1.
I am a white man with gray hair. That puts me into a unique demographic group, the most conservative voting block in the United States. If whites were the only ones who voted in the past election, Romney would have carried every state except--irony of ironies--the state where he served as governor, Massachusetts. If only old white men voted, the margin of victory would have been greater.
I admit it! Some of the forces that socially constructed American white males in the mid-twentieth century undoubtedly did their best to shape me, too. It might not therefore be surprising, that, as I age, I do feel somewhat more conservative than I did in the past. Examples: I believe in personal responsibility. (OK, I also believe that personal responsibility especially applies to those who are rich.) I support the legalization of marijuana and the continuance of legal abortion, but I am not a fan of either. And yes, I support capitalism--yet realize, human beings being what they are, that it must be regulated. I also believe that Justin Bieber should be deported to Tanzania.
I am hoping that I might even in good conscience be able to vote for a conservative candidate before I die. That candidate, however, must give me reason to believe that his/her policies would benefit the American people more than the opposition's. By the way things are going now, I'd better not die soon.
2.
Reince Priebus, the co-chair of The Republican National Committee, realizes that the Party, if it is to survive, must become more broad-based. It must reach out to blacks, Latinos, and especially to women--as the other co-chair of the RNC, Sharon Day, pointed out, women are not a minority but constitute 53% of American voters. (Good, said the would-be conservative in me. Not so fast, said the more dominant inner progressive--If you would obtain more votes from these groups you will have to propose policies that address their concerns. A PR campaign is not enough! Women, blacks and Latinos aren't stupid--they know where their interests lie. )
During a recent RNC meeting, several people spoke. Then it was Mike Huckabee's turn. The former governor of Arkansas comes over as a very likeable man. Yet this is what the apparent Southern gentleman said in regard to the Obamacare requirement that insurances must provide contraception (with limited exceptions.)
“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it. Let us take that discussion all across America.”
When I read this, the conservative in me was silenced. The inner progressive was silenced, too. All I heard for a while was the Jew in me saying over and over, "Oy Oy Oy Oy Oy!"
The statement is misogynous, mean-spirited and just plain crazy.
First of all, Obamacare does not provide anyone with a prescription. In this case, it requires that when a doctor prescribes contraception for a woman, insurance companies must comply with the doctor's orders.
Second of all, coming from someone who states that he is advocating for women, Huckabee viciously insults the entire gender. He refers to his country in this case as "Uncle Sugar" an urban term for a pimp. And you know what that turns women into --Women who can't be denied contraception when their doctors order it are whores? Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy.
Third, the ignorance of the statement is astounding. I as a physician have prescribed contraceptives for women who were not sexually active. in order to regulate their periods; I have also prescribed birth control in severe cases of acne. In short, there is quite a list of conditions when contraceptives are indicated other than to prevent pregnancy.
Four, further insults and ignorance. He believes that women who wish to fill a prescription for contraception "can't control their libidos or their reproductive system without the help of the government. (Sorry, I'm all Oyed out on this one.) We've already mentioned that it's not the government, but doctors who prescribe contraception. Now let's discuss the libido part.
(Before I do that, I would like to make a fifth point, the anticlimax: as governor of Arkansas, Huckabee passed legislation that requires employers to provide contraceptives to Arkansas women whenever medical providers prescribe them. The Uncle Sugar of Arkansas! How many times should one Oy! Oy! for that?)
Mr. Huckabee, you're a grown man, you must know that sex more than occasionally occurs. Human beings, obviously, have lacked contraception until recently. And, until recently, many women died in childbrith, and even more children did not survive childhood. Nature assured that women would have multiple pregnancies so that a few offspring would survive to propagate the species. Times have changed, Mr. Huckabee. Do you think it's responsible for men and women to produce ten or so children in an age where nearly all who are born survive not only childhood, but live to experience old age? How could women have careers if they were pregnant all the time? And why is limiting the number of offspring an issue of women controlling their libidos and not men doing the same? And is it merely a question of controlling libidos? Do you deny, Mr. Huckabee, that people can have sex as an expression of mutual love? Do you not believe that responsible love includes deciding when to have a child?
If this is the strategy of a self-proclaimed soldier in the war for women, I would hate to imagine the enemy.
Huckabee's speech was, in short, malevolent and crazy. And many Republicans knew it, so there is hope. (I would like to believe that some of the many Gentile equivalents of Oy! were going through the minds of many conservatives as they heard Huckabee's speech.) The next day, this is what Priebus told the Washington Post: "I don't know what he was talking about. Sort of a goofy way of using some phrases. Not the way I would have phrased it."
So, if I live to a hundred or so, I just might be able to vote for a conservative candidate after all. (Only, of course, if Obama's Death Panels allow me to survive.)
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