Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Playing a highly volatile voting group

A thought occurred to me as I read about this continued legislative hailstorm regarding women that is making the government anything but small: I wonder if this is just another political game. That is a "duh" statement. Of COURSE it is a political game. Didn't anyone notice these laws are popping up around election season? That was sarcasm in case you missed it.

True, there may be one or two politicians that actually believe in what they are pushing, and some are undoubtedly bandwagoning, but surely they are familiar enough with how this country's legal system works to know that their law will fail at the SCOTUS level. And that's the idea, isn't it? To placate far right voters enough to get them to the polls, and then let SCOTUS knock the laws down. Major players in the GOP have been promising to overturn Roe v. Wade for years and never done so. Why? Because they don't have that authority, and even if they did, why would they? All they have to do is just say the word "abortion" and their base is fired up. If abortion was illegal in this country, their greatest pitch would be lost. At the end of the day, the objective of any politician--Democrat or Republican--is to be reelected.

A backlash is on the horizon from all these laws, and I'm sure the legislators pushing these laws know exactly what they are doing. They know their followers will never accept that the system of Checks and Balances cannot be overturned in Congress or by electing a new president. If you don't believe me, find a hardcore pro-lifer and just ask them. I personally don't think of them as pro-life, they are something else entirely. One too many experiences with the highly hostile natures of people I've met from this demographic have been a life lesson. Even what appears to be simple conversation on non-related topics goes from "Hey, this person is nice" to "I hope my pepper spray is in my purse because this person is scaring the hell out of me."

An answer I gave to someone's commentary that I honestly thought was harmless about how my voting decisions would not affect Roe v Wade because of how the country was set up went from civil to frightening in seconds. A completely illogical and frightening tirade was written to me. He was offended by my civics lesson and the next thing I knew, I got an email with abortion "info" that was 30 years old and possessed not one verifiable source. Just from mentioning Checks and Balances. He was the one that brought up abortion. That wasn't even on my mind. My motivation for voting was the economy, and if people like him weren't so trigger-happy and clung so tightly to erroneous information, they would see that abortion rates drop when they economy is good. So someone that is thinking about the economy isn't "the enemy". But nothing will even get them to change the topic. No research is valid to them unless it comes from the unvalidated website that tells them exactly what they want to hear. You either are a monster or in need of reeducation in their eyes. They will keep talking as if you didn't say a word and will keep the volatile monologue going until you back down or run away.

I remember watching Cheaper by the Dozen with a group. After the movie, I said that I hoped I never had that many children and was immediately accused of planning abortions for a pregnancy that didn't exist. True story. After expressing my fears to a priest (who is pro-life), he told me that these types of people terrified him, too, and to just "Wait a few days and then just tell them what they want to hear" so that they didn't give me any trouble. I read a comment on a video where women were criticized as being bad mothers if they weren't willing to die from a pregnancy. That is how heated this issue is. There are four groups: pro-choice, undeclared, pro-life and them. This is my first-hand experience, not some assumption based on the experiences of others.

And politicians know this issue is a trigger, that is why they keep pulling it. But the deal is sweet for them no matter what happens. When the laws are beaten down at the SCOTUS level, they can say, "Hey, we tried, but those baby killers stopped us. Remember that and vote for me!" Wash, rinse, repeat. As I said earlier, the objective of any politician is to be reelected, and this set of voters is very easy to stir up and impossible to sway.

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