As a woman, I’ve found the GOP’s eagerness to piss us off with all-male sperm-death panels, state-rape ultrasound-wand legislation, FCC-sponsored slut-shaming, etc., kind of puzzling. Not because the modern GOP has ever given a damn about women, but because it seems dumb for a party to go out of its way to alienate more than half of US voters in an election year.
But a post yesterday by Perfesser Heh Indeedy may reveal the real reason behind this disconnect: Conservatives still can’t tell an actual woman from a cardboard cutout:
WAR AGAINST WOMEN: Woman Raped At Occupy New Haven. #Occupyfail.
UPDATE: I suppose that this should come as no surprise considering the signals that have come from the very top of the Democratic establishment:
At the exact moment Jon Favreau is receiving high praise in pre-inaugural media puff pieces, the 27-year-old chief speechwriter for President-elect Barack Obama (not Jon Favreau, the Hollywood actor/ director) finds himself in a minor mess over a photo from a recent private party showing him groping the breast of a cardboard cutout of Hillary Rodham Clinton as an unnamed pal wearing an “Obama staff” T-shirt kisses and feeds her beer.
If you haven’t seen it, imagine the early stages of the barroom rape scene of “The Accused” with Jodie Foster. Or think prosecutor Mike Nifong’s graphic (though false) descriptions of the Duke lacrosse party. Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson danced to a similar tune at the 2004 Super Bowl. Fraternities have been closed for less.Here’s the pic, in case you’ve forgotten. No word on whether Favreau was involved in helping accuse Republicans of running a “war against women.”
For my money, one of the best troll smack-downs in the history of the internet occurred right here on Balloon Juice when the Favreau controversy first erupted. I don’t think I can improve on the words our host used then to squash a nincompoop who was confused about the difference between an actual woman and a cardboard cutout, a brainless frat-boy prank and a hideous crime. So I will paraphrase Mr. Cole to address another nincompoop: Do you want to know what is like rape, Perfesser Heh Indeedy? Rape, you stupid fuck.
I’ll only add that every rape is a tragedy, and the wingnut obsession with any sexual assault that occurs in the same ZIP code as an Occupy encampment is creepy. But while Perfesser Heh Indeedy’s willingness to make political hay out of that particular woman’s personal tragedy is breathtakingly craven, it may shed light on a root cause of the gender gap in US politics. Therefore, it cannot be said that the Perfesser is altogether useless as a teacher.
[H/T: Alicublog; x-posted at Rumproast]
Mark S.
1. Reynolds is still alive? I can’t remember the last time anybody linked to him.
2. Favreau? That’s the best example he can come up with? Who the hell even remembers that?
Chyron HR
Does Marvel know there’s a difference? Because that might explain what happened with Iron Man 2.
PeakVT
the wingnut obsession with any sexual assault that occurs in the same ZIP code as an Occupy encampment is creepy.
They realized that opposing Occupy on the issues is difficult, so they’ve resorted to smearing it with some reprehensible crimes that happened to be roughly coincidental with Occupy encampments and demonstrations.
Nom de Plume
when the Favreau controversy first erupted
Hold on a second. Are you saying this shit happened 4 years ago? I saw a mention of it over at Alicublog, but I didn’t know anything else about it. Four years ago?
They really have got nothing.
YellowJournalism
Just to get it straight: Groping a cardboard cutout and feeding it beer is akin to the horrific rape depicted in The Accused. Inserting a 10-inch device inside a woman’s vagina against her will in order to shame her…excuse me, give her more information…is okay.
Just checkin’.
danimal
Well, to be fair, it’s possible that conservative bloggers may know the difference between a cardboard cutout and a real woman as well as they know the difference between Call of Duty and actual combat. See 101st Chairborne, also, too.
forked tongue
Of course, the Ole Perfesser eagerly awaits the widespread availability of sexually performing, anatomically correct female robots, which should ease the pain of his confusion between animate and inanimate women by bridging the divide.
Woodrowfan
so what if a Republican burned down that orphanage in an arson attack, as a child a Democrat once set off a firecracker to blow up his little sister’s Barbie doll! see, both sides do it!
Martin
That’s only true if you don’t want to rape the cardboard cutout as savagely as the woman. I’m not sure that’s true for much of the GOP.
Joey Maloney
it cannot be said that the Perfesser is altogether useless as a teacher.
No one is ever altogether useless. They can always serve as a bad example.
