The Phileas Club 116 – More Conservative Views

 

On this episode we talk about:

  • The Kavanaugh nomination, and the upcoming elections in the US
  • The political situation in France
  • And more !

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Comments

  1. Colby Dempsey says:

    I made it for a while until my blood boiled (around the abortion discussion is where it happened)

    1. For Kavanaugh, I agree and disagree. He was a drunken dick in high school and college. Does that disqualify you from being a SCOTUS justice? Maybe not. What I think the left wanted in this situation was contrition. I think his petulant reaction made things worse.

    2. Tony is right that the US cannot break from a 2 party system without structural changes. Second choice voting is a start, but the actual structure of government is made up of majority and minority. Even those who were elected outside of the 2 party system have to pick one of the 2 parties to caucus with.

    3. The money behind the pro life movement cares nothing about life. While Tony personally doesn’t care about contraception, the people who push policy do. They want abstinence only education and no access to birth control. The single biggest thing we can do to reduce abortion is to have comprehensive sex ed and universal access to birth control. Also banning abortion, does not stop abortion….it stops safe abortions. I can go on about the government actually removing the autonomy of a women by forcing her to give birth. Roe vs Wade set the standard at viability. I think that is where it should stay. By the way the bible only speaks to life as drawing breath.

    • Hey Colby, I agree with you on Kavanaugh, I think. The petulant reaction as you put it didn’t help. It was quite striking to see him lose his temper, when other people have had to stand severe questioning and remain calm (especially women/Clinton).

      That being said, on the last point I think you’re doing Tony a disservice by conflating his opinion with that of more extreme pro lifers, which I suspect he would reject. That was the point I was trying to explore with my question about contraception, and while I disagree with his ideas on abortion, I don’t think it’s fair to throw these views on contraception at him, when he has actively rejected them. Sure, the movement is this way or that way, but I was talking to one individual, and the fact that others view things differently don’t make his views less real. Imagine if you were trying to express your views on climate change or feminism or another “traditionally leftist” issue, and people on the right rejected it out of hand because they know of people who have more extreme views than you do… I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate it (and might even become dismissive of them).

      • Colby Dempsey says:

        I see what you are saying Patrick, and I think separating a singulars persons view, from the view of the movement is difficult. At the same time, I think the view of being pro life itself is extreme regardless of its motivations. In the end the people who Tony will most likely vote for are the people who will align themselves with the objectives of the movement, not Tony’s more moderate view. Here in lies the problem with American politics.

      • I get where you’re coming from. I think it makes more sense when you frame it like this… But I also wonder how much of it is “fantasy” borne out of the visible extremes and how much is real. I’m not certain banning sex ed for exemple is viable beyond a few localized places (which inevitably fail), since it’s not the majority’s opinion. And my guess is that if you go to the state or even country level, it’s not the majority opinion either. I don’t know, but I suspect these are local experiments that don’t last, no matter what the “movement” wants or demands. Maybe I’m wrong…

      • Colby Dempsey says:

        There are 11 states with no sex ed mandate. All 11 require abstinence to be stressed when sex ed is taught. only 21 states have a complete sex ed mandate that requires contraceptive and HIV education. You can see statistical correlations between lack of sex ed and teenage pregnancy rates. If you look at both state bills and ballot measures, the money that tries to defeat those are organizations like the Family Research Council and the National Right to Life Committee.

        I think you are right in the essence that the specific policy initiatives of these organizations is not to lobby for, or attempt to introduce specific legislation, however they will try to defeat the ballot initiatives and bills that do come along which attempt to expand sex ed and/or eliminate abstinence only sex ed. But to be fair, there is always money on both sides of almost every issue.

      • Wow 11 states… Ok, I didn’t realize it was that widespread. And in that case, I tend to agree with you: they are indeed linked concerns…

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