The place was pretty crowded. Several professors had apparently mandated that their classes attend and write a paper or some other kind of report. Lots of caught-in-the-headlights deer who sat as far in the back as they could get. We were there with a group of good Democrats and other progressives, hoping against hope that something, anything, would waken the deers to the fact that their futures were at serious risk and feel compelled to get involved. And the Tea Party was there, all 7 or 8 of them to cheer on their side and see some fireworks.
They got their wish.
The deer began to put their texting on hold when they heard the College Republicans argue that, among other things, women had no rights to mandatory insurance coverage for contraception: "if women want to avoid getting pregnant, they should stop having sex" and "just because I want a diet coke every hour doesn't mean the taxpayers should have to pay for it." (One of the College Democratic debaters asked him if he'd ever had a period.)
There was other "good stuff." The College Republicans argued that prison life was really just a piece of cake ("they get cigarettes, gourmet food and a soft mattress"), and the proposed same-sex Constitutional Amendment that will be on our primary ballot this May is essential because gay and lesbian couples' children are more likely to commit heinous crimes and do poorly in school.
Then there was this:
I've been attending college debates here for over 20 years. In the past, College Republicans have actually been somewhat progressive on social issues at least, but it's clear as a bell the Tea Party has managed to whip them into a frenzy of crazy. The sadness is most young people here just don't have much interest in politics, and if that's the case for most of the young people across this nation, it's going to be pretty easy to take away the rights they take for granted. Or don't even know they have.
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