Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Women's History Month - 2

Margaret Sanger funded the development of the modern birth control pill out of her own pocket.  She went to jail for giving women contraceptive diaphrams, comdoms, and the most important thing of all, factual sexual medical information.

It LIBERATED women.

That was decades ago, more than half a century ago.  Only the reactionaries are trying to take us back to the bad old days for women.  They hate sex, except when they are having it, often extramaritally despite the lip service to 'family values'.  Lying repressed prudish hypocrites.

Doonesbury nails it - thanks MN Central for the heads up:




and while we are in the neighborhood of humor pointing out the tragedy of right wing policies towards women and reproduction, here are a couple of recent ones from another of my favorite cartoonists, Steve Sack of the STrib, who makes pictures worth a thousand of my words:



For the record, I've referred to Ann Coulter as a 'media slut and/or whore', clearly referring in the context to her willingness to flip flop for support (in that specific case switching from anti-gay to pro-gay) and to say outrageous things, like Limbaugh, just to get attention.  Ultimately, she seems to operate ONLY on getting attention from the media, imho, not at all on legitimate substance of her own.  I would point out that differs in two key respects from Limbaugh: 1. it refers to actual conduct, where Limbaugh's comments, particularly against Sandra Fluke do not; and 2. it refers to media conduct, not Ms. Coulter's private and personal sexual conduct, which is her business unless she opts to use it for media fodder.  The term slut in that context relates to doing things publicly for attention (and in some cases, presumably money) that is offensive, and it is appropriately insulting.  Absent the word 'media', which makes this about public behavior involving someone selling their integrity for money and attention, as Ms. Coulter does routinely, that is a term which is neither specific to women, and therefore not sexist, and which refers to a pattern of public behavior sought by Coulter, unlike Ms. Fluke and so many others who have been insulted by Limbaugh and others on the right.  It is not 'nice', but neither is Coulter; it is an attempt to accurately portray her behavior.  It is not however, unlike Limbaugh and others, intended to intimidate or otherwise control or restrict that behavior either.  It is in fact, considerably LESS offensive and inflammatory than routine statements from Ms. Coulter.

You have to doubt the religious convictions of a man who lies so often about other people's speeches.

Well done, Steve.  Nothing like pointing out the hypocrisy of the serial adulterer.  I'm not persuaded that either of these two individuals have really either found religion or monogamy; rather I think it is nothing but an unconvincing pose - an attitude not limited or specific to either side or the center of the political spectrum.

Thank you T
Thank you Steve! Well done, and clever and witty as always. I'm not worried about Satan in my uterus, but I certainly want Santorum and the rest of the republican extremists and religious fanatics out of it.  The Puritans are trying to make a comeback; they are unwelcome.  Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 19th century pegged them for the hypocrites they were in their original incarnation, in the Scarlet Letter.  Now they just consider themselves part of partially or predominantly entire 'red' states.

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