Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Soapbox

Excuse me while I step atop my soapbox.  

Conservatives (I was going to say Mitt Romney and all of his conservative friends, but honestly Mitt changes his stance on issues so fast I have no idea what he even stands for anymore) say they want minimal government.  They say they want the government out of their lives.  They say we shouldn't be forced to have healthcare.  They say the government shouldn't give handouts.  They say the government shouldn't force wealthy Americans to pay their fair share because somehow the wealthier the wealthy get the better off the poor will eventually become (because, you know, the wealthy are going to spend all of their wealth on things that are made in China therefore helping the poor in this country...makes a whole lot of sense, right?).

However, they also want to deny access to birth control.  They want to deny members of our so-called free society the right to marry.  They want to deny parents the right to parent in their own home by blocking porn (maybe they forgot that not all that long ago they were complaining that Michelle Obama was trying to take over their roles as parents by suggesting they should feed their children fruits and veggies instead of Twinkies?).  They also want to make it increasingly more difficult for the poor, the elderly, and minorities to vote.

So here's the thing.  If you want to play the "small government" card, if you want to call yourself a conservative, do it!  But that will also mean you will need to kindly remove yourself from my bedroom, my medicine cabinet, and my vagina.  You will need to refrain from dictating what filters I need to have on my computer.  And while you're at it, you should probably stop trying to shrink programs that help (minimally) sustain and support people while growing programs that discriminate.  

Either be conservative or don't.  But don't try to remove government from the places you don't want it while inserting it places where it seems to fit some crazy moral code you have created where one cell is considered human and must be protected at all costs while full-grown humans are cast aside, discriminated against, and denied basic human rights.

Now stepping off my soapbox.