Egg Berry
@PeakVT:
Rather, I think they are hoping there’s video, cf. Rush Limbaugh.
Now, I must shower and wash my brain out with bleach.
Bnut
Man, reading that old thread, I was like this reading John’s retorts.
Zifnab
I’m always curious if these false equivalences really get any traction outside the nut-o-sphere. Do people flipping on CNN during their lunch breaks look at Republican anti-contraception crusaders and Obama speech writers at some frat party, shrug their shoulders and say, “It’s all the same?” Do stories like this even get any kind of media penetration?
Because other than stoking the 2-minute-hate for Hinderocket’s Powerline trolls, I’m not seeing this really scoring any political points.
spongeworthy
So the same people who told us porno causes rape and wives had best hide on Super Bowl Sunday, these are the same people telling us that groping a symbol of your opponent isn’t denigrating?
We’re either supposed to take this stuff seriously or concede you a club for you to selectively whomp up on those you disagree with.
I’m good either way, so which is it?
Oh, and do you know why there’s no Rape Tent at a Tea Party? Because TP’ers don’t care about women what have been raped!
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
Oh, that’s nothin’. Did you know that Sandra Fluke’s boyfriend came from
To the wingnut, the only thing worse than a slut, is a slut with a cutie pants radical soshulist boyfriend. With a name like “Mutterperl” he butter be a cutie pants. And A One percenter soshulist at that. Go figure.
Man, it’s only March and this shit is spinning all out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.
trollhattan
“Stop groping cardboard people! Stop groping cardboard people! Stop groping cardboard people!”
Too soon? Nevah.
Svensker
@spongeworthy:
What? Who?
Chyron HR
@spongeworthy:
Gee, I thought the post said that groping a cardboard cutout isn’t RAPE.
I assume you’re conceding that point, based on your hilariously transparent attempt to move the goalposts?
trollhattan
@Svensker:
Confession: I couldn’t follow a bit of it.
Seebach
PA GOP Governor Defends Ultrasounds Bill: Tells Concerned Women ‘You Just Have To Close Your Eyes’
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/15/444999/pennsylvania-governor-supports-ultrasound-bill/
Culture of Truth
“Cardboard cutouts are people, my friends”
Brian R.
Of course conservatives can’t tell the difference between a real woman and a cardboard cutout. The only women they see are on triple-X sites on the web.
Zifnab
@trollhattan: I hope that YouTube video of him screaming like a maniac goes down as his legacy. Hell, I hope someone spray paints “Stop Raping People” on his tomb stone.
I’m sure he’d want it that way.
Shinobi
I just hate that the only reason people care about these rapes is that they make OWS look bad. They don’t care if the guy gets caught, they don’t care if she is denied access to contraception after the fact.
We may as well be cardboard cut outs.
spongeworthy
@Chyron HR: I’m trying to get a clear line drawn on when denigrating women can fairly be said to cause the abuse of women. I agree that molesting a carboard woman is not rape. I do not agree that there are no consequences for denigrating a woman in effigy.
But I can live with the rules either way–a double standard is still a standard.
Satanicpanic
@Culture of Truth: Mitt Romney sticks up for his own
Martin
@Seebach:
I bet some of those women needing an abortion heard that same line just a few weeks prior.
Brian R.
@Seebach:
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
shortstop
@Bnut:
@trollhattan:
Hilarious.
Seebach
@Brian R.: Kidding? God, I wish I was a satirist this cutting edge and dark.
Nope, just the Republican rapist line of the day.
rea
@spongeworthy: “people telling us that groping a symbol of your opponent isn’t denigrating”
No, of course it’s denigrating–but it isn’t rape.
Raven
@Brian R.: Yea, like when they stuck the tube in my dick when I had a Cystoscopy. Oh wait, they let me watch!
shortstop
@spongeworthy: If you’re looking for Democratic consensus on pornography, I hope you packed a lunch. Homework? Do it.
Chyron HR
@spongeworthy:
Perhaps you should commission a study to see if there was any spike in sexual assaults when Jon Favreau groped a cardboard cutout, then.
But as long as you’re here, I was wondering: When you guys say that “sluts” should film themselves having sex for your viewing pleasure, do you mean there should be an actual law requiring it, or would this just be on the honor system?
handy
@spongeworthy:
Yes indeed. Also, too, how about we reserve use of the term rape for things like, you know, the actual act of rape. I think that will provide a lot of enlightenment.
