Paying the Penalty

There's a Looney Tunes short called "The Ducksters" that satirizes radio quiz shows. The contestant must answer a question within a certain period of time or they must "pay the penalty" - usually a VERY harsh one.

In many places, women are being made to pay the penalty for their reproductive choices.  Although it's true that women are the gatekeepers of their own bodies, they shouldn't be forced to bear the responsibility for what happens to their bodies through the actions of irresponsible men.  More and more states are trying to legislate the kind of health care that women can access, particularly pregnancy-related care.  What's worse is that women who have a miscarriage or have babies that are stillborn, are sometimes still considered to have "aborted" and might face jail time for it.

Men seem to forget that they bear 50% of the responsibility of creating a pregnancy in the first place.  One man could impregnate multiple women in the time that it takes one woman to bear a baby to term.  The simple solution?  If you don't want a woman to get pregnant, then use a contraceptive method.

Not so simple.

Far too many men still cling to the idea of sowing their wild oats.  Having sex as often as possible without consequence.  Such has been used as a weapon of war for centuries: if you want to effectively wipe out another tribe, slaughter all the menfolk and force their women to have your babies instead.  Even the Bible justifies rape by saying that a man who despoils a virgin can marry her if he pays restitution to her father.

It's time this barbarism stopped.  Ideas making the rounds of the internet suggest turning the tables.

1. Mandatory vasectomy of all men above the age of 13, and only reversing it when that man can prove that he is prepared and has the means to be a father.  

2. Make men who want a scrip for Viagra or other similar ED drug must go through the same gauntlet of invasive scans and questioning that women who are seeking abortion do.

3 Sterilize or imprison people who refuse to pay child support, or who are convicted child abusers.

Either that, or perhaps we go back to the use of the Victorian "pollution ring" that was a jagged metal ring that fit around the base of the penis. It was to prevent the man from becoming aroused for any reason, mainly in an effort to curb masturbation and the waste of sperm.

What?  You don't want other people controlling your body?  Well, about that...

Sadly, the "pro-birth" people believe that the male responsibility for babies ends at ejaculation.  I call them "pro-birth" because they are not truly "pro-life".  They only want the child to be born.  They don't care about the mother and they don't want to pay for that child's medical care, food, education, and well-being.

Here's another suggestion.  Women can withhold sex until their partners wise up.

That might get men thinking with their brains instead of their genitals.

Autocratic Movement

The following is from a Twitter thread by Steve Schmidt, an American public affairs strategist.

America tonight. 40% of the population has $400 cash in savings. Huge swaths of the country lack broadband and our national infrastructure is decrepit. Billionaires who fund their own space programs pay no taxes while the country's senior political leaders who incited an insurrection remain protected by their own coverup.

The concept of truth has been obliterated by a toxic combination of algorithms, misinformation, and greed.  There is an autocratic movement that is large, rich, powerful and on the march. It is maneuvering yet somehow it remains invisible to the people who are nearest it and have the power to do something about it. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned about this through the story of Neville Chamberlain. The story is more complicated than most people have been taught. He was an honorable man.

The 1st World War was a human catastrophe that killed 20 million people and one million Britons. In fact, it can be argued that the British Empire never recovered from that war. A generation of upper class sons was wiped out in the rush to glory that ended in muddy trenches, plumes of poison gas, and vast killing fields. It was unimaginable in the 1930’s that there could be another war. It was unthinkable. It was wished away. Chamberlain wasn’t a bad man or a weak man. He just couldn’t imagine that it could all happen again so he pretended that it couldn’t.

He reached for peace with noble intent. In the end it was the avoidance of the obvious and inevitable that led to a disaster so great that it obliterated the memory of the bloodiest war in human history fought just 25 years earlier. The next war killed 100 million.

Is there not a lesson from this in our moment? History offers lessons. Some people could see the threat clearly and some could not. Some saw it very early while for others it was the last thing they saw. It’s hard to imagine that Trump could come back. It’s hard to conceive that he remains the far and away front runner for the 2024 nomination. Where I live, there is no shortage of TRUMP 24 flags.  It’s hard to fathom that one of America’s two political parties has abandoned its faith in democracy, yet it has.

The Senate is a small club and maybe that’s the problem. Maybe it’s hard to look at someone and comprehend their bad faith. We are in for a long season of fighting over some really big and important things in this country. Orienting towards the ugly truth of what it is we are fighting is profoundly important.

We are fighting an autocratic movement that includes an eclectic multitude of extremist groups; among them fascists, theocrats, white supremacists, and conspiracy loons. They are dangerous and they want political power again. This movement teems with menace and violence. It has killed and it will kill again.

The pro democracy coalition must win the 24, 28 and 32 elections to break this. It will not be easy.

The Insanity of it All

Not being a U.S. citizen, I've frequently been told by people online that I have no way of understanding what their holy Second Amendment means to them.

