Do You Read Margaret and Helen?

I've been getting emails and comments asking if I'm OK, where I be at with the blog, and such. Well, thank you for your concern. I do miss you and miss the blog, but a) I've been very happily busy with work, and b) I've been spending probably way too much time in Facebook and Twitter, getting all het up about current affairs and such. Important things like honest rape. You know what that is, right? Right??

Today I'm off from work for a few days, and I come back to the blog with a bang. I hope it lives up to your wishes and expectations, because it's... well. It's me at my (almost) most fed up. 

I'm reprinting Margaret and Helen's latest blog post at the bottom of this post. I don't have their permission, but I'd like to think they'd give it to me if I asked. And I'm linking and giving attribution like a good blog neighbor, just because -- this week especially -- they have continued to make me feel just a little bit lighter, just about every day, when the news of those right-wing nutcases keeps on making my blood boil. 

I'd like to share their blog with you if you don't know about it. I subscribe to it and get notified by email when they post anew.

I apologize for this being such a link-to-outside-reading-material-heavy post, but I just had to get some of this off my chest. 

I'm very glad to see Rick Santorum, emboldened by his recent wins, start to truly reveal himself, what with his crazy talk about "in the Netherlands people have to wear 'do not euthanize' bracelets so they don't get put down when they go to the hospital E.R.," (Because yes, of course! What do we think when we think Netherlands? Tulips, windmills, and euthanizing the elderly -- am I right?!)  And President Obama is going to have Christians on the guillotine like during the French Revolution.

 

 

And don't even GET me started on his, "consider it a blessing that your rapist impregnated you" bullshit. And there is so much more. The shit he spews just never ends. He is the gift that keeps on giving.

I'd love to go into a psychological analysis of his poor wife. It doesn't take a licensed psychologist to see that she is either batshit crazy (and in need of lots of love) herself, or she is paying some sort of weird self-penance for, I don't know, maybe this?

Rick Santorum, the Church Candidate. Just exactly what we don't need. Note to Rick: Read the fucking U.S. Constitution, sir.

So I'm glad that he is on this self-destructive path of insanity, because even among the most right-wing, there are certainly many of those women who do not want to turn the clock back to 1899.

Aren't there? 

There is a poster going around online that says, "Choosing between the GOP candidates is like trying to decide which STD do I want." Thankfully, I don't have to choose from that rotten lot.

So here I give you Margaret and Helen. Go and subscribe to their blog here.

100,000 Gay Kids Secretly Watch Ellen

HELEN:

Margaret, I think that religious freedom means that we have freedom for religion as well as freedom from religion.  Now I know you don’t worry about this stuff.  You have never questioned your religion and you never worry about the day you will eventually meet your maker.  I question my religion regularly and worry all the time.  I guess that’s why I have a fat ass and you look like a zipper when you stick your tongue out.  Which reminds me, dear, did you check on that cake recipe I sent you? I am not sure about the ingredients and Betty’s daughter is kind of mad at me about that Komen stuff so I can’t ask her right now.

And speaking of being mad, I watched that sweet Ellen – like I do every day – and discovered that one million mothers are mad at JCPenney and they are trying to get Ellen fired because she is one of those lesbians.  That sweet little girl never did anything but make people laugh and dance a little.  Every time she comes on the TV I have to get up and do a little step doodle-ditty step with her.  I just love her.  Who are these million moms anyway?  Mothers should know better.  Statistically speaking a hundred thousand of those moms are raising a child who secretly watches Ellen and would one day make a fine spokesperson for JCPenney.

All of this hatred in the name of Jesus is alarming.  It’s alarming from a million moms and it is particularly alarming from presidential candidates like Rick Santorum. He was in Texas this week talking about his faith… which always leads him to talk about abortion and gay marriage.  I swear that man worries more about vaginas and who is sleeping with whom than any normal person should.   I don’t think he is right in the head.  He told his audience that his faith is a part of who he is and it will guide him in his presidency.  Well good for him.

There is nothing wrong with a little faith keeping you on the straight and narrow as they say.  But here’s the problem I have when it is the only consideration for a presidential candidate.  My faith guides me too.   And my church has no issue with contraception and understands that sometimes abortion is a moral and scared decision that a women might make in her life.  And every week when I go to my church there are these two women who are raising two beautiful little girls and nobody in my church has an issue with their little family.  I even heard that they all went up to Canada and got married.  Now I get that Rick Santorum's and Newt Gingrich's church, the Catholic Church, feels differently about these things.  And I respect that.  But which church should our government follow?  Your church or my church? What about Mitt Romney’s church?

