Alexa Shrugged

How #ReplaceQuoteWithThingamajig Became a Worldwide Twitter Trend Covered in the New York Times

2012-06-01T19:11:00.001-04:00

Yikes! It's been almost a month since I last blogged! But now I have a good reason to - I'm in the New York Times!

It all started when Obama made this ridiculous and nonsensical statement:

"...if you have $3,000 a year extra, that helps you pay down your credit cards, that helps you go out and buy somethings that your family needs which is good for business. Maybe somebody will be replacing a -- some thingamajig for their furnace. They've been putting that off, but if they got that extra money they might just go out there and buy that thing. Right?" Obama said to laughter.

(By the way, here's my Tumblr reaction to hearing that Obama’s solution to the economy is buying a #thingamajig)

The Twitterverse was all abuzz over Obama's use of the word "thingamajig" in talking about economics. It just shows how hopelessly out of touch and over his head he is on the economy. #Thingamajig was already trending on Twitter from thousands of people mocking Obama. I started thinking about Obama's other gaffes and I came up with this tweet:

"The cost of #thingamajig's will necessarily skyrocket" #replacequotewiththingamajig
— AlexaShrugged (@AlexaShrugged) June 1, 2012

Then I thought of contrasting how ridiculous and undignified the word thingamajig was with famous quotes from Founders and presidents:

Mr. Gorbachev tear down this thingamajig! #replacequotewiththingamajig
— AlexaShrugged (@AlexaShrugged) June 1, 2012

Give me Liberty or give me thingamajigs! #replacequotewiththingamajig
— AlexaShrugged (@AlexaShrugged) June 1, 2012

Then it was just to, as Rush would say, illustrate absurdity by being absurd:

People in glass houses shouldn't throw thingamajigs #replacequotewiththingamajig
— AlexaShrugged (@AlexaShrugged) June 1, 2012

I shared the #replacequotewiththingamajig hashtag with friends and it caught fire - it was the number 1 trend worldwide on Twitter this afternoon!

Apparently this was enough to attract the attention of a political reporter from the New York Times who saw that I created the first #replacequotewiththingamajig tweet and contacted me. She wrote:

“Thingamajig” was already trending on Twitter when AlexaShrugged, a conservative blogger, started the meme #replacequotewiththingamajig, which started trending worldwide.
...
(The original quote, by Mr. Obama in January 2008, is, “Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”)
“Then I thought how ridiculous it would sound in contrast to other presidents & famous quotes,” she said in an exchange of direct messages.
Other conservatives, like Redstate’s Erick Erickson, got in on the action. (His message was re-posted by Ryan Williams, another Romney spokesman.)

So that's the story of how I got my first worldwide trending topic on Twitter! It just shows the amazing power of conservatives on Twitter with the help of sites like Twitchy and how much influence we have in driving the debate so that even the NYT takes notice. Can't wait to continue flexing our muscles the rest of this campaign season!

Follow me on Twitter @AlexaShrugged

Best of #Julia Responses

2012-05-04T14:58:00.001-04:00

via RushLimbaugh.com

I am so impressed with how quick and witty the right was in responding to and debunking Obama's latest campaign prop "Julia." Along with getting #Julia trending with mocking tweets, at least two Twitter parody accounts (@WarOnJulia and @LifeOfJuIia) were created, and at least one Tumblr.

Here are some of the best alternative realities for Julia, under Obama, in roughly chronological order:

NakedDC - Who is Julia and why am I paying for all her sh*t? - By Emily Zanotti
Best Line:
At age three, Julia enters HeadStart, which was actually launched, not in Barack Obama’s presidency, but in 1964, and is, as you’d expect, basically the DMV of day care. According to a 1998 study, HeadStart seemed to actually disadvantage children, and in 2004, Congress had to expand enrollment in the program because – and this is key – poor people didn’t want it anymore basically because it sucked. Under Barack Obama, spending dramatically increased for HeadStart, but as the New York Times pointed out, he didn’t require any changes to the program, so right now, it costs taxpayers around $22,000 per child that its not really helping. A comparable private day care would only cost the American taxpayer $9,500.

Heritage Foundation - A Better Life For Julia

Best Line:
With conservative reforms: Julia will be a happy three year old unburdened by the federal government. She will not be $50,0000 in debt the day she is born, and her parents will have access to private preschool providers of choice.

Breitbart Big Government - Obama Campaign: Romney Would Ruin Life of Composite Woman - By Ben Shapiro
Best Line:
Apparently, nothing happens in Julia’s life until she’s 17. There’s a reason for that – America’s public school system is an utter failure, and Obama knows it. But Obama says that Julia at age 17 is flourishing (presumably she isn’t one of the approximately 25 percent of all students who drop out of school, or one of the 40 percent of black or Hispanic students who do so).

Human Events - Julia’s life of dependency and servitude - By John Hayward
Best Line:
According to the Congressional Budget Office, when Julia is 18 years old, the weight of Barack Obama’s debt will cause the entire national economy to shut down. When Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, was informed of this by Rep. Paul Ryan, he laughed nervously and said, “We’re not coming before you to say we have a definitive solution to our long-term problem. What we do know is, we don’t like yours.”

National Review - "Julia" - By Kevin Williamson
Best Line:
22 years: After working in the bar for a while, Julia decides she likes it and wants to open her own place. But she’ll need capital to get that done. Under Obama, there is little or no credit available to small entrepreneurs, because we never got around to fixing the problems in the banking system, instead choosing to futz around with things like the disclosures on credit-card offers and micromanaging swipe fees and grandstanding about bonuses. Julia does not open her new business, and she doesn’t hire any other Julias to build, decorate, supply, or staff it.

Yid With Lid - Julia's Son,"Barack Obama Ruined My Mother's Life" - By Jeff Dunetz
Best Line:
Julia finally has a job…but has to quit because of the high commuting costs. Under Obama (who has been President for 11 years so far) gas is now 27 dollars a gallon. Because the country is approacing insolvency everyone who makes more than $40,000/year has to pay 80% of their income in taxes (and it’s not helping). On the bright side, she still has health coverage (although thepremiums have skyrocketed)and still gets free condoms.

Townhall - Cradle to Grave: The Obama Campaign's Fantasy for American Life - By Kevin Glass
Best Line:
This is Julia at age 37 - which means if Julia is 3 years old today, it's the year 2046. If Barack Obama's budget is followed, the economy will have long ago collapsed under the weight of debt and deficit brought on by out of control entitlement spending. But Obama is going to go on pretending that these programs are just fine, and both the American economy and Julia are doing fine in 2046. ...Julia must be living in a kind of alternate reality where, after President Obama leaves office, a serious budget reformer comes in with significant entitlement reforms that get debt and deficit under control. That would be the only assumption possible considering Julia's relatively normal life at age 37.

Commentary - "The Life Of Julia" - By Alana Goodman
Best Line:
Age 65 – It’s 2077, and publicly held debt is now 180 percent of the GDP. But Julia will still be covered by Medicare “as we know it,” at least if President Obama was reelected in 2012. That’s right, no Medicare reform for the next half-century, according to Obama.

Hot Air - The cradle-to-grave, government-supported existence of “Julia” - By Ed Morrissey
Best Line:
65 years old – My, how time flies! (Do women do nothing of value between 42 and 65?) Julia enrolls in Medicare, which ceased to exist decades earlier, thanks to the fact that Obama and Tim Geithner didn’t have a plan to address the debt crisis — all they knew was they didn’t like anyone else’s plan.

TheLifeOfJulia.com - By @partiallypro & @charlievidal
Best Line:
Under Government Care: Social Security isn't nearly enough money for Julia to live off of; in fact, it's bankrupt. Julia starts gardening and painting fences to make ends meet. Her degenerative arthritis makes life very painful, but a government health care panel has ruled that knee replacement surgery is medically unnecessary. Her son Zach is unable to help with medical costs because he has been unable to hold a steady job due to the poor economy his mother's generation left him.

Update:

Sooper Mexican - The Life of Julia Under Obama and Mitt:
Best Graphic:

UPDATE: 5/7

Video from the PA GOP:

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The War on Women Like Ann Romney

2012-04-12T14:57:00.000-04:00

The internet has exploded at Democratic campaign adviser Hilary Rosen (who has visited the White House 35 times, and works for the PR firm that represents Sandra Fluke) who attacked Ann Romney, saying the stay at home mom "has actually never worked a day in her life."

So many emotions: anger at Rosen and all the feminazis she represents, disgust at the personal attack on a mother of 5 who suffers from MS and survived breast cancer, and yet schadenfreude that the "War On Women" lie is blowing up in Democrats' faces and turning the tide in our favor for once.

Rosen was attempting to launch a class warfare attack by acting as if only the super rich can afford to be stay at home moms. She's so out of touch in her little liberal elite world that she has no clue what millions of women know: women of all classes sacrifice and forgo things to be with their children because it's important, not because they're lazy or rich.

Rosen tries to say "most" women can't afford to stay at home like Ann Romney, but if that's true, who's fault is it that times are still so tough now?! If moms are forced to work, it's because the economy is so bad and we need a businessman like Mitt Romney who HAS run a business, unlike Obama, to fix what Obama has done to prolong this recession!

Liberals want the government to take over the role of daddy - Rosen bemoans the hypothetical woman "whose daycare funding is being cut off because of the Romney-Ryan budget." How about the fact that that woman's dependence on government-funded daycare is a result of the Obama economy not giving her better opportunities? How about the woman who can't be a stay at home mom anymore because of President Obama's lack of any kind of a budget or economic recovery plan? And let's not forget that of the people who have lost their jobs under Obama, an astounding 92.3% of them are women!

