Bush Fails at Something Else

The Right in this country long ago hitched their wagon to the Christian Religious movement, from Ronald Regan all the way to Dubya Bush. This ideological merger generated, and continues to generate, a great deal of votes for the GOP due to the absolutist viewpoint and divine motivation faith tends to lend to politics when the two are mixed. Yet the party was sullied in the process, defining the Republican platform in terms of Christian theology to this day. Conservatives, in general, tend to oppose the biological rights of women, equal rights for gays and lesbians, and adequate, age-appropriate sex education for children.

Bush, the Great Intellectual, followed in the pandering proud footsteps of science-denying fanatics of all creeds and exclusively supported abstinence-only programs during his presidency, to the detriment of public health. $170 million a year on abstinence-only programs, and that was for 2005, and not a penny for any programs which include offensive language and ideas, such as "condoms" or "birth control."

Then here comes reality.

Lawmakers cited government statistics showing that one in four U.S. teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease and 30 percent of U.S. girls become pregnant before the age of 20.

Hmm, doesn't sound like those programs are working. Maybe we should look into funding comprehensive sex education, right? Wrong.

Rep. John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, said that it seems "rather elitist" that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate. "I don't think it's something we should abandon," he said of abstinence-only funding.

How dare those "educated" people, the ones who dedicate their lives to the study of public health and issues of sexual health, attempt to advise the government about sex ed! Of course, we should listen only to the "value-voter" population segment, the ones who think the Earth is 6,000 years old and that evolution is all a hoax. I think Waxman (D-CA) said it best.

"We are showering funds on abstinence-only programs that don't appear to work, while ignoring proven comprehensive sex education programs that can delay sex, protect teens from disease, and result in fewer teen pregnancies."

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