Arithmetic: A Memo to CPAC

So we've heard from conservatives now.  And as much fun as that was, I feel like it's important to underline something.

10 Things That Are More Regulated Than Guns

Apparently many Americans - and not just fringe-y scary ones - have an affinity for or emotional attachment to guns.  But the level of actual regulation on guns is simply topsy turvy, considering the amount of danger they present to people (especially children).

So I wanted to pull together a bunch of ideas I've seen floating around to underscore just how under-regulated guns are in America.

Ten things that are more regulated than guns:

George HW Bush: Underrated? (End of Year Re-Run)

In the wake of this:

I thought the first post I'd like to re-run in our 2-week break is this one (from May 24th), asking the question...

Suffer The Little Children

Because guns don't kill people.  Lack of access to mental health services don't kill people.  America's fascination and worship of violence doesn't kill people.  No, it is the lack of school-sponsored prayer that kills people.

The response to the Newtown shooting, in which 26 people were killed on school property, 20 of them children, was as predictable as it was infuriating:

You know the question’s gonna come up, where was God?” he said. “I thought God cared about the little children, God protected the little children. Where was God when all this went down? And here’s the bottom line: God is not gonna go where he’s not wanted.

Now we have spent, since 1962, this, we’re 50 years into this now, we have spent 50 years telling God to get lost. Telling God, we do not want you in our schools, we don’t want to pray to you in our schools, we don’t want to pray to you before football games, we don’t want to pray to you at graduation, we don’t want anyone talking about you in a graduation speech.

We’ve kicked God out of our public school system. And I think God would say to us, "Hey I’ll be glad to protect your children, but you’ve gotta invite me back into your world first. I’m not gonna go where I’m not wanted. I am a gentleman."

And then, Mike Huckabee weighs in:

Mandi Mansplains It All

Mansplaining:  The tendency of some men to mistakenly believe that they automatically know more about any given topic than does a woman and who, consequently, proceed to explain to her- correctly or not- things that she already knows.

Woman A: When he started mansplaining to me what it really meant to be a woman in the 21st century, I got up and left.

Woman B: Really, what else could you do?

     

                -Urban Dictionary

4 Ways Republicans Can Relaunch The Brand: Crystal Pepsi Edition

After every election, the losing party assesses the damage, and thinks of ways they can get the elusive 50.1% of the vote the next time around. In other words, how do political parties relaunch themselves to get a bigger share of the market for the next round of elections?  As the loser of two presidential elections in a row, Republicans are now the ones in re-branding mode. What tried and true marketing techniques can the Republicans perform moving forward to become more appealing to more people?

Under Pressure: High Anxiety Linkage

                                                         

Tis the season of the anxiety - if you're a person who gets passionate about politics.

My mom wouldn't watch the debates and won't talk about politics.  I'm avoiding most polls and predictions and only listening to the half of my podcasts that don't freak me out.  So if it's a story about scientific studies or Abraham Lincoln or a new play on Broadway, I'm your girl.  Ask me the current poll numbers?  Not so much.

But a few stories/ideas have permeated my anxious haze, and here they are:


1. Colin Powell Endorses Obama. 

The Will of God

..."even when life begins with that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen." ...

"The only exception I have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something God intended to happen."

                                       -Richard Mourdock, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Indiana

The War on Women, a Primer: Part Two

Happy International Day of the Girl!

Strong Enough for a Woman

So I've neglected my woman warrior duties because of the interesting twists and turns in the campaign over the last few weeks.  But as promised, in The War on Women, A Primer: Part One, I am back to talk about more of the many ways the Republican Party has been going after us ladies like there's no tomorrow.



And I have to give a big thank you to Mittens for helping me find my way home.  Governor Romney said: 





"There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda," on Tuesday, to The Des Moines Register.  [Emphasis mine.]

The Price of Sex

I've been thinking about Emily's piece on The War on Women, and how some issues have become perennial flashpoints. I think in the end, it all boils down to how "cheap" (easy to obtain) sex is in our culture, and how many social conservatives have a deep unease with this notion.  Most conservative social issues boil down to varying strategies to make sex more expensive, especially for women.