Economics aren't Obama's only women problem. Remember when his own staffers said his White House was a "genuinely hostile workplace to women" and "the president has a real woman problem." Even Christina Romer said she "felt like a piece of meat." Now this week comes the news that women on Obama's staff are paid 18% less than men. I guess Obama talks so much about the female pay gap because he participates in it himself!

I think it's clear who's waging the real "War on Women."

President Obama, Are You Serious? Are You Serious?!

2012-04-03T10:20:00.000-04:00

President Obama made some unprecedented and extraordinary statements yesterday about Obamacare and its prospects at the Supreme Court, to which I had to say, Pelosi-style, "Are you serious? Are you serious?!" For starters, he said:

I am confident the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically-elected Congress. ...

As many have pointed out, this is a laughably unprecedented and extraordinary definition of the words "unprecedented" and "extraordinary." It's as if President Obama thinks the Supreme Court has never struck down a law before! Or that Congress has never passed an unconstitutional law in its history!

After his Solicitor General got terrible reviews for his oral arguments, which some think put the case in jeopardy, Obama is trying to reframe the debate in case he loses. If Obamacare goes down, Obama wants you to think it is because of an activist, extreme Supreme Court - not because the law itself is an unconstitutional federal intrusion into your life.

And is Obama really calling a bill that had zero Republican votes and passed 219-212 in the House a "strong" majority? Obama did do better in the Senate, on a 60-39 party-line vote taken on Christmas Eve. But where's that "strong majority" now? Less than a month after the Senate vote, Scott Brown was the first Republican to be elected to the Senate from Massachusetts in decades, in part because he ran as the 41st vote to stop Obamacare. Today, the Democrats are down to 51 Senators and the House saw a 60 person swing and a switch over to GOP control since the vote, which played a huge part in the 2010 elections.

In his weakened state, Obama is reduced to lecturing conservatives on what he thinks we say:

I just remind conservative commentators that for years we have heard the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint. That an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. ...

Obama seems to think that simply striking down a law passed by Congress is what makes a ruling judicial activism - as if not acceding to whatever the legislative branch wants is judicial excess. But it's not whether a law is upheld or struck down, it is whether the law was Constitutional and whether an originalist or strict constructionalist theory was applied that matters.

Judicial activism is about judges who disregard the Constitution and make up rights out of whole cloth. Like "penumbras, formed by emanations" that magically find rights to abortion or separation of church and state hiding in the text of the Constitution all along. It's about illiterate judges who uphold gun bans despite the clear wording of the 2nd Amendment. It's about courts that think the the Founders' original intent in the 1st Amendment was to ban prayer. Obama has no idea what judicial activism is, for him, words only mean what he wants them to mean, only at that particular point in time.

Finally, let's hear why Obama thinks Obamacare should be upheld:

I am confident this will be upheld because it should be upheld. ...

Ok, nevermind, I take it all back - Obama's astounding powers of persuasion and impeccable reasoning skills have convinced me of the error of my ways! He wins!
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UPDATE: Looks like the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is taking Obama's words seriously:

In the escalating battle between the administration and the judiciary, a federal appeals court apparently is calling the president's bluff -- ordering the Justice Department to answer by Thursday whether the Obama Administration believes that the courts have the right to strike down a federal law, according to a lawyer who was in the courtroom.
...
In the hearing, Judge Smith says the president's comments suggesting courts lack power to set aside federal laws "have troubled a number of people" and that the suggestion "is not a small matter."
The bottom line from Smith: A three-page letter with specifics. He asked DOJ to discuss "judicial review, as it relates to the specific statements of the president, in regard to Obamacare and to the authority of the federal courts to review that legislation."
"I would like to have from you by noon on Thursday -- that's about 48 hours from now -- a letter stating what is the position of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, in regard to the recent statements by the president," Smith said. "What is the authority is of the federal courts in this regard in terms of judicial review?"

I'm glad there are consequences for Obama's irresponsible words. This is part of why the Founders' system of checks and balances is so brilliant. Instead of each branch colluding with each other, they are pitted in competition with each other, with each not wanting the others to overstep their bounds and encroach into their territory. Here the judiciary branch is pushing back against an executive assault on its Constitutional powers. This system is meant to break allegiances across the branches on partisan lines, but alas that has been happening far too often these days.
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Obama Stands With Planned Parenthood - Get Rid of Them Both

2012-03-29T14:45:00.000-04:00

This video for Planned Parenthood that President Obama has made in his official capacity as President of the United States - the end shows www.whitehouse.gov - saddens, sickens, and angers me. Of course, it's not a surprise that a man who voted for infanticide would so lovingly embrace the biggest abortion provider in the country, but it should still outrage us and renew our commitment to fight.

In the video Obama says:

“So when some professional politicians casually say that they’ll get rid of Planned Parenthood, don’t forget what they’re really talking about: eliminating the funding for preventive care that millions of women rely on and leaving them to fend for themselves."

No, Mr. President, don't YOU forget what we're really talking about: the elimination of millions of unborn babies from our population and abortion as "preventive care."

President Obama says Planned Parenthood fights for "the woman with a new lease on life because a mammogram caught her cancer in time" - except Planned Parenthoods don't do mammograms, they only refer them - and "the woman who was able to choose when to start a family because she could afford contraception." I thought women weren't able to afford contraception and that's why Obamacare made it "free," but now he's saying Planned Parenthood is doing the job? Good! I expect he'll repeal the contraception mandate that violates religious conscience at any moment!

The President finishes with the perfect call to action for conservatives and pro-lifers to defeat him at the polls this November: "I know you’ll never stop fighting to protect the health care and the choices that America’s women deserve and as long as I have the privilege of being your president, neither will I."

By thanking Planned Parenthood and standing by their work, Obama is voicing his support for some very despicable things: the deaths of millions of unborn babies; the sexual exploitation of minors; the cover up of sex abuse perpetrated on children and incest victims; the enabling of sex trafficking; the fraud and abuse of millions in taxpayer dollars; the non-FDA approved administration of abortion drugs that led to the deaths of 4 California women; the acceptance of racist donations; and more.

President Obama alluded to Mitt Romney saying he'd get rid of Planned Parenthood's funding - which amounts to over $360 million dollars from federal, state, and local taxpayers of PP's Billion dollar yearly budget (check out the page labeled 29 of their 2008-09 annual report). Planned Parenthood takes lives and commits crimes, they do not deserve our hard-earned tax money. Luckily, so far 9 states have defunded Planned Parenthood of over $60 million, but we need more states and the federal government to kick PP of the dole. But as long as Obama is president, Planned Parenthood will remain strong, so we need to kick him out as well.

Related Posts:

McDonnell Caves on Ultrasounds, Where Do We Go From Here
If Ultrasounds are Rape, Abortionists Have Been Raping Women for Years!
No, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control is NOT "Basic Health Care"
Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control
Controlling the Birth Control Debate
Susan G. Komen for the ~~WIN~~: FAIL What Planned Parenthood doesn't want you to know
How Planned Parenthood Exploits Minors
Planned Parenthood exposed again
Abortion ends in death. Can you live with that?
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Nothing to See Here, Just Obama Embracing Another Radical

2012-03-09T15:33:00.000-05:00

Obama hugging Bell

Apparently Obama's embrace of radical professor Derrick Bell isn't news because it happened in the past. Just like Obama palling around with terrorists Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, and Khalid Al Masour. And who could forget the 20+ years he spent listening to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Even though some of these radical associations were discussed during the 2008 campaign, the media did not fully explore them and much of the public didn't believe they were true. But now looking back in 2012 they carry new meaning - perhaps those caught up in the excitement of "hope and change" who've been mugged by reality will finally open their hearts and minds to the truth. Maybe the Obama presidency seen through this context will finally make sense to them and they will realize how Obama's extreme leftist agenda threatens the country. That is why this is news and why it must be kept in the public's consciousness through election day.

Barack Obama asks that you "open your hearts and minds to the words of Derrick Bell" - Breitbart.com has all you need to know about this radical professor:

Derrick Bell: Liberal Whites Are Oppressors

Derrick Bell: Racism a Permanent Part of U.S. Culture

Derrick Bell's Sci-Fi Film Portrays Reagan As Alien Slave Trader

Derrick Bell: Racism 'Important Stabilizing Function In Society'

Derrick Bell: USA Must Admit We Are Permanently Racist

Derrick Bell: Racism 'Permanent Part' Of US Culture

Derrick Bell: I Write My Views In Fiction Because They're Too 'Theatening'

Bell, Farrakhan BFFs

Radical Racialist Derrick Bell: American Whites Would Sell Blacks For Goods In a Future Bad Economy

Obama Assigned Reading: Bell Says Whites Might Enslave Blacks

And Commentary reports:

Derrick Bell in 1994: ‘Jewish Neoconservative Racists’

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Call Them Out By Name: Sandra Fluke, David Gregory and David Friend

2012-03-05T12:02:00.001-05:00

After going to an Andrew Breitbart memorial event on Saturday, I am more inspired than ever to fight back against the Left. Three things that were said stood out to me in that regard. Number one, Dana Loesch said we need to follow Breitbart and hit Leftists by "calling them out by name." Then Brandon Darby mentioned that the Left was taking advantage of our grief and we were losing on Limbaugh. Finally, I'm struck with the image of Breitbart himself in this tribute video looking straight at the camera and simply saying, "War."

This is war. I am going to defend Limbaugh from the radical Leftists who want to take him off the air. And I am going to call out our opponents by name. Starting with Sandra Fluke, David Gregory and David Friend.

