I apologize to Eric in advance, because I seem to use this blog to vent whenever someone gets me so angry that it starts impairing my writing. This is one of those times. Hold on to your hats, girls and boys, because I’m at full simmer and about to whistle.
Over the last few days it’s been impossible for me to log on to Face Book without being assaulted by postings on the “Republicans War On Women” from my female Face Book Friends most of whom are educated and many of whom work in a profession that, at least in broad theory, requires them to have the capacity for original or individual thought.
These posts, besides being headlined that idiotic way then go on to be cute. And, guys and girls, I HATE cute. I despise cute when the subject at hand is serious. And this is serious.
Let me see, the cutest ones are the picture of a pregnant woman that says something like “only a woman can decide” and the picture of a bunch of nineteenth century crones called “the panel on Viagra.”
Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, but particularly ladies – if one can call you that – please engage brain before waggling fingers on keyboard.
For various reasons, but mostly because it’s really bad for women – do you want to argue facts? Like increased risk of cancer? Like major surgical procedure? Like the fact that 90% of fetuses aborted are female? Like the fact that psychologically it pretty much surrenders our armament in the war of the sexes? (And I can argue the last one at length, trust me. And don’t think you’re above it, you’re NOT. You’ve just been sold a bill of goods) – I am in general opposed to abortion. This does not mean I want it made illegal. I don’t want murder to be illegal either.
My opposition manifests itself in that if I know a young lady is contemplating abortion, I offer to adopt the child. None has taken me up on this yet, but there’s always hope. (And for those who know me, yes, that is entirely self-serving as I’d like another child or three.)
As for contraception, I don’t use it, but this is neither here nor there as I have the fertility rate of a small rock in the Sahara and both my sons are miracle babies – and even at my age I’d love another miracle. I’m not in general opposed to it for other people. By not opposed, I don’t mean just that I don’t want to ban it: I mean I wouldn’t cross the street to dissuade someone from using it. In fact, if you’re young and unmarried, (or young in spirit – infantile, you could say – like the people posting about the “Republican War On Women) by all means, make sure you’re fully protected against pregnancy.
But no one is discussing banning contraceptives or even abortion. The contraceptive issue was introduced in a Republican debate by George “Supine” Stephanopoulos as a means of painting Republicans as being against contraceptives.
It’s clear Mr. “Mouthpiece” Stephanopoulos had been given a heads up to the coming, completely artificial controversy – that of institutions owned by Catholic churches being forced to provide contraceptives AND abortifacient pills to their women employees, via their coverage.
(Mind you, to all the “progressive” Catholics who have been cheering on the Obamacare power grab, I HOPE this serves as a wake up call that you can’t make partway deals with the devil. Also, that if you lie down with dogs, you wake up with yersinia pestis carrying fleas.)
The republicans PROPERLY have pointed out this is a violation of the freedom of religion secured to us by the constitution. BUT because they oppose taking the founding document of the United States out in the backyard and screwing it like a two bit whore, they’re being accused of starting a war on women.
Because, the Catholic church changed its doctrine yesterday, to refuse you free contraceptives, ladies. Yep, that’s the truth. And those mean, nasty, awful Republicans are conniving with the mean, evil nasty papists. And, yep, they are going to refuse to pay for your contraceptives EVEN IF YOU DON’T work for them, as the vast majority of women who in the US don’t. How nasty is that?
What kind of enormous, unyielding, painful daddy issues have you got to have to think that Uncle Sam has to force a CHURCH to pay for your contraception? Are you really that infantile? That conflicted about your sexual being? Society must cover your contraception because… you were born with a vagina and that makes you speshul? Because that absolves you of your guilt in having sex? Society must provide for your abortions because… then it’s not your fault?
Poor wittle girly-girls. Did the devil make you do it?
And this is a war on women because…
Because… When the Romans took over Carthage, they immediately refused to pay for Carthaginian birth control, OR Carthaginian abortions. As we all know, this immediately reduced Carthaginians to a state of slavery.
Is THAT what you think? Do you realize that actually invaders usually try to reduce the occupied population?