Sawgrass Stan
So, on the Right we have Virginia’s “Abortion-Mandatory Slut-Shaming Wand”, now on the Left we have a drunken frat-boy speechwriter using a cardboard cutout of Sec. Clinton to virtually get her drunk and grope her.
What can we learn from these two things? All together now:
BOTH SIDES DO IT! (TM)
Further news flash: “Founding (unwed)Father and Awesome Scientist Ben Franklin’s statue defaced by bra hanging from his upturned hand!
Drunken TEK frat brothers witness crime, blame nearby Occupy protesters.” Details at 11.
YellowJournalism
Brian R just summed up my reaction perfectly.
Raven
@handy: Oh, you mean like Nazi?
shortstop
@Raven: But did you? Off topic and not really interesting to anyone but me: I had to have a toenail removed last year after I fought a bifold closet door and the BCD won. The podiatrist put me in a dental-type chair and then swung a little vinyl curtainy thing in front of me so I didn’t have to see. I thought that was damn civilized.
Villago Delenda Est
Reynolds is a very good example of the utter idiocy and cluelessness of the glibertarian blogosphere; a guy who has tenure at a public university blathering on and on about the oppression of the government.
A tumbrel is frankly too good for the likes of this maggot. A Klingon “slow death” is what is called for in his case.
Yutsano
Still having the same reaction I did back then: Obama hires some fine looking staff folk. And Clinton accepted his apology and really took no offence to it. But, ya know, hippies and libruls, and stuff. Both sides do it because SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!!
Seebach
Don’t miss this one either:
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/12/442637/georgia-rep-compares-women-to-animals/
Women shouldn’t be able to get an abortion when the baby is dead because… life?
shortstop
@Yutsano: If I remember correctly, she wrote a snappily humorous response to his apology.
trollhattan
Herr Ole Perfesser needs to pivot back to his true love–gunz–and defend threatened
gun ownersPatriots(tm) in Washington state, who are having an uncomfortable week.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017752432_shooting15m.html
Raven
@shortstop: Actually I did. it wasn’t near as bad as “they” say. If you google it people freak out big time. Men are fucking sissies anyway, all this angst about a colonoscopy. Now, when I snapped my left leg in half falling out of a tree they did cover it up.
Linda Featheringill
@spongeworthy:
This.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
I don’t think it was molesting. It all looked consensual to me.
trollhattan
@Villago Delenda Est:
Was it after the ’06 or ’08 election that Herr und Frau Doktor Ole Perfesser were on about “going Galt” by not tipping wait staff who, clearly, all vote Democrat and hate money and capitalism?
To this day I can’t believe so-called professionals are willing to say shit like that out loud in a public forum. Twisted fucks.
Mark S.
Does Mrs. Instapundit still have a blog? I was always surprised she didn’t get more attention. She’s incredibly misogynist and attracted the creepiest male rights activist douchebags in the comments. It was a total horror show.
shortstop
@trollhattan: What’s more, they’re willing to say it out loud in a public forum where their photos are prominently displayed. I suspect they unknowingly ingested more than food at their local eateries after that.
Bnut
@Raven: Aaaaaand that’s enough internet for me today.
Seebach
Are you fucking kidding me?
SRW1
Not getting out of the boat. But a tasteless cardboard prank from 2008 is all the Perfesser’s got?
Is it time to introduce the mercy rule for blogoshere punditry?
Raven
@Bnut: Sorry bout that!
daize
@Seebach: That’s right up there with the voter ID bill the stupid f*ckr just signed into law.
Linda Featheringill
@Seebach:
No abortion of a dead fetus?
Where are the medical professionals?
spongeworthy
@Chyron HR: Completely honor system. Mandates are your territory.
But I think it would be a matter of honor, no? If you want others to pay for you to have sex, sacred honor would seem to require others to benefit in some small way for their largesse!
Fwiffo
*facepalm* Let’s see if I can spoof this:
Women shouldn’t be upset about being fucked by a stick because one time Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic saying “this is a big fucking deal.” See, same thing.
Southern Beale
I had read that neither the victim nor the perpetrator were parts of the Occupy movement, they were homeless people who had set up camp nearby to take advantage of the free food. But yes, rape is a tragedy regardless. But somehow this is Occupy’s fault because …?