Sandra Fluke.
Sandra Fluke is a 30 year old woman who is president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice and went to Georgetown Law despite knowing that their insurance does not cover birth control - because they are a Catholic institution - and made it her mission to force them to change their policy. Remember when I mentioned how feminazis lied and said a Congressional hearing on religious concerns about the Obamacare contraceptive mandate was only men? They had wanted Sandra Fluke to testify - I guess Allison Dabbs Garrett and Dr. Laura Champion, the two women who DID testify at the "all-male" panel, just don't count as women because they don't toe the radical feminist line.

When the 30 year old woman, Sandra Fluke, did finally speak, she claimed that she and her fellow law school attendees were suffering under the strain of paying for their own birth control out of pocket - she said it costs $3,000 over a 3 year law school term!

I have no idea what kind of birth control she was claiming cost $3,000. Out of pocket, condoms are free or about $1, the Pill costs as low as $4 a month/ $10 over three months, an IUD is $500 but lasts 5 years, etc. There really is not a birth control that should cost $3,000 over 3 years (you can't count the first doctor's visit because obviously the yearly OB-GYN exam is covered by her insurance), this woman is vastly overpaying. You'd think by age 30 she'd have shopped around and figured out the most economical solutions to her problem. Why does her Catholic law school - and the rest of us - have to pay for her bad shopping choices?

[UPDATED: On February 7th, before her testimony, Georgetown's law newspaper wrote about some of her background in radically crusading on this issue, including a campaign to lobby GU and the Obama Administration, and even a sex discrimination claim. She explicitly says she wants to make GU's policy illegal:

Former LSRJ Co-President Sandra Fluke, 3L, organized a lobbying campaign to try to persuade the university to reverse course before the mandate was announced in August 2011. When the campaign was unsuccessful, the group turned its efforts to lobbying the Obama administration to extend the mandate to universities like Georgetown, and even considered filing a sex discrimination claim against the school.
“We’re very excited that these regulations may make that unnecessary and would make it crystal clear to the administration that continuing this policy would be illegal,” Fluke said.

Another blogger dug into her background and wonders if she's being managed by the Glover Park Group.]

In regards to Rush Limbaugh, he was making the point that she wants others to pay for her to have sex. She wants to be paid for having sex by forcing Catholics and their insurers (i.e. every one of us who will be forced to buy insurance under Obamacare) to pay for her birth control. He literally shouldn't have said "slut" because a slut doesn't get paid and he later retracts, but he did also say "prostitute," which better fit his analogy. Clearly not a well thought out rant as he goes back and forth on several words. Here is the transcript from 2/29/12 for which Rush has since apologized:

"RUSH: What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps. (interruption) The johns? We would be the johns? No! We're not the johns. (interruption) Yeah, that's right. Pimp's not the right word. Okay, so she's not a slut. She's "round heeled." I take it back."

Ridiculously, but predictably, Democrats are seizing on Rush Limbaugh's statement to do two things they love to do: change the subject and raise money. Even the President of the United States took time out of his busy day (presumably filled with strategy sessions on how to save our economy, lower the price of gas, and get Americans back to work) to call this 30 year old woman who shamelessly told the world about her overspending problem (hey, they have something in common!).

In response, Laura Ingraham tweeted, "Ed Schultz called me a slut last May...still waiting for Obama's call" (more on Schultz later). Don't forget this is the same president who whined about having to take more pictures with the troops! I hope he called from the DNC and not the White House because this was a purely cynical campaign op and Democrats are raising millions off this and the media are making in-kind contributions with all the attention they've brought to the issue - which brings me to David Gregory.

David Gregory.
David Gregory is the host of NBC's Sunday morning show "Meet the Press" who spent the first 5 minutes of his interview with Newt Gingrich this week trying to push the liberal line on Limbaugh and birth control. God Bless Newt Gingrich for slapping back at Gregory - Newsbusters recorded Newt's great response:

"You know, David, I am astonished at the desperation of the elite media to avoid rising gas prices, to avoid the President's apology to religious fanatics in Afghanistan, to avoid a trillion dollar deficit, to avoid the longest period of unemployment since the Great Depression, and to suddenly decide that Rush Limbaugh is the great national crisis of this week."

Newt continued:

"There is no debate about access to contraception. There is a debate, which Cardinal George of Chicago has pointed out, is a war against the Catholic Church. You do have this weird situation where President Obama apologizes to Islamic extremists while waging war against the Catholic Church."

David Gregory: useful idiot of the Left. I hear the other Sunday morning shows made the issue a focus as well, but Gregory has the distinction of getting his butt whooped on it so I wanted to rub it in and highlight Newt's great response.

Video of the Newt v. Gregory exchange:

David Friend.
David Friend is an Obama campaign donor and the CEO of Carbonite who decided after Rush Limbaugh apologized to still withdraw ads from his program, despite the fact that Carbonite still advertises for other men who call women sluts, Ed Schultz and Howard Stern. Friend wrote on the Carbonite website explaining the decision to drop advertising:

“No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. ..."

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that he has no idea that Fluke is in her 30's. He probably thinks, like the myth the media has been perpetuating, that she's of undergrad college age. I can't imagine him bringing up his own daughters or calling her a "young lady" (how patronizing, by the way) unless he thought she was in the 18-22 range, but I guess it's possible. And if that's the case, then he should be equally upset that Laura Ingraham, a woman in her 40's (an age his daughters will be someday), was called a slut by Ed Schultz, one of the men his company sponsors. Ben Howe's on the case asking, Carbonite Drops Ads from Rush Limbaugh but Not Ed Schultz?

And how about him calling Fluke "courageous and well-intentioned?" Puh-LEAZE! As if she was an innocent victim who was thrown into this, instead of an adult liberal activist who crusaded on this issue and ran to the press and the world to demand that the government force the religious institution she attends to violate its beliefs and give her contraception for free. Begging for a government handout is not courageous and her years of activism on this very issue shows she was not well-intentioned. Fluke knew full well what she was getting into and as Ed Morrissey said, "If you want your sexual choices to remain private, don’t use the government to force other people to subsidize them."

Before they made the decision to pull their ads, Friend said that "the outcry over Limbaugh is the worst we’ve ever seen." Well, Dittoheads, let's make the outcry over them dropping Limbaugh the worst they've ever seen! Here is Carbonite's contact page, and be sure to Tweet them and Facebook them!

This is war. We lost an amazing leader when Breitbart died, but pieces of him live on in the hearts of millions of us now. He is still here.

UPDATE: People are having fun with making petitions on WhiteHouse.gov:

We Petition the Obama Administration to:

apologize to Laura Ingraham for Ed Schultz's offensive remarks about her, as seems to be White House policy now.

return Bill Maher's $1million dollar donation unless and until he apologizes for calling Sarah Palin a "slut."

and my personal favorite:

Resign.

UPDATE 2: The Media Research Center has an I Stand With Rush petition that I just signed, please share:

The Petition States:

I stand with Rush Limbaugh and appreciate the massive contribution that he has made to the conservative movement and our nation over the last 25 years. Rush has apologized. But the radical left will never accept it because they despise him and want him off the air. I condemn attempts by radical left-wing organizations and the media to censor Rush and his commonsense conservative message.

Related Posts:
No, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control is NOT "Basic Health Care"
Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control
Controlling the Birth Control Debate
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Andrew Breitbart RIP

2012-03-02T01:07:00.000-05:00

Like many, when I heard the news of Andrew Breitbart's death, my immediate thought was that it was a stunt by him to see what the reaction would be to his death. Unfortunately, it was no stunt, it was all too real, with a 43 year old husband and father of 4 gone far too soon.

The amazing thing about Breitbart is that so many have stories about him. It is a deep loss to the conservative blogging community because he was a friend to us. In fact, it was practically impossible to have gone to an event he was at like CPAC or RightOnline and NOT have spoken to him at least once. He really cared about the others with him in the trenches fighting the Left, and he would talk to you like he knew you.

The day before CPAC 2012, he was at my office. We talked about the Occupyers' plans to disrupt CPAC and as we were talking he was composing a tweet and asking my advice about it. It was very interesting how he carefully thought about it, going through two or three revisions, changing words, etc. He wanted to toy with the Occupyers and get them to think a lot more was happening to counter them at CPAC. So he came up with this tweet:

Not sure how I feel about this dog feces catapult (40 plus foot reach) & horse urine balloon as #OccupyCPAC counterplot rumor. Kids.
— AndrewBreitbart (@AndrewBreitbart) February 8, 2012

The next day at CPAC he came into the Citizens United Blogger Briefing on "Occupy Unmasked" with a Guy Fawkes mask and cape, an image which some have told me is one of the last memories they have of Breitbart:

As usual, Breitbart was brilliant, taking down the radical left and Occupy anarchists. I only wish that I had gotten a picture with him, but stupidly, I thought I'd have plenty of opportunities to in the future. I will not make that mistake again. Carpe diem. That's how Breitbart lived.

RIP

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UPDATE: Get a twibbon here for your Twitter avatar that says #IAmAndrewBreitbart.

McDonnell Caves on Ultrasounds, Where Do We Go From Here

2012-02-22T18:00:00.002-05:00

Truth lost out

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell caved on his support for the S.B. 484 ultrasound bill and even used the language of the lefties like "invasive" and "consent" (see my debunking of the ultrasound-is-rape-charge here) to defend his reversal:

Thus, having looked at the current proposal, I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done. Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.

This statement just opens him up to so many attacks, from all sides. First, is he admitting that he hadn't already looked at the current proposal that he had previously stated support for?? Good job, gov'na!

