Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/342845
ByTinaDupuy Grabyoursmellingsaltsand brace yourself—I'm going to talk about sex. Not graphically, the children don't need to leave the room or anything. But I'm going to talk about the idea of sex as an underlying basis for policy. In the wake of the truly mis- guided Hobby Lobby decision, which endowed a legal en- tity with the right to discrim- inate against working women of child-bearing age via a newly discovered corporate religious freedom, I was reminded that puritanical America is alive and on Twitter. What I found on my mentions feed were a lot of peo- ple (some women, mostly men) who felt like they wanted to of- fer the following advice: an as- pirin between your knees is a great birth control...and afford- able. Translation: These Hobby Lobby women shouldn't need birth control because they shouldn't be having sex. Some tried to sound more fiscally conservative and say, "I don't care what they do as long as I don't have to pay for it." Translation: They shouldn't be having sex. Women and their liberal brethren are upset because a billionaire employer gets to dictate which medications their female workers have to pay for out of pocket. But to the Right, it's a rarely missed opportunity to re-litigate the 20th Century's gradual accep- tance of women first as vot- ers, then as unregulated pri- vate citizens (Roe v. Wade), and then as equal partici- pants in recreational sex. Not just being sexy; not as sexual objects; an not just as whore or virginal mother constructs, but as actual women being free to partake in their nat- ural ability to desire and en- joy intercourse (and not be an outcast). Some have pointed out (my- self included) that if you are truly against abortion, you should be for what counters the need for abortion—reli- able, cheap and widely avail- able birth control. This as- sumes (wrongly) the pro- life movement is really about "life." When it comes to chil- dren, their concern stops at birth and when it comes to women, their finger wagging starts at sex. A few years ago for a story, I went undercover at a Cri- sis Pregnancy Center (CPC), a fake clinic offering no health care services and misleading medical advice. Their guide- book, called the Pearson Man- ual, declares they're bat- tling Satan, and to them Sa- tan is a "girl who wants to kill her baby" and therefore she doesn't deserve real informa- tion. Because she's Satan. The only way to not get pregnant, they said, was to not have sex. One of the pamphlets read, "True love protects 100 per- cent of the time." Which is far from being medically sound. CPCs are billed as solely anti- abortion; they're firstly anti- fornication. It's a little fun to watch Re- publicans try to be more liber- tarian. It's not a great fit. Re- publicans like liberty when it's something they agree with, like oil and gas company sub- sidies. Not so much for things they don't agree with, like women having sex without consequences. It's an actual fear. Conservative Christians fear women having sex freely will erode society. It's some- how going to hurt the coun- try if our womenfolk act like men in regards to their libido. To them, female sexuality is a matter of national secu- rity! Conservatives are against equal rights for women. Women are different, they ar- gue, and they need to be pro- tected. They're pro-woman, sure, as long as said woman is not sexually liberated (i.e. a slut). And that is what is going on in the minds of some of the ju- rists at the Supreme Court. Case in point: in the 2011 de- cision Snyder v. Phelps, which hinged on Fred Phelps', of "God Hates Fags" fame, First Amendment right to picket fu- nerals of dead marines, the court ruled 8-1 in Phelps' fa- vor. Justice Alito wrote the dissent: "Our profound na- tional commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case." He con- tinued, "In order to have a so- ciety in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated, it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of in- nocent victims like petitioner." And in last week's McCullen v. Coakley the "buffer zone" law at abortion clinics—estab- lishments that have been re- peatedly bombed, shot and otherwise terrorized by "pro- testors" —how did Alito vote when it came to "vicious ver- bal assault" on loose women? Alito thinks that's protected speech. The decision was unanimously in favor of the harassers. The coinage of The War on Women denotes planning on the part of the right wing. It suggests some kind of coor- dination and agenda. I don't think that's what we have here. I think what we're see- ing is a visceral knee-jerk— a deeply rationalize prejudice against female sexuality. It's not a war—it's just warped. TinaDupuyisanation- ally syndicated op-ed colum- nist, investigative journalist, award-winning writer, stand- up comic, on-air commentator and wedge issue fan. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@ya- hoo.com. Another view Conservatives' women troubles Cartoonist's take The words of Cal- vin Coolidge, spoken on the sesquicentennial of the Declaration in 1926, recounted in "We Still Hold These Truths: Happy July 4" (Power- lineblog.com, Steven Hayward), began thus: "About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful." He then wove an irre- futable narrative that pushed back against those who at that time held supposedly advanced political beliefs like progres- sivism, collectivism and social- ism. Coolidge pronounced that "new thoughts and new expe- riences which have given us a great advance over the peo- ple of that day," might induce Americans to "discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reason- ing cannot be applied to this great charter. "If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are en- dowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments de- rive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no