John Stewart
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
I’m sorry folks, but I cannot resist writing again about my legislature here in Virginia. After all, our elected officials, including Governor Bob McDonnell, have been the butt of jokes on Saturday Night Live and John Stewart. Why shouldn’t I jump into the mosh pit?
By now, everyone knows how the legislature passed a bill requiring women to have an ultrasound before they could get their abortion. The unstated purpose of the legislation, of course, was to put yet one more (expensive) obstacle in the way of women seeking to obtain a legal medical service. Oh, sure, the pro-lifers argued that women need to have even more information about the abortion procedure because, well they don’t say it out loud but, women are DUMB. But thankfully we have these strong, sensitive, intelligent mostly male legislators to get women through this procedure!
Anti Abortion Governor
Ultimately, however, the boys found out that many women would have to get a vaginal ultrasound, which means sticking a probe up “there.” Suddenly, charges of “State Sponsored Rape” hit the airwaves, jokes abounded and Virginia became a national laughing stock. How did all of this happen?
Bills in the Virginia legislature move very, very fast. A hearing on a bill can last only an hour and they are usually perfunctory exercises. That’s particularly true with the abortion issue, where elected officials are either for or against. It is a rare legislator who actually thinks about this issue and 99 percent of them vote on abortion like lemmings to the sea. They just have their aide check to see the position of the pro-life or pro-choice groups and they vote with their buddies, the goal being getting a 100 percent rating on their annual “scorecards.”
Vaginal Probe Sonogram
So, in this case when the vote came up, both sides voted accordingly. Then, the poop hit the fan. It seems that some lawyer from out of state actually thought about the effect of the bill and reasoned that the “jelly belly” ultrasound for a woman who was in the early stages of pregnancy wouldn’t work because you can’t see the fetus that well which meant that they’d have to perform a – dare I say it – vaginal ultrasound! Even the folks at Virginia NARAL were surprised.
Soon after things hit the fan, Governor McDonnell started to back track. And the reason was simple – he has national political aspirations and could not afford to because a late night television joke. In essence, he had to admit that he and his fellow pro-lifers hadn’t thought the bill through and so they will now pass something less drastic.
This whole process (or lack thereof) is yet another example of why politicians should not be involved in this issue. They’re out there trying to score political points, not understanding that they are actually affecting the lives of women. But there’s another disturbing issue – and that is that this is yet another example of how the pro-choice groups still don’t seem to be communicating well with the actual abortion clinics. The day the bill was introduced, didn’t anyone think about picking up the phone to ask a local clinic how it would impact on them? It doesn’t sound like that happened because, if they had talked to the clinic, the doctor or nurse could have easily told them how ultrasounds work.
It’s sad to think that we have John Stewart and the folks at SNL to thank for defeating this legislation.
Related articles
- Virginia’s McDonnell Backtracks on Trans-Vaginal Ultrasound Bill (news.firedoglake.com)
- Virginia House Passes, But Governor Rejects Mandatory Vaginal Ultrasound Legislation [Roe V World] (jezebel.com)
- News Analysis: Ultrasound: A Pawn in the Abortion Wars (nytimes.com)
- Is Virginia’s Controversial Anti-Abortion Law ‘Akin to Rape’? (clutchmagonline.com)
- Forced Vaginal Probing A Source Of Levity Among Virginia Legislators: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
- “State Mandated Rape” Anti-Abortion Bill Comes To Alabama (lezgetreal.com)
- How support for Virginia’s contentious abortion bill unraveled (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Abortion - Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information 
February 26, 2012 at 6:22 pm
Doghouse Riley says it’s time for the real “pro-lifers”– those who care about raising children more than they do about hosting fetuses– should start acting the way the self-proclaimed ones have been for the last two decades.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:03 am
Okay Charles, I’ll bite….who is Doghouse Riley??
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February 27, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Pat:
http://doghouseriley.blogspot.com/
It’s the piece just below “Charm School,” “The Difference between God and Liberals is that God Uses Historians” He is quite scathing about our reasoned and measured response to the so-called “pro-lifers.” He is the Ambrose Bierce of the Hoosier State. We should learn from him.
