Widmerpool's Comments (56)

“Judge Land's order was the most entertaining thing I've read today. He has great skill as a writer. Loved the reference to Alice In Wonderland.”

“Amen! The Democrats should start working for the American people. Their do-nothing­-til-we-wi­n-the-pres­idency strategy is just going to get all the do nothing incumbents voted out of office. The need for change isn't just in the executive office. They should be reflecting the anger that their constituents are feeling and blast Bush for his bullshit economic package.”

“Monsterpiece Theatre was great. I thought it was funny because my parents actually watched that boring Masterpiece Theatre (back when they brought classic pieces of literature to the small screen).

Culturally, the kids of the seventies were the luckiest bunch of kids. Television programs sought to educate us. Films were never better. And those first few seasons of SNL were brilliant. Everything is dumbed down now so that no one has to be challenged intellectually (cuz that can hurt yer feelins if sumpin sez sumpin you dint no or unnerstan).

Dumbing down smart and interesting media of the past for audiences that can't think critically is, well, just dumb. Challenge them! Make them angry that they are treated in such a condescending manner and deprieved of entertainment that doesn't solely involve explosions, farts and groin kicks.

(Full disclosure; I was laughing my head off at "The 40 Year Old Virgin" last night. In my defense I saw "C.R.A.Z.Y." the other night and can't stop thinking about it.)”

“Umm...are you guys talking about the founder of Planned Parenthood?

2) I am very much in favor of Roe v Wade, but I don't agree with Barbara Sanger that we need free abortion clinics in every lower class neighborhood so that we can wipe out the less fortunate. (If you think she didn't say that, you had better get educated)

By: Aroxx on March 21, 2007 at 03:43pm
----------­----------­----------­----------­------

I will verify Barbara Sanger believed that the poor are an inferior breed of human, and somehow tended to be more fertile BECAUSE they were poor. The concept of family planning seems innocent and wholesome enough, but when you secretly do it to get rid of those who are down due to lousy luck, it becomes evil and loses all of its innocent. Being down on your luck, even homeless, is not due to "inferior breeding," but a society that is negligent, and does not pass the test of the truly civilized society that watches after even its most vulnerable, those likely to be poor and/or homeless. Heck, people who have lost their jobs to corporations moving overseas so they can have cheaper labor, are vulnerable. Does this mean they are "badly bred" or "genetically inferior?" No, they are unfortunate because of corporate greed. If Barbara Sanger were alive today, I would have a lot of confrontations with her that she would not enjoy and not be allowed to escape.
By: forebode on March 21, 2007 at 04:31pm
”

“Let me get this straight, after I don't know how many thousands of years of people writing things down in order to accurately remember what someone said, Tony Snow is telling us that the Bush Administration doesn't believe it to be an effective means of recording a person's words?

How about a little historical perspective?

God didn't make Moses memorize the 10 Commandments because He knew how messed up the Commandments would have been if Moses had to keep repeating them going down the mountain. "Thou shalt not take thy Lord's name in vain. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's...idols? No, that's not it...Thou shalt not...make images of thy neighbor's wife..."

Transcripts are important because otherwise someone might be tempted to bear false witness against another person and then try to claim that she hadn't.

And if the apostles hadn't written down Jesus' teachings, Bush would never have known the words of his favorite philosopher.

If the Lord and the apostles had had the collective wisdom of the Bush administration, we might not have all the Christian-Judeo traditions Bush harps on about all the time.
”

“The Republicans are just doing two things they love to do:

1) Smear a candidate's positives qualities (eg Kerry's military service)

2) Alienate/d­isenfranch­ise the African-American vote.

These attacks should be responded to with a simple, "Whatever."”

“I am so glad someone has started discussing abortion as necessary to women's reproductive health. Since ectopic pregnancies meet the ridiculous definition of life (a fertilized egg) put forth by the religious right in all their attempts to outlaw abortion, women would be forced to wait until the egg causes internal bleeding before they could seek medical help. They may die or they may lose their ability to reproduce.

Women who have artificial insemination run a risk of having an ectopic pregnancy. These are women who want to give birth. Additionally, they do no want to lose their limited reproductive capability. There is nothing more devastating to women who have been dealing with infertility than to be told their pregnancy is ectopic and needs to be terminated.

