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Links in this episode:
Jon Stewart fights zombie abstinence-only
Michelle Bachmann spreads hard right nuttery
Domestic violence and children
Domestic violence and teenagers
John Derbyshire versus a century's progress
On this episode of Reality Cast, I'll be interviewing David Neiwert about the growing problem of eliminationist rhetoric on the right and what that has to do with terrorism. Also, sex continues to confuse the issue of health care reform, and domestic violence and its impact on minors.
Current TV's Info Mania is having so much luck with Target Women that they've added another segment that's similar, called "That's Gay", with host Bryan Safi. Luckily, it's just as funny and works just as well.
- that's gay *
You can find it on Current TV or on iTunes.
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At this point, I might as well just admit that until health care reform passes, I'm probably going to have enough material to do a segment a week on it. The crazy is just that out of control. Indeed, I can't wait for immigration reform, because that's going to be off the hook in terms of the crazy. But alas, there's not much a hook between our issues and immigration reform, so I won't be able to cover that as much. Or will there? It seems that conservatives are willing to inject sex and abortion into any legislative effort they disapprove of, if they think there's a chance of stalling or destroying it.
This week, a number of Blue Dog Democrats joined up with Republicans to use sex to confuse the issue of health care reform, and distract people with sex hysteria from pushing for legislation to improve their health care access. For instance, two Democrats on the finance committee joined up with Republicans to amend the health care reform bill to reinstate funding for abstinence-only programs. Jon Stewart took them on for supporting an ineffective, unpopular program.
- health care 1 *
Spending money to encourage teenagers not to use contraception so they'll get more STDs and have more unintended pregnancies seems like the single stupidest idea ever for reducing health care costs. STDs and unintended pregnancies cost a lot of money, you know. And if the pregnant girls decide to have the babies, it will cost a whole lot of money, since childbirth doesn't come cheap in this country. To make it all worse, anti-choice members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are trying their damnedest to make sure that women can't get coverage for abortion, even if they want it.
- health care 2 *
Of course, the people taking a stand on this are either that misinformed or they're grand-standing on abortion because they object to health care reform and see this as a way to stall it. Or they sincerely want to use health care reform as an excuse to reduce pre-existing coverage for abortion women already have. Because they're playing this like it's going to mean that the government will be paying for abortion. It's not. All they're doing is telling insurance companies that already cover abortion that they can continue to do so. The proposed anti-abortion amendments would force insurance companies who already cover abortion to quit doing so. Anti-choicers pushing this use misleading language about "government-defined" health insurance, but under most proposed bills, that basically includes all insurance. All insurance companies would be in the health care exchange, and therefore all insurance companies would have to stop covering abortion.
But the dishonesty inherent to claims about government-funded abortions and abstinence-only pales in comparison to the sort of stuff coming from the far right, who is in a full-blown paranoid panic over health care reform. Recently, I noted in a column that the far right was peddling conspiracy theories about how health care reform would install abortion clinics in high schools so girls could get abortions between classes. This isn't a conspiracy theory that we should poo-pooh, because lookie here, Representative Michelle Bachmann is spouting it from the floor of the House.
- health care 3 *
I love how she calls it a "sex clinic", which implies that you actually have sex on the premises. But it's great, because it's yet more evidence that "abortion" is less about fetal life for conservatives, and more a scare word that they use to indicate that young women are having sex and they don't have the power to stop them. Stopping young women from having sex outside of wingnut control is priority number one, it seems, and Rep. Bachmann is willing to overtly state that.
But obviously, there won't be abortion clinics in schools or school field trips to get abortion. In some states, young women can get abortions without telling their parents, sure, and it should be all. That's because no matter what the right wingers would have you believe, this should not be a country where we use our laws to make it easier for abusive parents to beat their daughters senseless for having the gall to go through puberty. But tying this issue to health care reform is ridiculous, since no bill that's been written even touches it.
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- insert interview *
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and for this segment on domestic violence, I'm going to focus on young people, children and teenagers. When we think of domestic violence, we tend to think of full grown men and women, but children can be victimized by it in a number of ways. Public News Service did a report on the way that witnessing domestic violence at home can have profound effects on children.
- domestic violence 1 *
Turpin links the witnessing of domestic violence to a number of bad outcomes, particularly if the children don't get help. Outcomes such as drug abuse, chronic unemployment, and sadly, repeating the cycle and abusing their own partners. And while there's help out there, there is also a tendency to treat victims with children and those children as one unit. Part of that, I think, is a resource issue. There's not enough beds and counselors to go around for victims of domestic violence, and so having a focused effort on children is a problem. Nonetheless, Children's Defense Fund Ohio called for exactly that kind of intervention.
- domestic violence 2 *
I see that kind of intervention as an investment in the future. Taking kids who have serious problems and helping them become productive adults pays back huge dividends.
The other way that domestic violence affects young people that's getting more attention is through their own encounters with it while dating. I think, for a lot of us, believing that teenagers get into battering situations is a hard pill to swallow, but unfortunately it's true. There's also preliminary research to indicate that domestic violence may play a hand in teen pregnancy, as girls who are abused may have partners who interfere with contraception.
NPR did a report on attempts to reduce dating violence in the high school years.
- domestic violence 3 *
The growing concerns over dating violence amongst teenagers have been dealt with by these programs, and the one that NPR covers sounds like they're taking the right approach. They're not just detailing out the warning signs of abuse, such as being with a partner who tries to control your movements and lays guilt trips on you when you want to hang out with your friends or family. They're also out to define what a healthy relationship means, and what it should look like.
- domestic violence 4 *
Sadly, they interview a young man who claims he's never seen such a relationship, and he frets that they're expecting perfection. That's the kind of thinking that creates the baseline of dysfunction that makes it easier to accept domestic violence. Not that I disbelieve him. I think way too many people have too low of standards, and it creates a sea of dysfunction.
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And now for the Wisdom of Wingnuts, I'm saying it but I'm not edition. John Derbyshire wrote the case against female suffrage in his new book. Now, he's backing off and claiming he didn't actually make a case against female suffrage. Except he did. Both. Whatever you need to believe.
- the derb *
The idea that suffrage should be questioned on the basis of results is anti-democratic at its baseline, because it's basically saying the consent of the governed only counts if they consent to what authority wants. Why not have ballots with just one candidate on them, if that's what you want?
