OH the HYPOCRISY!!!

Many people have been talking about how much more media attention Barack Obama is getting than John McCain. Okay... maybe because Obama is doing some new things, and making changes to the process, and therefore is newsworthy. McCain is simply more of the same old... so it seems natural to me that he would have less media coverage. But I digress.

What REALLY kills me about this, is that last night on Fox News, they were claiming that this was evidence of media bias. Really, Fox News? You really think you have ANY room to claim media bias? If I'm not mistaken, you have a VERY conservative bias, and have for quite some time. FFS, you air The O'Reilly Factor. Really, need I say more?

Guess who offered to take me out to dinner?

Is this asshole SERIOUS?!?! Viagra is for a medical condition and birth control is a choice? Last time I checked, pregnancy is a medical condition, in fact, it's one that many women seek to avoid. Advair prevents people with asthma from having to use their rescue inhaler as often, so I guess we could consider Advair a choice too, right? Should insurance stop covering that? I know it's apples and oranges, but a stupid statement denying women any right to take charge of their fertility doesn't really deserve my energy in formulating a comparison any better than that.

And really... erectile dysfunction is inconvenient for someone who wishes to continue to have sex. But you know what? Erectile dysfunction itself, if untreated, isn't going to cause additional health issues. It's far more likely that there is an underlying health issue causing the ED.

Let's get to the heart of the issue here. Being sexually active is a choice. By no means am I trying to diminish the role sexuality plays in our lives. I'm also not saying that Viagra should NOT be funded... everyone deserves lifelong healthy sexuality. However, sexuality doesn't just mean intercourse. Intercourse is a choice. Bill O'Reilly's argument simply doesn't hold water here. I'm tired. It's been a long day. I'm rambling, and I don't know if any of this was even remotely intelligently constructed, but if Bill bought me dinner, I'd be happy to tell him precisely where he could put it. Or perhaps I could forward my invite on to McCain. I'm sure the two of them would have plenty to discuss over a bottle of wine.

P.S. - Birth control doesn't enable women to become perpetrators of sex crimes. 'Nuff said.

I know I'm probably a little behind here...

...but I'm just getting around to wondering about Darth Cheney's taxes. according to whitehouse.gov:

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2007 today.

The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2007 of $602,651 on taxable income of $2,528,068. During the course of 2007 the Cheneys paid $466,165 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return.

The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $212,208 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports a pension benefit of $32,500, which the Vice President received as a former director of Union Pacific Corporation. The Vice President became eligible for this benefit in 2006 when he turned 65. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's book royalty income, a salary from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute, and a pension benefit of $32,000, which she received as a former director of Reader's Digest. The amounts of the pension benefits received by the Vice President and by Mrs. Cheney are fixed and will not increase or decrease regardless of changes in the earnings or revenues of either company.

The Cheneys donated $166,547 to charity in 2007. This brings the Cheneys' total charitable contributions during his Vice Presidency to $ 7,966,566.

Okay. First of all, I don't care about what kinds of charitable contributions they're making. It's all a writeoff, and it doesn't make up for all his other shady dealings. (Is he no longer in cahoots with Halliburton? Where's all that on his paperwork?)

Second, I can't find anything to back this up, but I heard on the radio this morning part of the income that was claimed stems from Darth Cheney drawing Social Security. If the Social Security thing is true, doesn't it seem a little backwards? I mean, really... do these people sound like they NEED Social Security? No wonder my generation won't have it. ;) If anyone knows where this could either be confirmed or debunked, I'd love to read it.

Third... hey Dick... I still haven't forgotten about you shooting a guy in the face.