CHE BELLO disagrees with Jon Stewart.
Mark this day on your calendars, as I usually find every word from Jon Stewart’s mouth to be golden. But in this clip from the other night, he really does get it all wrong. Planned Parenthood provides important services, with the majority of their operating budget going to cancer screenings and contraception. Abortion services account for less than 6% of their expenditures and are all privately funded — Planned Parenthood uses none of the money gained from government contracts or funding to push a pro-choice agenda. When even the champions of rationality like Jon Stewart are maiming the public’s impression of Planned Parenthood by reinforcing this false abortion-machine image, low-income families who partake of the clinics’ services suffer. The right is already mounting a campaign to stop the federal government from contracting with Planned Parenthood, a move that would reduce their budgets by up to 35%. Planned Parenthood provides vital services and is not, as Stewart insinuates, a nefarious organization hell-bent on convincing women to abort their pregnancies. Shame on you, Jon. (But great job with the Huckabee interview from the other night! Even when I’m mad at you, I still love you.)
CHE BELLO longs for gun control.
The Washington Post’s “Around the Nation” section today details the death of an 8-year-old who was allowed to fire an Uzi sub-machine gun at a firearms exposition. He was under the supervision of an uncertified 15 year old and he discharged the weapon while his father reached for his camera. How are these people allowed to have children, and what is the uniquely American fascination with the possession of firearms? I will never understand why so many in our society feel that arming themselves is not only a good idea, but is necessary and honorable. How many more children have to die at the hands of irresponsible parents before our nation gets serious about gun control? And just who needs an Uzi anyway, for Chrissakes?
