The War on Women?

Some Democrats have been claiming that there has been a "War on Women" waged by the GOP, presumably because of Republican attempts to block the provision of free contraceptives by health insurers.

This makes for a great marketing slogan.  I am sure it will help a great deal in the upcoming elections.  Taking a slogan that makes for a great sound bite is just the sort of mindless, emotional propaganda that works well in the modern farce called our electoral system.

But the truth goes much deeper.  The truth is that Republicans aren't singling out just women.  They don't only hate Sandra Fluke.  What they also dislike are the "special interests."  This would include everyone except white males making six figures and above, along with large corporations.  These represent the "national" interest.  So, for example, in Wisconsin, when public sector workers were trying to protect their collective bargaining rights against mortal attack, even though this represented thousands of workers, this was merely the work of loud, union-backed "special interests."

All you have to do this is think for about 5 seconds to realize that Newt Gingrich can't care about contraception.  After all, he is on his third wife after cheating on the first two.  If adultery isn't high on his list of moral offenses, I highly doubt contraceptives even show up on the radar screen.  And somehow I find it hard to believe that many members of Congress are relying on the rhythm method to avoid having large families.  Instead, the Republicans have grabbed onto the contraception issue to try and water down the health care mandate.  The real issue for them has nothing to do with morality.  It is about ensuring that employers don't have to provide health care to their employees with comprehensive coverage.  That is the real issue.  If you think Mitch McConnell is staying up at night worrying about whether people use contraception or not, then perhaps you should use your mandated coverage to get a much needed head check.  Make sure you do this before the Republicans try and eliminate mental health coverage by insurers as also being against an employer's "religious sensibilities."

The GOP also supports a "War on Privacy," apparently, considering it has consistently shot down attempts by Democrats to prevent employers from demanding employees fork over their Facebook and other social media passwords.  Apparently there should be no separation or privacy for employees.  The corporate masters must have complete control over every aspect of our lives.  Congratulations, guys, you've managed to be wrong on just about every single issue.

What about the GOP's "War on the Poor?"  If Paul Ryan had his way, there would no longer be Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.  To hell with the old, the disabled, and the poor.  They need to learn "personal responsibility" and be subject to "market discipline."  Why should we be concerned about them?  No sense in burdening the rich, aka "the job creators."  That might interfere with massive corporate profits.  

While the "War on Women" is great marketing, it is much too narrow.  The truth is that the aims of the GOP  are much more sinister, and much more selfish than they appear to be on the surface.