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News & ArtsFriday, April 8, 2011
Politics / Sex What's Really Going On
Posted by Dan Savage on Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 10:48 AM
The GOP is about to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood. This isn't about jobs or spending or socialism. For the GOP it's about vaginas.
Still.
Today is a good day to make a donation—even a small, symbolic one—to Planned Parenthood.
1
The Republican party: Don't put that in your vagina, don't pull that out of your vagina, leave that in your vagina.
3
Done. I don't have a lot to give, but it feels good to give something to an organization that has helped me immensely in the last year alone.
4
Fuck them fuck them fuck them fuck them. Ok. Now that I am a bit calmer. Poor grad student here. Just donated prob more than I ought. (Never donated money out of pure fury before, but that felt good).
5
Defunding Planned Parenthood = taking contraceptives away from poor women = increasing the number of abortions and increasing the number of children on welfare = 2 of conservatives least favorite things. Jesus fuck-me Christ it's really that simple. How fucking dumb are these people?
7
Given that govt. funds for abortions are prohibiited anyway, why is the GOP stonewalling on this? Is it because they're afraid that some funds might trickle into abortion providers via Planned Parenthood anyway?
10
@7 Because readily available and affordable birth control means that women will enjoy sex for recreation, not procreation. Conservatives have been losing their shit over this since the pill was first introduced.
I cannot fucking believe the idiocy of this whole thing.
I cannot fucking believe the idiocy of this whole thing.
11
Dan, I was just trying to find your column imploring gay men to step up and support their gay friendly woman friends and now's the time to repay the favor. Can you reprint a link so we can all share it? Thanks!
13
As far as I'm concerned, there is no longer such a thing as a 'Republican' Party.
We've got the Democratic Party, and we've got the Religious Party. They aren't really Republicans anymore at all, they're Religious Nutjobs.
Why in hell do they think they get to foist their religious views on the rest of us??
IF THAT'S NOT UN-AMERICAN, I SURE AS HELL DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
sorry for shouting, I get riled up sometimes...
We've got the Democratic Party, and we've got the Religious Party. They aren't really Republicans anymore at all, they're Religious Nutjobs.
Why in hell do they think they get to foist their religious views on the rest of us??
IF THAT'S NOT UN-AMERICAN, I SURE AS HELL DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
sorry for shouting, I get riled up sometimes...
14
@9: It's not because they're dumb. It's because they have to appeal to the brain-damaged heartlanders who vote Republican. And so, they're not dumb...they're just cynical assholes who knowingly and willingly cause human misery so they can get elected.
15
Glad Democrats didn't force their ideas/values on the country when they had control of all three branches of government.
Cooperation and bi-partisanship with the Republicans sure paid off!
Cooperation and bi-partisanship with the Republicans sure paid off!
16
Done. I'll have to put off my donation to PBS for a month, but that's okay.
I remember reading some comment online: "I'm not saying all homophobes are closeted gays. But anyone who thinks social pressure is the only thing stopping straight men from forsaking women to have sex with other men has no idea what it's like to be a straight man."
I don't know who wrote that, but I applaud him (I assume it's a him) for his wisdom.
I remember reading some comment online: "I'm not saying all homophobes are closeted gays. But anyone who thinks social pressure is the only thing stopping straight men from forsaking women to have sex with other men has no idea what it's like to be a straight man."
I don't know who wrote that, but I applaud him (I assume it's a him) for his wisdom.
17
I can only hope that the American people are as disgusted by this ideological lunacy as I am. Sigh.
18
Oh, and let me add, this bill, if passed will increase abortions, child abuse, and spending for children. Fools!
19
#7: Because women who are poor don't deserve opportunity for low-cost cancer screening. Even Republican Congressmen (hi, David Reichert!) whose mothers are dying of cancer are denying funding to Planned Parenthood. We all know that most women who are screened for detection would try to fight or prevent the disease, and Republicans think people who work in medicine could be put to better use, like golfing or dispensing Ritalin.
