November 09, 2012 09:41 PM UTC

The Fall of the GOP: Silence is Stupid

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• by: jeantinley

(Another take on the topic of the day. – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)

I recently posted this tweet on Twitter: “Memo to 2014 Dem candidates: Ask your GOP opponent his/her opinion on rape and forced birth. Your win will be assured.” It was retweeted quite a few times. And I honestly think it is a great idea. Look what happened to Akin, Mourdock, and Roger “some girls rape so easy” Rivard.

There is a recurring theme among the GOP, from Ann Coulter to Jane Norton and, most recently, Mario Nicolais (in a Lynn Bartels article) that “nobody wants to talk about social issues. They’re not important. The economy is important.” This election proved them wrong. More than 7 million women voted than in 2008. This was due in a large part to Planned Parenthood’s “Women Are Watching” campaign, and organizations such as Emily’s List. And, especially, an incumbent President who supported both reproductive freedom and equal pay for women.  

The GOP’s harsh party platform and the unprecedented amount of anti-women legislation both proposed and passed in 2011 and 2012 was unacceptable to many, many people. The GOP simply refuses to admit that reproductive freedom IS a “pocketbook issue.” Deciding when, if, and how many children to have is an economic issue. To pretend otherwise is foolish beyond belief. And yet the GOP persists in trying to restrict abortion and contraceptive access.

For young women in particular, an unplanned pregnancy can derail, or even end, educational and career plans. Young women need to decide what is right for them. Some old dinosaur of a legislator has no right to force HIS decision upon her. The GOP just doesn’t GET that.

Married women, too, like to plan their families. The GOP has NO business interfering with the relationships between doctors and patients, or with employers and employees regarding contraceptive coverage. Who really cares about their employer’s “moral conscience”? Not I. And if it would interfere with my personal family planning decisions, I would be nothing short of outraged.

So the GOP “doesn’t like to talk about these things”? Maybe it’s time to examine why, and admit that these policies, created to pander to a small but noisy extremist fringe, have failed. The GOP needs to understand that the US is not, never will be, and was never intended to be a “Christian Nation.” There is much more diversity. The views of the Christian Right have no place in politics. Separation of Church and State, remember?

The GOP can hardly expect to continue sneakily trying to pass garbage, like Chris Holbert’s insane attempt to attach an anti-abortion measure to the bi-partisan budget, and not get soundly smacked for it. Women ARE watching, and we DID “Remember in November.” So did the men who love and respect us. And we will again, in 2014 and 2016, until the anti-choice dinosaurs are gone.

And good luck pandering to Latinos and LGBT people. I was utterly revolted by Frank McNulty’s shenanigans over civil unions last year, and am beyond thrilled that Mark Ferrandino is the new Speaker. He will be excellent 🙂 The Latino vote pushed Colorado blue 🙂 Why? The harsh GOP rhetoric. In closing, I leave you with this: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…