Time to Rant!

Time to Rant!

I have, at least what I perceive to be, a dirty little secret. I’m almost afraid to admit it… but I have conservative Republican tendencies. (Oh gosh, I can hear the gasps from here.) But I come by this honestly. Growing up my mom was a strong Democrat and my dad was a strong Republican. They would debate the issues with fervor and vigor. So I was exposed to all sides of any given issue.

I personally chose to become a somewhat conservative Republican during the Nixon / McGovern campaign. I lived in an area where I subjected to bussing. I was bussed into a very dangerous school district. By 5th grade my school had armed police guards. One child was actually set on fire on the playground during recess. Most of the children in the neighborhood where I lived went to private school to avoid being bussed. My parents couldn’t afford the tuition, so off I went each morning. The Nixon / McGovern campaign caught my attention because Richard Nixon was against bussing. I thought this was a good thing. But then I heard McGovern say that while he was in favor of bussing, he was sending his children to a private school. Needless to say… the Republicans had me in 5th grade.

Now, I do want to digress here for a second on the subject of bussing. I want to be perfectly clear that my problem with McGovern was his hypocrisy. I think there were major problems with the school I was forced to attend. That school needed help badly and I don’t think any child should have been required to spend their days in that environment. My issue wasn’t that I wanted to go to school with one group as opposed to another. I just wanted to go to a SAFE school. I think all children should attend SAFE schools. McGovern got under my skin because he obviously knew there were problems in the public schools, but instead of fixing the problems… he pushed a popular liberal agenda while he sent his own kids to private school. That stinks.

So why did I take this long, round about way to get to my rant? Well, most of my friends are not conservative and I think they would rather gouge their eyes out than say they are Republican. I felt a strong need to justify my opinions. This is begging the question… why did I come out of the closet today? The answer is: while I’ve never been the best or most faithful conservative Republican… they have completely lost me today! The insanity of following a popular agenda has reached a new low. Frankly, at this point I don’t want to be associated with either party!

I read an article on MSNBC today that makes me so angry there aren’t even words for it! According to the MSNBC / The Washington Post article a new vaccine has been developed that protects against cervical cancer. The primary cause of cervical cancer in the US is a germ called human papilloma virus (HPV). The new vaccine protects woman against the strains of HPV that can cause cancerous lesions on the cervix.

Doesn’t this sound like a wonderful advance in medical science? Shouldn’t we all be out in the streets dancing and praising God for this miraculous discovery. After all more than 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and more than 3,700 die each and every year. And the scientific data seems to show that the vaccine is virtually 100 percent effective against the two most common strains of HPV that cause cancer.

So what is really happening? Guess what… the conservative religious right is crying in their eyes out because they’re afraid this vaccine will be a sexual green light. Their worried that girls will have more sex and (oh my gosh) they might even enjoy it because they won’t have to worry about the wrath of God striking them with cancer. Gee wiz, first the pill, now this? How the heck will they ever keep women from enjoying this activity or even just stop pre-marital sex?

I just don’t understand how anyone could be against something that might save lives. It has to be arrogance… “We don’t have to worry about it because our children are better than that. Let’s go ahead and let those heathen children get cancer for their transgressions.” It’s starting to sound an awful lot like McGovern to me.