Andrew Sullivan On My Mind

Reading Andrew Sullivan's blog, I came across this entry about an initiative in Colorado put forth by a group called Colorado for Equal Rights to amend the Constitution to state that,

The term "Person" or "Persons" shall include any human from the time of fertilization.

In the post, Mr Sullivan attacks the initiative saying,

Do they have any idea how many such persons die of natural causes in one fertile woman in a year?

Normally I find Mr Sullivan to be very bright and reasonable. And I also get that the very nature of a blog is "real time" so ideas and sentences don't always match up (I can vouch for this personally, every so often I'll reread posts and think, "That's not at all what I was trying to say), so I'm inclined to work with Mr Sullivan here.

However, I humbly submit that I would like to die of natural causes, and I also like having my rights as a person. I'm not really sure why Mr Sullivan holds these ideas as mutually exclusive. There are many ways to debate the merits of this particular bill, but Mr Sullivan badly misses the mark here. I think we can all agree that Mr Sullivan is right, many fetuses die in the womb, no one argues otherwise. I believe this bill is an attempt to stop the artificial ending of a life in the womb. Just like many people die of natural causes everyday, but we still have a law against murder. No one shrugs and says, "Look, people die of natural causes everyday, so a law against murder is just silly. Ha ha, silly people trying to save lives." Not only is his argument bad, it's also aimed at nothing.

Global Mulligan

OK, if it gets hotter we win...starting...now! No wait...starting...NOW!! No hold on...wait...just a minute...star...ting...NOW NOW! No, seriously this time. NOW!

You've got to love it. A scientific theory that's right even when its wrong. Sure the world is heating up...we've all seen the hockey stick for goodness sake. But for some reason, the planet has the ability to cool itself down? Wait...where was that in Al Gore's movie? Must have been after the credits. During that photo montage of him and PETA euthanizing kittens.

Anywho, the world will cool for the next 10 years. But, don't be foolish enough to think that that means it isn't warming...because it is. And if we get more cooling after that 10 years? Well, we'll just have to adjust our numbers again because we all KNOW that the planet is warming...it just has to be. The Hockey Stick told us so.

And if this doesn't shake your faith in the warming theocracy well good for you...faith like that hasn't been seen since the last Christian was eaten by a lion.

FDGay

The FDA decided to keep its lifetime ban on Homosexual blood donors. Yes, blood groups think the ban is unnecessary, and yes, blood testing can detect HIV in less than a month after infection, and no, the FDA doesn't care.

The thing is, the nation needs blood (Google shows many "shortages" since 2000). The FDA says it would reverse its policy if it were shown that gay blood did not pose a “significant and preventable” risk to blood recipients. Thats one goal, but what about the "significant and preventable" risk posed to patients who need blood but may not be able to get it? Also, and just to point it out, its not like only gays get AIDS. If you want to really get a hold of this, ban blood from anyone who's ever had unprotected sex, or if you think like Dr. Sen. Bill Frist, been cried on by a gay guy.

Anyway, I think this article shows three things.

1. Yeah, there's a bias against homosexuals in government. Not really news.
2. The FDA has a reputation for favoring politics over science. This looks like another arrow in the quiver of that accusation.
3. Even if one and two are false, it does show that once the government reacts/over-reacts to something, it stays reacted/over-reacted to. Which is really the most important lesson here.
   

McCain Channels Dole on HIV Protection

Presidential hopeful John McCain says he's not sure if condoms help stop the transmission of STD's. I get that he's trying real hard to be the darling of the NeoGOP and push the "abstinence is all" dogma, but if he's really not sure of condom's value in preventing STD's, then one has to wonder if he really is too out of touch with things to be President.

Or it may be that he's been pushed into the "uh-oh, the group that backs me is gonna hate the truth on this, so I better dodge/lie here" corner that claimed former Senate Majority Leader Doctor Bill "You can get AID's through tears" Frist, and former Presidential hopeful Bob "Some people say milk is bad for you" Dole.

Look, I get that running a campaign and being loyal to your donors is hard. But at some point, you have to weigh looking stupid against irking your sponsors, er...donors.