The War on Women, A Primer: Part One

Cops in riot gear prepare to meet anti-forced-ultrasound protestors in Virginia.

There has been a back and forth all campaign season about whether there is a War on Women.  Now setting aside the fact that the "War on" title is egregiously overused and somewhat inflammatory, the talk comes from somewhere.  There is a pretty well-acknowledged and consistent gender gap between our two parties.  Men lean right, women lean left.  But on top of that, are there reasons why, this year in particular, we hear about a War on Women?  Has something changed materially about the way Republicans are conducting themselves, or is it just a continuation of conservatives tending to favor policies that favor men over women?

Update: "Legitimate Rape" Edition

In a previous post, we explored current Republican contender for Missouri senator Rep. Tod Akin's controversial statements regarding "legitimate rape", and his curious notion that in the event of a legitimate rape, the human female body is capable of "shutting the whole thing down", and preventing pregnancy.  There have been several new developments since then.

"Legitimate Rape"

First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

                                                                                                             - Rep. Todd Akin

Friday Follies: Hey Girl, Politics Are Dreamy

Evolution of a political meme:

First, there was Ryan Gosling, Tumblr (profanity in its real title).  Not really political, just funny.

A Protestant, A Mormon and Two Catholics Walk into an Election...

One of the most interesting things about this presidential campaign is how little we've heard - thus far - about the candidates' religion.

7 Fun (And Not-So-Fun) Facts About Paul Ryan

There is a joke in there, somewhere...

So some of you may have heard that Romney picked a running mate this past weekend, Paul Ryan, a Representative from Wisconsin.  And you may have wondered, who is that guy with the creepy eyes that I may, or may not have heard of before?  Well, we have some answers for you, below the fold...

The Right-Wing Stuff?

If Governor Romney loses in November, I think in the final analysis it will have been because the right (Tea Partiers as well as conventional conservatives) would not allow Romney to run on the things that might allow him to gain traction in the general election.

When The Rubbers Hit The Road, or Why Don’t People Use Birth Control?

We all worry about the population explosion, but we don't worry about it at the right time. ~Arthur Hoppe

In the US, almost half of all pregnancies are unintentional.   Women in the United States are almost twice as likely as women in Great Britain and three times as likely as women in the Netherlands to face an unplanned pregnancy. Despite the plethora of choices for birth control, such as the Pill, IUD, condoms, diaphragms, Depo-Provera, etc. women are  getting pregnant, despite their stated intentions not to do so.  Why is this the case?  Almost 99% of sexually active women have used some form of birth control at some point, so why aren’t couples more diligent about using birth control consistently?

Girly Questions

So I have this list of things that I've been thinking about using for post ideas.  But I mostly just want to share them and ask some girly questions.  So here goes:

• Here, we are arguing whether women get to have abortions or use birth control.  In China, they are arguing whether to continue forcing women to have abortions (even as late-term as 7-months) as they enforce their historically anti-girl one-child policy.  Either way, the mostly-male governments would really, really like to be able to tell women what to do.  The good news is that China has undermined its own progress by short-sightedly messing with its gender dynamics and age dynamics.  123 boys to 100 girls under age 4.  How's that going to work out for you in 20 years, guys?  One thing about democracy: you end up talking about things a whole lot before you do them.  But which argument is more anti-girl?  Why do governments spend so much time trying to control reproduction?  Is there a better way to have this conversation?

That which you do to the least of my brethren...

There has been a recent, and, to me, fascinating back and forth between American nuns and Rome about how much Catholics should emphasize care for the poor in the public discourse, as opposed to focusing on being anti-birth control, anti-gay marriage, anti-ordination of women, and anti-abortion.

Now, I'm not Catholic.  So I'm treading oh so lightly here.  But I simply do not get a Pope saying that nuns should focus less on the poor.  That is really, really strange to me.  And because of the history of the Catholic Church with women and with American Catholics, generally... I can't help but wonder if this is a smack down of a group of uppity American women.