In other news, as the attacks on Sandra Fluke extend from her to her boyfriend and his family, I have to wonder if that won’t increase the likelihood she will sue and increase her chances of winning.
RP
Libertarians will sometimes argue that taxation is like slavery, and the proper response is always “you know what’s like slavery? Slavery, you stupid fuck.”
spongeworthy
Am I getting this right? You guys are incensed that a woman who is going to get an abortion is going to be required to get an internal sonogram prior? You’re shocked that she is being violated by a sonogram probe prior to an abortion?
Do you know how they actually do abortions? They don’t just yell in there for the baby to come out quietly, you know.
(If I am getting this wrong, go easy, willya?)
jibeaux
Less than touching a cardboard breast? Needs moar details.
I think the Lady Perfesser should take up the cause of inflatable women, because frankly their plight has just been roundly ignored by the lamestream media.
spongeworthy
@Southern Beale: It is Occupys fault because the green is only open to squatters because Occupy has gone to court to keep the green open. That’s the claim.
OTOH, if you claim to represent the 99%, it’s hard to point at the rapist and victim and say, “Except them.”
Thoughtcrime
@Culture of Truth:
They’re good company too. You’d be surprised.
http://www.anyclip.com/movies/the-lonely-guy/house-party/
Shalimar
@spongeworthy: Pay for a prostitute like all the other creepy guys who can’t get laid do.
Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor
@Seebach:
“Close Your Eyes, and Think of Jesus…”
trollhattan
@spongeworthy:
This post is more understandable than your first. Now that I understand, I shall give thee pie henceforth.
ruemara
I love how it’s a given that Favreau was “groping” a cardboard cut out. Hey, casually drape your arm over someone’s shoulder. See how your hand naturally falls into a moderate cupping position? That’s what happened. His arm went much longer down her front, because, get this, it’s a fucking cardboard cutout. Crispy critter jesus on a hickory smoked bbq pit, that whole thing was dumb then and dumber now.
daize
@spongeworthy: The point is not about how the abortion is performed.
A woman chooses to have the abortion. She is being forced — as in against her will, right? — to have a separate trans-vaginal ultrasound prior.
Someone with a better command of the language can perhaps explain better, but I hope that helps.
jibeaux
@spongeworthy: Are you new to the internets?
scav
@spongeworthy: Two easy points, so listen carefully. The sonogram is medically unnecessary. The abortion is consented to by the female involved, whereas the sonogram is not. Or, to your mind, does the consent to the abortion mean anyone and everyone can climb into said woman’s vagina for any reason whatsoever? Being a sponge yourself, I’m expect you’re rooting for the latter option as your only hope of getting an e-ticket ride.
Woodrowfan
@spongeworthy:
Google the word “consent” k?
Mark S.
@spongeworthy:
How exactly are you paying for the health care of Georgetown law students?
Satanicpanic
@spongeworthy: I’m not of age yet to need one, so all I can say is, I hope this logic is never applied to prostate exams.
Roger Moore
@Linda Featheringill:
Because life is sacred, or something. Yeah, it doesn’t make any logical sense unless the real motivation is hatred of women rather than anything having to do with protecting babies.
gocart mozart
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
This.
spongeworthy
@daize: It does help, but the sonogram is part of the procedure. She consents to all of it or none.
If I consent to a colonoscopy but refuse to drink the explosion-inducing liquid the night prior, my proctologist will not perform the c-scope. (And I do not blame him.)
Amir Khalid
@Raven:
I guess some guys balk at the idea of having a videocam inserted up their ass. Me? Meh. I was wide awake during the procedure both times I got colonoscopized. Except that I dozed off the second time because it was that, um, boring. The only irksome thing about it is that you have to fast the day before.
spongeworthy
@Mark S.: Others in her insurance pool are paying for her to have sex, so obviously they’d have first dibs on any resulting footage.
butler
@spongeworthy:
No, its not. What’s being proposed is an additional, wholly unnecessary, invasive procedure. The purpose being to add expense, difficulty and shame to a totally legal medical procedure.
butler
@spongeworthy: Does this mean they get dibs on your intimate tapes after you get an vasectomy or ed drugs paid for by medical insurance?
trollhattan
@butler:
Get away, far away. Stupid this strong cannot be contained by normal forces, and may be contagious.
butler
@trollhattan: Ya I just realized what I was dealing with. Could this be Veritas reborn? Doesn’t really sound like him.