My late husband, Harold, was a Catholic.  He went to mass every Sunday until the day he left this earth.  But I can promise you that he didn’t tell me what I could and couldn’t do with my lady parts and I’m sure as hell not going to let Newt and Rick start telling me now.

And while we are on the subject, let me say a few words about all those Catholic Bishops who say they would prefer to deny healthcare to everyone rather than include coverage for contraception.  That law does not force the church to give birth control to women.  Churches and houses of worship are exempt.  This is about hospitals and universities that serve and employ the broader public, not to mention they receive federal funding.  I am sure those Bishops are clueless about these things but the typical woman spends five years pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, and 30 years trying not to get pregnant.  So you’re telling me that  a bunch of nurses have to resort to the rhythm method for 30 years  just because the hospital they work at has some saint’s name above the door?   If those Bishops get their way a female professor at Notre Dame can’t get insurance coverage for her monthly birth control but her male counterpart can slap down a $15 co-pay and get all the Viagra he wants. Well that’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day.

I know you think I am over-reacting, Margaret, but you need to understand that it’s not just about the stupidity of some Bishops or the whining of a million clueless moms.  There are real dangers when religion gets into bed with politics.

Gingrich would outlaw all abortion with no exceptions. He signed the Republican candidate pledge which would give all human zygotes from the moment of conception the same rights and constitutional protections as human beings. He would oppose any legislative, judicial or bureaucratic efforts to define marriage as anything other than a relationship between a man and a woman… or in his case a man, a woman and another woman.

Santorum opposes all abortion including abortion for rape victims or for women who would die from continuing a pregnancy.  He considers contraception "dangerous" and favors allowing the states to ban it altogether.  According to Rick, gays are such second class citizens that they don’t deserve the privilege of marriage which is kind of odd considering those gay marriages reduce the number of abortions opting instead to adopt a lot of those unwanted kids.

Romney said Roe v. Wade should be reversed.  He says he would support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.   He would allow gays already married to remain married but would bar any new gay marriages.  Those gay marriages are kind of like his view on abortion – at one time they were fine.  Now they are not.

Those are alarming statements and positions because all of them are based on the candidate’s personal religious beliefs and yet all of them would have devastating effects on millions of American citizens who might not share those same beliefs.   I’m pretty sure  letting gay people get married isn’t going to stop Rick Santorum or any of those million moms from following their faith.  And it would be nice if those Bishops would realize having insurance coverage doesn’t mean you have to use birth control.

I wrote once that love is about the heart not the body.  Trust me, if it was about the body a lot of us would be in a world of trouble.  You can’t legislate love between two consenting adults.  You just can’t no matter how hard you try.  If you want to save marriage, marry someone you love.  And if you don’t believe in contraception, don’t use it – and please don’t date my granddaughter.

So to any of those million moms out there who might read this, I say:    Leave Ellen alone.  Ellen hasn’t done anything except bring a little happiness into my world every day at her new time slot of 3:00 now that Oprah is gone.  You would be lucky to have your child grow into such a wonderful young woman as Ellen DeGeneres.

What a week.  On Sunday I went to church. On Monday I made a donation to Planned Parenthood.  And today, I told my son to buy my granddaughter a cute new outfit at JCPenney so that Ellen won’t lose her job.   And, just like you Margaret, I am pretty sure that God and I are right with one another.  I mean it.  Really.

MARGARET:

Well I’ll let you worry about all that, dear.  I am working on that recipe you asked about for the cookbook.  Betty drinks so I question her notes about how much butter to use.  By the way, Ellen comes on at 4:00 here in Maine which makes it hard because Howard likes to eat dinner at 4:30.

 

Comments

[Tere]

Right On!!!!

[Zardra]

How have I never heard of Margaret and Helen before. They are awesome! *runs off to add them to Google Reader*

[Carole]

I've been reading Margaret and Helen since the last presidential election cycle and I think they are awesome!

[Leslie]

What a great post, Norma! I, like Zardra, am adding Margaret and Helen to my reader. I have to agree with you that this contraception thing is really out of hand, and hearing that Obama (or is it NoBallsa) is going to compromise AGAIN is making my normally low blood pressure soar.