prog- ress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed his- torically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. "Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are re- actionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more an- cient, than those of the Revolu- tionary fathers." The July 4, 2013, posting of "The Eternal Meaning of In- dependence Day" (searchable by title at Powerline- blog.com), contained a major part of Abra- ham Lincoln's speech of July 10, 1858, given in the midst of his cam- paign for Senator from Illinois against Stephen Douglas. The night be- fore from the balcony of the Tremont Hotel in Chicago, Sen- ator Douglas had taken is- sue with Lincoln's famous pro- nouncement at the Illinois Re- publican Convention that the nation could not exist "half slave and half free." There, Lin- coln also condemned the Su- preme Court's 'Dred Scott' de- cision (which generally gave the Court's approval to the in- stitution of slavery, the denial of citizenship to former slaves and denied that new states could outlaw slavery). Democrat Douglas con- tended that "this government of ours is founded on the white basis [made by, benefiting, and under administration of, white men], in such manner as they should determine." To Douglas, Lincoln's pronouncement be- lied the "diversity" in domestic institutions that was "the great safeguard of our liberties." You see, "diversity" was "a shibbo- leth hiding an evil institution that could not be defended on its own terms" (S. Johnson). Currently, euphemisms like "diversity," multiculturalism, and political correctness are designed to induce compliance, agreement and censorship in people who don't even realize they are abandoning their own freedoms and our nation's po- litical, cultural and economic traditions. All of Lincoln's words in the Powerlineblog.com post deserve reading. He begins with "These 4th of July gath- erings I suppose have uses … I will state what I suppose to be some of them." After not- ing America's 30 or so million people who "own and inhabit about one-fiftieth part of the dry land of the whole earth," he reminded those gathered of the inferior numbers and land held 82 years before. He traced the "rise of pros- perity" to the "iron men (who) fought for the principle that they were contending for … that by what they then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity has come to us … and we go from these meet- ings in better humor with our- selves. We feel more attached the one to the other, and more firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way we are better men in the age, and race, and country in which we live …" He then honed in on the concept that, while about half of America's people could count direct descent from those present at indepen- dence, the other half arrived after that point. Those newer arrivals could point to the words of the Declaration, "We hold these truths to be self-ev- ident, that all men are created equal" and claim it "as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that. "Now I ask you if all these things (the inherent inequal- ity of some group or race), if indulged in, if ratified, if con- firmed and endorsed, if taught to our children, and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this government into a gov- ernment of some other form … They are the arguments that kings have made (who) always bestrode the necks of the peo- ple … because the people were better off for being ridden. That is their argument … that says you work and I eat, you toil and I will enjoy the fruits of it." Readers may speculate as they wish, but I consider that when half of our citizens, even non-citizens, are induced and enticed into dependence on the money collected by govern- ment from the productive, re- sponsible and self-sufficient other half—such collectivist redistribution is tantamount to enslavement of both those taxed and those being sub- sidized. It will "fundamen- tally transform" America into a country with hollow shells of freedom, liberty and abun- dance. Next week I will give readers my take on Dinesh D'Souza's "America: Imagine the World Without Her," now showing in Anderson and Redding (ameri- cathemovie.com). Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at don- plsn@yahoo.com. The way I see it Declaration's wisdom, lessons Republicans like liberty when it's something they agree with, like oil and gas company subsidies. Not so much for things they don't agree with, like women having sex without consequences. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. IamblessedknowingthatsupportfromRed Bluff, people I knew and people I don't, is through the roof. Thank you. Kevin Millikin: On story about Millikin's new novel, "The Summer of '68," set in Red Bluff Hopefully some of that is for street mainte- nance. They annexed to the city to include the truck stops, but do not take care of the roads they annexed. Linda Hayes: On Corning passing an $11.4million budget for 2014-2015 Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS He then honed in on the concept that, while about half of America's people could count direct descent from those present at independence, the other half arrived after that point. Don Polson Tehama County Board of Supervisors — tcbos@co.tehama.ca.us Red Bluff City Manager Rick Crabtree — rcrabtree@cityo- fredbluff.org Corning City Manager John Brewer — jbrewer@corning. org State Sen. Jim Nielsen — visit http://district4.cssrc.us/ Assemblyman Dan Logue — visit http://arc.asm.ca.gov/ Rep. Doug LaMalfa — visit ttps://lamalfa.house.gov Sen. Diane Feinstein — visit https://www.feinstein.senate. gov Sen. Barbara Boxer — visit https://www.boxer.senate. gov CONTACT YOUR OFFICIALS OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, July 8, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6