Tag Archives: Supreme Court

Short Cuts, March 31, 2012: Imitation, Porn, Apoplexy, And Tea Party Bomb Throwing

The Virtues of Studying Really, Really Hard

Video surfaced of Mitt Romney in 2004 making fun of John Kerry for being a flip-flopper:

“I heard the other day the junior Senator of Massachusetts is thinking about putting together a balanced ticket. And he wondered whether he could pick someone with views different than his own — and he selected himself to do that.”

This just proves couple of old adages.

First, with a lot of hard work, focus, drive, unyielding ambition — and with a little venality sprinkled in — Mitt was able successfully to channel his inner-John Kerry on his way to the likely GOP nomination.

And, second, imitation is, of course, the sincerest form of flattery. “I was pro choice before I was anti-choice.” “I believed in climate change before I denied it.” “I was for health care reform before I was against it.” Etc. Etc. Etc.

Santorum Sweeping The Big Porn Consuming States

With his resounding triumph in the GOP’s Louisiana primary, Rick Santorum notched his fifth victory in the nation’s biggest porn consuming states.

That’s right. The anti-porn crusader has now won five of the nation’s top six states for the consumption of pornography: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Dakota and Louisiana. Those conservatives really know how to party.

Rick won’t, however, win the nation’s top porn consuming state. Mitt Romney is an obvious shoe-in to win Utah. Yes, it’s true: Utah leads the nation in porn.

Apoplexy Gone Wild

The President’s remark last week that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin was personal, understated and effective.

Of course, this sent his haters into rage.

Via Andrew Sullivan, here’s a little of bit of fear and loathing from Glenn Reynolds, the “Instapundit”, on the President’s remarks on Trayvon:

“In other words, he’s a racist hatemonger. Just to be clear. So much for hope and change.

Hope is what he promised. Hate is what he is delivering.”

Upon what planet is Reynolds currently residing?

“Instaputz” is a far better moniker for Reynolds.

Scalia As Tea Party Bomb Thrower

The three-days of argument on the “Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act” (aka “ObamaCare”) devolved into a political debate about insurance and the broad concept of “freedom.” The discussion should have been about whether Congress has the power under the Commerce Clause of the constitution to regulate the interstate health care system.

Seems pretty obvious to me, but you never know from the Court that issued the Citizens United decision and is still stocked with several Justices that issued Bush v. Gore back in 2000.

Its really not surprising that Antonin Scalia, the supposed acolyte of the Supreme Court’s limited role and its deference to the political branches of government, assumed the role of lead Tea Party bomb thrower at the hearing:

“Scalia mocked the so-called ‘Cornhusker Kickback’ without seeming to know that provision was stripped out of the law two years ago,” noted The Hill. The specter of a Supreme Court Justice imagining that something is in a statute that so that he can parrot a meme featured prominently on conservative web sites is as depressing as it is frightening.

This caused conservative Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of the Cornhusker state — whose vote in support of health care reform the ultimately jettisoned Cornhusker Kickback supposedly was designed to attract — to remark: “I am concerned that Justice Scalia’s comments call into question his impartiality and instead suggest judicial activism.”

Really? Scalia is a judicial activist? I’ll be darned.

See you soon.

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Of Sluts And Skanks

Just when you think life in Today’s GOP could not possibly get any crazier, along comes the Great Contraception Debate of 2012. That’s right, we are debating contraception in 2012.

The United States Supreme Court settled the contraception debate in Griswold v. Connecticut, holding that a state law banning the use of contraceptives violated the constitutional right to privacy. That happened 47 years ago, in 1965.

Contraceptives are now pretty much an accepted fact of life in this country. Their general use has been accepted, even by Catholics, for quite some time:

there has long been data showing that Catholic women are avid users of artificial contraception. The first NSFG survey, which in 1973 was administered only to married women, shows that 66.4 percent of all married Catholic women of child-bearing age at the time used contraception. Among those using birth control, only 8.3 percent relied on rhythm; 2.9 percent relied on withdrawal.

Those numbers are from 39 years ago. Current contraception use among Catholics is undoubtedly higher today, even if the 98% number mentioned recently is questionable.

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Despite four-to-five decades of settled law, settled policy and settled cultural attitudes, we are suddenly debating contraception under the guise of a religious objection to a proposal that health insurance plans be required to cover prescription contraceptives for those that want them. The so-called “Blunt Amendment” would have permitted employers to refuse to include any medical service or any prescription medicine in their health insurance plans on moral grounds.

Morally opposed to AIDS drugs? Morally opposed to treatment for depression? Morally opposed to vasectomies? The Blunt Amendment would have permitted you to refuse to provide health care coverage for those things, all forms of artificial contraception, and hosts of others, based entirely on grounds of conscience.

Three Democrats — Sens. Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.), voted with Republicans in favor of the amendment, which failed. But 48 members of the United States Senate nevertheless thought that it was a good idea that employers be able to exercise moral opposition to including any medical service they do not like in an employee health plan. They did that on March 1, 2012, in our supposed enlightened era.

The absurdity surrounding the debate has become surreal.

Highly-paid radio comedian Rush Limbaugh has now tripled-down calling Georgetown Law Student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for wanting to testify in Washington that contraceptives should be included in health plans.

Poorly-drawn cartoon character, Michelle Malkin, called Fluke a “femme-agogue tool,” while disagreeing with Limbaugh that Fluke was really a “slut”:

I’ll tell you why Rush was wrong. Young Sandra Fluke of Georgetown Law is not a “slut.” She’s a moocher and a tool of the Nanny State. She’s a poster girl for the rabid Planned Parenthood lobby and its eugenics-inspired foremothers.

Malkin thinks Fluke is merely a “skank,” as opposed to a “slut.” Malkin says that a Georgetown student named Angela Morabito said it best, and quotes Morabito as writing:

If [Fluke] wants a more liberal sex life, she can go to Syracuse. (Syracuse, I must apologize – but we are in March and basketball matters – sorry you got caught up in this.)

Sandra doesn’t even speak for all skanks! She only speaks for the skanks who don’t want to take responsibility for their choices. That’s a tiny group of people. Hey Sandra! How about next Saturday night, you come hang out with me and my gay boyfriends! Your hair will look fabulous and you’ll get to see great musical theatre! Oh, and odds of you getting pregnant? Zero percent.

As if that is not enough, Malkin, through Morabito, likens Fluke to a “bedroom sex-tape” starring Kim Kardashian and calls her a “Welfare Condom Queen.”

So there you have it. Do you want all prescription medicine covered by health insurance? If so, you are a “moocher.” You are a “tool of the Nanny State.” You are a descendent of “eugenics-inspired foremothers.” You are a “femme-agogue.” You are a “skank.” You are a “Kardashian.” And, of course, you are a “Welfare Condom Queen.”

Given that 56% women, including 70% of unmarried women, voted for President Obama in 2008, calling women “sluts” and “skanks” seems to be quite the winning strategy for November!

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