Let me tell you what war on someone means: It means that you and your children can’t keep what you work for. It means that you are killed for the convenience of the occupiers. It means you can’t worship as you please. It means you can’t eat, buy or wear what you wish. It means you can’t travel where you wish. It means you can’t afford to have children when you want them.
In fact, a war on women, at least that portion of women who are American resembles very much what we are seeing happen right before our eyes, with a staggering deficit and an intrusive government. Your children – and you – will be enslaved to pay for the debt the government is incurring. This will greatly reduce your ability to live your life as you wish. A war on women is what we’re seeing, when you won’t be able to educate your daughters (or your sons, but do you care?) because we’re flat stone broke. A war on women resembles the restrictions on travel (through ridiculous, uncalled for constrictions of our energy supply – like the refusal of the pipeline from Canada) that are already being imposed on us, and that will get much much worse if you give these clowns another chance.
A war on women – a war on everyone – means forcing people to pay for things they believe are a sin, and which they think will cost them eternal torment. (And it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it. Freedom of religion is supposed to prevent the majority from violating the rights of religious minorities, no matter if their beliefs make you fall down howling with laughter. No. PARTICULARLY if their wishes make you fall down howling with laughter. Force Roman Catholics to pay for your abortion today, force Jews to sell bacon tomorrow, force Mormons to drink wine. It’s all the same.)
War is forcing people to do what the invaders want them to, exactly in the way the invaders want.
The Democratic government is at war with America. And they hope you won’t notice.
Worse, their campaign of war has been incredibly successful in reducing us to a population of slaves. They hope you don’t notice that either. Instead, they wave the false flag of contraceptives and “War On Women” and all these supposedly liberated SUPPOSEDLY rational women fall for it.
So far, the Democrats War on Reality is massively successful.
UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! Thank you to Glenn Reynolds for the link.
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The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
62 Comments until now
Liberals tell everyone that they should be free to do what they want. But a group of people who WANT to associate with a church and WANT to endorse a pro-life philosophy… THAT they cannot do.
Hypocrisy, thy name is liberalism.
Modern Liberals hate any group that they don’t control and hate anybody who doesn’t “do as they say”.
You are smoked. This is far from your most coherent writing. The sarcasm is too sly to be recognized for what it is at first. Of course the reversal may have been your intention.
In any case the Catholics are in part to blame for supporting socialism. Just deserts I’d say. Had they stuck to Catholic socialism…
And they are vulnerable because they have taken government money. He who pays the piper….
What were they thinking? “We can do more good with the stolen goods than those other guys. Give them to us.” Why not “don’t steal” ?
If you don’t consider taxation as theft I suppose you then have a “moral” out.
[...] HOYT: Dispatches From Different Wars. “Over the last few days it’s been impossible for me to log on to the Face Book without [...]
In regards to the contraception thing, while I haven’t exactly been obsessing over commentary on the issue, I don’t recall seeing any noise from the usual crowd chanting “Separation of church and state”, for some odd reason…
[/sarcasm]
That is what Jefferson was referring to in the letter from which that phrase has been drawn, assuring that the government wouldn’t interfere in the practice of one’s faith. But you’d never hear that from the aforementioned crowd.
I believe there’s a word for that. Starts with “h”, and ends in “ypocrite”, I think.
Um, Simon?
I’ve got to say I found Sarah’s post a heck of a lot more coherent than your comment. What was it you were trying to say there?
(Of course, this could just be that I’m past my expiry and subtle isn’t registering)
Actually the “well you took gov’t money therefore you deserve what you get” doesn’t work because this new mandate applies to ALL Catholic institutions including many that don’t take a penny of government money.
The first comment here is interesting in regards to this post. It makes the point about the Catholic Church in America adopting socialism.
http://www.americandigest.org/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=17216
Kate – the first part of my comment was for Sarah. You can disregard it.
Janet,
Thanks. I have been more interested in electronics than politics lately.
TO: All
RE: This Is Going….
….to be ‘interesting’. The herd-mentality of liberal women is going to get Obama re-elected. The nation be ‘damned’.
And history will recount how these foolish women brought US down.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[History repeats itself. That's the problem with history.]
