I've not written much about the Republican primary or the war the far-crazy-ass-right is waging against women because I can't seem to come up with anything funny to say - because none of this is funny if you think about it for too long. Yes, there is a lot of unintentional hilarity spewed from blowhards, but there is underneath it either a genuine mean-spiritedness that appalls me or a Machiavellian-level pandering that sickens me.
But I do want to say this:
If you think you can impose your belief system on anyone else, you are a fucking asshole.
There's no argument.
You can believe what you want to believe, you can think I'm going to some version of your hell for being adamantly pro-choice in all its iterations, you can pray for my soul all you want, but you had better not think you can tell me what to do.
Because fuck you.
I keep myself semi-sane by limiting my news-gathering to a judicious review of my daily New York Times [Hello, Food & Dining section!] and reading Wonkette and info from my Twitter timeline. I can't dissociate myself far enough to find the humor on my own [god, do I ever miss Molly Ivins], nor am I able to pass off the vehement misogyny as just politics because it's not.
I remind myself that it's all become so vitriolic because those fuckbags can see the writing on the wall, that their vision of 1950s white America is crumbling and nothing they can do will stop it, so they have to do something, something huge, to try and keep their world in order. Mean people, small people, insecure people, lash out when their worlds are being threatened. I get that. But I can no longer excuse it or find it in myself to forgive it or pass it off as inconsequential.
Because it's not. It's not.
I also find myself becoming frustrated by those who attempt to explain a situation that is nobody's business. No woman has to explain to anyone why she does the things she does - why she does or does not use birth control, why she chose or did not choose to have an abortion. None of those discussions are public property. They are nobody's business. And they are not going to sway the minds of anyone who thinks that they know what's best for you. Neither logic nor heartfelt appeals to compassion are going to change any minds. There is no reason to engage - their minds are made up.
And for those who will have changes of heart once they've done all the damage they could - following the likes of George Wallace, Lee Atwater and Ken Mehlman - I just have to say in advance, go fuck yourself. There is no forgiveness in being an awful, horrible, hateful human being and then saying, "Oh, yeah, sorry," when you can do nothing to reverse the evil you have perpetrated.
There is not.
***********
I hate to leave you on such a downer, so I'll just add this, because it did make me laugh [thanks to KeAnne for telling me about it]:
The change of heart is what I absolutely cannot get behind. I will have more respect for you if you stick by your nonsensical bullshit tirades than when someone says hey, some pretty important people you might not want to piss off with your nonsensical bullshit tirades think what you just said is a nonsensical bullshit tirade and you may want to apologize. So then you say oh, sorry. No. Own that shit. You said it, you meant it. Stand by it. Educated people who claim "I didn't mean it that way" or "I didn't know it'd be taken that way" should reimburse the institutions from which (whence? where?) they received their edumacation. Because they're still stupid.
ReplyDeleteI have come to the conclusion that I hate almost ALL politicians, because they seemed to concerned with their own self-interests (which is power and money, and that goes for the Democrats too. Both parties are equally guilty of many things. The difference is that tje Dems just don't shove their morals down our throats). I believe that much of what our forefathers fought for back in 1770's and 1780's, has been skewed by many political parties that have existed throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I just read an article about a week ago that showed how some female politicians are trying to 'fight back' and are introducing male reproduction legislation that would put stricter requirements on things like Viagra and vasectomies. Go girls, go!
I cannot agree with you more. I actually have friends who don't feel it is important to care about all of these attacks on women sayng things like, "Roe V. Wade will never be overturned." Really? They're chipping away at it. Our freedoms are not guaranteed unless we fight for them. And why fiscal conservative and insane religious right zealout woman-hating racist lunatic have become one and the same according to the Republican party, I will never understand.
ReplyDeleteThere is scathing tshirt in this. I just need to find it. Preferably before the event at the Catholic school tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteTHank you for a great post! You are absolutely on the money with this. They, especially the GOP who are trying to put us back into the 19th century in regards to women, have no right to my rights in regards to what I do with my body. Birth control should be covered, condoms are 5 bucks a package of 20, and Viagra IS covered. And Just Stay Away. We have our rights and we vote so choose wisely.
ReplyDelete(I have to credit my brother in law for the following)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a gay, but if I were to sleep with another man, I'd sleep with Rick Santorum. Why? Because fuck him, that's why.
Anywho - well said . . . I really, really despise anyone who seems to think they're superior to anyone else because of how they believe. It drives me nuts . . . and I'm surrounded by such people all of the time. If you're faithful, that's great. If you think we should leave sacrifices for the invisible pink unicorn, great.
Just leave me the fuck out of what you think.
(with all that said, I'll gladly talk religion with anyone, as I'm more well-armed for such a debate than most anyone else . . . and I'm a card-carrying pastafarian)
I get my news from Jon Stewart. I love your new design!!!
ReplyDeleteOh shit.
ReplyDeleteAre they going to tell us we can't masturbate anymore?
Because that's going to be a problem.
Fuck, you're awesome. Sarah xxx
ReplyDeleteI feel ya. I feel as if I have unknowingly stepped into a time machine and wandering around asking, "what the fuck is going on?"
ReplyDelete"The child psychologist who thought she had all the answers to parenting until she became one herself."
www.themommmypsychologist.com
WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..
ReplyDeletethat video is awesome.
ReplyDeletethe post, bc i agree with you 100%, gave me heartburn.
That video ... Eminem and Republicans ... and yet somehow the Earth is not imploding.
ReplyDeleteAnd... you just made my all time permanent blogs to read list because of this. God this stuff makes me so angry. It is NOT okay to call other people "the culture of death" just because they support women's right to have an abortion while YOU support capital punishment, even of the mentally disabled. It is NOT okay to hold up signs that say "support religious freedom!" when what you MEAN is "support my religious views becoming law to dominate and squash your rights". Thinking your own personal beliefs, values, ideology should trump everyone else's is religious freedom is like thinking a speeding ticket violates your right to drive. No asshole you have the right to drive... SAFELY so that everyone else on the road can also drive. You have the right to practice your religion, and that is religious freedom. You do NOT have the right to make your religion the law of the land for everyone else. It's called freedom. Not domination. And providing health care to women is law, not religious option. But you are welcome to not take birth control if you like - and that is your freedom. You don't get to make the rules, you get to share them.
ReplyDeleteARGH!! Anyway soory. Crap. Thanks for letting me rant.
Also? To those who think they won't overturn Roe v Wade - you're probably (maybe) right. BUT they ARE chipping away at it so much that they will not need to. I am not kidding. Abortion is for all intents and purposes illegal here, in my midwestern state. One of my students just had to carry a baby to term that was guaranteed to live only a few minutes - because it had no brain. That is CRUEL and she is completely emotionally damaged right now. And it's because my state has essentially found ways to undermine law and prohibit abortion.
And now they are trying to suggest that rape can't get a woman pregnant. I can't tell you how much this angers me. I have another student who was raped and forced to carry her rapist's child to term (she was a teenager) and so she did and subsequently tried to kill herself four times.
We think we are so advanced over other countries, for example, like the Moroccan girl who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist - but the truth is we are not far from them at all.
You do realize Eminem will kill you for putting his music in the same video as Mittens.
ReplyDeleteThis is totally why I LOVE you! Because I spend a lot of time yelling at the tv/computer screen and it makes me feel good to know there are other people out there like me who think these guys are fucking batshit crazy assholes who spout ridiculous, offensive fuckwit crap!
This shit keeps me awake at night.