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Arianna, Lawrence O'Donnell Discuss The GOP's Self-Destructive Contraception Campaign (VIDEO)

Posted: 02/17/2012 1:19 am

Arianna appeared on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" on Thursday to discuss the GOP's sudden fixation on contraception over the past few weeks, and how it could hurt the party in the November elections.

"Ultimately it is about contraception, and debating contraception in 2012, including the idea that somehow aspirin between your legs is the trick -- you and I should have mentioned that to our daughters, we forgot it -- is not working for them. You can see in their faces, you can see through their equivocations, that they know it is not working for them, and they don't quite know how to get out of it."

She also pointed out that while the economy might still prove to be fertile ground for Republican attacks on Obama, the GOP can't seem to quit its self-destructive social platform.

"They're missing the point. Even though the job numbers may be a little better, people don't feel better. We still have over 20 percent of young people unemployed, we're still above 8 percent unemployment, we still have 4 million people's homes foreclosed. Why are they not playing on that terrain -- which is really where their advantage is?"

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HopeWFaith
We the People
10:20 PM on 02/18/2012
There is no infringement on anyone's religious right. A woman who wants no birth control will seek none out. Those who do, should be given what they ask for, and no employer should use any excuse to deny them. If you don't want to be an employer, treating all people equally, then don't employ. When a parishioner disagrees with their church, that church should never have any right which overshadows that individual's rights. The nation is made up of individual voters, citizens. Churches are not citizens. They should hold no special powers over the rights of individuals. Nor should corporations be considered citizens. The extreme right wing is out on a limb, and I hope the heck it breaks off soon. Sick of this junk, tying up our government and our debates. This nation has gotten sillier and sillier the longer we are held hostage by the GOP. Vote these mindless cave men out.
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Ed and Deb Shapiro
02:06 PM on 02/18/2012
Arianna & Lawrence make great sense -
Let's have a common sense revolution!
Let's move forward not backwards!
Thank you,
Cheers,
Ed
11:59 AM on 02/18/2012
Respectfully, I would disagree with Arianna Huffington on the point of republican self defeat. The overlap of both parties is not the muddied water the media and democrats would like the voters to believe. Neither party acted with a distinct difference from the other. The people know this. Destruction to both major political parties is shared equally. It's a, "What to do," moment that's forced upon the majority who acknowledges the enemy dwelling among us.

Every politician of recent decades is responsible. Media misguides and misdefines the event... Great Recession. The accurate referrence... "Great Victimization." The Instrument... Our Government.



Great Victimization is very different from the Great Depression, lest we never forget.

It is the obligation - duty - responsibility of the news media to keep the public informed... Spit for spat is speculation. Where was the press when we the Americans needed vital reporting? I hold the press additionnallyNot distracted with items like this article, but to bring awarenhess to the public resul.ting from honest investigative reporting. Cable news underhmines the purpose through a guise of specuative debate, and a distraction away from where the only focus belongs... The Truth.

purposei with debate as speculators for entertainment.
01:05 PM on 02/17/2012
Tocqueville, in comparing the French and American revolutions, observed that the American Revolution appeared successful because its leaders adhered to their laws, regardless of public expediency and opinion.

France, on the other hand, routinely set aside its laws in favor of socially expedient and seemingly beneficial programs.

France descended into a crisis that was resolved only by a dictator. America survived as a representative democracy.

Laws, not public opinion, are what sustains us as a Nation.
02:13 PM on 02/22/2012
BRAVO
01:02 PM on 02/17/2012
Clearly the Democrats are dense.....This panel wasn't about women's health, it was about the state infringing upon religous rights. This could have been about any belief, not just contraception, and a college student from a law firm had nothing to do with that, so why should she be on the panel? I am sure if they had someone who had some sort of qualifications.

