The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

For a number of years now, I've contended that Americans are more liberal than polls have showcased. In poll after poll, when asked whether they considered themselves to be "conservative," "moderate," or "liberal," the percentage of self-described conservatives and moderates far outweighed the self-described liberals, even though these same Americans supported liberal-leaning policies such as: Increasing taxes on the rich, more gun control regulations, legalizing medical marijuana, and perhaps most recently, equal marriage rights for the LGBT community. Regardless of how liberal people's opinions on issues were, however, many such individuals still shied away from labeling themselves as liberal due to the bastardization of the term. Especially after Fox News debuted in the mid-90s and talk radio started being dominated by conservative voices such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, to many, liberal came to mean: Tax and spend, baby-killer, communist...

Missouri Republican Senate candidate, Todd Akin, recently made headlines with his recent claim that women have magical vaginas, which push aside any sperm from a raper to prevent pregnancy. Here I thought I didn't understand women. Now it's North Dakota Republican congressman (and Senate candidate) Rick Berg making the headlines. It's now been documented that Mr. Berg cast a vote which would have criminalized mothers whom decide to have an abortion with a Class AA felony. In this bill, incest and/or rape were of no matter. The only time when an abortion would be allowed is if the mother's health was in jeopardy. If we were to create a hybrid of Mr. Akin and Berg's views, this is how it would look: Women's vaginas have magical powers, for when raped, they have a way of closing a hole somewhere to prevent the sperm from entering and becoming pregnant. In the off-chance a pregnancy occurs via rape, however, and the woman chooses to have an abortion, she shall b...