21
I gave $470 because that is the average cost of an abortion at 10 weeks. I've been lucky enough to have access to birth control and doctors my whole life, including from Planned Parenthood. I've never needed an abortion, but I support women who need to make that hard choice.
22
@9 and @14 are both correct.
But just realize they really just hate America and want to turn us into some Taliban Nanny State country and you'll get how messed up the Tea Baggers and their lapdogs in the Great Ossama Party-of-fear are.
But just realize they really just hate America and want to turn us into some Taliban Nanny State country and you'll get how messed up the Tea Baggers and their lapdogs in the Great Ossama Party-of-fear are.
23
Cantwell and Murray were among 41 members of the 53-member Senate Democratic caucus who signed a letter Monday denouncing "extreme proposals by House Republicans to eliminate support for women's health."12 members of the Senate Democratic caucus failed to sign this letter.
Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins also opposed the House Republicans' scheme.
@ merry: I will miss your little desert fox.
24
There is no excuse for what the Republicans are doing here, but don't forget that this wouldn't have happened *at all* had the Dems passed a budget like they were supposed to *before* the fiscal year started, back when they held both houses of Congress and the presidency.
There are no heroes here. Only villains and the cravenly incompetent.
There are no heroes here. Only villains and the cravenly incompetent.
25
#24: uh, you're seriously suggesting that a lame-duck session should have passed an entire fiscal year budget? How many times has that ever happened, and do you really want to set that precedent? I'm thinking "close to never" and "fuck no."
26
The repubs next proposal will be a bill requiring all women to have the 10 commandments tattooed on their uterus.
29
Oh Rob (ha! I'm Laura Petrie!!) @ 23 - I'm sorry you'll miss him! But he's actually an upside-down cocker spaniel... He may come back around, you never know... I just felt like making a spring change..
Re your post: thank you. I am amazed that there were ANY Dems who failed to sign this letter.. And good on that Murkowski gal from Alaska - thumb in the eye to the teabaggers!
Really, I never thought I'd see the day -- in the 21st Century, no less!! -- when elected officials are doing their damnedest to limit American women's access to healthcare... Despite all the typing, I'm actually speechless.
o_O
Re your post: thank you. I am amazed that there were ANY Dems who failed to sign this letter.. And good on that Murkowski gal from Alaska - thumb in the eye to the teabaggers!
Really, I never thought I'd see the day -- in the 21st Century, no less!! -- when elected officials are doing their damnedest to limit American women's access to healthcare... Despite all the typing, I'm actually speechless.
o_O
30
@26: I always find it funny that the same lunatics that are demanding the 10 commandments be put everywhere don't even know what half of them are, let alone follow them.
Number five says that you should be put to death for doing any work on the Sabbath - even doing the dishes or pushing a stroller (good luck with that). And there's also a wee bit of controversy as to which day exactly the Sabbath falls on. This rule alone should disqualify the whole document from any practical usage in the real world.
Number five says that you should be put to death for doing any work on the Sabbath - even doing the dishes or pushing a stroller (good luck with that). And there's also a wee bit of controversy as to which day exactly the Sabbath falls on. This rule alone should disqualify the whole document from any practical usage in the real world.
32
@30,
Add to that that a bunch of the commandments are just different variations of the "I'm the only god, you will worship me, and only me!" rule.
Also, one of them - "Do not covet your neighbor's goods" - is a direct condemnation of the basic tenets of capitalism. Keeping up with the Jones's is what keeps our economy going. Do the repubs really want that one enforced?
Republicans and evangelicals are all blurbs and no content. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the people who are most knowledgable of the bible tend to be atheists. It doesn't take much reading of that 2000 page sleeping pill to convince anyone that the christian religion is entirely made up.
Add to that that a bunch of the commandments are just different variations of the "I'm the only god, you will worship me, and only me!" rule.
Also, one of them - "Do not covet your neighbor's goods" - is a direct condemnation of the basic tenets of capitalism. Keeping up with the Jones's is what keeps our economy going. Do the repubs really want that one enforced?