Shalimar
@spongeworthy: And others in Rush’s insurance pool are paying for his viagra, by your logic. May all the men who listen to his show be forced to watch hours of footage of Rush fucking whoever or whatever he fucks. Hopefully that would cure all of you of your obsession with sex tapes.
gocart mozart
I never would have expected that sort of behavior from Jon Favreau. Vince Vaughn, absolutely, but not Jon.
trollhattan
@butler:
Maybe veritas hung over from house-brand tequila? Having a hard time forming actual sentences, whomever it is.
gocart mozart
@spongeworthy: Still unclear on the concept of insurance I see.
spongeworthy
@butler: I get your point. But the whole process is “invasive”, from the exam prior to the actual procedure. There really isn’t any “difficulty” unless you count the time involved, which I guess is a difficulty to some. Still, we are talking about surgery.
I guess I bristle at the contention that a sonogram is this “violation of a woman’s sanctity”. It pales to the actual procedure itself, and that’s before we consider the baby’s “sanctity”.
Anyway, supporters of sonograms are going to say that your unease with the requirement is worth it if it convinces anybody to go ahead and see that pregnancy through. Even if you disagree, their logic there is pretty strong.
Fwiffo
@spongeworthy:
Other people in your insurance pool are paying for you to eat cheeseburgers and drive a car and smoke and drink alcohol. What’s your point?
spongeworthy
@Shalimar: If his insurance company pays for Viagra, then they are. I am unaware of any Federal mandate for insurance companies to cover Viagra.
Yes, that would cure me of celebrity sex tape obsessions, no doubt!
Edith
@spongeworthy:
And over one-third of all first trimesters abortions and 17% of all abortions in the U.S. are now medication abortions, which don’t involve sticking anything in the hoo-hah. The percentage of women choosing medication abortion in the U.S. continues to clime. Will it ever be as high as in some European countries, where it accounts for over 70% of all abortions? Probably not, because it requires more trips to the doctor and access is harder here. But yeah, for a significant percentage of women choosing abortion a TVU is significantly more invasive than the procedure (hint, that might be one of the reasons they choose it).
spongeworthy
@Fwiffo: No, they are not. They are paying if I fail at any of these things. As long as I eat and drive well, they are not out a penny.
Do you actually carry any insurance yourself? How can you not know this?
cckids
@spongeworthy:
Ok, I’ll try. Most women who have chosen to have an abortion are not happy about it. They’ve thought & in many cases agonized about it, and come to the decision that this procedure is what is best for their lives. The decision is MADE. Usually it wasn’t easy, but it is done. Women really do know how the procedure works, too, we are not fools.
Now these god-bothering stuffed shirts want to tack on ANOTHER expensive, intrusive UNNEEDED procedure for which the ONLY reason is to try to change her mind. Or, if it doesn’t, to make her feel ashamed or like a “murderer”. It assumes that she hasn’t thought twice about it, or that, somehow she doesn’t realize that !! she is carrying a potential human!! Guess what, she gets it. And she’s come to the reasoned, difficult choice that at this point in her life, SHE CAN”T HAVE A BABY.
Seeing a jelly-bean in a snowstorm won’t change her mind, but it just might make it too expensive for lots of women to have the abortion. Which, of course, is the real reason for these laws.
Fwiffo
@spongeworthy:
Are you telling me my insurance premiums only pay for the health problems of people who only make 100% healthy decisions? Will insurance refuse to pay for liver related health problems unless you’re a teetotaler? Will they refuse heart-related claims of their overweight customers?
DMcK
@spongeworthy: Well, at least you’re conceding that the entire purpose of this otherwise useless procedure is to coerce women to relinquish ownership of their bodies. Not that you’d mind, they’re all just chattel to you I’m guessing. Must be frightening for you to see ’em get all uppity.
gocart mozart
@spongeworthy:
O.K., how about this: Why should we have to pay someone to stick their finger up your ass and wiggle it just because on some occasions it may be “medically necessary”.
spongeworthy
@cckids: I think in the great majority of cases your assessment is correct–these women have thought this through and come to the conclusion they need to get an abortion. You’re fooling yourself if you believe that ALl of them take into account the grave consequences of extenguishing a life–otherwise no one would ever have 2 abortions, right?
