The Rand Paul Rorschach Test

I thought it was beyond interesting to hear today that Rand Paul has decided that Bill Clinton's sexual high-jinx while in office were so offensive that anyone who has received campaign contributions from him should return them.  In fact, he called Clinton a "sexual predator."  The reason I did a double-take at this presumed moral attitude, is that I recalled an incident from Rand Paul's college days which came up during his 2010 campaign.

Paul, who was (seemingly appropriately) known as "Randy," was a member of a "secret society."  Their goal in life appears to have been to have a high time and pull pranks.  The incident that was made public in 2010 involved the kidnapping of an undergraduate woman.  Talk about your pot calling your kettle etc.

But here's what makes the attack even more terribly wrong.

Bill Clinton, regardless of how stupid was his extramarital pursuit of women, was not taking them anywhere or anyhow against their will.  The Rand Paul incident was quite the opposite.  The young woman was blindfolded and tied up, taken to Paul's apartment where he and a friend attempted to force her to smoke pot.  After she refused, they forced her back into the car, took her to a creek, and made her perform a bizarre worship of a god they invented for the purpose of the prank.  Hilarious, right?

So you have to wonder about the incredibly bad judgment that would cause him to attack Clinton for behavior that was not even as bad as his own.

I can only assume that the incredibly warped logic had to do with attacking Hillary, who he sees as a likely opponent in 2016, through her husband.  And making it seem as though he is a defender of women.

I just wonder if when it all comes down to it, this kind of crazy stuff will result in Rand Paul lasting little longer than Rick Perry, Herman Cain or Rick Santorum when he actually hits the campaign trail.  I am hoping it will be a brief but thoroughly entertaining run.

The Republican Inquisition

Bizarre that we are in the midst of debate about government required "vaginal probing".


This is, however, effectively sidestepping debate on the economy, at a time when President Obama is finally standing strong and gains are becoming more evident.  It is easier to take a moral stand on something you believe your God has told you to do than to stand in front of GM workers and criticize the actions the president took which saved the plant and the jobs within, although Mitt Romney will be the one to try.  It is also refocusing the attention deficit media from the economy to these ridiculous religious dicta.


It's always fun to make fun of Rick Santorum, but how on earth do we deal with the wackos in the various state legislatures that are introducing these bills which propose to reduce women to cattle, as does the bill introduced by, yes, I kid you not, Illinois' House Agricultural Committee.  At least you can say they are telling it like it is.


If you are able to take a step back to see the bigger picture, I guess it is safe to say that every state has its resident elected wacko, and in many states they are religious wackos.  And now, the Catholic church, who no one has ever listened to in this country anyway, has proudly taken center stage on their belief that God has determined that sex is for procreation, and any attempt to stop it is a sin.  And add the megalomaniacal Santorum, whose conversations with God have gotten louder and more shrill over the weeks since his primary successes.


What you have is the perfect climate for brewing crazy.


Forgive us women for being slow to rise up against this idiocy.  Even though our U.S. House of Representatives has been running its own special sexist Inquisition for the past two years, we honestly didn't think it would catch on.  I mean, even Mississippi voted down the "personhood amendment".


I would like to make more jokes about this situation, because it is so ridiculous that this is happening in 2012.  But there have been so many signs that the religious wackos are taking over the country that I must rely on Jon Stewart for the humorous perspective.  It is also too personal for me as a woman with an adult daughter, to laugh it off.


But I should.  After all, these are men whose idea of stimulating the economy goes no farther than "vaginal probing".


See, it's easy.