Republican planks made of hardwood.

[tzor]

Well I just got another letter from that "terrorist organization" you apparently all love to hate. The NRLC is apparently so tickled pink with the current Republican platform that they quoted it in their email, so I'll quote it here as well.

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

We have made progress. The Supreme Court has upheld prohibitions against the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. States are now permitted to extend health-care coverage to children before birth. And the Born Alive Infants Protection Act has become law; this law ensures that infants who are born alive during an abortion receive all treatment and care that is provided to all newborn infants and are not neglected and left to die. We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement. We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion. Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life. We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.

Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation. In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society....

[CatharzGodfoot]

We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement. We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion. Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life. We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.

Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation. In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society....

Here's the thing, I'm a feminist.

I wonder if the Republican party is funding research for the development of an artificial 'womb' to bring all those fetuses to term in. That would be an awesome piece of scifi technology brought to life. Finding adoptive parents isn't a problem, right? Isn't there a pretty strong demand for babies? It would be a boon to gay couples that want to raise children.

I'm also glad that the Republican party is against withholding treatment and care from people with disabilities, the elderly, and people who need medical treatment and care. I thought that it was against universal medical coverage, so complete and unlimited care for all Americans is a huge leap forward. It's unfortunate that in the very next sentence they contradict that statement by opposing assisted suicide, but it's still a big step.

If the Republicans are really going to step up with that kind of a leap forward in medical policy, I hope that the Democrats can keep up. If not, I might be changing my affiliation despite the the other craziness that the GOP (presumably) still supports.

[tzor]

I wonder if the Republican party is funding research for the development of an artificial 'womb' to bring all those fetuses to term in.

Holy shit, I sure hope not. The logical implications of this would be staggering. Do you know how many embryos are created in order to get one artifically implanted in a womb? Now imagine if you could bring all of those to term! The population would KABAM in a year.

(Fortunately by that time, L5 will need at least 2 billion more people, the United Lunar Nations would need at least 8 billion more people, and at least 3 billion people can settle in the "wild west" fronteer of the asteroid belt. Not to mention that the population of the Earth ... thanks to global warming the name was officially changed in 3012 to Aquos is three times what it is today and people are still complaining about the lack of population for the Pacific Ocean cities.)

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Hey, the republicans do have some good things in their platform. It's too bad that a lot of them seem to have missed out on them.

Unlike many of the people here, Tzor, I don't think you're a bad person, nor an unintelligent person. I just see a different view of conservatives in general living in my area.

[CatharzGodfoot]

I wonder if the Republican party is funding research for the development of an artificial 'womb' to bring all those fetuses to term in.

Holy shit, I sure hope not. The logical implications of this would be staggering. Do you know how many embryos are created in order to get one artifically implanted in a womb? Now imagine if you could bring all of those to term! The population would KABAM in a year.

Are you saying viable embryos should be murdered through the use of an inferior system just to avoid overpopulation?


But yeah, I'm hoping for a "home, home on Lagrange". Faint hope, though.

[tzor]

Are you saying viable embryos should be murdered through the use of an inferior system just to avoid overpopulation?


But yeah, I'm hoping for a "home, home on Lagrange". Faint hope, though.

Actually I would prefer it if one got it "right" the first time without having to create multiple viable embryos which in turn are later discarded. (In other words killed, 'murder' is technically a legal definition.)

Personally I think the L5 society really dropped the ball. They should have really promoted their position around the time when the proof of concept (Babylon 5) was running on the networks.

Yes Count, the important thing is that we should never assume or measure the group by the most extreme in the general definition of the term. Let's not forget that there were "terrorists" involved in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War. There are some "conservatives" that really worry me.