From: Scott Keen
Columbus
Republicans are quick to note that the USA is a republic, not a democracy. That’s because in a republic, citizens elect representatives who make the laws and execute the functions of government. Rational men would expect those “representatives” to try to represent the will of the electorate on important issues.
Unfortunately, the Christian nationalists running today’s GOP disagree with that. Their God-given intellectual and moral superiority compels them to rule as God tells them, regardless of what the electorate desires.
The way to deal with such vindictive, paternalistic, moral zealots would be to vote them out of office. But apathetic Hoosiers don’t do that. We apparently don’t care.
So let’s imagine explaining that reality to our small children:
“Hello little son and daughter. Here’s what Indiana’s rulers desire for you.
“You, daughter, my little second-class citizen, are biologically subservient to any man. Specifically, if he makes you pregnant, you must have his baby. It doesn’t matter who the father is (boyfriend, uncle), how it happened (mistake, rape), or how much it impacts your life.
“You will and must be an incubator for that baby. During your child-bearing years, baby-related healthcare decisions will be made for you by Indiana, which gracefully may let you terminate a nonviable pregnancy if you are hours away from dying of sepsis. Your life is lived for others, so a career is a distraction. You son, on the other hand, can live life as you see fit.
“You both know that when God inspired the Constitution, he explicitly sanctioned the right to “bear Arms”. Unfortunately, the Constitution is silent on randomly shooting innocent people, with weapons of war, in churches, stores or schools. Hoosiers revere guns more than breathing children. Suffice it to say you are doing your patriotic duty by being little troopers, marching into school and getting slaughtered for our blessed Second Amendment.
“I need a DNA sample from you both. Those powerful guns of war rip their victims up so badly they often can’t be identified, even by their parents.
“And little ones, if you feel confused, angst-ridden or misplaced during your turbulent teen years, please don’t tell me about it. I could go to jail. I can’t take you to the doctor you’ve known since birth to even talk to them about your icky sex questions. If you have any genital-related mental or physical issues that haunt you, let’s just not deal with them, OK? You’ll grow out of it. Our Hoosier rulers knows best. Lord knows you don’t want me to call the police.
“Indiana’s rulers also don’t want you to learn about non-white people, sex, the Holocaust, discrimination or anything not approved by our local chapter of the self-appointed GOP thought police. Books are dangerous and bad.
“Tomorrow, Jane, we’ll review Indiana’s obscenely high infant and maternal mortality rates and discuss what they mean to you.
“Meanwhile, realize there is nothing we can do about this …”
