Morally superior bumper stickers and why I will never join the "Pro-Life" movement.

I love to read people's bumper stickers. They're like little glimpses into someone's soul. For example, today I learned that the guy who cut me off in his Hummer because he was fixing his comb-over “Supports Our Troops.” Personally I've only had a few stickers on my car's over the years and only two that were at all politically motivated. Because while I definitely understand and appreciate the feeling of community you receive from seeing a like-minded bumper sticker, I also understand I'm not going to convert anyone to my way of thinking by having a “Hate is not a family value" sticker on my bumper.
This leads me to the whole “pro-life” thing. See, I have what I refer to as a "2-Bumper sticker rule." What this means is that if you more that 2 bumper stickers on any one issue you are a little too obsessed with that issue and really need to mellow out a bit. And this doesn’t just apply to the "Abortion stops a beating heart" crowd but also applies to the “George Bush is an idiot" group too. I mean yes, I do agree that he's a terrible, terrible President, but c'mon, 4 Bumper Stickers all proclaiming variations of the “ Somewhere in Texas a village is missing it’s idiot” line? At the very least you are just being repetitive, at the most incredibly boorish.
The reason I’m bringing all of this up is because a few weeks ago as I was driving to the local mall on my lunch break I came across a small U-haul style truck that had huge full color pictures of Fetus’ being aborted. Quite frankly it was one of the sickest things I have ever seen in my life. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in freedom of expression but if someone was waving an anti-war sign that had a picture of a dismembered Iraqi child that we blew up I'd be sickened and outraged too. (Of course the irony of these kinds of people is that they would be the first to cry and whine if something like the Paris Hilton Carl’s Jr. ad was on the side of a truck but I digress.)
As I sat there at a red-light staring at this sick image, I just got more and more angry. I mean honestly, what kind of twisted nutcase zealot would sit back and rationally think that these kinds of outrage/scare tactics would change any ones beliefs towards them? Who in their right mind is going to look at that and go, “Oh, you know what honey, lets not go get an abortion. Let’s go get some Carl’s Jr. instead!” As far as my feelings go, whatever confusion I had about my own beliefs and how I would define myself on this god-awful subject were pretty much dispelled. Because after seeing this level of fanaticism it made me realize that no matter how much my feeling’s change, I would be ashamed to ever be lumped into the same group as people like him.
As I pulled up next to him, I wondered if deep down the driver realized the negative affect this was having on his cause. But as he looked at me and smiled I realized no, he didn’t. Because behind that rotting smile there was a non-contemplative self righteous look in his eyes. The kind of look that would make Pat Robertson, Sun Yung-Moon, or Osama Bin Laden proud. The kind of look that murders doctors, that crashes planes into skyscrapers, and that straps grenades to itself.

Hubris

Having spent way too much time watching movies as a kid my internal monologue sometimes tends to take the form of movie quotes. For example, whenever I end up having to make some sort of quick defensive driving maneuver I inevitably end up hearing Han Solo say
“YAHOO! You’re all clear kid!" However, with all of the recent scandals plaguing the white house and the republican leadership lately the line that keeps running through my head is from The Crow:
“It’s not a good day to be a bad guy."
First Bill Frist, the Uber-Doctor who is able to diagnose someone from two thousand miles away is being investigated fro insider trading regarding the selling of his stock in his families hospital company. All that really needs to be said about this is that Sen. Frist claims that he had everything in a blind trust yet told his people to sell all of his HCA stock that he didn't know he had. And of course he sold it at it's highest point and it then took a dive two weeks later which I'm sure is just a coincidence because no Republican leader would ever do anything like that? Right? Harken Energy anyone???
Next comes the Congressional majority leader Tom Delay who has been indicted not once but twice now regarding his fascist political maneuvering in Texas. (Fascism being the consolidating of corporate and government power). And of course, seeing as how he is a champion of the Christian Right, his actions beg the question: “WWJB?" (Who Would Jesus Bribe?)
Seeing as how Bill Frist was the star of Justice Sunday 1 and how Tom Delay was the star of Justice Sunday 2, I wonder how James Dobson is taking this? I mean he's already had a hard enough year having been humiliated by Sponge Bob Square pants, but now his two token politicians have shown their true "Moral Values" with regard to obeying the law. But of course on the other hand, they both still believe in the criminalization of homosexuality so I guess they'll probably still be invited back for Justice Sunday 3, “Evangelical Boogaloo."
There's also the Jack Abhramoff scandal which is so convoluted and twisted that it seems to cover everything from mob-style hits to corruption at the highest levels of government to instituting a "pay to play" system of governance in the Republican party. Add to this the recent arrest of a top white house official and the upcoming Valerie Plame verdict that could hit Karl Rove and/or Cheney's chief of staff and yeah, it's been a bad month for them.
Maybe this is why they're stacking the Supreme Court with loyalists. Not to further some Right Wing agenda but to save themselves from having to wear that orange jumpsuit! I mean, in their minds, what could be worse than having to spend all day surrounded by poor minorities?? That's like a Republican leader's worst nightmare! Just ask Trent Lott!
And in an attempt to sway the news cycle his way, a Dallas socialite who once referred to GWBush as "The most brilliant man I have ever met," has been nominated for the Supreme Court. I'll give you a sec to re-read that quote. She really said that. Now ask yourself whether or not you would trust this person's judgment.