Fun With Play-Dough

A very big storm in a bucket of water: Obama made two mistakes today, and then he did something right.

He made the rounds and distanced himself from Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and kicked him off his campaign. He then claimed that he didn’t find out until recently what outrageous drivel he has been spouting from the pulpit.  Of course, he may not agree with these types of statements, but he knew. You do not get to be a member of any congregation without knowing what’s going on, what’s being said, who’s doing it with whom, and so forth. Church members gossip, everybody knows that.

So, he knew; I am sure of it.  And so he probably lied a little bit when he talked to the press; and then he made his second mistake: he waffled. I always hate it when politicians waffle; don’t they have advisors that tell them they need to sound self-assured? When you waffle, even the declaration of Independence sounds iffy.

Obama’s words didn’t ring true, until he, finally, put the motives and character of Jeremiah Wright into context. Then it dawned on me: all you have to do is remember the generation that lived through the sixties; remember Jim Crow, remember the backseat of the bus, and remember desegregation. Suddenly, the reverend’s statements make more sense. What Obama should have said was, “I denounce the statements, but I do not denounce the man.” Obama likes to tell us that this is a new day, a new era in America, where change can happen. Let’s hope he’s right.

And Tony Perkins is an asshole. Let’s move on.

I liked it better when we were still talking about hookers.

With the latest adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ fabulous writings hitting the theater, the debate has started in our house: who’s taking the kids to go see it? My husband and I don’t exactly carry a torch for Jim Carrey’s overacting ways, but it seems we just might have another reason to avoid this movie like the plague.  The line “A person’s a person- no matter how small” has provided the pro-lifers with an excuse to go a-protesting. Anti abortionists around the country plan to attend movie showings, hand out leaflets outside theaters, and make a general nuisance of themselves.

Great, I can see it now: you’re coming out of the theater with your children, already in a bad mood because you actually wanted to go see Ms. Pettigrew, and suddenly find yourself in the middle of an abortion debate; you know the six-year-old will ask questions, and there you are. Why, I wonder, is it necessary to stand outside a movie theater that shows a children’s movie? People, the sheer fact that we are going to this movie means we already have children!!! Look, they are walking and talking, they just went to a movie; we didn’t abort them! Seriously, go stand outside of a bar and you might make some sort of impact. Or better yet, go hand out condoms at the local high school; teenage girls practically get pregnant when standing down wind from a boy. Also, I read this week that one in four teenagers has an STD. I find that quite high; maybe some energy can be used for that? Or, you can accept the fact that abortion is legal, and focus on the millions of children who go hungry everyday. Just a thought.  How many children can one stack of flyers feed?

I hate the type of anti-abortionists that protest in the street. The lengths to which they are willing to go to shove their opinions down our throat makes me gag. A few months ago, I was driving down the street not too far from my house, and a man was standing on the shoulder with a large sandwich board depicting bright colorful pictures of an aborted fetus. Yum. I have to ask, how many people drove past him that day, and thought: gosh, I was going to have an abortion over my lunch hour, but maybe I’ll just go shopping instead?

I do not like abortion; the opposite of pro-life is not pro-death, it’s pro-choice.  But I also think that there are exceptions, cases in which it’s a decision that needs to be made. I am fortunate to never have been in that position; many others are not. It’s not a black and white issue that can be solved by handing out flyers and sitting on your high horse. And often, the pro-lifers that are most verbally abusive find themselves unable to enter a valid discussion on birth control.

“The book has found its way to the center of the recurring debate, in the United States, over abortion. Several pro-life groups have adopted the phrase in support of their views; the American Life League has even published a pamphlet using the phrase as the title. This has brought sharp criticism from Dr. Seuss’ widow, Audrey Geisel, and at least one lawsuit was filed in Canada in 2001 to stop the use of the phrase. According to Philip Nel, who wrote a biography about Geisel/Seuss, Seuss himself threatened to sue a pro-life group for using the phrase.” Source: Wikipedia