Hidden Agenda

As sure as the sun rises in the east (oh please, don't let Karl get any ideas about that), it's given that the thing we are accused of by the right wing is the exact thing they are doing in spades, in the open, with no shame. The lie that homosexuals have a hidden agenda and are trying to jam it down the right wingers' throats is just one example.

Now, some homosexuals may want to jam some things down some wingers' throats, but others handle that issue much more competently than I, so I'll take a pass. Regarding gay marriage: the morally consistent position, that a conservative should want, is for people to strengthen the social compact by getting married. That is obvious. You'd think they would want more people to revel in that sanctified act, and would want to encourage a stable society by encouraging families of all shapes and forms. To me this can only be a good thing. But it's obvious they really have no such desire, and their hypocrisy on this issue screams out.

The hidden agenda that's getting more notice and is growing by the day has become clear to me: pharmicists who don't want to dispense legally prescribed drugs to their patients. This is part and parcel with the anti-science, religious fundamentalist leanings of our President, and starts to make the country look more like Afghanistan every day. (Is there some Newtonian Law of Democracies that for each democracy spreading action, there is an equal and opposite democracy inhibiting action? That seems to be the pattern with this administration.)

This fundamentalist Christian trick is deeply troubling, and has far more potential for harming our society than gay marriage does. These oh-so-conscientious Christians are jamming their agenda down the throats of their patients - everyday folks like you can me. Aaron Brown aired a good story by Jonathan Freed on CNN last night. But as Aaron is want to do, he left a few questions unanswered.

The most obvious question is what the hell are these people doing in a highly trained professional field with strict ethical guidelines when they have no intention of fulfulling their duties? If I was a sanitation engineer and didn't want to pick up people's trash, I'd probably be doing something else within a matter of days. Most likely with the insistence of my boss (ahem). Secondly, and everyone here knows this answer: what would the reaction be of wingers if lefty pharmicists started pushing natural organic medications that didn't allow for massive profits to Big PHARMA and were developed in nature or with very little chemical manipulation? Been there, done that.

But finally, to take this theory to its logical conclusion, what if a wave of Christian Scientists headed for our pharmocoligical programs, went out into the world, and then summarily refused to dispense any medicine to anyone, because this is the moral imperative of their religion? I'm sure Doctor Senator Bill Frist™ would be wracked with guilt.

Now put these together with the other pieces of the puzzle: Janice Rogers Brown to roll back the new deal, industry executives "fixing" environmental reports, and Bush waiting for enough evidence on global warming. Together they are the agenda of the radical right wing - not-so-hidden, destructive to our democracy, disdainful of the world, and dismissive of science.

There truly is no rest for the weary.