There might in fact be a Republican war against women and contraceptives. There could be a Republican war against termites, or aliens, or tree bark. In all cases above, Leftist women will be up in arms, flooding their Facebook accounts, getting their panties in a wad, doing the bidding of Democrats because in the end, Leftist women are Leftists first, women second.
A small point of order: In the United States, at least, there is no evidence that female fetuses (or “girls,” if you are a pro-lifer of a certain sort) are aborted preferentially. In fact, the birth ratio of girls to boys has increased a tiny sliver since abortion was legalized.
Of course, the ferners kill the girl fetuses preferentially, but as an American libertarian conservative they are not my concern.
The so called accomdation is not much better. Free coverage for birth control and/or abortion? Someone always pays. Just not necessary the individual receiving the benefit. We will all pay either with higher premium or higher taxes.
“I don’t want murder to be illegal either.”
Really? You want murder legalized? Hopefully I’m missing something…
My eparchy has a monastery associated with it. To keep the monastery running they have a bakery. The only people working there are celibate monks. They take no money from the government. The bakery is going to have to offer health insurance, with birth control, to the monks or pay a fine.
This is beyond daft.
Great commentary…but is this really what you are doing instead of Witchfinder?
Hmmm.
Over the past few years I’ve discovered that if I say something like “You want to have an abortion? Go ahead; just stop insisting I help pay for it”, that is apparently code for “I hate women, I want them barefoot, kitchened and pregnant until they die of no health care” and such. Kind of amazing, I had no idea I was such a bastard!
Then, a few days ago, I made the error of pointing out to someone that the ‘news’ story of “REPUBLICANS WON’T LET A WOMAN TESTIFY!!!” was crap; that the Democrats tried to take a hearing on 1st Amendment problems and turn it into a ‘free contraception is the only kind’ hearing, and got called on it. I’ve never been called both a misogynist and member of the ‘You girls just do what you’re told’ club before.
It’s been an educational few days
I’d like to see you do a companion piece on our societies’ war on men. Which is real even if not officially a government position.
Linked to from my Facebook page. Says it better than I could. Thanks.
Sparkey
Eh. I don’t expect anyone to adopt it, but a lot can be said for simply allowing for people being sued for blood geld. I’m not saying I approve of murder, note. I’m saying that knowing someone’s relatives will kill you (if murder isn’t illegal) and or sue you within an inch of your life might be more effective in stopping it than 70% of murders going unsolved.
And don’t say we’d become a murderous anarchy. Most people don’t ACTUALLY wish to commit murder (or not badly enough to carry it through.) If we did, the 30% chance of being caught (and that’s for reported, found-out crimes) would not stop us.
TMLutas
EXACTLY.
Tigerhawk,
Yeah. True. BUT women abroad are still women, so if there is such a thing as a war on women by DENYING them abortions, we should look at what abortions do everywhere.
Besides, things that are over there have a way of coming over here, so it’s always good to be careful what you agitate for. If you want the government (not you. Generic you) to pay for your contraceptives and abortions, why shouldn’t government dictate when you have them? He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Simon,
I was VERY furious. Still am, but venting helped.
Also, yes, he who lays down with dogs will wake up with the black plague. I’ve made my views on social-justice known often enough. (There is no such thing. All justice by definition has to be individual. Social Justice like Collective Guilt are weapons to cause people to agree to their own oppression.)
M.Simon, here’s what Rob Sama says about accepting government “gifts” -
So apparently the Catholic Church were big boosters for Obamacare when it was being passed, being fans of free stuff for the poor and all. One should hope that they have learned something from this episode about the incompatibility of free stuff and freedom.
Free Stuff vs. Freedom http://samablog.robsama.com/?p=5812
While it’s certainly true that the press (under the Democrats string pulling) have fanned the flame, the spark would only exist because of Santorum’s views on contraception. He’s the one that said contraception was “not okay”.
Obviously, it’s a big jump from there to assuming he wants to ban it, but Santorum should have been lost all his support for saying crazy stuff like that. Instead, he’s the top candidate.
Republicans are simply the stupid party
“And they are vulnerable because they have taken government money. He who pays the piper….”