Republicans and evangelicals are all blurbs and no content. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the people who are most knowledgable of the bible tend to be atheists. It doesn't take much reading of that 2000 page sleeping pill to convince anyone that the christian religion is entirely made up.
33
24 ftw
democraps are craven weasels who only stand up for their constituents when they know there is no chance for the measure to pass.
and, as usual, danny has it backwards- it is the democraps who will shut the government down over PP....
democraps are craven weasels who only stand up for their constituents when they know there is no chance for the measure to pass.
and, as usual, danny has it backwards- it is the democraps who will shut the government down over PP....
34
And lets put 31's comment where people who don't look at unregistered comments can see it.
Quote 31:
Sign Planned Parenthood's open letter!
http://www.ppaction.org/shutdown
Quote 31:
Sign Planned Parenthood's open letter!
http://www.ppaction.org/shutdown
35
“I am really stunned, and I am angry as a woman,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, “that we have come to this after weeks of negotiating on numbers, where we have in principle an agreement on numbers, that there are those in the Republican Party in the House who are willing to shut down the government, take people’s paychecks away from them, because they want to deny women access to health care in this country.”
YES. THIS.
YES. THIS.
36
@Dan:
Certainly you should know by now that "smaller government! Spending cuts!" is code for "More vice squads and soldiers! Cuts to programs we don't like!"
It seems to be utterly lost on them that "smaller government" and "less government interference with the public" should also somehow mean that the government has no fucking business in your bedroom.
The Democrats should counter "stop the pithy amount we we send to planned parenthood" with "sure, but only if we can give up paying billions in corn and oil subsidies and reduce military spending". And then see how quickly they drop the issue.
Certainly you should know by now that "smaller government! Spending cuts!" is code for "More vice squads and soldiers! Cuts to programs we don't like!"
It seems to be utterly lost on them that "smaller government" and "less government interference with the public" should also somehow mean that the government has no fucking business in your bedroom.
The Democrats should counter "stop the pithy amount we we send to planned parenthood" with "sure, but only if we can give up paying billions in corn and oil subsidies and reduce military spending". And then see how quickly they drop the issue.
37
More high-end tax cuts, more mining subsidies and across-the-board restriction of the EPA's regulatory powers is the real reason for this proposed budget. The ideologically-driven cuts to Planned Parenthood and a host of other penny-ante budget items that happen to fall on the blue state side of the Culture Wars are just the sales pitch. The rubes won't back it otherwise.
38
Like #4, this is the first donation this gay man has ever made out fury.
Whilst raging about this on a smoke break, a (libertarian) coworker asked me, "Why should Planned Parenthood get federal funds, but the Red Cross doesn't?"
My knee jerk was because the Red Cross is a private christian institution, which I'm sure is part of it, but does someone have a better understanding?
Whilst raging about this on a smoke break, a (libertarian) coworker asked me, "Why should Planned Parenthood get federal funds, but the Red Cross doesn't?"
My knee jerk was because the Red Cross is a private christian institution, which I'm sure is part of it, but does someone have a better understanding?
39
Uh, technical detail, Dan -- it's not about vaginas, it's about uteruses. If you have one, incorporate it! See Florida ACLU agitprop campaign incorporatemyuterus.com
40
@ 38--You can tell your co-worker to do his homework for starters:
http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/c…
Relevant part: "Under limited circumstances, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for the American Red Cross to seek appropriations for certain programs when the funding requirements are beyond that supported by the charitable public. At times, federal and state government agencies also contract with the Red Cross and provide material aid and assistance to support the Red Cross in fulfillment of specific instances of its charter obligations."
In other words, it DOES get federal funds.
http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/c…
Relevant part: "Under limited circumstances, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for the American Red Cross to seek appropriations for certain programs when the funding requirements are beyond that supported by the charitable public. At times, federal and state government agencies also contract with the Red Cross and provide material aid and assistance to support the Red Cross in fulfillment of specific instances of its charter obligations."
In other words, it DOES get federal funds.
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