It seems that each time I hear certain Republicans explain their positions, the refain “Lies! Lies” from the under-appriciated Arcade Fire song Rebellion (Lies) dances through my head.
In posting this clip from MSNBC’s Hardball, the good folks at Crooks And Liars point out that Romney attacked Obama for saying “it’s the right thing to do to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools.” When, in fact:
In a Planned Parenthood questionnaire he filled out during his 2002 gubernatorial run, Romney checked ‘yes’ to a question asking, “Do you support the teaching of responsible, age-appropriate, factually accurate health and sexuality education, including information about both abstinence and contraception, in public schools?”
Interesting. Hypocritical, but not a lie. The big lie comes at the end of the clip when Romney advisor Barbara Comstock says that Obama “oppose[es] abstinence education”. I don’t know one politician or reasonable person who opposes abstinence education. It’s abstinence only that is opposed.
The clip cuts off before the end; I wonder if Romney supporters will cry ‘out of context!’ on edited clips that (supposedly) make Romney look good?
Also, perpetuating the lie that Obama is a muslim millitant, Romney is seen here with a new campaign slogan [via R&L and TMZ]:
Supplemental: If you have six minutes, here is a great video mashup of Bush/Cheny/Rumsfeld direct, bald-faced lies; it’s worth the time and the best I’ve seen at illustrating the audacious lie propagated by the administration. Honestly, how does the left win when it takes so much energy counter-acting lies?
I just saw it over at Dkos – I came here to bring it to this site’s attention, but tblade beat me to it.
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Highly recommended – go check it out now!
…don’t let my link stand in the way. The current crop of liars can’t be called liars in public often enough.
comstock’s repeated effort at linking masterbation and homosexuality is so transparent and pathetic. everyone masterbates. by linking this common pastime with homosexuality, which we’re told to despize or be afraid of (if straight) or ashamed of (if LGB), she tries to cast people who masterbate (read: almost everyone) as bad children and romney as the Authority. only people who like to play humiliation games will go for this clap trap.
Kindergarten isn’t an age appropriate time for sex-ed. It’s not even an age-appropriate time for multiplication…let alone with people and not numbers.
…there’s no reason not to give them honest, age appropriate answers.
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If there a child is old enough to speak, the should be taught how to protect themselves from sexual molestation and rape. They should know to speak up if someone is touching them in a bad way or doing worse.
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No one is proposing kidnergarteners should be watching the “Miracle of Life”.
I have to disagree with you here.
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If kids are asking questions and are becoming curious about how things work, then there is nothing wrong with telling them how things work. If children learned from an early age how everything played out and what the outcome of it would be, it puts them in a better position in their adolescence.
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There’s no point in sheltering children from learning about basic human anatomy…unless you want children to feel uncomfortable when they finally do get sex-ed in middle school. You remember that class. There was no need for it to be so awkward. Just tell kids the facts from the beginning and you eliminate a bunch of potential problem areas in the future.
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Knowledge is power. Why shouldn’t kids be taught how they were created? When do you propose a good time for sex-ed would be?
There’s a difference between parents answering their children’s questions about their bodies and such and a school doing it with a curriculum.
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Same with a below comment: I’m not saying that the kids shouldn’t know things, but I sure as hell don’t think that anyone besides a child’s parents should be the ones providing children that age such education.
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That’s how I was raised. That’s how sex ed worked for thousands of years. Ask the parents, and I still think that’s better than anything school can do.
i wish i could have faith in the parents of the children, but i live in this society, and i’ve seen what kind of parents there are out there. i also work with kids and see these relationships up close.
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parents don’t always do the best job at parenting.
My ex would have failed my daughter, were I not available to her. She would not have had the open, honest conversation that was required – to this day, she hasn’t talked to her about it. I’m glad that the school has been teaching her facts – you can’t trust parents to do this job…
…when she posed this question to me, across the table in a chinese restaurant:
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A little background: My ex and I divroced when our daughter was five. By the time this rolled around, we had a set schedule, she knew she would be staying at my house every Thursday and alternating weekends. Apparently, she had had a friend sleep over the prior weekend at her mom’s, and her friend had told her everything about how babies are made. She knew her mother well enough to know that she couldn’t discuss this topic with her (mom would, and did, flip out), and she knew me well enough to know that I would give her an honest answer.
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So, what else could I do? I gave her an honest, age-appropriate answer – that penises and vaginas are made for each other, and that it’s a normal, natural thing for grown-ups to do. I also told her that it’s not normal for children to be doing it, and that if any grown-ups ever suggested otherwise, she should tell someone immediately.
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Did I talk to her about masturbation and homosexuality? Of course not – but when she was old enough for those topics, we were able to discuss them, and to this day we can talk about anything, she and I. Since then, I’ve also become the custodial parent, and she now lives with me full-time.
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Children need honest answers that satisfy their curiosity – lying to them, or blowing them off with stories about the stork bringing baby brother are counter-productive.