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Opinions/Editorials Title: The Right’s War On…Freedom When America’s political right wing talks about individual liberty they aren’t talking about autonomous individual freedom. They are talking about their freedom to tell others what to do, their right to curb the freedom of others. It’s an obvious point, but it’s a point often missing from our public political conversation. Instead, conservatives are framed as the champions of individual liberty and the left defined as advocates of the collective over the individual. The conservative hunger for authority over others is perfectly visible in their ongoing war on women. Consider the pending legislation in Arizona that would require women to get the permission of their employers before insurance policies would cover birth control pills prescribed for health reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Or consider the wave of so-called “sonogram” bills initiated by conservatives so fanatic they mandate non-medical, trans-vaginal violation of women seeking pregnancy terminations. The controversy over the Obama Administration contraceptive policy is all about the Catholic Church’s authority over its non-church employees. All their indignant and misleading talk about the loss of religious liberty disguises their real agenda: perpetuation of their “natural” order in which they get a free hand to diminish the liberty of their inferiors. Not long ago the media referred to these right-wing officeholders and their backers as “value voters.” Their opponents’ struggle for individual liberty was somehow viewed as an immoral pursuit. You want to see a picture of immorality? The Texas Observer has a poignant, first-person piece by Carolyn Jones in which she tells of her harrowing encounter with Texas’ new sonogram bill.
Doctors discovered the baby she carried suffered from a molecular flaw that meant his brain, spine and legs would not develop correctly. Physicians recommended termination to prevent a life of terrible, inhuman suffering. Ms. Jones and her husband then encountered the consequences of the state’s mandatory sonogram law.
Ms. Jones goes on to detail the anguish suffered at the hands of right-wing legislators who think nothing of the harm they do others as long as their own authority is maintained.
Last week my colleague, James Moore (co-author of the book, Bush’s Brain) and I published a piece at Huffington Post urging men to stand up on behalf of women. Men have a moral responsibility to defend the rights of women, especially when it’s women’s bodies and their rights to make their own health care choices. I also think that those us of committed to individual freedom from coercion and oppression must defend our values anywhere and everywhere they are under assault.
I’ve included the ad we made to draw attention to the fight in Texas, but it’s a fight that needs to be fought everywhere. As we make the fight it’s important to frame the terms of the debate accurately: champions of individual freedom versus the advocates of authority, obedience and hierarchy. Subscribe to *Tea Party On Parade* Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 5. I also think that those us of committed to individual freedom from coercion and oppression must defend our values anywhere and everywhere they are under assault. The freedom "real" conservatives seek is for money, not for people who must always be subservient to the rights of money.
#4. To: mininglucygoldmom (#1) The freedom "real" conservatives seek is for money, not for people who must always be subservient to the rights of money. You and your two screen names are loons.
#5. To: A K A Stone (#4) You and your two screen names are loons. Really? You defend corporations as persons and money as speech. What more proof do I need to offer?
Replies to Comment # 5. #6. To: lucysminingmininggoldsmom (#5) You defend corporations as persons and money as speech. What more proof do I need to offer? You're a loon ming. I support any person being to speak, if money is exchanged or not. You don't support the first amendment because you are a pinko commie. You're also a man not a woman. The first amendment clearly says NO LAW can be made restricting or abridging free speech. What you would want to do would require a law. DUH! Let me repeat it for you since you are so slow. It would require a law to do what you want. It would require a law limiting speech to do what you want. What part of that doesn't your pea brain comprehend. Let me repeat it again because you are really dense. It would require a law. The constitution says no LAWS PERIOD END OF DISCUSSION LIMITING FREE SPEECH! So quite playing your little retard game of semantics that you leftist retarted traitors to America parrot in unison. Real American dismiss you flakes and your wacked out sicko ideas. Yes they are sicko ideas, you aren't right in the head. You and your split personality dual screen names.
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