Being a Good Citizen... blah blah blah

In college I claimed to be apolitical. In truth I was too distracted by other things to care much. Bush made me nauseous, starting the war in Iraq seemed pointless, the House and Senate looked like a two ring circus.

Not much has changed. Now Obama makes me nauseous, escalating the war in Afghanistan seems pointless, and the House and Senate.... well that really hasn't changed. But I've decided to have a go at being involved, thinking it may be part of my responsibility as a citizen after all.

The proposed national health care plan, what a topic these days. Some say its about time, others say it'll be our ruin. The Catholic Church said, whatever it is it can't include abortion coverage. I agree. It is bad enough my tax dollars have to go to killing people overseas and sacrificing our military-- I'd really rather that it not go to fund more killing at home. As I've said before, the abortion industry in America has such implicit racist and classist overtones that I don't know how any person with a heart could support it with more federal money, even if many do believe an unborn child is not a person with rights.

So I called my congressman about the recently passed Stupak-Pitts Amendment, rallied some friends and family to do the same, and was pleased when it passed the House. Planned Parenthood saying the USCB "hijacked" the health care bill is just silly. And really, the bishops are great but give the Catholic people their due credit. They didn't have to tell me to call, I did it on my own. I just think it is funny that when Catholics help vote in PP's preferred candidate for president they are called open-minded, and now that those same people are speaking their minds about abortion they are compared to terrorists. Not the "fair mindedness" Obama called us all to, is it?

"Picket lines, sister
And picket signs, sister
Don't punish me with brutality
Come on talk to me, sister
So you can see
What's going on."
-Marvin Gaye