So anyone who takes Social Security, or Medicaid, or any government money, forfeits their First Amendment rights?
Captain Ed eviscerates this nonsense of yours better than I can….
The really interesting bit is that this is what the Democrats are reduced to…talking about contraception.
The economy is at best fragile and at worst about to tank again and all they can do is tell woman that being forced to buy your own BC pills is just like they were going to be banned.
If the Republicans weren’t so busy trying to get a tool like Romney into office they might be able to work with that…nah.
[...] view of conservatives in general and Republicans in particular. Yesterday, Sarah Hoyt offered an extended rant on a recent manifestation of a related ignorance, something many of us have witnessed as well: Over the last few days it’s been impossible for me [...]
Those who argue that the Church deserved this infringement on its religious liberty probably accuse rape victims of “asking for it” — as if that justifies and excuses the crime.
What we are seeing with this “Republican War On Women” (and, in the small gratitudes department, let’s acknowledge they’re generally spelling Republican correctly) is a classic ploy that might be demonstrated thusly: Bill and Monica are snogging in his office when his wife Hillary walks in and, spying them, asks “What’s going on here?” Rather than explain he was demonstrating a new technique for removing objects obstructing the back of the mouth, Bill blows a fuse, demanding to know why Hillary thinks it is acceptable to interrupt him in the office, points out that she is habitually disrespectful of his privacy, and in general makes the focus of the ensuing argument all about her mistreatment of him. Many sit-coms have revolved around this trope and it can properly be considered a classic of American theatre.
[...] view of conservatives in general and Republicans in particular. Yesterday, Sarah Hoyt offered an extended rant on a recent manifestation of a related ignorance, something many of us have witnessed as well: Over the last few days it’s been impossible for me [...]
This isn’t merely a “war on women” being waged by “progressive elements.” It’s a war on our society. Liberals are waging a social war in order to fundamentally change how our society operates.
They are attempting to subjugate the population to total governmental domination by eliminating your ability to make any sort of decisions on your life.
Rich Vail
Pikesville, Maryland
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com
The Catholic Left is indeed a dangerous element as it imperils not only religious freedom, but freedom itself. By supporting Leftist (i.e. Socialist and thus Atheist) cultural agenda items advanced by the State, the Catholic Left reduces the power of the Church to act independently from the State; thus, reducing the voices of freedom in our society.
[...] Republicans are stealing your ladyparts!!! [...]
I agree with everything said and will add, we once fought for liberation yet now we purpose to become wards of the State.
Our mantra once was “goverment keep your hands off our bodies” now it is “government give us free Pills because we can’t control our reproductive health”
How can reasonably intelligent women fail to understand that this war for absolute Statist control is being waged upon them?
This is great. Free contra’s encourages more horizontal folk dancing and as a side benefit more STDs. Now that the big “G” doesn’t respond to meds, you ladies will surely need the free med insurance.
Has no one, including Senator Santorum, heard of the Griswold v. Connecticut? The decision in this case stated that the state could not deny a married couple the use of contraception. (This is the case that found the guarantee of a right to privacy in the 14th Amendment.) That has been the law of the land since 1965. The same protection was extended to unmarried couples by another court decision, Eisenstadt v. Baird in 1972. Unless the Supreme Court overturns these and subsequent decisions, or there is a Constitutional Amendment states cannot ban the use of contraception.
We are being played. Some people want to use the threats to keep you from noticing that they are riding rough shod over the 1st Amendment. It is a crying shame that so many people are falling for it.
On FB I’ve tried to enter the fray by posting questions such as “When did Santorum _say_ he wanted to outlaw contraceptives?” or “How has Santorum stated he will avoid the GRiswald decision?”
These are usually met with either *I can’t speak to this because I’m a man* or *I can’t speak to this as I’m a Christian*. The former is a typical Feminist ploy the latter is even more baffling because the people saying it are usually atheists or pagans. And otherwise conservative/libertarian.
I get the fear that the Christianists are going to drag you into the streets, tie you to a stake and make you recant and kiss a bible. That goes on all the time. Right? But the very same 1st Amendment that allows you to seek legal protection if you are denied employment because you’re a Wiccan is the one that prevents King Barak I from telling a church that it must violate it’s own doctrine.
