Okay, my “strength and
fervor” have been replenished since my last post and I feel strongly motivated
to comment on two outrageous trends within the Republican Party – policies and
practices which, God, common sense, and civic participation willing – will help
defeat them at every level come November.
I’m referring specifically to this week’s outrageous allegations by Missouri
senatorial contender Todd Akin that rape victims cannot get pregnant from rape,
and so no exception is needed in anti-abortion laws (and efforts) to permit
rape (and incest) victims to have
abortions. I’m equally appalled and
downright terrified by ongoing nationwide Voter Suppression efforts. It would appear that real freedom is in real
trouble in 2012.
In the rape matter, we
have another unfathomable example of how Science Ignorance and Religiously
Influenced Science can have a devastating impact on legislative efforts to
address urgent matters. It’s in the same
scientific class as “climate change is a hoax” and “wind and solar power can’t
work because what happens when the sun goes down and the wind stops blowing?” This stuff is dangerously dumb. But the latest attack in the War On Women
(which, of course, is just a phony Liberal construct) is a horrendous
combination of gross ignorance and stunning insensitivity.
Prior to the 20th
century, Western Medicine actually asserted that when a woman’s uterus was not
properly engaged in what it was meant for – incubating a fetus – it literally floated
around inside her body, contributing to otherwise unexplainable female
melancholia. Now, Akin and his ilk are
reviving a long-held anti-choice belief that in instances of “legitimate” or “forcible”
rape (as opposed to fun and welcome rape?), a woman’s body shuts down and
prevents pregnancy. Her “juices don’t
flow” and her “tubes tighten,” they say.
Oy, vey!
Therefore, exceptions to anti-abortion
laws must be eliminated, say these cavemen, because willfully fornicating
women who get themselves pregnant through pleasure could easily lie about rape
or incest. Anti-abortion proponents
aren’t going to let that loophole
threaten the Personhood of the Unborn when “science” can “prove” rape
doesn’t cause pregnancy. I guess this will
show the approximately 34,000 rape victims annually
who get pregnant through rape who’s boss!
Now – instead of science, one of
the worst periods in American History – the era of Jim Crow and poll taxes –
comes into play in regard to Voter Suppression.
Republicans at both the state and federal levels would have us believe
that voter fraud is a huge problem that must be addressed with stringent ID and
voting hours laws to ensure that people who are not legitimately entitled to
vote cannot be registered and get anywhere near a voting both.
The fact that over the
past umpteen years there have been more bungee-jumping accidents than incidents
of voter fraud doesn’t enter into this.
Conservatives would have us believe that Voter Fraud is a real and
urgent problem – just like seeing the President's college transcripts and a real birth certificate, since the one he provided was obviously a forgery. Accordingly, Voter Suppression
laws are now in effect in 38 states – and they have a direct and purposeful
impact on the young, the elderly, Blacks and Hispanics, and the poor of all
ages and ethnicities – in other words, people who are more likely to vote for
Democrats than Republicans.
It’s not unreasonable to
require first-time voters to present some form of identification when they
register. I vaguely recall that when I
registered in the early 1970s, I presented a phone bill and my Social Security
card – which showed where I lived and that I was on the government grid. I had no problem then and have had no problem
in the 40-odd years since. Now, many
states are asking for birth certificates (which many people no longer have or
never had – and getting them, if
available, costs time and money) and, more specifically, photo IDs.
In suburban and rural
America, most people have a driver’s license.
But in urban areas, that’s often not the case. Many students have school-issued photo IDs – but in some
states, like Texas, a student ID isn’t acceptable; neither are company-issued
photo IDs – don’t ask me why. States are
requiring government issued photo IDs
– such as passports (most Americans don’t have one), a driver’s license, or a
state-issued photo ID that one can get through the Motor Vehicle Bureau whether
or not you’re a driver – but this too costs time and money. Many working and poor people don’t have one
or the other or both, nor do they have the means of transportation to get where
they need to go for this.
It is sufficiently
distressing that half of the country doesn’t even bother to vote, whether or
not they have the “appropriate” ID to register.
To make it deliberately difficult, if not impossible, for many people
who want to vote to do so is obscene and totally contrary to what this country supposedly
stands for. It is estimated that up to
four million Americans could be disenfranchised by these Voter Suppression
initiatives. Democrats, Independents,
Liberals and Progressives are up in arms.
Republicans/Conservatives are quietly letting political shenanigans take
their course. After all, if they let everyone vote, there’s a good chance
that Batman and Robin will lose to President Obama – and, as they have stated
clearly and publicly, beating Obama is their primary objective.
Left to their devious,
self-serving devices, Republicans stand a real chance of throwing Roe v Wade,
the 1965 Voters Rights Act, Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid,
environmental protection, any attempts at gun control, the existence and
strength of unions, gay rights & marriage, and all support for education,
the arts & humanities, and public broadcasting, under the bus. They say Obama has robbed Americans of their
freedom – how and what, they don’t say.
But it’s clear that the Republicans can and will do some serious freedom
robbing if we don’t stop them. Make sure
you register and vote – and speak up.
Nothing less than functional Democracy is at stake.
