BLOG POSTS

America, as with the rest of the world, continues to swing along towards its uncertain future with all the regularity of a finally honed pendulum.

Yesterday, the Vatican once more reared its ugly, clerical, head high enough to condemn the Obama administration for restoring government funding to family planning clinics that perform, or give advice on, abortion in Third World countries.

Monsignor Rino Fisichella, a Vatican spokesman, said President Obama should listen to all voices in America, without “the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death.” ^[1]

That’s exactly what the Vatican does, is it, Monsignor Fisichella?

Monsignor Rino Fisichella is wrong. President Obama was democratically elected by a majority of the US citizenry. It is that majority he is in office to represent; a majority of Americans who believe in a woman’s right to choose. While he can listen to the voice of the minorities, if it goes against the wishes of the majority then he is duty bound to ignore it.

Hopefully, that’s the difference between President Barack Obama and the Pope. Obama believes he is in office to do the bidding of the democratic majority; the Pope believes his job is to tell everyone what to think.

America’s just rid itself of a president who believed that.

There’s no reason for the Pope to concern himself with government funding to family planning clinics. He just needs patience.

After all, the funding was originally revoked in 1984 by Republican president, Ronald Reagan. It was then reinstated by Bill Clinton, when he came to power, and withdrawn yet again by George W Bush.

All the Pope has to do is sit it out till the next Republican president appears on the scene, and the cash will once again stop flowing.

It’s a crazy way to run anything, least of all a nation, but that’s politics in a democracy.

Back and forth, first one way, then the other, like a finely honed pendulum – going nowhere.

^{[1] “Vatican attacks US abortion move” BBC, January 25th 2009}

Filed under: Swinging politics

A recent report from the New Economics Foundation, a European think-tank, has highlighted the British as “more bored, tired and less likely to know their neighbours than other Europeans”.^[1]

Is it any wonder, given the boring, tired, old fart they have to lead them?

According to a spokesman for the New Economics Foundation:

“Governments have lost sight of the fact that their fundamental purpose is to improve the lives of their citizens.”

I wonder how much it cost to figure that one out?

In response, a British government spokeperson said, “the government was trying to engage with young people.”

“The 2007-08 Citizenship Survey – a robust, nationally representative household survey – found that 94% of young people say they feel part of British society.”

Of course they do.

For young people today, being a ‘part of British society’ means going out every night binge drinking, then fighting, mugging an old lady, knifing the odd innocent bystander, or beating up a policeman.

Judging from the reports to be found in most British newspapers of late, that is British society today.

^{[1] “Britons ‘bored but happy’ – study” BBC, January 24th 2009}

Filed under: Social issues

This morning gunmen raided a home in the small Shiite area of Baldrouz, north of Baghdad. A poor Sunni family who’d moved to the area to work in the local brick factory were slaughtered. Two men, six women and a little girl were killed. The last two men were taken and the family is gone.

In the south in a town called Suaira in Wasit Province another family met the same fate on Thursday. A man, two women and a little boy were killed.

It’s unclear who did this. Maybe it was revenge, militias, insurgents or a sinister crime. But what is clear that even though things are better they aren’t ok. People are still dying here and they’re killed almost every day.”

From the blog of Leila Fadel, McClatchy’s bureau chief in Baghdad.

Rush Limbough, Bill O’Reilly, and probably NBC’s Brian Williams, don’t give a shit about any of this. All they care is that their cozy, well-fed, little lives aren’t compromised.

Do you?

Filed under: Who gives a f**k?