So to try and ease back into things here, I thought I would do the equivalent of some light stretching here and luckily a couple of clips covering some recent batshit in Texas seemed like just the thing. So, without further ado, a clip from the Rachel Maddow show and - surprise - it involves not knowing shit about ladyparts. The twist??? This time it's a woman.
I thought the whole clip was worth watching just to appreciate the lengths citizens went to to get their voices heard, but really... thinking Rape Kits take care of the pregnancy that might have resulted from the rape. Maybe these details aren't common knowledge for most people, but then again most people don't talk about them on public record or use these details as tent poles for political arguments justifying policy that could affect massive amounts of people.
Another recent moment of "not knowing shit about shit" came from Texas Representative Michael Burgess when he stated that fifteen week horndog male fetuses masturbate a little bit in the womb.
GOP Rep. Speaks Up For Masturbating Fetuses: ‘They Feel Pleasure,’ Why Wouldn’t They Also ‘Feel Pain’?
Does a fetus feel pain? That is a legitimate question to consider when mulling over the enormously complex issue of abortion. Why couch that part of the discussion in such a way? I feel like Congress no longer appreciates getting to the point. Watching televised hearings or sessions yields disproportionate amounts of footage of leaders enjoying the sound of their own voice. The problem is when you don't know shit, endless blathering gives you so many more opportunities to tip your hand of stupid. Furthermore, a pox on whatever med school allowed Rep Burgess to become on OB/GYN... seriously.
Bill Maher had a great segment regarding Rep. Burgess and his claim:
Sticking with the Texas theme, here's one other clip from Rachel Maddow regarding the Supreme Court considering striking down parts of the Voting Rights Act.
Once again, despite a long clip, I decided to include the whole thing because the first part reveals that while we may think we're past voting discrimination, there are parts of this country that are not... at all. Eighty-something voting stations down to twelve with minority districts ten times more crowded than white districts. Funny how those numbers just shake out.
I live in New Jersey. Sure, we have a republican governor, but all in all we're mostly a left-leaning state. Stories like these bring back things like the John Edwards' Two Americas and President Obama's "we're not red states or blue states but United States" kind of ideas. There seems to be a division, and that division seems to involve knowledge. I used to get a kick out of watching Bill Buckley on TV, the way he often leaned back and debated down the length of his nose. He was a smart man and a conservative man. Many public conservatives don't carry that intelligence and it shows in every batshit stupid policiy decision they make.
I want policies in this country to undergo rigorous debate to make sure we get the best idea we can moving forward, but that process has been poisoned by the likes of Rep Burgess, Texas state Rep. Laubenberg, or US Rep Paul "Lies From The Pit Of Hell" Broun. A crucial tenet of the Socratic method is making sure both sides are arguing from their strongest position. In our current political process, one side does all right, and the other side has been mentally Tonya Harding-ed whole cloth, and the country as a whole is suffering for it.
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