My Rights Your Wrongs

My rights are NOT infringed if I lose the ability to tell you what to do. My rights are infringed when you deprive me of the right to make the choices I want to make. Does that make sense? Not to Republicans. They would have you believe that when two men or two women marry each other, they are somehow deprived of a “right”. That “right”, it turns out, is their “right” to boss you around.

When the Catholic bishops whine about the state intruding on their liberties and freedoms it turns out that the state hasn’t intruded on any liberty or freedom at all.

Can they still worship? Yes. Can they still gather to carry out their beliefs? Yes. Can they choose to not use birth control and have 13 babies in twelve years? Absolutely. Nobody is making them use birth control or have abortions or marry a gay partner. Nobody at all.

So what’s this “liberty” they are whining about? It’s the liberty to prevent you from using birth control, if you happen to work at one of their hospitals or universities.


What is “freedom of speech”?

Once again, the hysterical right-wing flag-waving shrieking patriots have let us all down. They should be out there right carrying posters and waving flags and shouting something like “Stop Oppressing Ozzie Guillen”. But, like all raging hypocrites, they only want this liberty for themselves. Guillen had the audacity to actually have an honest opinion. His sin is that it was different from the opinions held by Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Michelle Bachmann.

Fullsome Employment

When the recession hit, this company, Marvin Windows and Doors, chose not to lay off workers. It cut back hours and production and bonuses and cut benefits, but it chose to not lay anyone off.

I can’t help but believe that if most American companies adopted the attitudes and policies of Marvin Windows and Doors, there would have been no recession, and unemployment would be below 5%, and all of us would be more prosperous.

And then you have idiots like Bradlee Dean. It is roundly depressing that we live in a world in which it might be necessary to explain to some people what is wrong with burning witches.

Michelle Bachmann, by the way, is on the record: “the separation of church and state is a myth.”