Second, his words dangerously echo the liberal idea that ANY law pertaining to abortion isn't the "proper role for the state" and puts the state between a woman and her abortionist. This is a slippery slope - leading to the question of what IS the proper role of the state in terms of mandating informed consent on abortion. Obviously pro-choicers would say there is none and McDonnell's words must hearten them; they will be sure to throw them back in his face should the subject come up again. It will be difficult for him to defend Virginia's informed consent 2001 statute that he helped pass as a delegate (and which he cited in his decision) in light of his new view of the "proper" role of the state.

Third, he acts as if abortion is just "another medical procedure" - like pro-aborts who compare it to removing tonsils, a mole or a tumor. Abortion is not just "another medical procedure," it stops a beating heart and ends a life, there are unique and compelling interests that the state - and all people of good conscience - have regarding it.

Where Do We Go From Here

The most frustrating thing is that, once again, hysterically unsupportable lies won the day and pro-lifers like me who fought to spread the truth were betrayed, just like with Komen. THIS. MUST. END. NOW. The question is, how do we regroup, learn, and counter the next culture war ambush?

Apparently hysteria like MILLIONS OF POOR MINORITY WOMEN WILL DIE OF BREAST CANCER IN THE STREETS!!!!11! and REPUBLICANS WANT TO BAN BIRTH CONTROL!!!!11!! and VIRGINIA WANTS TO RAPE WOMEN!!!11! has been affective for radical lefties. So do we need to be more reactive and hysterical, thinking of the most extreme, ridiculous sound bytes and scream them from the top of our lungs like the left does? This is difficult for many on the right to do but I do admit to occasionally enjoy the indulgence of fighting fire with fire.

Perhaps along with a little bomb throwing, we need to work on our coordination and anticipation skills. In hindsight, this kerfuffle was entirely predictable and pro-lifers should have been prepared for it. Even if we were caught flatfooted, we should have begun hitting back hard last week and providing cover for the VA GOP immediately. All the pro-life groups and activists should have coordinated and begun a PR strategy to address the media and a campaign to write to VA state reps to encourage their support and defense of the bill as soon as it happened. Instead - maybe because we thought the rape charges were too ridiculous to be taken seriously - we let it languish, which allowed the lie to fester and spread. It became a part of the national conversation and local politicians got scared.

Bottom line: we need to get better at this - ALL of us on the right side of the political spectrum do - especially if we want a chance at defeating Obama.

Incompetence and Confusion Abound

(Added 2/23/12) Reading this Washington Post article, "McDonnell, Virginia Republicans back off mandatory invasive ultrasounds," it is shocking how none of the major players knew what was going on or what the bill would entail - from the pro-abortion lobby, to the GOP representatives who sponsored it, to the Governor who said he'd sign it. Check out the key words I've bolded:

Confusion over the legislation and ultrasounds — and considerable national media attention — preceded the unraveling of the bill. The original measure stated, simply, that a woman needed an ultrasound before an abortion. Many lawmakers did not understand that at the young fetal age abortions usually occur, the invasive vaginal ultrasound would be needed to establish gestational age, as required by the bill.
...
Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester), who introduced the measure, said she did not realize that the ultrasound would not be external, and she said she still was not certain that would be required under the legislation. But she said she would move to strike her bill because of that uncertainty.
...
“I had no concept about this other issue,’’ she said. “It didn’t come up in the committee, it didn’t come up in the subcommittee. I’m still not sure if it’s right or not right.”
...
McDonnell’s announcement came a day after legislators and governor’s staff members, including Chief of Staff Martin Kent and Secretary of Health Bill Hazel, huddled in his office Tuesday night to hash out a compromise after learning that some ultrasounds could be more invasive than first thought.
...
Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, said that after years of lobbying legislators on similar bills, she didn’t know the ultrasound would be a vaginal one until a colleague at the National Women’s Law Center informed her the first week of the session.

Unbelievable! I can't believe the incompetence and confusion from the representatives who sponsored the bill and the governor who had been outspoken in his support of it. Shame on them for not researching the issue so they would be prepared for the lying attacks and could counter them, shame on me for assuming they had already done basic research before getting behind an issue! I suppose I can take some comfort in the fact that the pro-abortion lobby didn't know either and only discovered the trans-vaginal angle about a month ago. It just sucks when the people who are supposed to represent our side do such a horrible job and make us all look bad by association.

This delegate sums up my feelings on this episode of betrayal, and kudos to him for chastising his fellow turncoat Republicans:

“Instead of confronting the misinformation that’s going on here, some Republicans want to back away from this,’’ said Marshall (R-Prince William). “Instead of confronting the public with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we — the descendants of those who fought the British empire — are sounding the call for retreat.”

UPDATE 3/7/12: McDonnell signs a modified ultrasound bill.

If Ultrasounds are Rape, Abortionists Have Been Raping Women for Years!

2012-02-21T12:13:00.001-05:00

[Update: New post - McDonnell Caves on Ultrasounds, Where Do We Go From Here]

Goodness, it's getting hard to keep up with all the new pro-abortion hysterics, it seems as if a new one comes up every day (Obama is happy, I'm sure)! From Komen temporarily defunding Planned Parenthood, to Obamacare mandating free contraception, now it's a bill in Virginia that would require ultrasounds be performed to determine the gestational age of an unborn baby to be aborted.

Gestational age is important for determining which abortion procedure to execute - Jill Stanek has some examples in Virginia of abortionists disciplined for complications arising from their misjudgment of the age of the babies they attempted to kill. The outrage is that pro-choice extremists are trying to say that the ultrasound requirement, because some ultrasounds are trans-vaginal, is "state-sanctioned rape!" Yep.

As Red State "streiff" blogger notes, trans-vaginal ultrasounds are not specifically required by the bill (S.B. 484), only that an ultrasound "be made pursuant to standard medical practice in the community." In most cases, an abdominal ultrasound will be used. Although trans-vaginal ultrasounds are better for detecting pregnancies between 4 1/2-6 weeks, that is only a short period of time in which they are considered more reliable than abdominal ultrasounds.

Additionally, according to the National Abortion Federation, some women may choose them: "Some patients find TVU [transvaginal ultrasound] more comfortable than TAU [Transabdominal ultrasound] because TVU does not require a distended bladder." But of course, feminazis don't listen to reason, they just want distract you with the word RAPE!!! (Google "The Big Lie," by the way, and tell me this is not it.)

RHRealityCheck.com - a rabidly extreme pro-abortion website was among the first to say that an ultrasound is "State-Sanctioned Rape," bizarrely citing this definition of rape from VA law:

§ 18.2-61. Rape.
A. If any person has sexual intercourse with a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, or causes a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, to engage in sexual intercourse with any other person and such act is accomplished (i) against the complaining witness's will, by force, threat or intimidation of or against the complaining witness or another person; or (ii) through the use of the complaining witness's mental incapacity or physical helplessness; or (iii) with a child under age 13 as the victim, he or she shall be guilty of rape.

Um, explain to me again how the abortionist is having "sexual intercourse" with his victim against their will in this situation ... ? (Although that has happened!) I thought there would be something in there about penetration with an object at the very least! Pretty much big fail in utilizing legal definitions there, RHRC. Sounds like they are the ones in need of a reality check.

But that doesn't stop useful idiot Dahlia Lithwick from jumping on the theme of rape in her article in Slate. Here's a list of all the ways she alludes to trans-vaginal ultrasound as rape:

"bodily intrusion," "forcibly penetrated for no medical reason," "physicians who would merely like to perform their jobs without physically violating their own patients," "physical intrusion by government into the vagina of a pregnant woman," "unwanted penetration with a medical device violates either the undue burden test or the right to bodily autonomy," and "physically invading a woman’s body against her will."

She finishes off with "One might hope that even the benign act of giving women 'more information' not be allowed to happen by forcing it between her legs." Right, as if she's just fine with the regular trans-abdominal ultrasounds that will result from this law, it's only the trans-vaginal part she has a problem with! Hey, you know what actually is a state-sanctioned, vaginally penetrative, invasive procedure? An abortion!

Regarding the idea of women not giving "consent," Virginia S.B. 484 says that the ultrasound is "a component of informed consent to an abortion," which means it is consented to if an abortion is consented to - contrary to feminazis trying to say it would be forced without consent and thus rape. Women are told ahead of time that an ultrasound will be involved, so the idea that it is "physically invading a woman’s body against her will" is ridiculous. Furthermore, ultrasounds are already a part of the abortion process in many cases, but pro-choice radicals won't let that get in the way of a good false rape charge to further their agenda.

The Slate rape-scare screed also cites an American Independent (TAI) article titled "Virginia ultrasound bill at odds with medical standards," which sounds like it's going to tell you that these ultrasounds are medically unnecessary. TAI turns to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to find out "when it is appropriate to administer a trans-vaginal ultrasound." The ACOG helpfully pointed out that abortion was not on their list, but lo and behold, the list includes "to estimate gestational age," which is exactly what the VA bill calls for the ultrasound to do!

TAI also notes that the ACOG has a pamphlet on what to expect in preparation of a first trimester abortion which includes this sentence: "An ultrasound exam may be done to confirm the date of the pregnancy." But WAIT, how can that be! I thought the ultrasound bill was at odds with medical standards! Here the ACOG tells patients to prepare for an ultrasound for the exact reasons the VA bill states! This means that many women are already getting ultrasounds before abortions - are they being raped against their will by the state, too?

In fact, Commentary says "Ultrasounds Already Part of VA Planned Parenthood Abortion Procedure" – is Slate going to say these women are being "forcibly penetrated for no medical reason?" Are abortionists who do trans-vaginal ultrasounds already "physically violating their own patients?" If so, let it be known that the "sacred" big abortion business Planned Parenthood rapes women!

