Much of my internet surfing the past few days had stories about what was happening at CPAC along with links and invitations to watch it live. I finally broke down and decided to watch. I didn't last long, five or ten minutes. There was a panel of women talking about how ridiculous the "War on Women" meme was since they were there.
They spoke about right it was to hold conservative beliefs, and the problem is the optics. Men shouldn't speak about women's issues, we need women to do the talking. I guess they had a point, I don't know. I'm a man, so I'll put it out as a question. If a woman were to talk about "legitimate rape" or tell about how she avoids getting pregnant by holding a bottle of aspirin between her legs, is it less offensive?
They talked about how the Violence Against Women Act was passed to help lawyers. They mocked the Lily Ledbetter Act. They acknowledged a wage gap, but said they weren't dependent on big bad government to solve the problem. They have completely missed the point.
The point is below the fold:
Conservatives spend a lot of time talking about the Constitution. They act like they own the copyright, much like they own the copyright on the Bible, and any interpretations that don't jibe with their own are wrong. They don't. They also happen to be wrong. The whole reason the Constitution exists is because the United States under the Articles of the Confederacy was an abject failure.
The Federalist Papers were an 18th century ad campaign to argue that we are stronger as a Union. The Constitutional Convention was convened to draw up a federal government. The founders did not distrust government, they distrusted power which is why they split it up. What exactly did the founders believe about government? I claim that they believed governments are instituted among men to secure the rights of the citizens. Where did I ever get that idea?
Women getting equal pay for equal work are not being Dependent on Government. Government is serving it's purpose by protecting women's rights. That's why it exists. My dog chews shoes, government protects rights.
I recall a conversation I had with my father when a bankruptcy reform bill was being debated. An amendment was proposed to prevent a bank from foreclosing on a US servicemen's home while they were serving overseas. My father didn't believe the amendment was necessary. "Who would do such a thing?" was his argument. Banks, apparently, since we now know that it has happened.
Conservatives believe that the free market makes everything work, and government interferes with that. They just passed some government in West Virginia, and North Carolina is hoping for some more government because they realized that they like having clean water. What kind of Socialist wants clean water? Richard M. Nixon put his name on a law to that effect.