Comments on: Words mean things, part 2

By: Why Obama and Biden Need To Fight The HHS Rule Change « Pizza Diavola

Why Obama and Biden Need To Fight The HHS Rule Change « Pizza Diavola — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:37:20 +0000

[...] In this campaign, Obama’s talked about how abstinence education is “important” and the “sacredness of [I'm assuming heterosexual] sexuality”. He’s called “mental distress of the woman” just “feeling blue” in the context of third-term abortions and said that he “[doesn't] think that “mental distress” qualifies as the health of the mother”, i.e. mental health does not count as part of health. In the same quotation, he talks about how it’s acceptable to ban late-term abortions with just a physical health exemption. He’s said there’s a “moral dimension to abortion,” which pro-choicers just haven’t thought about enough. Despite not wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade, he saw no problem with confirming a Supreme Court justice that once wrote, “We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled,” until an advisor told Obama that it would come back to haunt him if he ran for president. When someone asked him what he thought of the House measure that banned transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion, he said he hadn’t read the legislation and didn’t give a direct answer. [...]

By: It’s more than just sweetie « Pizza Diavola

It’s more than just sweetie « Pizza Diavola — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:30:46 +0000

[...] Zuzu: Words mean things, part 2: And, to his credit, he does come out strongly here for comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education and calls abstinence-only out as the boondoggle it is; he also supports confidential access to contraception and reproductive health care for teenagers, as well as over-the-counter access to EC. He’s even against the Hyde Amendment and wants to cut off federal funding to crisis pregnancy centers. [...]

By: A bit more on Obama and abortion « The United States of Jamerica

A bit more on Obama and abortion « The United States of Jamerica — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:57:15 +0000

[...] Shakesville notes – that Obama doesn’t know how to talk about reproductive rights: I’ve long had the feeling that Obama just doesn’t know how to talk about these issues in a way that makes it clear that [...]

By: unclekracker

unclekracker — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:24:51 +0000

Hey zuzu, I just read your post here and I ended up stumbling onto something.

This one’s dedicated to you: hhttp://tinyurl.com/yuvzkb

I’m curious to know what you think.

By: unclekracker

unclekracker — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:29:02 +0000

Hey zuzu, I just read your post here and I ended up stumbling onto something.

This one’s dedicated to you: http://tinyurl.com/23c4z8

I’m curious to know what you think.

By: Mercurial Georgia

Mercurial Georgia — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:16:55 +0000

I forgot, is viagra sold over the counter in the US or not? Cause Viagra causes heart attacks, and its approval while Plan B is not available, is yet another clear proof that it is about punishing women for our bodies.

By: APoxOnBoth

APoxOnBoth — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 06:40:59 +0000

There is a lot of stew being made from very little oyster here. What, exactly, is the core question here? Women’s issues not being part of the Obama platform? That’s not actually true, they just aren’t framed generally as specifically women’s issues, but as part of larger, wider issues. Front and center of his Civil Rights page, in fact the very first “Problem” bullet point, is the gender pay gap, for example. There’s also an explicit affirmation of a woman’s right to choose, apparently it’s not prominent enough to suit you, but it’s certainly there. Hate Crimes legislation, which these days is inextricably bound up in LGBT issues, is also front and center in Civil Rights. He’s not ignoring these issues, he is making them part and parcel of a larger, broader issue.

Really, this all starts with the words “some” and “generally”. You’re upset that he would use anything less than absolutist statements while in front of an audience that would immediately refute them with their own absolutist positions. Instead, he pointed out an uncomfortable truth: Both absolutist positions are logically flawed and indefensible. “No compromise” positions that fly in the face of simple reason, cast the debate exactly the way the “pro-life” movement wants them: You’re either for killing babies, or you’re for taking away women’s freedom. That’s not a winning frame for the debate (we take away freedom of men and women for being a threat to others all the time). So he’s reframing it.

By: zuzu

zuzu — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:33:52 +0000

RJ, John, as much as I’m sure you’d love to turn every thread into a referendum on abortion, this is not the subject of this post. Buh-bye.

By: RJ

RJ — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:23:05 +0000

So, if you can have freedom of chioce to have an abortion, why can’t you have freedom of choice to be a prostitute? It’s your body, why can the government stop you from selling it? Morally wrong? Not if abortion isn’t. Against your religion? Probably not, if abortion isn’t. At least no one gets killed or wounded and both people leave the trist having gained something? Why don’t you fight for that right?

By: S.H.

S.H. — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:55:05 +0000

Which makes me wonder what else will come out when he doesn’t have the advantage of an undividedly fawning press.

Bingo. I’m becoming more convinced that is exactly what’s going to happen. He’s going to get the nomination when no one, certainly not the press, has vetted him or tested his strength. But now its too late and there’s a very good chance he’s going to get the shit kicked out of him in the general election. The love affair with Obama the press is currently having will end quickly because there’s nothing the press (and the public) loves more than to build someone up only to watch them fall. There are alot of people who have alot to lose if the White House goes to the democrats, and I have a feeling when they get on a roll it’s going to make swift boating look like a tea party in comparison. Now that’s not to say Clinton would’ve done any better given the pretty crappy campaign she’s been running already, but if she so much as blinked wrong there was a condemnation by every press outlet not to mention almost all the liberal blogs. But Obama’s been protected by both an adoring press and swooning fans. It’s just not going to last.