In Defense of Mitt Romney

Robert J. Elisberg: In Defense of Mitt Romney

The problem isn’t that Mitt Romney was a bad candidate for Republicans, but rather that Mitt Romney was the best candidate Republicans had.

Republicans can complain all they want about the candidates they had, and wish someone else had run, but they did this to themselves.

A year ago I wrote that when you spend four years calling the President of the United States a socialist Nazi Kenyan anti-American terrorist agent of the Devil killing old people and destroying the country, and you whip up your base to a frenzy that moves your party so far to the right that moderates become an endangered species, then you create a foundation where the only candidates you can possibly attract are Herman Cain, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. And Mitt Romney ends up as your best chance.

In his play, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare wrote, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. It’s in ourselves.” And so it is with today’s Republican Party. The fault is not with Mitt Romney—he did better than most Republican presidential candidates have done in 24 years. The fault, dear Brutus, is with the Republican Party itself. When looking for a culprit for the 2012 Presidential, Senate and House losses, Republicans need only look in the mirror.

In the middle of a recession, Republicans should have won big. But they created their “#1 Priority.” They created the direction of their party. They created their anti-women, anti-Hispanic, anti-health care, anti-Climate Change, anti-tax the wealthy, pro-legitimate rape agenda.

You make your bed, you lie in it.

wilwheaton: stfuconservatives: autumnyte: (Rebloggable version of this reply, per request.) Well, here’s the deal, anon. The Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian group, and they impose those beliefs on the people that they employ and the communities they serve. Here are a few examples: They are so opposed to LGBT rights that they have lobbied multiple times for exemptions from Federal and Local anti-discrimination laws, and threatened to withdraw their services.  They refused to provide shelter to a homeless gay couple, unless they broke up and renounced their homosexuality.  They refused to provide a transgender woman with shelter that was congruent with her gender presentation, instead insisting she house with men. She chose instead to sleep on the sidewalk and died from the cold.   Speaking of gender, there was also this charming incident where one of their hostels refused to open the door for a 17-year-old victim who had just been brutally raped (or even call the police for her) because that particular hostel had a strict “men only” policy. Children who can’t prove their immigration status are turned away. The organization also disposes of any Harry Potter or Twilight related donations (rather than giving them to other charities), because they claim the toys are “incompatible with the charity’s Christian beliefs”.  During the Bush Administration (thanks to ‘faith-based initiatives’) they fired about 20 long-time employees (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Gay), simply for refusing to sign the organization’s statement of Christian belief.   So, that—in a nutshell—is what’s wrong with it. Winter is coming… and so are their buckets. Remember this when they’re bothering you for change. Consider that there are a number of worthy, non-denominational organizations all over the country that serve people without regard to their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that rational people don’t care about. Those places deserve your money and your support.
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wilwheaton:

stfuconservatives:

autumnyte:

(Rebloggable version of this reply, per request.)

Well, here’s the deal, anon. The Salvation Army is an evangelical Christian group, and they impose those beliefs on the people that they employ and the communities they serve. Here are a few examples:

They are so opposed to LGBT rights that they have lobbied multiple times for exemptions from Federal and Local anti-discrimination laws, and threatened to withdraw their services. 

They refused to provide shelter to a homeless gay couple, unless they broke up and renounced their homosexuality. 

They refused to provide a transgender woman with shelter that was congruent with her gender presentation, instead insisting she house with men. She chose instead to sleep on the sidewalk and died from the cold.  

Speaking of gender, there was also this charming incident where one of their hostels refused to open the door for a 17-year-old victim who had just been brutally raped (or even call the police for her) because that particular hostel had a strict “men only” policy.

Children who can’t prove their immigration status are turned away.

The organization also disposes of any Harry Potter or Twilight related donations (rather than giving them to other charities), because they claim the toys are “incompatible with the charity’s Christian beliefs”. 

During the Bush Administration (thanks to ‘faith-based initiatives’) they fired about 20 long-time employees (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Gay), simply for refusing to sign the organization’s statement of Christian belief.  

So, that—in a nutshell—is what’s wrong with it.

Winter is coming… and so are their buckets. Remember this when they’re bothering you for change.

Consider that there are a number of worthy, non-denominational organizations all over the country that serve people without regard to their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that rational people don’t care about. Those places deserve your money and your support.

Source: autumnyte

plannedparenthood: We were deeply saddened to hear the news about Savita Halappanavar – a woman who died after being denied a life-saving abortion in Ireland. There are too many stories like Savita’s out there and many countries – other than Ireland – where abortion remains illegal. Remember Savita and the importance of access to safe and legal abortion in the United States and around the world. Please share this in support. Ireland. Kills dogs. Kills women. Sounds like a fun place to visit.
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plannedparenthood:

We were deeply saddened to hear the news about Savita Halappanavar – a woman who died after being denied a life-saving abortion in Ireland. There are too many stories like Savita’s out there and many countries – other than Ireland – where abortion remains illegal.

Remember Savita and the importance of access to safe and legal abortion in the United States and around the world. Please share this in support.

