Today I get a bit political.

Most of you have probably heard by now that Pat Robertson has said some pretty terrible things about the people in Haiti, about how they made a pact with the devil to get out of slavery, and that's why they live in poverty and have been struck by an earthquake.

This article posits that the reason for the backlash against Mr. Robertson is because religion is still important to many Americans.

I disagree. The author of the article says that people are speaking out against Robertson mostly because he is misrepresenting their view of Christianity, and it outrages them.

I think people are outraged at Robertson because he just said some really awful, undeserved things about people who have just suffered unimaginable tragedy. It doesn't matter if you're Christian, Jewish, atheist, Muslim, pagan, or anything else; that's offensive. Saying that anyone who experiences a natural disaster such as the earthquake in Haiti somehow brought it on themselves is....well. I just don't have the words. "Despicable" might cover it, but only just. The fact that he uses Christianity as a cover for his hatred, while not irrelevant, is secondary to the fact that he is spewing hatred at people who don't deserve it.

Jon Stewart's smack-down is really fantastic, I think. Unfortunately, Mr. Robertson probably won't change his thinking. The best we can hope for is that he learns to keep his mouth shut.

Apparently it's blog for choice day?

I decided to write this post while in line at the supermarket last night, and then found out that it's blog for choice day. What a coinkydink!

Last night, while waiting in line at the supermarket while the poor cashier had a disagreement with a customer over a coupon for aluminum foil, I was perusing the covers of the tabloids and magazines.

On the front cover of last week's In Touch Weekly was a photo of Sarah and Bristol Palin holding their respective babies. Emblazoned above them was the headling, "We're Glad We Chose Life!" Cheery color, happy font, smiling faces.

My immediate thought was, "Yeah, it was your CHOICE to have those babies. That's the whole point!"

Then I started thinking about privilege.

The Palins are and upper-middle class white family. They have access to better-than-decent healthcare; they have a nice house; they have money. They have the resources to care for those babies, and that's fine.

What bothers me is that they make such a big deal about how happy they are that they chose to have their children. Well, yes, that was a great choice for you. You have the resources to deal with that decision.

Please note that I am not saying that raising a special needs child or being a teenage mother is easy for anyone, because that is not the case. I am saying that the Palins have certain advantages that other people might not necessarily have access to.

It bothers the crap out of me that the Palins are being held up as these bastions of the anti-abortion movement, without any acknowledgment of the fact that they are more privileged than the average person who might be considering an abortion.

Lots of people do NOT come from upper-middle class white families. The do not have access to better-than-decent healthcare; they do not have nice homes; they do not have money. Those people would not have the resources to care for those children, and whatever decision they made for themselves would be fine, too.

You see, other people's reproductive choices are none of my business. My reproductive choices are nobody's business but mine (and Rich's, by virtue of the fact that he would be involved, but that's tangental to this discussion.)

This is why America needs to remain a country where abortion is legal. Because other people's reproductive choices are none of your damn business.

Oh, and as for the public option? I would rather my taxes go towards the safe ending of an unwanted pregnancy, than having to pay for pre-natal care, the birth of an unwanted child, and then have that child end up in the foster system or something.

But that's just me.