February 17, 2012

Keep Your Sweaty Palms Out Of My Pants, Rick Santorum.

I gotta say, I don't understand why anyone has their knickers in a twist over comments made by billionaire Foster Freiss.  He was being interviewed by Andrea Mitchell, when he blurted out:
"This contraceptive thing, my gosh it's such [sic] inexpensive. Back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly."
Cue outrage.

It's not a new joke.  There are variations, where it's not aspirin.  I've heard oranges, apples, and potatoes used in the same fashion.  Old news.

Rick Santorum made the following statement about it on CBS This Morning:
"This is someone who is a supporter of mine, and I’m not responsible for
every comment that a supporter of mine makes," he told Charlie Rose.
"It was a bad joke, it was a stupid joke, and it is not reflective of me
or my record on this issue."
So what, exactly, is Rick Santorum's position on contraception?
One of the things I will talk about that no President has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the whole sexual libertine idea. Many in the Christian faith have said, “Well, that’s okay. Contraception’s okay.”

It’s not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative. That’s the perfect way that a sexual union should happen. We take any part of that out, we diminish the act. And if you can take one part out that’s not for purposes of procreation, that’s not one of the reasons, then you diminish this very special bond between men and women, so why can’t you take other parts of that out? And all of a sudden, it becomes deconstructed to the point where it’s simply pleasure. And that’s certainly a part of it—and it’s an important part of it, don’t get me wrong—but there’s a lot of things we do for pleasure, and this is special, and it needs to be seen as special.
- TIME, Feb 14, 2012
Yes, Santorum's actual position is a lot worse than Freiss's.  He's just moved our bedrooms, and our most personal, private relationships, into the arena of National Policy.  He doesn't just want to ban abortions, he's not merely someone who won't use contraception. He wants to dictate what you do in the bedroom.  His god doesn't approve.

Aren't Republicans about less government, and staying out of people's personal lives?  I don't think a potential Presidential candidate could be much more intrusive than this.  Just one more proof that the Party of Lincoln is as dead as he is.

Why are we event talking about contraception?  Because the Catholic Church is unhappy.

People are mad that the Affordable Health Care Act dictates that all health plans must include access to contraception and family planning counsel.  Some daft fools are stating that he's violating the Catholic Church's rights.  Of course, what these undereducated folks miss is the fact that a benefits package is for THE EMPLOYEE, not the employer.  Religious organizations are free to tell their adherents what is or isn't permissible to their religious tenets, and the ACA doesn't interfere with that.  There are Catholics right now, working outside the Church at firms that offer birth control.  They don't have to take it. And Catholics working FOR the Church also don't have to take it.

But the Catholic Church employs people of other faiths, at their various secular institutions; hospitals, schools, and various charities.  The Church does not have any right to prevent these non-Catholic employees from using contraception.  They are employees, not adherents.

Organizations protesting that they are being forced to fund activities proscribed by the articles of their faith.  And that's a load of hooey. It's no different than pacifists trying to get out of paying taxes because some tax dollars fund the military.

These organizations are funding their employee's health care.  The employees make their choices according the dictates of their faith.  It's as American as Apple Pie. 

Santorum is a relic, not from a simpler time, but from a simple-minded time.  A hundred years ago, his cause would have been Temperance.  Remember Prohibition?  A group of well-intentioned True Believers managed to legislate morality; they made alcohol illegal.  The result wasn't the end of domestic unrest as they'd predicted; instead, they created a huge black market that most Americans participated in.  Gang wars resulted.  A few street gangs grew into organized crime; corruption ruled.  Prohibition was overturned, but the criminal organizations remain; now they deal in illegal narcotics and prostitution.

And that's the America Rick Santorum represents.  He doesn't mean to.  And he probably doesn't even know it.  Or maybe, just maybe, he doesn't care, as long as he can dictate how you live your lives.

1 comment:

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