I think we need to dig deeper into what Republicans really wish to accomplish on this front with regard to banning abortion and contraceptives and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

I also think we need to bring our sexual beings into the conversation, in a holistic sense.

And, yes, the power paradigm needs to be involved, too.

The way to counteract this utter asinine BS is to explain to voters, our brothers, fathers and grandfathers how this neediness for male domination could affect their wives, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters personally and what it could cost them personally to allow big government to make personal decisions like it's one size fits all... because it doesn't.

So, when individuals (read: men who oppose abortion rights) use women's own bodies to exert power over women, what is the solution to that if the solution can't involve reversing that power equation?

i.e. although sex is involved, it's a distraction from the real problem and so shouldn't be used in any attempts at a solution.

Oh, really. So, what is the real problem?

This Sunday is out of the question - it's a Christmas dinner for the team at work. So, how about Jan 21st to kick off the festivities for the first CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party of 2024! Say YES!

YES! Absolutely, positively, unequivocally! Jan 21st is a perfect date for it ... I'll make sure nothing else intervenes!

Well, actually, the comment was just too short and left out some important details. Which I have indeed mentioned before but, it seems one has to include EVERYTHING that is even remotely pertinent in EVERY comment these days in order for people to understand the message. Sigh.

So, to reiterate for Joshua and Kick, I believe the abortion rights debate is not and should not be about sex.

Hope that, at least, is as clear as mud.

But, it should most definitely be about power. Indeed, what we are talking about when it comes to men who oppose abortion rights is absolutely about retaining power over women, sexually and otherwise.

As for women who purport to be opposed to women's reproductive rights, well I don't have much time to waste on them. Suffice to say that they are part of the overall problem and probably always will be.

And, my tongue in cheek assertion - that any man who opposes women's reproductive rights should expect to have any and all sexual pleasure withheld from them and just go solo - stands. Ahem.

Having said all of that, again ... I think one of the underlying issues behind the anti-abortion movement stems from a very unhealthy understanding of sex, sexual pleasure and, indeed about the entire reproductive process.

I think this issue has been too long draped in religion and the law and it is high time for women to take back the power they have always had.

Questions, comments, insults?

Don't you agree that the 'abortion issue' needs to be better framed by Democrats as being about sexual well-being and that any man who opposes abortion rights should expect to have all sexual pleasure withheld by his lover?

Are you serious? Is this a trick question?

After having given this some thought, I don't believe the abortion issue should be framed by Democrats as being about sex at all... comparable to the manner in which rape isn't generally about sexual gratification either... but rather generally about a male enforcing power over another, i.e., the perceived domination over others simply by virtue of being male, not unlike a subset of Americans who believe they are superior because of their "white" skin. The abortion issue is one of dominance/control over others.

The way to counteract this utter asinine BS is to explain to voters, our brothers, fathers and grandfathers how this neediness for male domination could affect their wives, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters personally and what it could cost them personally to allow big government to make personal decisions like it's one size fits all... because it doesn't.

It's about freedom from government intrusion into your personal lives, and President Biden should explain that as long as he's president, he will sign no legislation that would take that away. :)

"Inflation" may be proclaimed to be "down" (based on the total ignorance that obtains in this world about the true definition of the word), but my weekly grocery bill is UP UP UP EVERY GAWDAM WEEK!!!!!

The sole reason anybody would EVER vote for Biden is that the alternative is worse still, and that's a pretty shaky foundation for any politician to run on.

Don't you agree that the 'abortion issue' needs to be better framed by Democrats as being about sexual well-being and that any man who opposes abortion rights should expect to have all sexual pleasure withheld by his lover?

Would it be too much to ask Democrats to campaign in a fashion where they explain how the policies of MAGA Republicans will cost them personally and economically?

Abortion: If our wives, daughters, and granddaughters are going to be forced to give birth, that is definitely going to impact your families' lives and definitely impacts your economy.

Health care: Additionally, if MAGA Republicans take away your health care for Trump's nonexistent plan, that too is a giant impact to your economy.

You get the drill. Biden has so much more to campaign on than the economy; he really does, but it doesn't hurt to explain to people how so many of the other issues impact their economy.

The "price of gas" will seem infinitely trivial when faced with the price of health care you've lost and/or the cost of American families being forced to pay monetarily out-of-pocket for the progeny of someone who raped their wives, daughters and/or granddaughters.

At the same time, these overall numbers don't necessarily reflect the economic reality faced by many, or by some regions or some groups--for example, if basic should-be-cheap foodstuffs have gone up in price, or rent, or any other essential. And we know there was a lot of price-gouging during and after the pandemic.

I am trying to remember where I saw an article that said that Republicans say their income is down even when it's up--I thought it was WaPo, but haven't found it to link yet.

Where are you? Hope all is well and let me wish you a very Happy New Year!

We have to host another CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party because I just stumbled onto something this evening that I know you are going to just love!

What was the theme we were talking about doing? Singles? Yeah, and how about we include the B side of singles!? I got two beauties in store for the occasion.

This Sunday is out of the question - it's a Christmas dinner for the team at work. So, how about Jan 21st to kick off the festivities for the first CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party of 2024! Say YES!

If Biden and the Dems would just watch this video and Q&A, then they would have all they need to put a stake through the heart of the Republican cult of economic failure, once and for bloody all!

[Trump and] Republicans' Epic Fail on the Economy

If Biden and the Dems need some help in crafting a winning economic message, then they can defer and refer to this piece by David Fiderer in which he coined the winning phrase, Republican cult of economic failure.

All the more reason why Dems need to talk about the big economic history lesson, ad Bidenitum. Ahem. The bottom line: Dems good for the economy and average citizens; Republicans bad for the economy and average citizens. The numbers really don't lie!

Part of the problem, as mentioned, is the news media, which tends always to spotlight economic troubles in a big way but then gives short shrift to good economic news when it is reported. Bad news sells (or drives clicks, these days) better than good -- that's been true for a very long time. Another part of the problem is the lag time which is built in: people don't feel better about economic good news until they're more sure it is going to take hold (rather than be just a momentary blip). This lag time is roughly (speaking politically) about three months. This is evidenced by the rule of thumb that it is how the economy is doing in the summer that influences people's presidential vote, even if there is a big spike upwards or downwards in economic news in October.

Part of the problem, yes, but also a roadmap to the solution. Biden and Dems just have to give everyone an economic history lesson starting from voodoo economics and David Stockton during the Reagan years right through to the Great Recession and Pandemic Economics.

It is so easy to illustrate how Republican administrations have a decades long history of leaving economic messes on the order of magnitude of the Augean Stables, no less, for Democratic administrations to clean up!

Of course, the Dems are not totally blameless in some of America's economic woes over the decades but, compared with the Republican cult of economic failure, Democratic tax and fiscal policy is the veritable cat's meow! Indeed, admitting some economic policy mistakes could be beneficial if done deftly. :)