I'm going for a walk to calm down. Love to you and Mr. J.

[Kitten]

FYI, your 1899 wapo post takes me to the WaPo reader in Facebook, not to the article itself. (I refuse to use FB apps at all anymore so I won't click.)

[Seanna Lea]

Sometimes I wonder if the candidates really believe the crap they are spewing or if they are cynically saying what they think the vast majority of their target constituents are thinking. Unfortunately, it seems that even if it is the latter, that saying you believe something over and over becomes its own self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's like either they are stupid and misguided, but somehow got power. Or they are evil and misguided and are trying to manipulate the American people into even greater acts of stupidity against the values set forth in the Constitution.

[Kristen]

Screaming over here. Just screaming. I was never so glad to see him gone from our state government. I can't believe he's back in the limelight and people listen to him.

[Barbara M.]

That's our Norma! Thanks for telling it the way it really is.......we need more people who will.

Barbara M.

[Jo]

I'm breathless! Loved the STD quote and like other commenters will be adding Margaret and Helen to my "must read" blog list. I am comforted to know there are plenty of others who don't allow their religious beliefs to compromise their common sense and their humanity. I think these wackadoodles get by with this shit because lots of people don't believe they will actually do the crap they profess. A dangerous belief in my view! Thanks for this post.

[Tish]

I'm a lapsed Catholic/born-again Heathen so maybe I don't get a vote in such things, but my belief has always been that until the Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope are willing to come to my house to change diapers, carpool, attend PTO (scouts, sports, dance, etc) mtgs, buy school clothes and pay my kids' college tuition, they don't get a say in how many kids I do or don't have and how I do or don't have them. And if Big Daddy can't get his willie up without medical intervention, maybe that's a sign from God and they should take heed and not interfere. But that's just me.

[Rosemary McN]

Thank You! Yup, thank you for giving us a voice of sanity!

[Beverly]

My favorite of your posts, ever.

[janna]

I ADORE Margaret and Helen -- I'm glad you know them, too!

[Becky]

How I have missed THIS Norma! I have been boiling for days! I am so ashamed of complacent women who are allowing all the rights we fought for when I was young to slip away! What's up with letting institutions, run by and large by MEN, tell women what to do with their bodies?! It's between a woman and her conscience and her doctor whether to use contraception or get an abortion. It's not a matter of state or any of the government's business!! It's fine with me if you're against these things, then don't use them. Women, rise up, SPEAK! Next thing I know, they will be discussing if I have the right to own property or if they are allowed to beat their wives if they misbehave. I am really disturbed by all this, it's, it's, DISTURBING!!!!

[Lois Budnitsky]

Glad to see you back in fighting spirit. How can we mobilize women to get out and vote when we need them?

[ruth]

Yes! Thanks for posting this!

[Rachel]

Thank you for this post that says very well everything I want to write about too.

And thank you for introducing this lovely Margaret and Helen to me. Did you read their About page?

[gayle]

Thank you for Margaret and Helen! Though it looks like I won't get anything done today while I go poke through their archives...
I think the Republicans should be embarrassed at the pile of nitwit-nutjobs they've fielded as candidates. Is this really the cream of their party?

[Lee]

Margaret and Helen rock! Thanks for letting me know about them. It sure is great to hear from you.

[Nightowl7395]

It is your blog, so you certainly have the right to say what you want. I however will no longer be reading. I read knitting blogs for the knitting, not political views. I am no fan of Mr. Santorum either, but this kind of goes over the line for me. I read political blogs for this info, not knitting ones. I will be pulling your blog off my reader. I'm sad to go, but as I said I don't mix my crafts with my politics.

[Cookie]

I love how the right wing can say literally ANYTHING about the left (& middle) and we are expected to take it. However, if we say a single thing against those right wingers, they get their panties in a twist and start moaning.

Do they not realize we are just trying to do as their "faith" teaches. We are treating them as they treat us. What a shame they don't have the balls to walk the walk.

Then again, it doesn't take balls to stand in judgment of others. How white of them.

Love Margaret & Helen, of course. Love you, too. Blogging or no.

xoxox

[Peggy Ichinose]

You, Norma, are the best.

[Marianne]

I love you.
I know.. that's a real shocker and you had NO idea. snort.

oh.. and buh-bye nightowl7395.

mwaaah!