So sorry, pro-aborts, but ultrasounds and determining the gestational age of unborn babies are important - along with the ACOG and Planned Parenthood, your Archbishops of Abortion, the National Abortion Federation (NAF), leaders even say so! NAF's "A Provider’s Guide to Medical Abortion" page that streiff found says, in the section titled Ultrasound Imaging in Early Pregnancy:

"In the context of medical abortion, ultrasonography can help determine gestational age, assess the outcome of the procedure, and diagnose ectopic pregnancy and other types of abnormal pregnancy."

NAF says determining gestational age is especially important for women undergoing "medical" abortions, i.e. through medication:

"Clinicians who provide medical abortion must be able to diagnose pregnancy and estimate gestational age. Accurate estimation of gestational age is essential, as the efficacy of the FDA-approved mifepristone/misoprostol regimen and of methotrexate/misoprostol regimens for medical abortion decreases as the pregnancy advances beyond 49 days' gestation.
...medical abortion researchers and many providers in the United States have routinely used ultrasound for gestational dating.."

Thus, again radical pro-choicers' hysterics are proven wrong, unfortunately days after their poisonous headlines are in the public consciousness. As they say, a lie can run around the world before the truth has time to put on its shoes. Time to fight fire with fire and turn pro-aborts' words against them - if ultrasounds are rape, then abortionists have been raping women for years!

______________________

UPDATE 2/22/12: The truth has finally put on its shoes, but is it too late? (Emphasis below is mine, as always)
LifeNews.com: Planned Parenthood Rape Myth Debunked, 99% Do Ultrasounds:

Abortion advocates in Virginia have come under heavy criticism for equating the ultrasound legislation there would allow women to see before an abortion to rape. Yet, while abortion backers say having an ultrasound is like getting raped, a 2003 study shows 99% of Planned Parenthood abortion facilities do them beforehand.
...
“Vaginal ultrasound was always performed before the early surgical abortion at 59 (83%) sites, under certain conditions at 11 (16%) sites, and never at one (1%) site,” the study noted.
“Vaginal ultrasound was always performed after early surgical abortion at 18 (26%) sites, under certain conditions at 46 (66%) sites, and never at 6 (8%) sites.”
...
“Vaginal ultrasound was very common before the medical abortion, with 37 (92%) sites reporting that they always performed it,” the study continued. “Vaginal ultrasound was always performed after early medical abortion in 35 (87%) sites, performed under certain conditions in 4 (10%) sites, and never performed in 1 (3%) site.”

The research report’s authors also noted that the frequency of the use of vaginal ultrasounds before abortion is not limited to the abortion centers surveyed, but common practice in the abortion industry.

“Almost all sites offering early medical abortion always performed a vaginal ultrasound before and after the abortion, consistent with common practice in the US,” the study said.
The study also indicated some abortion centers will not actually perform an abortion without first performing a vaginal ultrasound.

Americans United for Life: Abortion Proponents Argue Against Medical Standards of Care:

What happens when abortion providers don’t follow practices of standard medical care?
You get Kermit Gosnell. Or Steven Brigham and Nicola Riley. You get unsafe, unsanitary conditions.
You get a “back alley.”
...
A basic component of an ultrasound law is a required standard of care. A “standard of care” is “a statement of actions consistent with minimum safe professional conduct under specific conditions, as determined by professional peer organizations.” Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (20th ed. 2005). In the ultrasound context, this means that abortion providers are to perform an ultrasound in a professional manner consistent with the way ultrasound is performed across the abortion or obstetrics communities.

But abortion proponents are arguing against including a basic standard of care in ultrasound requirements.

For example, ultrasound bills are currently making their way through the Virginia legislature. Contained in these bills is a provision that the ultrasound “shall be made pursuant to standard medical practice in the community.” In other words, abortion providers must follow a basic standard of care. They shouldn’t conduct the ultrasound haphazardly. They shouldn’t throw an image of the woman’s gall bladder on the screen and claim that it is “products of conception.”

UPDATE 2/22/12 Part 2: Commentary confirms pretty much EVERYTHING we've been saying ("raping" women is standard medical care):
Planned Parenthood Says it Won’t Do Abortions Without Ultrasounds

“That’s just the medical standard,” said Adrienne Schreiber, an official at Planned Parenthood’s Washington, D.C., regional office. “To confirm the gestational age of the pregnancy, before any procedure is done, you do an ultrasound.”

According to Schreiber, Planned Parenthood does require women to give signed consent for abortion procedures, including the ultrasound. But if the women won’t consent to the ultrasound, the abortion cannot take place, according to the group’s national standards.

Schreiber said there are several options at that point. If the woman is uncomfortable with a transvaginal ultrasound, which is more invasive, she can wait until the fetus is large enough to opt for a transabdominal ultrasound.

“But if she’s uncomfortable with a transvaginal ultrasound, then she’s not going to be comfortable with an equally invasive abortion procedure,” Schreiber told me.

Americans United for Life Says Attacks on Virginia Ultrasound Law Could Result in Fatal Consequences for Women

Powerful - Lori Ziganto takes on rape and trans-vaginal ultrasounds from personal experience:
Demagoguing Rape, Exploiting Victims: The Degenerate Left Continues to Use and Abuse Women

As a woman who has experienced both, the equating of a transvaginal ultrasound with rape is beyond despicable. For the women, my arse.

The transvaginal ultrasound that I had when pregnant with my daughter did not cause me violent, bodily harm. It did not put me in fear for my life. It did not cause me to have to still sleep with a light on. The rape did, even to this day — twenty years later. It did not make me have to constantly plan my shopping trips to avoid the dark or suffer the fear and heart racing caused by walking alone through a dark parking lot. To this day. It did not make me introverted and fearful in social situations, convinced that everyone was staring at me. Hello, mad hair twirling!

It did not leave scars on my face and chest, caused by a broken beer bottle used as one of the weapons against me. And while those scars may have faded to the point that only I can see them, the scars that no one can see on the inside are still there. And always will be.
...
They diminish rape, empower rapists and re-victimize those who have been raped — for attempted political points. Demagoguing RAPE. They have truly moved past rock bottom and are scraping the earth’s mantle. Their abuse of women knows no bounds. They know an ultrasound is in no way like rape; in fact, Planned Parenthood uses them themselves before sucking a child from a woman’s womb. But that’s the point, isn’t it? They just don’t want silly little women to see the ultrasounds themselves. They are trying to scare women with cries of ‘it’s just like rape”- an ultrasound – as a way to push the ‘ball of cells’ lie to women. All so that more women will kill their children completely uninformed. Informed choice my strappy sandal-clad foot. See the actual baby? That doesn’t suit. It’s not good for the blood money bottom line.

UPDATED 2/23/12: I like that we're finally getting into the "life-saving" language now, much more effective.
National Review: Abortion Advocates Wage a Misinformation Campaign over Virginia Ultrasound Legislation:

There is a breathtaking display of unvarnished bias as abortion advocates and their allies in the national press try to kill legislation in Virginia requiring that an ultrasound be performed prior to a surgical or chemical abortion. Ultrasound laws are currently in effect in 22 states, with five of those states requiring exactly what Virginia is considering. Why? Because, simply put, ultrasound laws save lives.
Performing an ultrasound before an abortion should be a commonsense standard of care for abortion providers. Ultrasound assists an abortion provider in determining gestational age. The farther along in pregnancy that a woman is, the greater the risk that abortion poses. Ultrasound also serves an essential medical purpose by diagnosing ectopic pregnancies which, if left undiagnosed, can result in fallopian rupture and life-threatening bleeding. For example, the FDA has reported that at least two women have died from ruptured ectopic pregnancies following use of the abortion drug RU-486.

However, the abortion lobby doesn’t want women to receive these life-saving exams if the images produced by the ultrasound could sway women away from abortion....

UPDATED 2/25/12: Ramah International, a place that provides healing for regretful post-abortive women, has a section with information for women to consider before making the decision on whether or not to have an abortion. Included are important reasons for requiring ultrasounds before abortions that you may not have even thought of - what if the abortion mill is taking advantage of a woman who is not even pregnant or is about to miscarry:

Confirm your pregnancy with a doctor who doesn't do abortions.

There have been cases where abortion clinics have provided clients with incorrect information in order to obtain their abortion fee. Carol Everett was an abortion clinic owner who used to provide abortion services in Texas. She testified in Congress that she sold abortions to women who were not pregnant but feared they were. For the best medical input on abortion we recommend you speak with a medical professional that has nothing to gain in your abortion decision. Your local pregnancy care center can provide you with that referral.

Get an ultrasound.

You may receive an ultrasound from your local pregnancy care center. This non-diagnostic ultrasound can tell you how many weeks you are into the pregnancy or whether or not your pregnancy is viable. In other words, it could be that you are going to miscarry the baby and won’t need the services of an abortion clinic. This service, provided by a certified sonographer, may aid you in making this important decision.

UPDATE 2/22/12 - New post reacting to collapse of the Virginia Ultrasound bill:

McDonnell Caves on Ultrasounds, Where Do We Go From Here

UPDATE 3/7/12: McDonnell signs a modified ultrasound bill.

UPDATE 3/8/12: Wow, even after the VA GOP modified the bill so as not to require a transvaginal ultrasound - or "rape" as the radical pro-aborts call it - opponents still weren't satisfied and called transabdominal ultrasounds "battery:"

During the final debate on the bill in the Virginia House, Delegate Charniele Herring, Alexandria Democrat, outrageously stated that requiring the external “transabdominal ultrasound is tantamount to battery.”

Seriously? Does that mean that Planned Parenthood of Virginia and physicians’ offices across the state are “battering” women with “unnecessary” procedures? If not, then don’t all women in the state deserve the common-sense standard of care that even Planned Parenthood admits is necessary before abortion?

The hysterics never end.
.

No, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control is NOT "Basic Health Care"

2012-02-20T02:28:00.001-05:00

Flashback: Susan G. Komen for the ~~WIN~~ FAIL: What Planned Parenthood doesn't want you to know

Ok, so I've talked about #1 Controlling the Birth Control Debate and #2 Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control, now for Part 3 I am going to discuss this nauseating quote from a Planned Parenthood statement celebrating the Obamacare contraceptive mandate (which they call a "benefit"):

"The birth control benefit underscores the fact that birth control is basic health care, and is fundamental to improving women’s health and the health of their families."

No, Planned Parenthood, birth control is NOT "basic health care."

Unlike abortion, which stops a beating heart and ends a life, I am pro-choice when it comes to contraception. However, contraceptives are, on the whole, not a health care need, but a lifestyle want. The vast majority of women don't use contraception because they need to prevent pregnancy for their health but because they don't want children at that particular point in time in their lives, for whatever reason, that's fine to me. They choose the birth control that they want based on things like convenience or side effects - perhaps using a barrier method to avoid bad ones like weight gain or using hormonal contraceptives to gain good ones like clearing up acne. Ok, all well and good, but here's the rub: these are not real medical or health reasons and they do not deserve to be force-subsidized by religious objectors who consider it a sin or even just by regular Americans who don't think it's their business to pay for it! As IMAO_ said: If you want contraceptives to be a personal matter, you probably shouldn't force other people to pay for it. Not to mention the fact that you're trading in a whole lot of freedom to the government for no co-pay.

No, Planned Parenthood, birth control is NOT "fundamental to improving women’s health."

In fact there are many cases in which it hurts women's health. There are many known serious risk factors related to hormonal birth control including several cancers (cancer.gov cites an increased risk for breast, cervical, and liver cancer from oral contraceptives). The first thing the drug label says for Depo-provera is "Women who use Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection may lose significant bone mineral density." Even Planned Parenthood lists the serious and potentially fatal side effects for contraceptives with estrogen like the pill, the patch and the NuvaRing as heart attack, stroke, having a blood clot in the legs, lungs, heart, or brain, or developing high blood pressure, liver tumors, gallstones, or yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice). (Interesting aside - Planned Parenthood lists these risks under the section labeled "What are the Disadvantages of xxx" and not under "How safe is xxx." Seems like it should be the opposite. Or both.) Those are rarer but more serious risks, more common risks include weight gain, depression/mood swings, decreased libido, nausea, and headaches. Not the worst, but not fun and certainly not an improvement.

Of course, as Jim Geraghty notes, there may be some women with real medical reasons who genuinely need help paying for birth control, but we should tailor policies for those specific needs, not issue a blanket ultimatum that all women - regardless of need or ability to pay - should get it for free, which is HUGELY expensive and will raise the premiums for everyone who has insurance (i.e. all of us, under Obamacare.)

No, Planned Parenthood, birth control is NOT fundamental to improving "the health of [women's] families."

Come on, is that a joke?! Is there a PP press release generator that randomly spits out combinations of words like "women," "health," and "families" and whatever it comes up with is published? Not even going to bother ...

Read more on my discussion of the Obamacare contraceptive mandate here:

Part 1: Controlling the Birth Control Debate

Part 2: Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control

Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control

2012-02-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

There's a meme going around in the media that 99% of women are on birth control. First of all, if this is true, clearly there is no crisis of accessibility or cost - 99% is as universal for coverage as you'll ever get. And if 99% of women already have a way of getting or paying for birth control, then why in the world do we need to make it free through an Obamacare mandate?? But anyway, we need to examine this 99% stat.

The 99% figure comes from Planned Parenthood's old research firm, the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. For this discussion, we will make the leap that Guttmacher's figures are reliable despite their bias. In a 2010 fact sheet titled Facts on Contraceptive Use in the United States, Guttmacher says, "Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method."

#1: This stat by definition includes women who have had sex only once and/or have only used contraceptives once. This is not saying 99% of women are using birth control currently but have used it at least once in their lifetime. In fact they explicitly say that "62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method." 62% is still a lot but it's not 99%, but ...

#2: Note the use of the word "method" in the previous quote - there's a big distinction between using a "method" and "contraceptive use" which the fact sheet has in its title and subheadings. "Use" implies using a contraceptive device, rather than doing something that would prevent conception. This is important because to get their 99% figure, they include withdrawal and periodic abstinence (natural family planning,etc.) as contraceptive methods!

Really, Guttmacher, you include women who have only had sex once and their partner "pulled out" to say 99% of women have used birth control??

#3: They also include the permanent (at least in intention) one time procedure of getting a tubal sterilization or vasectomy, which combine to be a plurality of contraceptive "use" (about 37%, with the Pill #1 by itself at 28%). Emergency contraception - a potential abortifacient - is included under "other." In this Obamandate conversation, contraception, abortifacients and sterilization have been separated into their own categories.

#4: Along with vasectomy, the male condom is included in this chart, so these should not be included in any stat on the use of birth control by WOMEN. And to the kind of people offended that yesterday's hearing on the Obamandate only had men on the panel because they think contraceptives are only a women's issue are wrong: this is a reminder that it's a men's issue, too. By the way, the panel ~~was all men~~ DID have women (more below in an update), but was a majority men because the focus was on religious objections to the mandate and religious experts or priests, rabbis, etc. are predominantly male.

#5: The fact sheet says "only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives." This does not address WHY these women are not using contraceptives - maybe they don't care either way if they get pregnant - but Democrats seem to assume it is because they're not handed out for free. So, we're forcing EVERYONE to subsidize ALL women's birth control for Obamacare - including those who can pay, those who already get it free or at a discount - because up to 7% of women "at risk" are not using it???

That's the real story behind the 99% myth and its relevance to the Obamandate.

Full Guttmacher chart in fact sheet of contraceptive methods used:

UPDATE: Great quote from one of the women on the Obamandate Congressional panel (my emphasis) via Heritage:

"This debate is not about whether women have the right to obtain these drugs. Rather, this debate is about whether those who believe that contraceptives or abortifacients violate their religious convictions must pay for them. There is a vast difference between the right to make a purchase for oneself and requiring someone else to pay for it."

Read more on why I oppose this Obamacare contraceptive mandate here:

Part 1: Controlling the Birth Control Debate

Part 3: No, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control is NOT "Basic Health Care"

Controlling the Birth Control Debate

2012-02-17T00:51:00.001-05:00

First the Planned Parenthood-Komen kerfuffle, now contraception? Who would have thought 1 year ago that we would be battling the culture wars again 9 months before a presidential election when the economy's in the tank. Well, maybe Obama. And that's the point. As Dick Morris said this week:

It's a deliberately calculated move on his part. The Democrats realized that abortion is no longer a winner for them. So what they're trying to do now is replace it with contraception.

So far it seems to be working - not only are they distracting from Obama's economic and foreign policy failures, they're trying to wedge moderates against the GOP on social issues. It astounds me that Obama and liberals have been able to turn the truth of an Obamacare mandate forcing religious objectors to pay for contraception into the hysterical liberal lie that REPUBLICANS WANT TO BAN CONTRACEPTION!!!!11!

[Glenn Reynolds: "It’s as if we passed a law requiring mosques to sell bacon and then, when people objected, responded by saying 'What’s wrong with bacon? You’re trying to ban bacon!!!!'"]

No one is trying to ban contraception or access to it! They are trying to stop the government from forcing not only religious groups for whom it is a mortal sin but ALL Americans to pay for it (through increased health insurance premiums) to be "free" (no co-pay).

A woman who works for the Catholic church is not "banned" from getting contraception; she has access to it, she just can't get the church to foot the bill. If she wants contraception she can pay out of pocket. And don't give me the "what if she has to choose between buying birth control pills or eating dog food??!" sob story, there are plenty of pharmacies that offer discounts and free clinic programs that help low income women - she could even go down to her local high school and grab some free condoms from the office basket for all I care! [Update: 2 recent headlines: California counties get federally-funded teen mail-order condom program and Pa. vending machine dispenses 'morning-after' pill] Bottom line: with or without this mandate, contraception will remain available and accessible, the only difference is who pays for it, how, and at what price.

There is absolutely no reason for contraception to be universally free on demand for anyone who wants it and certainly no reason - logically or morally - for the government to unilaterally force insurers give it out free. Granting this kind of power to the federal government is truly troubling - and it should be a concern no matter which ideological end of the spectrum you sit. Turn about is fair play.

Hey liberals: You know that if the Obamacare law has the power to mandate the right to free birth control, it also has the power to ban it, right? As Rush Limbaugh said, "Obamacare could ban contraception. Once Obamacare is implemented, the government can make any change unilaterally it wants." As in, the next president, (oh, let's REALLY give them chills!) maybe Santorum, can not only change that mandate, but replace it with whatever other mandate he wants because the law gives him that power. As they say, "A government big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."

If the government can force insurers to cover birth control for free, and can force you to buy health care, what CAN'T it force companies and citizens to do? I am very afraid that if the Supreme Court does not declare Obamacare unconstitutional we will find out.

UPDATE: Last year Jenny Erikson wrote about her experience buying birth control even though (GASP!) her insurance didn't cover it, and she says of the mandate:

This isn’t about helping women obtain contraceptives; this is about exerting control over yet another portion of U.S. business. Women already have access to birth control for little or no money. Medicaid (government-sponsored medical care for those that meet income guidelines) covers contraceptives. Planned Parenthood hands out condoms like they’re candy. Walmart fills birth control pill prescriptions for as little as $9 per month.
...
The only thing this birth control mandate will do is remove the cost of contraceptives from women that can afford it, and shift it to everyone else in the form of their premiums going up. Which means that people barely managing their payments every month will have to scrimp elsewhere, or drop their coverage and get on the government plan. After all, it will soon be illegal to be without health insurance.

