One of my few political passions

Author's note: I debated posting this, and might delete it. I think I sound like an idiot. I hope not. Although I admit that I am uneducated regarding this topic, the biggest problem below is that my thoughts are unorganized. So give me an ounce of credit that I do have a brain, regardless of how poorly I have expressed myself below.

There are a number of reasons that I do not write about political issues. First and foremost, I am not generally interested enough to have an opinion about anything. Second and almost just as important, I don't usually have a clue what's going on (with the exception of some of the entertainment news, which I do find interesting). So rather than sound like an uneducated idiot, I usually just stay quiet.

But there has been a recent event on the news that has me all fired up, and I've just "gotsta" say something! Now, first of all, I have freely admitted that I do not keep up to date with the news and political issues. I would not call myself informed or knowledgeable on any issue, including this one about which I'm soon going to write. But isn't that what the Internet is for? A free-for-all forum for uneducated, uninformed idiots to rant and rave to their moronic hearts' content? Referencing myself here: Well said, To Karani.

Anyhoo. I'm talking about the pro-life / pro-choice debate here.

I get so fired up about radial pro-lifers! Note I said radical pro-lifers. This post is NOT about anyone who is pro-life in the normal amount. To each their own--I don't want to make it sound like I think people shouldn't be allowed an opinion. On the contrary, differing opinions and having a tolerance is what our country is all about. So, go for it, moderate pro-lifers. Just do it. Git 'er done. Whatever, I don't care.

But the radicals! I'm talking about the people who think I should be branded as a criminal if I were to get an abortion. Even though I am taking every precaution against having an unplanned pregnancy. Even though physicians give me less than a 25 percent chance of surviving long enough to give birth, and even less of a chance of making it afterward. I'm taking the fool-proof birth control shot, and I've gained 10 pounds because of it, thank you very much. But it could still happen; all birth controls have a small chance of failing. So what then? According to the radical pro-lifers, sucks to be me! According to them, I'm either an evil convict for terminating my pregnancy, or sorry-see-ya (at my funeral).

Aren't there enough good reasons out there for a woman to get an abortion, that the bad reasons are outweighed? If there are enough good reasons, or legitimate reasons, I should say, that an abortion is justified, then shouldn't they just be legal? Legal, period, end of sentence. Isn't that the issue, or am I missing the boat?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pro-lifers think that abortion should be banned, illegal, not allowed for any reason, right? Excuse me, ultra radical pro-lifers, that is. I'm not sure what the normal/balanced/reasonable pro-life peeps believe; their moderate beliefs don't make it on the news (that I've seen). Does a non-extremist pro-life person think there is ever a justifiable reason to terminate a pregnancy? Is that what makes them non-extreme: they understand that there are a few okay reasons out there to terminate pregnancies, and they just would never choose to have one themselves? Or are they "non-extreme" only because they don't go picketing and shooting abortionists, but they do hold the same beliefs (all abortions are wrong, no matter the reasoning behind it)? There's a continuum here, and that's my fault for not understanding where everyone falls on it: extreme at one end, non-extreme at the other. No reason is ever okay for an abortion at one end, a few reasons are okay in the middle, and all reasons are okay at the opposite end. Well, what do I do? Just keep blundering on ignorantly, I guess.

Prior to finding out about my medical condition, I was a pro-lifer with fine print: I said I was pro-life except in cases such as incest, rape, and the medical condition of the woman. Now I've changed my mind about that. I don't think a person can be pro-life with stipulations; it's really just pro-choice with regulations. I don't make the rules and I don't want to, but some kind of rules regarding abortions are most obviously necessary; a woman can't just use abortions as a form of birth control.

In fact, I think both non-extremist pro-lifers and pro-choicers are in agreement that using abortion regularly as a form of birth control is wholly unacceptable (aren't they? Please say they are!). Women who are unwilling to seek out any form of birth control shouldn't be allowed to just go get an abortion time and time again. As a pro-choicer, I believe to solve that issue, birth control education and supplies need to be more readily available. I think it's dumb to withhold birth control supplies and education as a method of stopping the inevitable. Come on, folks! You can't ignore it and hope it goes away!

I'm going off on a tangent though. That's not really the point. The point is: this dude that was on the news recently for shooting the abortionist is an idiot. He IS the problem! Life in jail is too good for him (note: I don't feel like getting in a death penalty debate here). Regardless of if you're pro-life, pro-choice, or pro-asparagus, what happened to the lessons we were all supposed to learn in preschool? You know: two wrongs don't make a right, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all, keep your hands and feet to yourself, and be nice to your neighbor.

The article mentioned something about the fact that the man who was killed specialized in late-term abortions. I don't know much about late-term abortions (although it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what it means). I'm just saying, I don't know where the debate stands; can a person who is pro-choice still be against late-term abortions? Because I am; I have a small-town view on it: if a woman is considering abortion as an option, she needs to figure it out before the baby reaches "late-term" (in quotes because I don't know when it is). I just don't see any reason why a woman should be allowed to have a late-term abortion--if it's a medical problem, incest, et cetera, then she's going to know from the beginning. Why wait? But that's just what I think; maybe I don't know enough. At any rate, since knowing the details about late-term abortions doesn't really change how I feel about the dude in the news, I'm just going to blow past it and straight on to my main area of concern: the guy that pulled the trigger.

I'm just boiling over him. It's not okay! How do people get to be like that? What makes him so self-righteous? I think the murderer is a small-minded, short-sighted, intolerant, uneducated, callous, offensive, repugnant, uncaring, unfeeling, unintelligent, barbaric, ignorant, abhorrent excuse of a human being. I said before I don't want to get into a death penalty debate. In fact, I don't even know exactly how I feel about the death penalty. But while I'm figuring myself out, if he gets sentenced to be executed then all I've got to say is good riddance.

Well said, To Karani

I love the internet! It's always good for a laugh.

I try to stay somewhat informed when it comes to Entertainment News, and today I was surfing around on http://www.cnn.com/. Somehow I ended up on http://www.ausiellofiles.com/ (no clue how that happened) reading an article about a Grey's Anatomy spoiler. But the best part was reading the comments at the end of the story!

Lord have mercy, there are some imbeciles out there!

I can't decide what my favorite part is: Melanie Marie Shifflett Ridner's horrific grammar, repetition of poor grammar, God-awful punctuation, idiocy in general, the fact that she used her FULL NAME, or To Karani's hilarious and spot-on response. I suppose I should confess, technically To Karani's response was not intended for Ms. Ridner because it was posted before hers, but still . . . it makes me laugh because it is juxtaposed right next to hers, so I'm just going to pretend he meant it for her!

Now, just to be clear: I did not exaggerate or change anything. I literally copied and pasted this directly as she posted it. Right down to the last mis-spaced period (of which there are three!).

Exhibit A:

"I love Grey's and if Dereck leaves it will be a bad thing for this great show. Both Grey's and Private Practice are good shows and the writers need to keep them going strong . I watch these two shows and House mainly and know all three are great shows and should work hard to keep them going with the stars that are now on them. Please keep these three shows going for all of us . Television has so went down the drain pipes lately.God knows we need good shows as reality shows are not all that good." (Posted by Melanie Marie Shifflett Ridner)

Exhibit B:

"I feel very sorry for you and your ignorance." (Posted by To Karani)

You know, on second thought: reading her comment makes me wonder if maybe I'm an idiot too for enjoying the same shows as she does. Is watching Grey's Anatomy and all the rest a contributing factor to her dimwittedness?