Why I don’t like Bush, Part II

This is going to be slightly more contentious than Part I (Politics of War), since the subject is a bit more volatile.

First things first, I despise the Bush administration’s agenda pushing abstinence as the only sex education that should be taught in schools. Apparently these people were either never teenagers, or have no memory of being teenagers. Yes, abstinence is important and should be emphasized in sex education BUT let’s not pretend that it works 100% of the time, because doing so essentially damns those teens for whom abstinence education doesn’t work. What I find most frustrating about abstinence education is that it is actually contrary to the goal of reducing rates of abortion, which should be everyone’s primary goal. Get rid of unwanted pregnancies, you have removed the need for abortion. But those goals seem to be contrary to the idea of abstinence education, which doesn’t leave room for telling teens that if they don’t wait, it is imperative that they use contraception.

Abstinence education doesn’t give teens who are already having sex access to contraception, and that lack is what can lead to unwanted pregnancy, and that unwanted pregnancy can lead to abortion. It’s as if the right has forgotten their goal of stopping abortion in their quest for universal conservative ‘Christian’ morality with no sex before marriage. We should have the goal of a culture without abortion, but it will be far more effective to achieve this goal through the stopping unwanted pregnancies rather than requiring women who do not want to have a child, to carry that child to term.

Then there is the administration’s treatment of gays and lesbians. I cannot understand how a society that spilled gallons of ink on the 55 hour marriage of Britney Spears can say that the a gay or lesbian couple vowing a life time of commitment is degrading to sanctity of marriage. We are far more degraded by drive-through elvis chapels and quick divorces than we are by two people of the same gender swearing eternal devotion to one another. And that doesn’t begin to touch the conservative delusion that homosexuality is a choice. To paraphrase my friend Hammer, yeah, people become homosexual because they figure they can’t make enough people hate them through force of personality alone.

As far as I am concerned, asking someone why they chose to be gay is akin to asking them why they chose to be left-handed. I’m sure that you could use the modern equivalent of smacking the child with a ruler when they use their left hand, but that doesn’t mean the trait is not an inherent and natural trait–or that smacking them with a ruler is a good idea.

We also have the subject of Planned Parenthood and US support overseas. We won’t give ANY support to Planned Parenthood or other similar organizations, in the work they do overseas, even if that work would reduce unwanted pregnancies, reduce incidence of STD transmission, reduce transmission of AIDS, and ultimately reduce abortion rates. I believe this is a serious case of biting off our nose to spite our face. What we need to export to these countries is education and tolerance, not excuses.

Again, these are not necessarily arguments to persuade someone to my way of thinking–there are far better arguments out there, this is simply my detailing of the reasons I do not like President Bush, and why I fear his reelection.

Here are some links to peruse at your leisure. None of the fit particularly well into the essay, so I’m providing further information here.

AIDS rates are increasing in the US after a decade of decline
AIDS rates are increasing internationally
Rates of teenage pregnancy in the US are higher than other industrialized nations
A BBC Health feature on genetics
Copy of a NY Times article on the genetics of homosexuality

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
— Martin Luther King Jr.

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.
— Martin Luther King Jr., ‘Strength to Love,’ 1963

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
— Martin Luther King Jr.,
1964 Nobel Peace Prize

“I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed and non- violent redemptive goodwill proclaimed the rule of the land. And the Lion and the Lamb shall lie down together, and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid. I believe that we shall overcome.”
– Martin Luther King
1964 Nobel Peace Prize

You can also find text and audio to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The King Center
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

Okay, I’ve been pretty well behaved for awhile, so I figure that’s about enough of that. So…

Why I am so opposed to President Bush, Part I.

There are a lot of reasons why I don’t like Bush, but the list starts at the way our troops have been treated by the current administration. I don’t want to get into the right or wrong of our actions in Iraq, that is the past and there is nothing that can be done about it now, what concerns me now is the cavalier manner with which the health, safety, and lives of our soldiers have been treated.

Let me give some examples:

We can look at pay rates for soldiers, including imminent-danger pay, the way Bush did not extend tax cuts to low-income military personnel, and the funding for programs for soldiers families.

“The White House griped that various pay-and-benefits incentives added to the 2004 defense budget by Congress are wasteful and unnecessary — including a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty. This comes at a time when Americans continue to die in Iraq at a rate of about one a day.
Similarly, the administration announced that on Oct. 1 it wants to roll back recent modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones.
The chintz even extends to basic pay. While Bush’s proposed 2004 defense budget would continue higher targeted raises for some ranks, he also proposed capping raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at 2 percent, well below the average raise of 4.1 percent.”
from the Army Times (July 02, 2003)

“Bush’s signature on the latest tax cut…failed to extend a child tax credit to nearly 200,000 low-income military personnel; a $1.5 billion reduction in his 2004 budget, to $9.2 billion from $10.7 billion, for military housing and the like; and a cut of $14.6 billion over 10 years in benefits paid through the Veterans Administration.”
from the Wasthington Post (June 17, 2003)

“Commissaries and the Defense Department’s stateside schools are in the crosshairs of Pentagon budget cutters…The two initiatives are the latest in a string of actions by the Bush administration to cut or hold down growth in pay and benefits, including basic pay, combat pay, health-care benefits and the death gratuity paid to survivors of troops who die on active duty.”
from the Army Times (November 03, 2003)

Then there is the outfitting of troops who are in harm’s way in Iraq. Througout the war, the pictures that came back from Iraq showed soldiers dressed not in desert fatigues, but in the green jungle fatigues. And it wasn’t just one or two soldiers, but a high precentage. (This you can easily check for yourself by going to any on-line news source and looking at war pictures from March and April.). More seriously however, is the lack of armor, a problem that continue even now.

Lack of uniforms and armor I have mentioned before, but concern about lack of armor extends even to the House.

“Army Reserve and National Guard troops getting shot at in Iraq sometimes wait for new bulletproof body armor while active duty Army soldiers get it first, according to Reserve and Guard soldiers.”
from The Washington Times (Dec 3, 2003)

“The Pentagon confirms that at least 40,000 of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq don’t have basic Kevlar Interceptor vests or the ceramic plates needed for full protection.”
from USA Today (2003)

Then there is the issue of troops, especially Reserve and National Guard troops, being kept away from home for so long. Yes, one can argue that regular troops and ever reservists should have known what they are signing up for, but I do not think that the same argument can be extended to National Guard troops. The National Guard is the group that helps states recover from flooding, and snowstorms, and wild fires, and that is precisely the association that civilians have of those troops–they help us during disasters. I would never have expected National Guard troops to be sent overseas for a year, but I suppose that could just be naivate on my part.

Senator Byrd has spoken on the issue of National Guard being kept overseas for extended periods of time and the treatement of those troops.

The point is that US troops are dying, they are sacrificing their lives for their country, there have been around 9000 soldiers wounded in Iraq, but our country does not seem to be giving our troops anything beyond flag waving, yellow ribbons, and “support our troops” signs. If we really supported our troops, we’d pay them better, bring home the National Guard Troops, stop cutting funding for base schools and comisaries, and increase Veteran’s benefits.