UPDATE!!! I just wrote this follow up:

Part 2: Debunking the Myth that 99% of Women Are Using Birth Control

Part 3: No, Planned Parenthood, Birth Control is NOT "Basic Health Care"

Read it!!!

Happy Valentine's Day, From the Democrats

2012-02-14T23:04:00.001-05:00

Every year I enjoy reading the Republican National Committee's GOP Valentine's Day Cards - not the best this year, but here are the good ones.

My caption: Obama, this Valentine's Day, I have a one term proposition for you.

That's the truth - here's how nasty Debbie Wasserman-Schultz gets: DNC Chair Blames Tea Party for Shootings, Embraces OWS Criminals

Oh, Joey. Biden's just a barrel of gaffes. Also, Joe Biden is an Idiot, Part 385,734

My caption: On Valentine's Day, I just want to hold you ... in contempt.

Get Sebelius away from my uterus!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My 5 Favorite Pictures from CPAC 2012

2012-02-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, considering I only took about 20 pictures, this list isn't all that exciting. I worked and didn't go out Thursday or Friday and was sick on Saturday so I missed out on a TON of fun and I am really disappointed. I miss CPAC already - can't wait for 2013, in so many ways!

Michelle Lancaster (@SkiGarmisch on Twitter) - and a Giants fan - Bradying over our choices for the GOP nominee.

Newt looks right at me. And judges me.

Occupy Protesters dressed up as the "1% Tax Dodgers" get kicked out of the hotel by security.

My 16 pieces of flair - I went above the bare minimum - that I collected from all the CPAC booths!

Kristina R. (@ORLibertyGal), April Gregory (@AprilDGregory), and Stephen F-ing Kruiser (@StephenKruiser) being social at dinner.

I hope to redeem myself at Blog Con in April.

Susan G. Komen for the WIN: What Planned Parenthood doesn't want you to know

2012-02-01T12:09:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 2/3: Komen reverses. All my criticism of their past support of Planned Parenthood stands, my new support is withdrawn, and Planned Parenthood remains, as it always has been, evil.

Original post:

Yesterday people who want the best for women and their health rejoiced at the announcement that Susan G. Komen for the Cure was ending it's relationship with Planned Parenthood.

Because of their past support of an organization that not only commits abortion but also hides child sex abuse, engages in Medicare fraud, and wastes my taxpayer money, I had never been able to give to Komen for the Cure. ~~For the first time I can support Komen for the Cure and I'm so happy to add them to the anti-cancer charities that I give to! Please join me in donating to Komen HERE.~~

I am so grateful that Komen is no longer letting their money support such a criminal organization. They've stopped enabling the victimization of poor, uninsured women, unborn babies, and abuse victims at Planned Parenthood. Now they can focus on sending their anti-cancer donations to legitimate organizations that save lives instead of killing them by the millions. Komen can support groups that actually perform mammograms - unlike abortion giant Planned Parenthood that only refers women elsewhere for life saving mammograms.

Predictably Planned Parenthood wing-nuts went crazy over this sensible decision. To the Planned Parenthood useful idiots crying "shame, shame" on Komen for the Cure for cutting off ties with the biggest abortion business in the country, I say, "Shame on Komen for not cutting ties with Planned Parenthood earlier!"

Clearly all the people who went to Facebook and Twitter to condemn Komen, pledge to never support them again and give money directly to Planned Parenthood instead were just radical Planned Parenthood cultists who were never interested in helping fight breast cancer but only in laundering money to Planned Parenthood. Why would ANYONE give money to Komen with the intention of helping Planned Parenthood?? If these people actually did that, they were fools and now they're just cutting out the middleman in donating directly to PP, which they should have been doing anyway. And shame on them for choosing pushing abortion over fighting breast cancer.

Now, aside from Planned Parenthood being a Big Abortion business that aborts a baby every 96 seconds - fine, I get that some people are ok with this destruction of innocent human life - that's not even Komen's reason for cutting ties. PP is under under Congressional investigation for a multitude of crimes - which should concern ALL sides of the political spectrum.

How serious are these charges? U.S. News and World Report's Washington Whispers reports:

New charges from seven former workers—including a self-described "abortion doctor"—that Planned Parenthood used federal money for abortions despite prohibitions is expected to fire up Republicans seeking to shut off tax dollars to the massive family planning group.

In a letter to the House committee investigating Planned Parenthood, the seven former workers also charged that they have witnessed staffers fail to notify parents when a minor sought an abortion, failed to provide a women undergoing an abortion with "accurate and relevant information" regarding the stage of her pregnancy, or detect and act upon instances were a female was brought to a clinic under coercion, possibly even human trafficking.

...The committee is probing allegations that Planned Parenthood is misusing taxpayer funds, which the seven pegged at $1 million a day in state and federal support. In opening his investigation, Florida Republican Rep. Cliff Stearns recently demanded documents related to audits, abortion-funding, and policies on reporting sexual abuse from Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately Planned Parenthood devotees don't care about any of this, no matter how many women, children, and families are hurt.

Here are some of my posts about the disgusting practices of Planned Parenthood:

How Planned Parenthood Exploits Minors

Planned Parenthood exposed again

Update: Americans United for Life documents the known and alleged abuses by Planned Parenthood

LifeNews.com has even more headlines.

On covering up sex abuse, including on children, incest victims, and sex trafficking:

New Video: Planned Parenthood Staff Urge Teen to Lie About Sex Abuse-Abortion

Planned Parenthood Caught on Video Covering Up Sex Trafficking

Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Staffer: We Bend the Rules on Sexual Abuse

Ohio Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Sued Over Incest Case Coverup

Judge: Planned Parenthood Rushed Abortion on Sexually Abused Teen

Planned Parenthood Staff Urge Teen to Lie About Sex Abuse-Abortion

Engaging in fraud:

Massive Fraud Case Against Planned Parenthood Moving Forward

Planned Parenthood Abortion Business Settles Medicaid Fraud Case

Planned Parenthood Continues Falsifying Medicaid Documents

UPDATE 2/2: - ~~Komen GETS it~~, they know all the huff about ending their $700,000 contribution to a big abortion business with $1.1 BILLION in revenues is just BS:

Komen supporters accuse Planned Parenthood of milking Komen’s decision to generate a fund-raising bonanza.
“Why are they going nuts?” Mr. Raffaelli [a Komen board member] asked rhetorically. “And the answer is that they want to raise money, and they’re doing it at the expense of a humanitarian organization that shares their goals and has given them millions of dollars over the years.”(via NYT)

That's all that is important to Planned Parenthood - money. That's why they go around like Chicken Little shrieking that MILLIONS OF POOR WOMEN WILL DIE IN THE STREETS!!!!!111!!! if they get a tiny fraction of their budget defunded so they can shake the pockets of their gullible fanatics. Pure lies, just to keep the blood money rolling in. Disgusting!

UPDATE 2/5: In trying to put all the blame for defunding Planned Parenthood on Komen VP Karen Handel, liberal HuffPo surprisingly includes information on PP's oppressive, thuggish, and even violent tactics:

The backlash against Komen was intense, including threats of violence, angry letters from members of Congress and public rebukes from political figures such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The charity struggled to deal with the pressure, especially in a face-off against Planned Parenthood, an organization whose fine-tuned political team has experience in these high-pitched, high-stakes debates.
...
"Komen is a great group, but politically speaking, they're no match for Planned Parenthood."
...
But as a result of her efforts, Komen has been left reeling and its reputation as a top charity endangered. "We're under attack. We're getting threats of violence," the source said. "It's devastating."

So, the biggest abortion business in the country, with a budget of $1.1 BILLION, that doesn't even provide mammograms, just got its supporters to destroy a breast cancer charity with a $400 million budget over the loss of less than $700,000 in grants, some of which were not even defunded? Disgusting. Again, Planned Parenthood is evil.
.

On The Economy, Obama Doesn't Know His "Stuff"

2012-01-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

The man with the plan! Real Clear Politics has this clip of Obama demonstrating his economic genius:

Obama: I Want An Economy "Where We're Making Stuff And Selling Stuff And Moving It Around"

"On Tuesday at the State of the Union, I laid out my vision for how we move forward," President Obama said at a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada. "I laid out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last, that has a firm foundation. Where we're making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere."

Obama's vision for an economy with a firm foundation built to last: move stuff around. Brilliant! Such mastery and understanding of intricate economic systems! What a sound explanation of his economic proposals and philosophies! Clearly this man knows his stuff and deserves another 4 years to build on his economic success!

On a serious note, this embarrassing kindergarten-level concept of trade wouldn't be so bad if Obama had any idea of HOW to get "stuff" made, sold, and delivered. He thinks the government picking winners and losers by handing out billions in taxpayer money will get this process moving, but it's the free market that best sorts out what consumers want, at what cost, and from where. Some people may know this as "supply and demand." In Obama-speak maybe it would be "want stuff, get stuff."

A recent example of Obama's government failing to be able to judge what "stuff" people want and would get, is the Government Motors' Chevy Volt. Through various incentives the government (i.e. us taxpayers) subsidized the cost of the Volt to the tune of $250,000 per car! The result of this government economic engineering? Only 8,000 Volts were sold, and now ALL of them are being recalled for a faulty combustible battery!

If there was a public demand for a car like the Volt, all the major car manufacturers would be tripping over each other to build the best, cheapest, safest version.

The Chevy Volt example is a microcosm of all that is wrong with Obama's Big Government economic prescriptions and we see the results with credit rating downgrades, low economic growth, 8.5% unemployment, and $15 trillion debt.

