Love the fetus, neglect the child

Love the fetus, neglect the child seems to be the Republican motto for the State of Idaho. Being the most Republican state in the union, totally controlled by Republicans for quite a long time, Idaho is almost pathologically anti-abortion. At the same time many, many children in Idaho lack any kind of health insurance. There is a significant amount of child abuse about which little is being done. The schools are sadly neglected and the Republicans for years have refused to do anything of significance about it. Indeed, they have done just about everything they could to prevent any positive action at all with respect to the schools. At one point one Republican legislator even suggested changing the Idaho Constitution so the state would have no responsibility for education. I guess when it was discovered that that would be unconstitutional he gave up on it. Another ploy they tried was to reverse the obligation of the state by trying to force the small communities themselves to be entirely responsible for financing the schools or face sanctions. It really is a marvelous state, if you only admire its physical beauty. Politically it is a genuine disaster zone. If you want to observe the damage that can be done by an exclusively Republican Administration come to Idaho.

The media are still raving about how funny the first lady, "Pickles," is and how she upstaged her husband with her obviously scripted remarks. But many now complain, and I think rightly so, that some of the remarks were extremely tasteless. The image of the President trying to milk a male horse is not exactly the most wholesome vision one might have. I gather that even some of the members of the Churches of the Absolutely Bonkers were not too pleased. Hurrah!

Nothing has changed for the better in the last few days. Indeed, if anything, things have probably gotten worse - with Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, the environment, you name it. We wait with baited breath to see what happens with Bolton, DeLay, the nuclear option, Iran, North Korea, etc., etc. Bush's ratings continue to plummet. Just wait until he tries to invade either Syria or Iran, and tries to institute a draft. If the entire nation doesn't erupt in rage I shall be most surprised. When will this gang of dishonest cutthroats have to pay for their crimes?