Herschel Walker and Abortion: Good for Me, But Not For Thee

One of the aspects of governing that drives me up a wall is the hypocritical belief that politicians can get away with certain behavior while the rest of us cannot.

Herschel Walker is the Republican Senate nominee from Georgia. For months, he has been towing the party line of being against abortion. Last week, it was revealed that back in 2009, he paid a former girlfriend to end her pregnancy. Walker also made a similar request to this same woman two years later. She decided against the procedure.

If Herschel Walker were a woman who had an abortion, he would have lost the support of the Republican party and voters. But because he’s a man, he can abet an infinite number of abortions and still win a seat in the US Senate, where he’ll strip women of their reproductive rights.

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 8, 2022

What bothers me (beyond my fear of what he may or may not do should he win the election) is talking out of both sides of his mouth. If he had admitted to the truth and stated that his views had changed since then, that would be one thing. But he continues to say one thing and do another. Anyone who follows American politics these days knows that this is par for the course from the right.

In short, these men (and some women) are all for a partial and/or total abortion ban. That is until a female in their life becomes pregnant and for any number of reasons, it cannot be continued. Then, they are all for it.

They can’t have it both ways. It is either against the law or up to the woman/pregnant person, their doctor, their partner (if they have one), and their creator (if this person has a specific religious belief).

Just another reason to vote for the Democrats come the Midterm elections next month.

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Let’s Talk About the Real Baby Killers (Hint: It’s Not Pro-Choice Activists)

We all know that children are our most precious resource. Without the next generation, our future is non-existent. As we all know, 19 of those precious resources were taken from us earlier on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas.

Those who are pro-life and against Roe V. Wade argue that abortion is nothing more than the killing of babies. I would argue the opposite. Republicans who are vocally against gun control laws are the real baby killers.

BREAKING: Uvalde killer did not act alone.

He was helped by 1 governor, dozens of state legislators, hundreds of federal legislators, and various federal judges, who are still at large — and in office.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) May 25, 2022

In the three days since the murders, Texas leadership has placed the blame on every issue except one: the fact that the gunman was able to easily get access to a firearm. The only one of them to speak the truth is Beto O’Rourke. When he dared to confront public officials, he was booted out of the room and called all sorts of names.

Courtesy of Facebook.

What I find completely ironic and sad is that while Governor Greg Abbott placed at the feet of responsibility among other things, mental health, he authorized cutting millions of dollars of mental health aid from the state budget.

When I think of both of these topics entwined together, I think of the younger generation who has been traumatized by these events. Not just the kids who are hearing about this on the news or from adults, but the ones who were there. The scars of hearing and/or watching their classmates and teachers being killed will likely create scars that will stay with the survivors for decades.

I remember that right after Columbine happened, there were some who condemned the band, Marilyn Manson, for the killings. I’ve never had even an iota of interest in their music. The problem is that instead of looking inward to understand what led to the tragedy, the accused were outside actors who in reality, had nothing to do with the problem.

It’s been three days and my heart still hurts. The only silver lining is that this may be the figurative fire that finally forces us to codify legislation, both at the national and state level that stops this kind of event. The question is if our lawmakers have the balls and the backbone to do so.

P.S. The husband of one of the teachers who tried to save her students died from a heart attack, unable to deal with the grief. I can only imagine what their kids are going through, having lost both of their parents.

Z”L

Domestic Supply of Infants is Not That Hard to Understand

The difference between being seen as breeding stock and a fully-fledged human being with responsibilities, dreams, ambitions, etc comes down to one word: rights.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a very damning and unnerving statement in the body of the leaked draft of the opinion that could potentially overturn Roe V. Wade. Buried in the footnotes is a quote from a 2002 CDC report about adoption within the United States.

“Whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted has become virtually nonexistent.”

I’m going to let NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the late George Carlin take it from here.

What bothers me are two things. The first thing is that it opens the door to a slippery slope. Abortion is low-hanging fruit to these people. What’s next? Losing access to birth control? Taking away the ability to marry for LGBTQ couples and biracial couples? Undoing the 19th amendment and the 14th amendment?

The second thing is that this opinion is based on rulings that are centuries old. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that they are grasping at straws, finding any legal theory (even the archaic ones) that they believe will support their cause.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about SCOTUS judges. Their appointments are for life. But we can vote for Democrats at every level. They are the only ones who are both working for the people of this nation and fighting for the freedoms that we all hold dear.

Thoughts On the Recent Supreme Court Rulings

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. However, that does not mean that I as an individual citizen has to agree with every ruling.

Though it is not written in stone, it is a tradition that all Presidents release copies of their tax returns and/or financial statements. Since you know who won the election nearly four years ago, he has come up with every excuse in the book as to why the paperwork has not been made public. Today, SCOTUS ruled that the tax returns have to be released to prosecutors in regards to the cases building against him in New York.

On the surface, the decision by SCOTUS (including you know who’s choices to join the court) seem like a 100% victory. It’s not, the fine print says that much. But it is a giant step in the right direction. The big baby is not immune from prosecution and must conform to the laws like anyone else.

The other ruling concerns the constant determination by the right (and the current administration by extension) to deny a woman her right to contraception. Instead of directly denying a female employee access to birth control, they are leaving it up to the prerogative of her employer.

If you can, imagine the following scenario: a pregnant woman goes to her doctor for a routine checkup. She is told that there has been a change to the fetus. It is no longer medically viable. She could carry the pregnancy to term, but there are risks in doing so. She could also end the pregnancy, but her employer does not believe in abortion. If she chooses an abortion, she will have to pay a potentially outrageous sum out of pocket because of her employer’s beliefs.

Does that sound right to you? It doesn’t sound right to me. From my perspective, the only thing my bosses should be worrying about is my ability to do my job. My personal life (medical decisions included) are frankly, none of their dam business.

Happy Thursday.