I live in DC. I'm used to protests, and avoid taking the kids to the Mall when ones I think might be offensive are scheduled. Today, the "Pro-Lifers" made me nearly homicidal. I should have figured they'd equate a five-month fetus with a blastocyst and anticipated they'd be out in force today...
I respect anyone's right to their opinions on the issues of the day and their right to express their opinions. But, today I was driving my 8 year old son, my 10 year-old daughter and one of her friends to one of our great public swimming pools down by the Potomac and had to drive across the National Mall. There, on 14th Street, for 3/4 of a mile in stop and go traffic, were Pro Life protesters with their signs on the side of the road. Every 15-20 yards, there was a 4x6 (feet, not inches) poster - you know the ones. I won't even put up thumbnails, they were so repulsive.
I've sat on a jury for a grizly murder trial and seen autopsy photos. I've seen a jetskier's brains spilling out of his head after an accident on a Florida beach. I've seen and helped pull rotting corpses from the Potomac River and Cheasapeake Bay. I can deal with the realities of life's uglier scenes, and I know full well what an abortion results in.
But I will never, ever forgive these a-hole zealots for exposing my kids to this imagery, nor will I forget. I was tempted to run off the road and mow down each and every last ghoulish one of them to let them find peace with their maker - they remind me of the "Islamofacists" looking for the virgins. You want to protest? Fine, feel free to do it to Congress, but leave my kids out of it, you sons of bitches.
I understand the strategy: embarass or shame Pro-Chioce people with the ugly truths their points of view (and the law) enable to occur. Hell, I don't "like abortion". Who the fuck does? Maybe they want parents to be faced with a decision: oppose abortion rights or you'll have to drive for 10 minutes with a clenched jaw while three previously blissfully naiive kids in the back seat try to make sense of what they are seeing, then try to artfully dodge questions about it without demeaning their intelligence. Whatever, it has pissed me off to the extreme, and I'm posting this to look for suggestions to deal with these fuckers.
My kid just woke up from a nightmare with visions of this stuff, and I'm now wishing I had resorted to a confrontation (in my mind, much more viloent than the dialogue that follows).
Me: "So, how do you feel about sex-ed in schools?"
Asshat: "I'm opposed to it. It's my right as a parent to decide when and how I talk to my children about sexual issues."
Me: "Really? Tell me then, why do you assume it's okay to force a discussion of D&C procedures in my household with children who are neither of an appropriate age nor psychologically ready to engage the subject, YOU CRETINOUS ASSHAT?"
Asshat: "Look, I'm just expressing my opinion like I'm entitled to..."
Me: "Super. By the way, are you one of the people who think that showing the honored flag-draped coffins of our soldiers is treasonous? I bet you do. THEN WHY IN THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IT IS OKAY TO SHOW DEAD FUCKING EMBRYOS ON THESE LARGER THAN LIFE POSTERS, YOU TWISTED FUCK!"
Congratulations to the scum who think that they accomplished something today. This isn't about just their hypocrisy, nor is it about political beliefs; the other girl's parents and I are staunchly on either side of the issue (actually, her dad is much more commited - he is the president of a group of downtown DC churches and is ultra-conservative), and they were just as horrified.
So, what's it gonna be people? Should I just sit back and let these assholes continue to pollute my streets with their disgusting posters (you know, Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a common health issue as well, but I don't see huge pictures of COLONS BLOCKED WITH SHIT being held every thirty feet along the National Mall), or should I invite one or more of these asshats to either explain to my children what they are showing. Or, should I collect all the loose dog feces in my neighborhood and slowly go around shoving it in their mouths?
Sorry. I am SOOOOO pissed of at what MY KIDS had to go through at the expense of these morons gaining... what? Uh.. NO POLITICAL CLOUT WHATSOEVER today. That's what kills me: they gain nothing with this tactic, but someone like me has to deal with my kids' questions. And, they should know, I'm only going to explain why these people are jerks, not what they want me to say.