And that’s another example of Sarah’s deal with the Devil.
I think I love you, Miss Sarah. Wow. Great post.
[...] So how come we didn’t get all this The Politicians Are Stealing Your Ladyparts!!! hysteria back when the Obama Administration blocked Plan B against the recommendation of the [...]
Great post Sarah, but you need not apologize to me! I wish you would do this more often.
Liberals: they won’t even screw each other on their own dime.
Sarah February 19th, 2012 (#):
Re: unsolved murders. Before the Drug War captured police departments across the nation the clearance rate for murders was in the 60% to 80% range.
SDN February 19th, 2012,
I didn’t say it was right. I was merely observing what happens.
You have heard of the Golden Rule haven’t you:
“He who has the Gold makes the rules.”
i.e. it is a truism.
The Church that wants to remain independent should avoid government money like the plague it is.
And yeah. I’m working like the Devil to get off Social Security (I’m retired). It is why I only blog infrequently these days. I’d prefer not to count on government for anything.
[...] Sarah’s excellent post about the Republican “war on women” made so many good points that I feel a bit guilty about neglecting the issue. [...]
After I cooled down a bit I realized that I forgot to ask the question: Do we want to continue to live in a Constitutional Republic, or are we just going to give up our freedoms in exchange for being cared for. It is an ironic twist on the quote attributed to Ben Franklin, but if we give up our freedoms for this safety net we won’t have either because the government will go bankrupt.
Travis, about Witchfinder -
It went up late, but it was up before Sarah even started writing this. Maybe you missed it.
http://accordingtohoyt.com/2012/02/17/witchfinder-free-novel-chapter-21-and-22/
Enjoy.
SDN
Sigh. No. What I meant is that women who want the government to pay for their abortions can’t say that the government can’t tell them when to abort.
ALSO yes, it makes everyone who has taken social security etc. vulnerable — yes, I know it’s different, they’re supposed to have paid in etc, but in the end that money is in the hands of the government who can now put any conditions on receiving it. Deals with the devil are NEVER partial and whether you’re religious or not, deals with the government work much the same way. GOVERNMENT IS FORCE, not some bizarre charitable organization.
“ALSO yes, it makes everyone who has taken social security etc. vulnerable — yes, I know it’s different, they’re supposed to have paid in etc, but in the end that money is in the hands of the government who can now put any conditions on receiving it. Deals with the devil are NEVER partial and whether you’re religious or not, deals with the government work much the same way. GOVERNMENT IS FORCE, not some bizarre charitable organization..”
AMEN
They may be educated but it’s clear they skipped or missed the class on critical thinking.
The way to frame this is that it is yet another assault on individual choice. How does “free” contraceptives benefit infertile or post-menopausal women? Why should they be forced to pay for something of no use to them, instead of putting the money towards something they can actually use?
This is excellent. But it’s only have the picture. Most of the commenters seem to have bought into the notion that republicans are significantly different.
Every bit of power that we let government steal *will* be used against us sooner or later. Obama isn’t all that different than Bush: he’s a little bigger and bolder about desecrating the Constitution.
Feminists (who are supposed to believe in equal rights) want Uncle Sam to pay for their contraceptives because it’s sooooo important to their health and, like, their self-esteem.
It’s an amazing thing, I think ammunition is awfully important to my health, well-being, and the safety of my family. You think they’d be okay with paying for that, since it’s so important to me and my beliefs?
Let’s also get something straight – JeremyR – The GOP may be the “stupid party” but Republicans, as well as conservatives and libertarians, are far from “stupid people.” The actions of party leadership that are throwing away a perfect opportunity to show the nation and the world just how bankrupt the leftist ideal has become.
On the contrary, I have a colleague that says “all redstaters are stupid” while sitting at a table with several conservatives holding much greater level of education and intelligence. The Left has redefined “stupid” to mean “doesn’t agree with my baseless pronouncements” or “cannot be convinced by my illogical handwaving.”