Women's reproductive health is not a black and white issue easily comprehended by the likes of Bill O'Reilly. Until O'Reilly has a pap smear I think he should stop speaking with authority on women's health.”

“Dennis Hastert is accepting blame! I so didn't expect the old "take responsibility" narrative. This is innovative and possibly very dangerous.”

“By: geoman77 on October 04, 2006 at 05:30pm

Thanks for the refresher.”

“Is O'Reilly starting to imitate Colbert? Didn't Colbert do something similar this past week? I believe he got all bent out of shape because he had pushed Frank Rich's book and someone else pushed another book and Rich's ended up at #2. Anyone have a better recollection than me (I would hope)? ”

“This is heartbreaking news.”

“Omigosh, that wasn't very professional, now was it? And here I was remembering Phillips' Katrina coverage last year and thinking no one seemed to notice she had done such a great job because everyone was all, "Ooh Anderson..."

If they fire her I hope they fire the director and producer, too. And Glenn Beck. And Nancy Grace.”

“If she's so religious, why does she let the devil choose her make-up?”

“To Shadow51:

Double Secret Standard.”

“That is wierd. I wonder if it's due to poor health care for women, lack of doctors, making women jump through legal hoops, etc. or health issues women in other states don't have to deal with? I'd be willing to bet it's not because the women involved want it that way.

It would make an interesting research paper. Any Kansas college students out there willing to take it on?
By: Shadow51 on July 26, 2006 at 04:44pm

Back in the day, I worked a hotline for a national reproductive rights org. One of the few clinics in the country that offered 2nd trimester abortions was in Wichita. If it is still in operation, that may be why the number seems so high for one state. Women and girls travel from out of state to get abortions there.”

“I have been annoying every person I have ever met about the religious right's desire to take away women's reproductive rights since the Reagan Administration. Maintaining the right to abortion as granted by the Supreme Court should not be a Sisyphean task. Fight to keep them intact everyday. The only reason Congress passed this bill is because it chips away at the rights of those who can't vote. And that's how the religious right wants to do it. A little here, a little there and, voila, women will wake up to find that deeds to their reproductive organs are in the hands of Sam Brownback.

Access to abortion is important for all girls and women because you never know what the circumstances of your life will be from one day to the next.

By the way, if you went with your godmother to Chicago to see Oprah and you found out there that you were pregnant, could you go get an abortion? I mean, the intent of hte trip was to see Oprah not get an abortion?”

“To Leftee:

Your sister doesn't happen to be Blair from "Facts of Life?" Nah, you probably would have mentioned her whacked out book on child rearing if she was.”

“We aren't born to hate other people. We are taught to hate other people.”

“Were there any reports of four guys on horseback being there, too?”

“Obviously the people working for DeWine didn't feel an actual image of the burning towers to be horrific enough. Without the added smoke, the good people of Ohio wouldn't have remembered that terrible morning when Saddam Hussein flew a plane into the World Trade Center. Twice. And then into the Pentagon.”

“It's only a lie if you check the facts.”

“One down, an entire Congress to go!”

“Maybe we should outlaw all reproductive technology (it's all women stuff anyway). These women are so desparate to have a baby that they and their doctors force men to masturbate to get the sperm used in IVF and artificial insemination. There is at least one religion which finds that act abhorent. Why should men risk their place in heaven because they married women who can't have babies? It's all those women's fault that the little blastocytes are being killed and men are going to Hell. If women just had babies when they are young, like they are supposed to, instead of taking birth control and having abortions and getting STDs, we wouldn't have to have men like Sam Brownback in the Senate. He could be spending his time seeing if his neighbor ladies can float when tied to stones.

By Widmerpool
”

“Maybe we should outlaw all reproductive technology (it's all women stuff anyway). These women are so desparate to have a baby that they and their doctors force men to masturbate to get the sperm used in IVF and artificial insemination. There is at least one religion which finds that act abhorent. Why should men risk their place in heaven because they married women who can't have babies? It's all those women's fault that the little blastocytes are being killed and men are going to Hell. If women just had babies when they are young, like they are supposed to, instead of taking birth control and having abortions and getting STDs, we wouldn't have to have men like Sam Brownback in the Senate. He could be spending his time seeing if his neighbor ladies can float when tied to stones.”

“VitriolAndAngst,

Thanks for a reasoned responsed. They're hard to come by around here. Appreciate the points you made.”