Some people say that Obama is hurting our economy on purpose, but maybe it's just that he doesn't know his "stuff."

A Visual Representation of the 2012 State of the Union Address

2012-01-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

A word cloud of the most used words in tonight's State of the Union using President Obama's prepared remarks, as published by USA Today.

Created with Wordle

Update: Text of Gov. Mitch Daniel's GOP Response:

Wordle link

Related post:

What's in the Bill: A Visual Representation of the "American Jobs Act"

Watch the #ProLifeCon 2012 Live Webcast

2012-01-23T03:21:00.000-05:00

As I wrote last week, I (@AlexaShrugged) will be participating as a featured tweeter (hashtag #ProLifeCon) in ProLifeCon: The Premier Gathering of Online Pro-Life Activists.

Beginning at about 8am ET and ending at 11:30am today, please watch the online live webcast HERE:

Participate with me on Twitter:

The Obama Presidency In One Picture

2012-01-19T23:10:00.000-05:00

Yep, pretty much sums it up:

Complete with teleprompters and adoring media crowds - all in Fantasyland!

via BuzzFeed 13 Photos Of Barack Obama At Disney That Will Probably Turn Up In Attack Ads

#ProLifeCon 2012: @AlexaShrugged To Be Featured Tweeter

2012-01-18T11:32:00.000-05:00

On January 23, the day after the 39th anniversary of the horrific Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade and the morning of the national March for Life in DC, the Family Research Council will be hosting ProLifeCon: The Premier Gathering of Online Pro-Life Activists at their headquarters. It will also be available to view online beginning at 8am and running through 11:30am. I (@AlexaShrugged) will be participating online as a featured tweeter - hashtag #ProLifeCon on Twitter.

Pro-life activists like Lila Rose, Jill Stanek, Kristan Hawkins, and others will present about how to make a difference on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest of the online world.

Sign up now at: ProLifeCon.org. - the embedded live webcast will be here on AlexaShrugged.com - please watch and participate at 8am Monday, January 23rd!

You can also get the embed code for your blog here.

Cuteness on Ice!

2012-01-13T11:23:00.000-05:00

Daily dose of SQUEEEEEEEEEE from the Daily Mail UK:

These pics give me Happy Feet! :-D

DNC Chair Blames Tea Party for Shootings, Embraces OWS Criminals

2012-01-11T17:54:00.000-05:00

Today DNC Chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (DWS) gives us the latest outrage against the Tea Party.

In response to a question about a lack of civility in Congress, DWS' initial response was, "We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago..."

It is sick and disgusting for DWS to dredge up the slanderous and infamously false accusation that somehow political rhetoric - especially from the Tea Party - inspired the Arizona shootings that almost killed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

To follow this she talks about the discourse in America and Congress and says, "I hesitate to place blame [YEAH, RIGHT!!!], but I have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and lack of civility with the growth of the Tea Party movement."

She continued, "You had town hall meetings that they tried to take over, and you saw some their conduct at those tea party meetings."

Seriously?? DWS is condemning the many constituents who expressed their opposition to bills like Obamacare to the officials elected to represent them?!

The Tea Parties not only were peaceful protests by law-abiding Americans petitioning their government, but they were convents compared to the filth and lawlessness coming out of the Occupy Wall Street movement that she supports.

Of these thugs, whose rhetoric has actually included calls for the murder of elected officials, DWS said on January 3, 2012: "I’ve been publicly supportive of them. I think that they are well within their rights to be frustrated.” (But apparently the Tea Party activists who took to Town Hall meetings to vent their frustrations were NOT within their rights.)

DWS conveniently ignores the REAL crimes perpetrated by OWS, including murder, rape, and theft - not to mention the trespassing and health violations inherent in their permit-less occupations. Assault and threats are common at the encampments and arrests have been in the thousands. Just today, the WaPo carried this headline: Child cruelty charge after baby found alone in Occupy camp.

Instead of railing against imagined Tea Party boogeymen, maybe DWS needs to take a look at at the real monsters in her midst.

Related post: 8+ Defamations and Threats Against Tea Party in Last Month

Update: I was alerted through reading Sundries Shack that DWS tweeted a response to the RNC Chair's tweet calling for her to apologize by saying that those outraged by her comment lacked civility:

.@DWStweets should apologize immediately for her reckless comments blaming the Tea Party for the horrific Tuscon shooting.
— Reince Priebus (@ReincePriebus) January 11, 2012

.@ReincePriebus I'd NEVER politicize Tucson-my close friend was shot. Your comment=lack of civility was talking about. bit.ly/Afqg7j
— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) January 12, 2012

So apparently, to quote @PoliticalMath, "if you quote @DWStweets on incivility, that's proof of your incivility." Pot, meet kettle.

And Verum Serum says:

The real question is this: What is the connection between political civility and the irrational actions of a diagnosed schizophrenic, i.e. Jared Loughner? Answer: There isn’t one. That’s why people like me are bent out of shape by Tucson being bandied about in this context.

Simply put, civility or lack thereof had nothing whatsoever to do with Tucson. That may not have been clear in the early days when hacks like Paul Krugman were stumbling all over themselves to lay blame at the feet of folks on the right, but it’s clear now. Given the facts, we’re not having any more of this nonsense from the left.

Precisely!

Youth Misery Index At All-Time High

2012-01-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

Fitting in perfectly with yesterday's post Youth Vote: Our Future, Laughed Off Stage, Young America's Foundation (YAF) spoke at Heritage's Bloggers Briefing today about their initiative on the Youth Misery Index.

The Youth Misery Index is a modern take on Jimmy Carter's Misery Index and today stands at a record 90.6!

Here's how they calculate the number:

The Youth Misery Index adds together youth unemployment, average graduating student debt (in thousands), and national debt per capita (in thousands).

Youth unemployment is at 17.4 percent—one of the highest levels since World War II. Average graduating student debt has reached a record-breaking $26,300. National debt per capita is $46,900—the highest ever. Add it up, and the Youth Misery Index comes out to 90.6 (17.4 + 26.3 + 46.9 = 90.6).

YAF's call to action reflects my point yesterday that my generation can't depend on short-sighted politicians in DC to represent our interests:

To fix these problems, young people must become more active; we cannot expect policy makers in Washington to fight these battles for us.

YAF encourages campus activism to get students involved in reaching out and teaching their peers about conservative solutions to the issues most important to them.

...In other youth misery news, George Scoville points out that the Obama Administration has reversed its position on unpaid internships at for-profit companies. Now Obama has unveiled a new "We Can't Wait" summer jobs program. The problem? Most of the positions will be "unpaid training opportunities." I guess internships are fine since Obama hasn't figured out how to create jobs. Obama's message to young people: We CAN wait for real jobs, we CAN'T wait for empty gestures designed to win back the youth vote in 2012.

Youth Vote: Our Future, Laughed Off Stage

2012-01-09T10:10:00.000-05:00

Read this article on a young voter's question to a candidate being laughed off by a crowd of older people at a campaign event in New Hampshire. I understand the laughter when he began his question, as it was said in a surprising, funny way:

“I know that many people in this room are on their way out,” the unidentified man said.

“I say that in a respectful way, that in maybe ten years, a lot of people in this room will have passed away.”

That line drew laughter from the crowd, as the man said, “I’m serious.”

I'm sure some in the crowd were laughing because they felt awkward and uncomfortable at the bluntness of the statement, but he was simply, if inartfully, stating a fact of life. But his following statements and questions did not deserve to be laughed at and brushed off so easily:

“I noticed that in my age bracket no one cares about politics because it is something for old people, I say that respectfully,” the man continued, “because it seems like a lot of the issues are catered to them.”

...“I would like to know what hope I have as a hard-working, young individual, what change will you actually accomplish in Washington? What can be done in eight years that will affect the life that I have yet to live, that you have already lived?”

That drew more laughter and applause from the crowd.

He is right. Politics IS something for old people because the issues ARE catered to them. But this is because older people are the most engaged and likely to vote. Politicians know this and thus pander to senior groups like the AARP at the expense of issues that will affect today's youth.

Perfect example: DC politicians are terrified of touching "the third rail" - Social Security, which is unsustainable and fast becoming bankrupt. Washington is trying to deny that anything is wrong because any mention of reforming SS or other entitlements is met with hysterics from people who take SS for granted, with dire warnings of grandma being pushed off a cliff, in the snow, while eating cat food. Meanwhile, everyone of my generation - across the political spectrum - treats it as a common fact that we will never see any of the money we put into SS.

To Washington, our retirement is eons away. In politics, there's no future other than the short term: until the next election. As the young man indicates, our future is more than 2, 4, 6, or even 8 years away. My generation is facing a growing economic crisis made worse every day with outrageous spending, deficits, and debt piled up by politicians who will never live to see the disastrous results of their actions.

We need action to be taken NOW to prevent our demise in the decades to come, but the immediate demands of the "old people" who vote will ensure that nothing will be done in the next eight years that will affect the lives we have yet to live, that they have already lived.

The young man's questions echo the hopelessness and cynicism of my generation.

The youth of America are disillusioned by politics. For many of them, their first time voting in a presidential election was for an exciting, historic man promising hope and change but ended up delivering the opposite. No wonder this young man asks if he has any "hope;" if "change" can actually be accomplished in Washington. Never before have so many become so jaded, so quickly, so young.

What is to become of us? Because of the short-sighted selfishness of our parents and grandparents, we are faced with becoming the first generation to be left off worse than the last. Our future looks bleak.

Meanwhile, our legitimate concerns about our future are being laughed off the stage.

Related: Youth Misery Index At All-Time High