music, media & other random musings: Republicans Want it Both Ways

So is Obama a complete bumbling fool, inexperienced and inept? Or is he is a scary idealogue, whose ideas are so left of center he is anti-American. On the economy, if things are bad, it is all Obama's fault, he doesn't know what he's doing. If the economy improves, his policies had absolutely nothing to do with it. Whichever is the truth, it just can't be both.

Last week they started in on gas prices - as if Obama could play any real role to affect immediate prices. Which he clearly can't. I realize it's a campaign game, but it still sucks. And well, the Republicans are infuriatingly good at it. As even conservative-slanting Joe Scarbourgh said a few days ago, “You can’t have it both ways. Barack Obama can’t be Joseph Stalin and Jimmy Carter at the same time. Pick your poison. Is he an incompetent moderate, according to the right, or is he a dangerous ideologue?”

And here we go again on the hot issue now being debated - women's health. Obama's health care mandates that the insurance coverage for any/all organizations (including religious orgs) must include the cost of birth control for women. (That 98% of women in the country have used contraceptives at some point in their life, it's hard to belive the Republican legislators really thought this thing though - during an election year.) The Republicans naturally don't see this as an issue about women's health, but instead want to frame the debate on religion and first ammendment rights. The Blunt ammendment was insane.

The real truth, however, is that this issue isn't about religion. (Obama came back with some reasonable compromises.) And yes, it is about women's health - a women's right to choose what she wants with her own body, the privacy she has with regards to decisions made between her & her doctor, and general preventive health and family planning. But pure and simple, what this is really all about is sex, and the Republicans insanely "retro" view of women - and birth control, and sex out of marriage. It's quite the oxymoron when the Republicans go out there campaigning, telling us they want to lead the country into the future, while really wanting to bring us back to the 1950's. Can't have it both ways.

But Rush Limbaugh let the cat out of the bag, calling a spade a spade. No sugar coating with religion on top here.

I'm almost always appalled by what comes out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth. But there are so many things wrong with his latest rants, it would be truly hard to begin to list. Needless to say, it's beyond inappropriate, frightening in its ugliness and shameful that Republicans - especially those clowns running for President - aren't denouncing it or at least distancing themselves from those beliefs. Today on Tumblr I posted an image of a book cover titled How Not To Be A Dick When You Grow Up. Apparently Rush didn't read it.