Ireland. Kills dogs. Kills women. Sounds like a fun place to visit.

A long set-up for minimal payoff.

I think most of you are aware that Jay and I recently bought a house in Austin. And I think some of you are also aware that our dear friends and former Austinites (Eva, JAX, and 10-year-old Asher) wanted to relocate back to Austin from the DC area, but because the housing market in Austin is on-fucking-fire right now, they were having trouble finding a place that would allow them to move in in time for Asher to begin the school year here. Since we doubled our square-footage after moving from our apartment and had two spare (albeit small) bedrooms, we insisted they move in with us so they wouldn’t be in such a crunch to find a place and so they could get one they actually liked and not just because it was available.

Jay and I share a car, a Prius that I bought in early 2009. He works from home, and I take photography classes at Austin Community College about 10 miles away for 4-6 hours every day. Eva and JAX also share a car, a VW Golf, because JAX works from home or is traveling for work to faraway places like San Fransisco or New York, and Eva works at a spa that is about 2-3 miles from the house. Asher doesn’t have a car. He’s 10. His only means of transportation are his legs. JAX typically drops Eva off at work and picks her up so he’ll have their car to pick up Asher from school. I typically drive my car to class because Jay works about 17 hours a day and going 10 miles in Austin traffic takes a good half-hour one way, and he’s lucky if he gets a long enough break every day to poop.

Anyway, last weekend JAX and Eva’s car died. Eva could, in theory, walk to and from work, but it’s along a highway that doesn’t have a sidewalk, and that’s super dangerous because Austin drivers suck shit. Austin schools often don’t run buses because the density of schools often means that no one lives more than 1-2 miles away from at least one of them. This is the case with Asher’s school. He could, in theory, walk home, but again, there’s the danger, he’s 10, and we’d probably never hear the end of it. So we’ve devised a communal car-share schedule. Most of JAX and Eva’s use doesn’t coincide with our use, so it’s practically a non-issue. Except two of my classes (three days a week) start at the same time as Asher’s school lets out. In this instance, JAX drops me off at my school about 15 minutes earlier than I’d normally get there, then immediately picks Asher up from his school. When I’m done with class, Jay is (generally) done with work, and he comes to pick me up.

Except yesterday. Yesterday Jay decided it would be a great idea to donate platelets. He took the afternoon off, volunteered to sit at a clinic with a needle in his arm for two hours, then came home. Also, for the past several months, I’ve been trying to teach him to drink beer, and we’ve been buying various kinds to see what he likes. Because he had the rest of the day off, he decided to tap into a 6-pack we purchased the night before. Because he’s an idiot sometimes. A cute idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. And because his fluid levels were low, that one beer knocked him on his ass. So when it came time to pick me up from class, he was drunk, and JAX graciously volunteered to drive the Prius, and Jay rode with him because he was drunk and because he could, dammit.

Wait. I forgot to add something. Previously, and I don’t remember the occasion, the three of us went somewhere, and I voluntarily rode in the back seat because JAX is super tall, and it’s a fucking Prius that’s made in Japan for the typical Japanese-sized person, and if he wants any leg room whatsoever the front seats are the only way to go. They do scoot really far back. (The backseat is a bit crowded, unless you’re my apparently-typical-Japanese-sized height, in which case you’re just happy that there’s somewhere in the world where you can sit and your feet will touch the floor and it’s not a kid’s chair.) JAX made the comment that it’s going to look like two gay men driving their kid somewhere. Jay said it was fine because it was Austin and it’s probably not that uncommon and no one would give it a second thought.

Now back to the current story: JAX driving Jay to pick me up from class because Jay is drunk. The school has a little covered area with benches in an almost roundabout-type thing in front of the main building that functions as a pick-up/drop-off point and bus stop so as not to interrupt the flow of traffic any more than the speed bumps every 15 fucking feet already do. I was waiting there on a bench, and couple of kids were standing on the curb a few yards in front of me talking to each other and apparently waiting on their own ride. As JAX and Jay pulled up to the curb, I stood and started walking to the car. The kids, I think, didn’t see me as I was walking up behind and slightly to the left of them. The Prius came to a stop a few feet away, and one of the kids exclaimed:

“Look! Two dads!”

The reality is that so-called pro-life movement is not about saving babies. It’s about punishing women for having sex. That’s why they oppose birth control. That’s why they want to ban abortion even though doing so will simply drive women to have dangerous back alley abortions. That’s why they want to penalize women who take public assistance and then dare to have sex, leaving an exemption for those who become pregnant from rape. It’s not about babies. If it were about babies, they would be making access to birth control widespread and free and creating a comprehensive social safety net so that no woman finds herself with a pregnancy she can’t afford. They would be raising money for research on why half of all zygotes fail to implant and working to prevent miscarriages. It’s not about babies. It’s about controlling women. It’s about making sure they have consequences for having unapproved sex.

How I Lost Faith in the “Pro-Life” Movement

This is an amazingly powerful, clear and well-researched article that exposes how the “pro-life” movement is anything but.

(via maggieblueberry)

Source: patheos.com