The press and scientific media have even gone along with this meme to interpret several studies that humans who profess different politics process information using different parts of the brain. The “liberal” interpretation is that the findings mean liberals use reason and intellect, conservatives use only fear – yet another interpretation is that liberals utilize brain regions which process unreasonable expectations while conservative brains rely on historical precedent and experience.
Different mindsets, different viewpoints, different processing, but a far cry from “intelligent” vs. “stupid.”
The media reached a new plateau of disingenuous hysteria with the shooting of Gabriel Giffords.
They realized that they could simply overwhelm reason, facts and rational discourse by screaming “Sarah Palin tried to murder Gabrielle Giffords!” so loud and for so long and in such volume that the average person who doesn’t have the time to pay that much attention to politics would walk away with the impression that Sarah Palin literally had something to do with the shooting.
They’re doing it aghain with Santorum and birth control. The guy says he thinks the government shouldn’t be in the birth control business and they start shrieking endlessly that the Republicans are banning birth control altogether.
Heck, even Bob Schieffer accused him of wanting to ban all pre-natal care.
I don’t like Santorum but this is disgusting.
” 90% of fetuses aborted are female” is not even close to the truth. There isn’t a huge margin of difference between males and females. This would make sense with the whole 50/50 chance of getting either gender. 90% is not even a possibility unless everyone was getting an abortion at 4 or 5 months pregnant. That is a weird thing to make up.
Beverly
I DIDN’T mean in the US — Have you read ANYTHING about the lack of women in China or India? I’d bet you the Islamic countries aren’t much better.
And are you insane? WHY do you think you need to be “four or five months pregnant?” WHEN did you last look at technology? They can tell at less than two weeks by drawing and analyzing amniotic fluid, and in many countries around the world they do.
This is a WEIRD thing not to know.
Oh, and before someone — someone did on another blog which linked this — accuses me of using “figures from pro-life literature” — I’ve NEVER to my knowledge read “pro life literature.”
Do women have a higher risk of cancer after abortions? Well, they have it after spontaneous miscarriages, which is my own, particular form of infertility. How do I know? Because it goes into my profile whenever I change doctors. I don’t see how having an artificially terminated pregnancy would make it less dangerous. If there are studies to that end, I’ve never seen them and would be glad to look at them.
I wonder how the Left would react if coverage for conversion therapy for homosexuals was mandatory.
Leftist dems have a pretty strange idea of what freedom means. I would have thought that you had contraceptive freedom if, when you wanted contraceptives, you could use your money to go out and buy them. And if you wanted contraceptive coverage in your health plan, you could find an employer that offered it, or pay for it yourself with your own insurer.
But leftists seem to think that they dont really have a freedom unless they can force some other sap to pay the bill for it. That is not freedom, that is a welfare entitlement. It might be good public policy to pay for it with tax dollars, but the dems didn’t even want to take that honest approach, they forced everybody with health care to pay for it whether we wanted to or not, even if it opposed our religion. That is tyranny.
But the real issue here is not religious freedom, it is freedom for everybody. It should not just be the church that cant be forced to pay for coverage they oppose, but the principle should apply to everybody. The only one that should have any say in my health coverage is me, my employer, my insurer, and my doctor. It should never be dictated from DC.
To Michael Ejercito.
Great comment. I wonder if they would say “how dare these right wing fanatics force me to pay for something like this”.
Another example might be to mandate coverage for faith healing.
Once you give the fed gov the right to force anybody to pay for something they do not need or want, there is no limit to what case it will be applied to, and anybody could be the next victim.
But this just illustrates another blind spot for leftists. They are all for freedom for them, but dont much beleive in freedom for others. Sometimes repubs (especially social conservatives) suffer from that fault as well. Only libertarians are consistent on the issue of freedom, and support it even when it does not help them personally, or may even disagree with their personal beleifs.
[...] I copied and pasted Sarah’s great post about the Republican “war on women.” This text had been classified as INAUTHENTIC with [...]
[...] Republicans! How can such foolish logic be taken seriously by anyone? Sarah has several excellent posts on the subject (if you haven’t read them I suggest doing so), and what I think really puts [...]
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