I smite thee! ...The Diary of Nod

Dan Savage on hot teenagers, asshole parents and vows that you may come to regret...

I tried cutting this down to a paragraph or two but it didn't work. The punchlines are funny but they are only there to lighten otherwise horrific truths and people need to recognize the truth.

The 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, the GOP's vice-presidential nominee, is pregnant. The news was released by the McCain camp during a busy week—a hurricane, the Republican National Convention, Dick Cheney getting us into a war with Russia—so it didn't receive the coverage it deserved. To recap:

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin got her ass knocked up five or so months ago by 18-year-old Levi Johnston. Among the hobbies listed on Levi's since-yanked MySpace page—"fishing, shoot some shit, and just fuckin' chillin'"—was this revealing tidbit: "I don't want kids." But Bristol, says her mom, "made the decision on her own to keep the baby," and is now engaged to Levi "Shootin' Shit" Johnston.

As the adoptive parent of a child born to a pair of unwed teenagers, I'm certainly not in favor of abortion in all circumstances. But I believe that it's a choice teenagers should be able to make for themselves—with input from their families whenever possible—and, so it seems, does the GOP's VP nominee. Sarah Palin is pleased that her daughter made the decision—on her own—to keep the baby.

But Sarah Palin doesn't believe that other girls should be able to make their own decisions. Sarah Palin believes abortion should be illegal in almost every instance—including rape and incest. So Bristol Palin is being celebrated for making a choice that Sarah Palin would like to take away from all other American women. Apparently, today's GOP believes that choice is a special right reserved for the wayward daughters of Republican elected officials.

Oh, and Sarah Palin also believes that birth control shouldn't be made available to teenagers, she opposes medically accurate sex education, and she backs abstinence-until- marriage sex "education."

Sigh.

The GOP has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into abstinence "education" programs during the Bush years. I believe this enormous investment of public funds begs the obvious question: Is our children abstaining? Sarah Palin's aren't. Despite this massive outlay on the part of the American taxpayer and the example set by her Christian parents, Bristol Palin became sexually active while still in high school. Excuse me, but if abstinence education can't keep the daughter of the evangelical governor of Alaska off the cock, what hope is there for the daughters—and some of the sons—of average Americans?

I'm a cad for writing this, of course, because shortly before Bristol and Levi were paraded before cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention, the Palins asked the media to respect their daughter's privacy.

Another special right: When it comes to respecting your family's privacy, Palin and the GOP see no need. They want to micromanage the most intimate aspects of your private life. And if their own kids fail to live up to the standards that Palin and the GOP seek to impose on your family, well, that's a private matter between the Palins, their daughter, their God, and the thousands of screaming imbeciles in elephant hats waving McCain/Palin signs on the floor of the Republican National Convention.
- Dan Savage, Savage Love: Teen Beat

Labels: 2008 election, abortion, bristol palin, dan savage, republican, sarah palin, savage love, sex, sex education

posted by Lachlan @ 11:20 PM 0 comments

Craig Ferguson speaks on civic duty.

"If you don't vote, you're a moron."

Craig Ferguson says we shouldn't get news from late-night comedians but they're the only ones who can tell the truth and not get fired for it. Sometimes the only way we can swallow our medicine is when it's wrapped in a sugar.

Labels: 2008 election, civics, craig ferguson, duty, government, politics, voting

posted by Lachlan @ 5:01 PM 0 comments

Virginia is for lovers!

"Vito Fossella of New York, will retire from his House seat at the end of this term. Mr. Fossella revealed recently that he secretly fathered a child in Virginia."
(as reported in the New York Times)

Labels: 2008 election, adultery, congress, government, new york, republican, sex, vito fossella

posted by Lachlan @ 10:21 AM 0 comments

QOTD: Why am I not a Republican (part deux)

"What a welcome. That is so fabulous. And it's such an honor to be introduced by Laura Ingraham."

"It's wonderful to have Laura Ingraham on our side. You know that? She is wonderful."

Ingram spends her career degrading people for their personal lives, most notably sexual preferences. She also told her viewers to call a voter help line all at once so it would tie up the line and make it unusable for the public. It was specifically a Democratic voter help line. That's voter fraud. The Bush administration declined to prosecute.

"Today we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror: They would retreat, declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child's play. About this, I have no doubt."

"I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

"I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I'll fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next president of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism."

All are from fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney's speech 07 Feb 2008, that he was suspending his campaign for President. He was elected governor of Massachusetts because he was moderate and he was willing to work with and among both parties. It's sad that he's thrown that all away for a power grab.

To accuse your opponents of supporting our enemies is low. Slimeball Low. Mitt, are you slime?

Our policies need to be more than talking points. Though many politicians want to paint issues as right or wrong, black or white, they are entirely shades of gray. We've spent decades supporting tyrants and dictators (Hussein, Musharef), mass murderers and criminals (Pinochet, Bin Laden), choosing the side most convenient for our monetary interest while ignoring the ethical questions of supporting butchers.

Mitt, your arguments are worthless. You seek to ignore serious debate and instead paint patriots as traitors. You decry debate and seek defamation. Your positions are so without merit that you attack the personage of those with whom you disagree.

Labels: 2008 election, government, iraq, laura ingraham, mitt romney, politics, republican

posted by Lachlan @ 1:35 AM 0 comments