tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post3564768892827504746..comments2024-03-25T07:29:08.216-04:00Comments on 2 Political Junkies: Context Is EverythingMariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10439330154875628083noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-71750081433906838272012-03-08T18:10:32.460-05:002012-03-08T18:10:32.460-05:00The other thing is that no one is requiring religi...The other thing is that no one is requiring religious institutions to "pay" for contraception. A health care plan is part of the compensation package...my employer provides me with health care as part of my total compensation. In fact, there's a cash value to that plan. Say, for example, my wife's employer had a better plan than mine. I could opt out of my employer's plan, and take cash value instead. So the employer is <i>not</i> paying for my health care. I am.Ol' Frothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11001073150811372903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-19127243357298997392012-03-08T00:02:33.184-05:002012-03-08T00:02:33.184-05:00Hi CM. I guess you have become a skilled bureaucra...Hi CM. I guess you have become a skilled bureaucrat, considering the final part of your comment. <br /><br />But that's only a sideline. You want to have a different conversation; not on what Dayvoe posted on, you sweep that aside with a "regardless". Apparently you are conceding that the Trib and anyone who doesn't condemn Rush Limbaugh, let alone chooses to defend him, is a hypocrite. <br /><br />But on to your hypothetical. You know, it's funny. Condoms generally speaking have only one use (well, "The Big Red One" had army infantry using them to keep water out of their M1's, pulling them right down over the barrel, but anyway ...). Oral contraceptives, the "pill" if you will, the type of contraceptive at issue here, I read that that it is prescribed some 40% of the time for purposes other than specifically for contraception. So apparently you want to tell doctors how best to practice medicine. Because there is that pesky word prescribed. <br /><br />There is the issue of how, if Republicans get their way and all employers are able to refuse to pay for medical services based on whatever religious reason they an invent, only poor people will be hurt. Specifically, poor women will have to rely on men to take responsibility for contraception, even though the men don't have to deal with the consequences. Why do Republicans hate the poor so much? <br /><br />Let's say you work for ... say, a construction company that is owned by a Jew. You get paid, you go to a restaurant, you buy a hamburger and a glass of milk. Your boss passes by, sees you and fires you on the spot because your actions violate the laws of kosher dining, and he does not want the money he pays his employees to support non-kosher dining. How far can employers go to regulate the behavior of their employees on religious grounds, regardless of the religion of the employee? <br /><br />I understand what you are saying about liberty pretty clearly. Frankly, from my point of view, to say that it is not a very complicated issue would be to do it a great injustice. The government (of which Barack Obama is the chief administrator, but not a lawmaker in and of himself - except for executive orders) compels us to buy car insurance and takes away our children if we go too far outside societies expectations for raising them. The government could theoretically draft me and make me kill a person. I could only get out of that if I have spent my whole life saying killing other people is wrong and I would never do it. Apparently it is not enough that Christian religions say killing is wrong. <br /><br />I will say I do find Glenn Greenwald persuasive, so I am willing to say that there are some things the Obama administration is doing that are at least as bad as what the Bush administration did. Having said that, there is not one of the current crop of Republican candidates, or even those on the sidelines (Pawlenty, Daniels, Christie, Jeb Bush, etc) who would, in my opinion, be any better than Obama and I think likely would be worse. I might well have voted for Chuck Hegel if he had ran for President, but that's about it. <br /><br /><br />Truth to tell, if I am going to drink, I would probably order a highball, or possibly a Moscow mule if I thought the bar had good ginger beer. But I would want to drink somewhere close to where I live, so I could stagger home. I find I get more honest the more I drink. "In vino veritas".EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-84962381961150998482012-03-07T20:00:16.559-05:002012-03-07T20:00:16.559-05:00@Ed.. Thanks for the shout-out!! Nice to see I'...@Ed.. Thanks for the shout-out!! Nice to see I'm thought of, but I don't seem to recall ever saying 'Democrats are essentially scum of the earth'. (But, that's nitpicking. They actually may be pond-scum. But, then they would qualify as a fuel source, according to Barack Hussein Obama. LOL)<br /><br />Regardless of the (supossedly) name calling or public posturing(on both sides), I see the issue has Obama saying organizations *must* provide birth control pills, etc, *regardless* of religious or other beliefs.<br /><br />I fail to see where the President has that authority.<br /><br />Let me ask you - *If* you think the President has the authority to force citizens to purchase or have available (free, or on demand) anything, what type of service or product would 'cross the line'? In other words, what is too much? Where would you say "Enough is enough?"<br /><br />Man, you and I need to sit down and have a beer one of these days.. as long as it's a Yuengling (non-Union) or something like Smithwicks (Irish Ale), any Belhaven Ale (Scotland) or Pilsner Urquell (Czech Republic). No cheap American union-produced p*ss-water. Heck, I'll buy.. 'cuz I'm (supposedly) part of the 1%.<br /><br />P.S. Any spelling errors are because my tpypist left early. :)Conservative Mountaineerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00682687892115059220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-57639175602343890372012-03-07T12:58:05.522-05:002012-03-07T12:58:05.522-05:00Good job on all the research, by the way.Good job on all the research, by the way.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-5295798971942754952012-03-07T12:56:10.614-05:002012-03-07T12:56:10.614-05:00Actually, I'll say this is a bit of a complica...Actually, I'll say this is a bit of a complicated issue. But it does almost seem that Heir "If any Democrat ever did anything wrong then all Republicans are excused for everything, up to and including murder and rape" to the Throne is working for the Trib editorial board. <br /><br />I say it is complicated because, yes, Rush Limbaugh calls women femi-nazis regularly and repeatedly and has never, to my knowledge apologized, and Republicans/conservative/Tea Party members regularly call Democrats/liberals/progressives various pejorative names all the time, especially on right wing radio (not to mention lying about Democratic proposals and constantly getting facts wrong on essentially all topics). Still, when the Keith Olbermann's and the Ed Schultz's on the left decide to try to whip up Democrats by matching the tone of the right wing, then the left does lose some of the high ground. The fact that Schultz made such a sincere effort to apologize is to his credit, and helps the left. <br /><br />And in any event, conservative commenters (like HTTT and Conservative Mountaineer) are constantly saying that Democrats are essentially scum of the earth, implying Republicans are a better class of people. Santorum tried to deflect questions about what said by saying Limbaugh is an entertainer. Of course, Limbaugh is an entertainer who, when a Republican politician disagrees publicly with him, demands and receives a humiliating apology from that politician. <br /><br />Which brings up the point that Limbaugh's apology to Fluke was transparently a sham, a dog whistle if you will. Rush apparently can not comprehend that there are plenty of Republican parents (including probably some Catholics) whose 20 to 30 year daughters are taking the pill to keep from getting pregnant <b>or</b> for a variety of medical reasons such as addressing cysts or regulating cycles. Limbaugh is calling those daughters "slut"<br />and "prostitute" too, and insulting the parents as well. If those parents are as smart as Republicans think themselves to be, they will realize that subscribing to Rush's brand of Republicanism is inconsistent with life in their real world.<br /><br />Or they'll just engage in cognitive dissonance.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.com