The Beaglez

If someone would have told me a year ago that one of the candidates with a  lead in the polls would be such a fanatic that he makes Mike Huckabee look like a hippie, I’d have laughed. Yet, here we are a year later – and Santorum does have me laughing, all the way to the funny farm.  Some of his ideas are so old (no women in combat, no birth control) and so theologically narrow (Protestants aren’t Christian, Obama’s not Christian) that it’s hard to believe.  But if he were to win the nomination he would start down the slippery slope of defeat.  He doesn’t just represent a jump backward or a step to the right — he represents on giant leap to the stone age.

Meanwhile, Belle’s buddy Newt seems to be playing his own game, edging ever closer to the Twilight Zone.  His campaign is dropping out of states, he has cut back on commercials, is barely making the news and still carries himself as the next president.  I don’t know what world Newt lives in – but it seems to be  very nice place.

Posted in 2012 Election, Birth control, campaign strategy, GOP, Mike Huckabee, Politics, Religion, Religious Right, Rick Santorum, Theocracy
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, Newt running down, Santorum protestants, Santorum religious oppression, Santorum theocracy

Poor Briscoe fell for the world’s oldest trick:  “When you don’t know the answer, talk about something else.”  It seems our media and by proxy the American public have fallen for the same trick.  We haven’t spent the last few days talking about unemployment, the economy, foreclosures, security or banking rules. We’ve been talking about birth control.  It all reminds me of the old Bullwinkle show — “Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat!”.  Only, Bullwinkle got lions, tigers and bears – but never a rabbit.  It’s pretty much the way it is here – to distract us from the lack of progress, ideas or movement on the economy, the GOP is trying to ram social conservatism down our throats and pretend they meant to pull that from the hat all along.

Both sides are playing the distraction game. The Democrats are letting this issue dominate media so they don’t have to answer for years of inaction and failure to make policies to help the economy. Plus, they know most people are on their side.  The Republicans are the ones taking the risk. They don’t have to answer for their years of stalling action, or their lack of answers to the problem — but the more pastors they parade and all male panels they produce – the more neanderthal and out-of-touch they seem to modern voters.  It may play well with the primary zealot voters, but when the real time battle begins – the folks in the middle aren’t going to forget all this power pushing in the name of conservatism and religion.

The sad truth is it shows the role of women in the beltway and the heartland – nothing but a political football to use as a distraction until the boys club finds the answers it’s looking for.  It’s time for women, and men who love and value them, to stand up, free the rabbit, throw away the hat, and demand fair and equal treatment.

Posted in Birth control, campaign strategy, Candidate, Congress, Freedom, Ideas, Media, Religion, Religious Right, Rick Santorum
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, birth control, social conservatism, voter distraction, Watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat, women's rights

Oh GOP legislators – as we say in the south — “Bless their heart.”   It is true that in Florida the drug testing program was halted after a few months do to a constitutional challenge, but the stats from that short period show the costs way outweigh the benefits.  By the time the set up the system, pay the testers, process results, etc – whatever financial benefit they planned to reap from denials (and should you really make money by denying people things like food and rent payments?) – were lost on the cost.

Virginia has gone over to full GOP control and the laws are just flying.  They have loosened the laws up for gun ownership/buying yet again, they are cutting the education budget like crazy, and our state is refusing to set up a health care commission in line with the Health Care Reform Act – because they are going to wait until every legal challenge ever has been heard. In short, they just don’t intend to make health care accessible — but f you ask them – they well tell you how much they looooove life.

It’s programs like this, in the face of a national economic crisis, that make me wonder what we really are paying Congress to do in the first place!

Posted in Agenda, Congress, Economy, Gun Control, Health Care, National Debt, Politics, Tea Party
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, constitutional challenge, economic crisis, Florida drug testing, GOP, health care commission, health care reform, virginia personhood lay

All this week with CPAC going on there has been a parade of drop outs and never trieds commenting on what is wrong with Mitt Romney.  However, I always get the feeling they endorsed Gingrich and now they are trying to put him back on top because of how THEY would look if/when he fails.   The part that interests me is the fact that while the party as a whole is terribly vocal that they don’t want Romney, they don’t think he’s one of them and they will only support him if it is him or Obama — he continues to pick up endorsements and win states.  Saintly Santorum has picked up some Conservative states based on his radical right social conservatism, but he doesn’t have the money or the record to defeat Romney.  So why spend the next 5 months giving Obama all the ammunition in the world for when the race becomes “us versus them” and things are different?   All the “celebs” are so busy trying to recapture some of the spotlight – they just keep digging the GOP’s hole deeper and deeper.

Posted in 2012 Election, campaign strategy, Candidate, Celebrity, GOP, Herman Cain, Politics, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Voting
Tags: Anyone But Mitt, Beagles, Beaglez, Cain, Endorse Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Palin, Perry, social conservatism

Wow – until a few hours ago – today really did seem like an  awesome day.  The court ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional – setting it up for a trip to the Supreme Court, and Karen Handel – the anti-abortion VP of Susan G. Komen resigned after the growing distaste for her politicking with women’s bodies, and her political tone-deafness surfaced.

But as much as I would love to jump and celebrate – the reality is we still have a long way to go.  It’s hard to explain the process of change to folks in the “instant gratification generation” – and yet, that’s all these steps are – part of a much longer,  much  harder process.