Mind you, the republicans did not bring this subject up, Pres. Obama did.
05:08 PM on 02/17/2012
Republicans are on defense. This is about women's health and opinion polls reflect that.
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jangoodell
My micro-bio is empty
01:42 PM on 02/18/2012
That's right--they goofed on their hard stance and are now making it all about religious persecution. Why do religious rights trump civil rights. The requirment that contraception be included in health insurance is a civil rights issue--It was based on the fact that an insurance company cannot pick and choose which prescriptions to cover based on its use by one class of people.
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janetislight
Liberal/Progressive/Socialist. Deal with it.
01:00 PM on 02/17/2012
It is hormone control therapy. Now, on to your REAL job worst congress ever.
itolduso
lateral thinker
12:59 PM on 02/17/2012
Insurance coverage of contraceptives LOWERS the COST OF HEALTH CARE and the COST OF INSURANCE for EVERYBODY. It prevents unplanned pregnancies, reduces the risk of several types of cancer, is used to treat numerous reproductive disorders - that left untreated would require surgery - treats migraines, and dozens of conditions that have nothing to do with the 'sexual realm'. It's fiscally irresponsible to restrict it's coverage.
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SouthJewishWman
Proud American Liberal who votes!
12:45 PM on 02/17/2012
As long as employers and insurance companies pay for medically UN-necessary erectile dysfunction drugs, women have every right to demand coverage for birth control, maternity support, breast cancer screenings, etc.. This is not about religious freedom, it's about women's rights to health care and freedom over our bodies. Don't be fooled by this false debate.
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Leighton Brady
Stupid is as stupid does
12:42 PM on 02/17/2012
While they should be playing on that terrain, they aren't because they don't have any good ideas. If they did they wouldn't keep doubling down on the social issues talk. There basic platform is 'I will do nothing but get out of the way, lower taxes(or make sure they don't go up, especially on the wealthy), and kick the poor in the teeth and tell them to get a job. Thats it, what ideas can you promote as someone running for a government job when you say government is the problem in the first place. Its kind of hard to do....and so, they spend time focusing on where the red staters appear to have no problem with "big government"- people's bedrooms.
dtaylo75
Combatting conservatism with truth daily
12:42 PM on 02/17/2012
What if some religious decided that it didn't believe in surgery (defiling God's creation of the human body or some nonsense)? Would that church be allowed to say that nobody at the medical centers they run can have surgery? Where does it stop?

Contraception is a low cost solution to prevent unwanted children that the mother isn't prepared or able to take care of. No human life is lost (unless they want to say that each sperm is actually a human being prior to conception), so there's no ethical quandary here.
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jangoodell
My micro-bio is empty
01:46 PM on 02/18/2012
There are religions that do not believe in surgery. However, they are unlikely to offer insurance as business owners. By this suggested law, if they did offer insurance as a benefit, they could exclude all surgery from the policy. If I owned a business, I could exclude all drugs for cancer if I felt that cancer was God's righteous punishment for sins committed by the owners dogs.
11:35 AM on 02/17/2012
I thought churches were to be non political, yet we know where churches are acting like super pacs for the party of their choice and expressing that followers should only vote as told. So, why are the churches getting the massive tax cuts ? Churches are not the little church in the valley, they are massive structures and the pastors are paid thousands upon thousands of dollars, so where is the original christian idea of humbleness?
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windsorgn
12:41 PM on 02/17/2012
They are suppose to be taxed, but there is not one politician that will enforce that law against political activitism. The moment the Church becomes a group of activitist, they are to lose their tax exemption status.
11:30 AM on 02/17/2012
Thank you for the comment from Billy Graham, I don't usually agree with him but he hit the nail on the head with this quote. Or should I say the Issa on the head. Can't believe Karl Rove isn't corralling these out of control repubs.
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WomenOnGuard
11:29 AM on 02/17/2012
We can have all the discussions about contraception 24/7 and still not agree. People will do what they need to do on a personal level, not on what the government says they should do.
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kareemachan
watashi ha tororu ga oroka da to omoi masu。
12:10 PM on 02/17/2012
What is the government saying they should do? From what I've heard and read, it's the TP/NOP who's wants to limit contraception, limit reproductive healthcare, etc.
12:35 PM on 02/17/2012
That's really the point isn't it? Government isn't telling any individual to do anything. Only that health insurance providers, all health insurance providers, need to make it available. It's still up to the individual if they want to make use of that service.
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alphakat333
May you be touched by his noodly appendage
11:27 AM on 02/17/2012
There is a thread in this debate that isn't getting talked about much that IMO would make this an even bigger political windfall for Democrats. (though, let's face it, right now the Dems are effortlessly running circles around the Pubs, much to my never-ending enjoyment)

Women's health issues, specifically the ability to control the number of children you have as well as when you have them, is one of the most powerful predictors for women's economic stability and the stability of that woman's dependents. So, this is a HUGE economic issue!
le marc
vietvet,old guy,been alot of places in the world,
11:09 AM on 02/17/2012
This issue has been dead for 40 years to any rational, reasonably intellegent person.
Similar, or near similar requirements are in effect in 28 states, many passed passed by republican legislatures and governers. Not to long ago it was also supported by the Republican party as a whole. Now that the GOTP finds itself catering to the extreme far right out on edge city it has become a cynical political ploy to feed the crowd frenzy. With the candidates signing pledges supporting "personhood", and anti-contraception legislation, and VA and OK passing laws that even voters in red,red Mississippi rejected they are dooming themselves to obscurity. This has nothing to really to do with religious freedom ,but is a carcus to feed hate, anger,fear, and emotions to their radical base.