It's true. I don't.

I can't understand why so many believe that 2A is seen to be more important than the First, or even the entire Constitution.  I can't understand why so many insist that they have the right to bear any firearm of their choice despite the risks that go along with them.  I can't understand why so many shrug their shoulders and accept the increasing annual tally of gun deaths as acceptable losses for their "rights".

"What if the government turns tyrannical and comes to take our guns away?!" they cry.

Remember what happened in Waco TX in 1993?  A few guns can't stop a tank.

Over the past year, there has been a mass shooting in the United States almost EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The overall death toll from gun violence has been more than what would be expected of a war zone.

Perhaps the U.S. is at still at war, but it's at war with itself.  Too many people are needlessly afraid of having their guns taken, their rights abridged, their families endangered... Where have we heard this before?

A quick perusal of recent news:

- A Texas woman shoots at a puppy running loose and accidentally hits her son.
- An Alabama man had his gun taken away after a domestic abuse incident.  The gun is returned to him, and he promptly shoots and kills his wife.
- A toddler grabs a loaded pistol from his mother's purse and accidentally shoots his sister.
- Two runaway teens break into a home, grab some improperly secured guns, and get into a shootout with police.

When will it stop?

It could have been mitigated after twenty kindergarteners were massacred in 2012.  But it wasn't.

At least Canada learned its lesson when fourteen young women were murdered in their university classroom in 1989.

The United States hasn't learned that lesson because it's not willing to learn it.  I doubt it ever will.  Even after an armed mob crashed its democratically elected seat of government, still there are those who insist that it was business as usual.

None of it seems to matter.  What's the definition of insanity again?

Dangerous Precedents

A terrifying thread on Twitter this morning caught my attention: a series of posts warning that the GOP in the United States is not finished with their overthrow attempts, despite appearances.

Just as Adolf Hitler didn't give up after his first coup attempt in 1933, the same goes for the Republicans.  If one were to swap today's GOP with the one that existed six months ago and re-ran the election, there would be an entirely different outcome.  There would be dueling slates from all the swing states sent to the Electoral College.

That's how fast things are moving and it's showing no signs of slowing down.

Many predict that if Trump were to run for President again in 2024, all red states that Biden had clinched with a slim margin would send Trump electors to the College authorized by those state legislatures.  The American Constitutional order doesn't seem to have a good way to deal with dueling slates.  Therefore, Trump might very well seize the office through a House vote.

It's shocking enough that the GOP is openly signaling that they will do this, even if such a move would be massively unpopular.  They will try if given the chance.  It's clear that they are using an authoritarian playbook.  All the Democrats seem to be doing is hoping that it won't happen, which increases the likelihood of it actually happening.

The GOP has learned from its mistakes and found out that so far there hasn't been much of a consequence to attempting to overthrow the government.  So they will be be better equipped and prepared next time.  And the general public might not even notice until it's too late because it's too boring to listen to an explanation of the complexities of an electoral shuffle.

Already there are states that have passed laws to make voting more restrictive and complicated.  Already there are rumblings about cancelling state primaries.  Already the GOP is moving to oust its own conference chair because she dared to tell the truth.

President Biden might be in a tough bind with all this, but the reality is that catastrophe is looming and action must be taken NOW to defuse it.

Minefield Made by Men

I've written many times about the difficulties women have to navigate a patriarchal world that mostly regards them as sexual tools and not people.

This latest article is further proof that we have a very long way to go to achieve true equality.

Intern of Idaho State Representative is now being stalked.

A 19-year old intern who accused Aaron von Ehlinger (R-ID) of raping her was promptly attacked by other GOP lawmakers, doxxed, and threatened with litigation.

What kind of world are we living in now where survivors of rape might be hauled into court for calling out said reprehensible behaviour?  As if they don't already have enough to deal with.  This only adds to the many reasons why women don't report the rapists:

- Not being believed by the authorities
- Having their personal details made public
- Being harassed by relatives and friends of the accused
- Penalties levied in the workplace
- 'Revenge assault'
- Being forced to marry the rapist
- Being forced to have a child conceived by rape
- The accused receiving only a pittance of a sentence if convicted

It's all about protecting the rights and reputation of the individual man or the organization involved, be it a sports team, corporation, church, or government.

A young man caught in the act of raping a woman only got a slap on the wrist because it would tarnish his potential career.  A doctor who raped a sedated patient lost his medical license but got no prison time.  A woman who had actual photos of her own rape was told it wasn't enough to indict.  And so on.

People who try to pass counterfeit money get harsher punishments than rapists do.

Something must change.  And that something is: more women need to step up to the plate.  Protest.  Run for public office.  Buck the patriarchy.  It's already started: Jennifer McLellan is vying to become the first Black female state governor.

Remember Liberia in 2003?  Women forced the country to end the civil war there by going on a sex strike.  Maybe that's what could happen in America too.  Then men might start to get the message.