But then, just as I was enjoying the idea our country was at least attempting to step forward…along comes Rick Santorum to remind me that small town, white bread, gay bashing is all you need to get ahead in this world. Of the 4 politicians left – I fear Santorum the most.  He represents a theocracy designed to drag us backwards by hundreds of years.  I’m hopeful these three states are juts delusional, and can be talked into backing down by the convention.

Posted in 2012 Election, Agenda, Freedom, Politics, Rick Santorum
Tags: abortion battle, instant gratification, Karen Handel, Komen, Proposition 8, Rick Santorum, Susan G. Komen

The GOP is learning the hard way that you can’t have your bible and beat it too.  First they are all over the map about Romney being a Mormon, suggesting Christianity is the only appropriate faith for the President. Then they are constantly on the Obama Administration as being a faith-hating, religion challenging, heretical, secret muslim force in the White House. They complain the President doesn’t talk about God enough, he doesn’t pray enough, he doesn’t invite Rick Warren to the White House enough…BUT when the tables are turned and the President actually quotes the words of Jesus…well..umm…then it’s offensive and he shouldn’t use religion to support his politics.

It dawns on me that nobody cared when Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry both at various times claimed GOD told them to run for President, and no one batted an eye when Herman Cain sang a hymn as an answer to the question of sexual harassment. But quote something Jesus said and BAM! You’re out of line.  Such hypocrisy.

Which is it? Religion in politics or religion out?  Of course -that phrase attributed to Jesus makes it even harder for the GOP to justify their behavior as they trample over social programs, poor women’s health needs, and tax reform.  Suddenly the light of Christ is shining the truth into some very dark corners – and no one is too happy about that.  Suddenly, the Bible is too sacred to be used in a speech.

Personally, I believe religion and politics should stay 500 feet from each other at all times .

Posted in Administration, GOP, Michele Bachmann, MItt Romney, Obama, Religion, Theocracy
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, hypocrisy, Jesus in politics, Obama Bible quote, President Obama quotes scripture, religion and politics

I was terribly disappointed with the decision of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to defund Planned Parenthood’s breast exams. Disappointed but not too surprised.  Komen has been problematic before now.  There is the issue of the extremely high salaries for top administrative staff, and the horrible practice of using donation dollars to sue small groups who use the phrase “for the cure”  (You’ll note I said it wrong on purpose in the beaglez — we don’t really have the bones for a lawsuit) to contend with as well as the “Pinkwashing” (encouraging the selling of pink items and only giving a small amount to breast cancer care).  But this is beyond what I can accommodate in good conscience.

Upon hiring a Vice President who runs with the Right-Wing, Anti-Abortion crowd, Komen suddenly changed their policies which left Planned Parenthood out in the cold.   Forget the lawsuits – and all the corporate shell games where you pay 10 bucks for a pink water bottle and fifty cents goes toward breast cancer care — the politicizing of breast cancer funds is the worst.

When my partner was diagnosed with breast cancer, Komen wasn’t a big help to us. They are a fund company – not a cancer support or information group.  But we used breastcancer.org frequently to help guide is through our decision making and what to expect.  The artist who does our tattoos also does realistic nipple tattooing which helps women who have had breast reconstruction complete the process. So we support her fund as well.  Learn about the local and direct service groups in your area and consider donating directly to them so your money doesn’t go through a corporate drain and political screen.

As for the 15 Volume Diamond Edition “The Greatness of Newt Gingrich” by Newt Gingrich – that’s not a real book. Yet. 

Posted in Abortion, Communication, Newt Gingrich, Partisanship, Religious Right
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, breast exams for poor women, Komen for the cure, Komen lawsuits, Planned Parenthood funds, politics and breast cancer, Susan G. Komen

The Republican party has become so fractured it’s hard to tell the players without a scorecard.  Insiders, outsiders, evangelicals, moderates, Tea Party, all taking different sides of the same issue makes it very hard for the party to set out a straight forward agenda or goal sheet.  Still, even with all that disparity – few in the Florida party wanted to pick Newt.

His speech had such an amazing ring of hubris to it.  He is giving a speech because he lost a state, however he talks about all the things he will do once he is president.  The idea that he actually has to win an election seems far away from his thinking.  I half expect him to say “And once I am president, I plan to do away with dumb elections, like this one.”    Let’s face it — Newt doesn’t want to be President. He wants to be King.

Posted in 2012 Election, campaign strategy, Candidate, MItt Romney, Newt Gingrich
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, Newt concession speech, Newt loses florida, republican party fractures, republican party problems

Listening to Newt Gingrich go on the attack really is one of the most painful confusing things I have heard.  In one speech he will talk about how he can fix Washington because he is not “one of them” and then go on to list all the elections he has been involved with and invoke his experience from being “one of them.”   He’s done with the past, unless we want to talk about his policy ideas, and he is all about the future except when he wants to stand on the past. That is of course, if we talk about his past without the part of serial adultery, ethics violations and severe depression.   In the ultimate strategy – Newt Gingrich is a man for all seasons (and time periods). He can be anything you want him to be.*

*(some exceptions do apply: honesty, ethics, responsibility, and humility are not included in the Newt 2012 value package.)

Posted in 2012 Election, Communication, Media, Newt Gingrich
Tags: Beagles, Beaglez, GOP Florida primary attacks, marketing, Newt causes confusion, Newt Gingrich, Newt Gingrich attack