RealmNOIR

The Sexual ignorance of Rush "Pillhead" Limbaugh
 
By Alex Henderson
March 18, 2012

As an American, one of the most frustrating things is trying to explain the Christian Right to Europeans. Most politicians and political commentators who are considered right-of-center in Holland, Spain, Belgium, Denmark or France are not flat-out insane the way that religious extremist and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, for example, is flat-out insane. And if a European needs additional proof of just how dysfunctional the United States can be when it comes to sex, he/she need look no further than the recent tirades of Rush “Pillhead” Limbaugh.

(continued here)

Rick Santorum's Obsession With Porn
 
By Alex Henderson
March 21, 2012
 
First, let’s set the record straight: the vast majority of modern-day Republicans are not really “fiscal conservatives,” and they do not really believe in “small government” or “limited government” no matter how much they claim that they do. Sen. Ron Paul of Texas is a hardcore fiscal conservative; so is former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who recently defected from the GOP to the Libertarian Party and is running for president as a Libertarian (he stands a good chance of getting the LP nomination). But Paul and Johnson are not representative of modern-day Republican ideology on the whole. Most of today’s Republicans actually believe in very big, bloated, intrusive government, and the fact that former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum is doing as well as he is in the GOP presidential primary speaks volumes about that party’s direction. At a time when so many Americans are worried about high unemployment, record foreclosures and a staggering federal deficit, Santorum continues to obsess over adult porn, gay marriage and abortion—and one of his biggest criticisms of the Barack Obama Administration is that Obama isn’t sufficiently anti-porn. Pandering to the GOP’s theocratic Christian Right base, Santorum has been promising to make federal obscenity prosecutions a high priority if elected president. Translation: Santorum would do his part to waste the taxpayers’ money and add to the United States’ gigantic federal deficit (which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, reached $229 billion in February 2012).
 
(continued here)



Health Insurance Reform and the U.S. Supreme Court


By Alex Henderson
March 26, 2012
 
This week, the United States Supreme Court is evaluating the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPAACA), which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010.  The High Court will not announce its decision until June, and it remains to be seen whether the justices will (1) strike down the “individual mandate” portion of the PPAACA but uphold other parts of the PPAACA, (2) strike down the PPAACA in its entirety, or (3) uphold the PPAACA in its entirety.  And considering that more than 50 million Americans presently lack health insurance, it is no exaggeration to say that the health of millions of Americans hangs in the balance.
 
(continued)