Anyway, we won’t solve this here today. I am not so quick to assign the worst motives to those who perpetuate these laws–some believe as I stated above and they just really like babies and want more of them around. I don’t think the “slut-shaming” argument is going to be very persuasive with them.
trollhattan
http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/48d9ca604ad0012f2fd100163e41dd5b
SRW1
@spongeworthy:
So, in the future part of getting a prescription for that blue pill wonder thing will be guys signing a consent form that they will be posting their performances on a dedicated video channel, separated by insurance pools, to which you get automatic access with your health insurance policy?
Bring it on.
spongeworthy
@Fwiffo: Your original statement was: Other people in your insurance pool are paying for you to eat cheeseburgers and drive a car and smoke and drink alcohol.
Now you’re switching to this:Will insurance refuse to pay for liver related health problems…
There is a difference between eating cheesebugers and liver-related health problems. And it is not just that insurance pays for one and not the other.
spongeworthy
@DMcK: Bearing a child is “relinquish(ing) ownership of their bodies”?
I’d like to see you sneak that past my wife! She definitely DID NOT see it that way.
handy
@spongeworthy:
This line of argument is beside the point. Insurance contracts, particularly medical, cover all sorts of services and events that individual policy holders will not necessarily utilize.
Tony J
@spongeworthy:
Re: #97
Everything in this comment is wrong. Morally, ethically and factually.
(golf clap)
cckids
@spongeworthy: Of course some people don’t agonize about their abortion, whether because they just don’t care, or because they were raped, or for whatever reason, being rid of the pregnancy may just be cause for relief. Their business.
I don’t believe for a minute, though, that the lawmaker sponsoring these bills “just really like babies”. They are on record saying things like “when women see the picture and realize that there is a baby in there, they will change their mind”. How demeaning & insulting can they get!
If they “really liked babies” these same lawmakers wouldn’t vote against Medicaid, Head Start & education every chance they get. They are only misty-eyed over fetuses; after they are born, they & their mothers can DIAF for all these people care.
And, of course, the “slut-shaming” argument won’t go anywhere with them. It is part of the appeal of the law to them.
DMcK
@spongeworthy: You really don’t understand the concepts of “choice” and “consent”, do you?
shortstop
Correctly characterizing a medically unnecessary procedure — one that insurance is highly unlikely to cover and that women will be forced to undergo in order to obtain the procedure to which they have given consent — as “slut shaming” is, of course, not designed to win over the people making the laws. No one assumes that they are reachable by the non-insane. It is directed at the people who vote for the people writing, passing and extolling these laws.
And in that respect, all signs point to it being a spectacularly successful piece of messaging as women run away in measurable droves from the GOP.
Fwiffo
@spongeworthy:
Are you being obtuse on purpose, or were you born that way? You were claiming that others’ insurance premiums were paying for people to have sex if the insurance covers birth control. By your own logic, the insurance premiums pay for people to do all sorts of things that have health consequences.
There are smokers in my insurance pool. They are not refused treatment for their smoking-related illnesses. By your logic I am paying for them to smoke. There are drinkers in my insurance pool, some of whom will one day get liver disease. By your logic, I am paying for them to drink.
AA+ Bonds
I think the problem is probably when you make rape by a doctor mandatory by law, that seems like it might be a different thing
AA+ Bonds
For what it’s worth, abortion is goddamned awesome
It’s not a tragedy, it’s a technology, and one of the best things humans ever invented as far as their own survival and happiness is concerned
Granted, birth control is better and cheaper but we should keep our toolbox full and at the ready and as subsidized as the tax base can stand
AA+ Bonds
I think that there would probably be a lot of problems getting a “women who want medical care have to lie back and take it while we shove this probe inside of them” measure passed through any Occupy GA; I’d venture to guess that it would be impossible
Compare this to any Republican-controlled state legislature, where it seems to be the top priority
TK-421
@Zifnab:
I’m too lazy to scroll through the comments to see if anyone has already answered, but: YES. Sadly, yes, non-political junkies (i.e. normal people) do believe in this “both sides do it” false equivalence.
I can speculate on the dozens of reasons why normal people do this, but the one I believe in the most is that normal people haaaaaaaaaaaaate politics, and therefore haaaaaaaaaate everybody involved in politics, Democrats included. In that way it doesn’t matter who’s doing what because ALL OF IT SUCKS GO AWAY ALL OF YOU YES THAT INCLUDES YOU DEMS in their minds.
Gus
@Fwiffo: Don’t feed the troll.
scav
Thread indeed suffers from too much feeding of a proud and worthy sufferer of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.