Unfortunately.
August 8 insert:
Prior to "Obamacare," 28 states as well as Catholic universities and hospitals already mandated or provided contraception coverage as part of their health plans. And that includes Massachusetts where Mitt Romney's (socialist!) health care overhaul included similar mandated contraception coverage.
So prior to "Obamacare" not only was contraceptive coverage mandated by more than half the states (implemented by Republicans), but it wasn't a controversial issue at all. But now that Obama's for it...
But wait, there's more!
Wheaton College, an evangelical liberal arts school in Illinois, asked a Washington, D.C. federal court on Wednesday for an emergency injunction against the Obama administration's contraception coverage mandate because the rule forces the school to cover emergency contraception...
But they were already providing emergency contraception coverage!
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