Politics is an ugly business.
I only had to remind myself of the numerous skeletons in my own closet to confirm it is not the right career choice for me. Democrat political strategist Paul Begala claimed to coin the phrase,
Politics is nothing more than show business for ugly people.
It doesn’t really matter who first uttered those words. What matters is that the saying is true. Doubt me? No, I’m not talking about Henry Waxman or Olympia Snowe, nor judging anyone by any physical attribute. I’m more concerned about how politicians act. These days, elected officials routinely behave as if they think they are royalty.
But we don’t have kings in America.
It is not a question these days of which party is good and which is bad, but which is the lesser of two evils. Remember Dorothy Parker said,
Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone.
And here is the truly ugly side of politics, currently seen in the attempted character assassination of Rick Santorum.
His political opposition, aided by zealots in the media, are deliberately trying for some bizarre reason to create the false impression that Santorum would ban all means of contraception.
I guess the reason won’t end up being considered bizarre if it ultimately works.
Rick Santorum is a devout Catholic. He http://modernsmile.com/ personally does not believe in using means of birth control Meiningen within the dynamics of his own nuclear family.
As a result, he has fathered eight children. As a lawyer, he can afford it. It’s his personal business, only between him and his wife. Okay so far?
Rick Santorum is also a politician, with a significant voting record and clear public statements on this issue. Yet “conservative” columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote for The Washington Post that Santorum had a problem with women voters because he opposed contraception. Her gross distortion of reality is egregiously untrue. Now multiple headlines trumpet the mantra that Santorum said birth control was “harmful to women.”
The problem is, that isn’t exactly what Santorum actually said. As blogger Thomas Grace noted yesterday at WizBang, Santorum’s complete statement in context was something quite different. He specifically identified a society that promotes and glamorizes promiscuous sex outside of marriage as being harmful to women.
Case in point: Kim Kardashian. It seems oddly appropriate that her claim to fame began with a viral sex tape on the internet and continues with her divorce being aired on television. Kardashian might have made plenty of money from marketing her body as a sex toy for multiple partners, but it apparently can’t buy her happiness.
The reality of his voting record is that Santorum never once voted to prevent others from exercising their right to use means of contraception. Admittedly, his personal opinion is a socially conservative point of view, but his voting record indicates how he would govern as POTUS.
According to this blog that apparently opposes the nomination of Santorum, he voted in favor of continued government subsidies of Planned Parenthood — a vote that I personally oppose.
However, if I wanted someone who would vote exactly as I would in every given situation, I would be willing to run for office myself.
And I’m not. So I’ve got to vote for somebody else.
In stark contrast to Santorum on the issue of the sanctity of life, President Barack Obama said,
I’ve got two daughters, nine years old and six years old. I’m gonna teach them, first of all, about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.
Though he’s personally a multimillionaire, was Obama saying that he wouldn’t even provide financial help to raise his own grandchild if his daughter got pregnant? The implication that bearing a child serves as a form of punishment for a bad decision seems to suggest the easy remedy would be to terminate the pregnancy.
In stark contrast to that inferred position, Santorum opposes abortion as a means of post-conception birth control.
My own daughter made exactly such a “mistake” at seventeen. Against my wishes for her to put the child up for adoption, she decided to keep her “punishment.” Now I thank God for my ability to know my granddaughter, because of my daughter’s “choice.” She is an absolutely delightful child.
My daughter’s life has not been made easy because of her decision, but she has taken good care of her children.
The harsh reality of this world is that actions have consequences. The nanny state government can offer all the free abortions in the world and that fact will not change.
I didn’t want my daughter to become pregnant at seventeen, but it happened. Abortion was never an option for her. She never considered giving up the child once she became pregnant.
I’ve never regretted for a moment her decision, and I’m quite sure she hasn’t either.
I sincerely hope this election comes down to a choice between Santorum and Obama. It would make the decision very easy for me.
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