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February 26, 2012 at 8:16 pm
In a culture where the sound bite overrules reason, Jon Stewart and SNL, among others, are the only omsbudspersons we have left to reach those whose busy lives don’t allow them time to listen to other reasonable voices like Bill Maher and Bill Moyers. Raising the issue through humor is a way of reaching the younger generation who have never experienced a culture in which family planning was regulated by government. Someone needs to call out transvaginal ultrasound for the state-mandated rape it is. The whole concept that women need “information” about abortion demeans women. Women know when to bring children into the world, and when it would be wrong to do so. Their decision in this respect should be respected. Imagine if the legislature decided that men should be barred from using Viagra or other penis enhancers unless they undergo a government- mandated exam to see if they would be responsible parents, should a pregnancy result. Really?
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February 27, 2012 at 11:05 am
Good post, Marty. The interesting thing is the pro-lifers think that if women can actually see their fetus inside them, they wont have an abortion. The irony is – and I have seen it – that many women who have the ultrasounds see the fetus and they are often surprised at how small it really is. I’ve been with women at that point and it’s like they are relieved because they thought it would be much bigger! As Charles knows, they only care about the little fetus, not the grown woman…
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February 29, 2012 at 7:01 pm
i have met women who saw their ultrasound and changed their minds about having an abortion.
i also have a friend who volunteers in a CPC and she told me that a woman went there for her pregnancy test and also had an ultrasound and as she saw the fetus moving, she told the woman, “look, your baby is waving to you.”
the woman said “awwww, the baby is waving goodbye.”
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March 4, 2012 at 5:44 am
Pat…you are right!! In a way the sonogram could backfire on the them!! All the posters in front of the clinic..the ones that women have seen on the news for years are etched into their minds!!
Then she sees the fetus on the screen…she is amazed at the size!! She can NOT believe that it is NOTHING like all the posters she has seen in front of the clinic!!
One of the questions I use to get asked all the time is “How can they put those pictures out there …when it is just NOT true?? I thought they were all about “truth” and about how the clinics “lie” to women!! To that I use to smile and tell them…”If you want medical information..don’t go to the schoolyard idiots for it!! Go to the doctors office run by professionals!!”
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February 26, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Oh, and the transvaginal express is chugging along in PA. No big surprise.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:06 am
Are the pro-choicers using the “state rape” arguments up there, Marty?
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February 27, 2012 at 5:24 am
This week, 2/27, Pat Richards of the “keep-the-killings-coming” crowd on the abortion.ws blog comments on the Virginia politicians’ attempt to require that someone first see whom she was killing before she paid a hit man to torture him to death. Disgusting, says Pat:
“Ultimately, however, the boys found out that many women would have to get a vaginal ultrasound, which means sticking a probe up ‘there.’ Suddenly, charges of ‘State Sponsored Rape’ hit the airwaves, jokes abounded and Virginia became a national laughing stock. How did all of this happen?”
The “probe” Pat mentions is a camera. Pat and his guys have no objection to sticking other things “up there,” like plastics, poisons, scissors, pliers, knives, curates, and vacuum cleaners. But cameras? Uh uh, babes, only things that kill may be inserted, nothing that protects. And so it goes.
——————————————————
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February 27, 2012 at 9:02 am
The Probe is like a Phallus.
And if a doctor says it is unnecessary then it is pure stupidity for the legislature to micromanage medical care. Especially when it comes to invasive intrusions.
We all know the purpose has nothing to do with the Women’s rights, it has all to do with an agenda to get rid of Abortion.
Call it what it is. State mandated wasted expense, materials, and vaginal penetration.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:10 am
Thanks, Linda. And the truly scary thing was that the legislature passed the bills at first without understanding the actual ramifications. Then, after they passed, someone figured it out and that’s when things hit the fan. In some ways, the pro-choice groups/allies almost blew it….
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February 27, 2012 at 11:08 am
I am really beginning to think, John, that you truly are a coward. You take my posts, put it on your blog or whatever you have, then you make snide comments. But when I reply on my blog to your stuff, you disappear for another week. Am I allowed to jump onto your blog and comment?
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February 27, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Pat,
I’m confident that John would get his jollies from any crumb you might throw him. He’s a lonely,self-serving, pathetic man looking for attention using any means available to him.
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February 29, 2012 at 4:12 pm
That moron is a dingle berry.
That will be his legacy in my opinion.
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February 27, 2012 at 5:53 am
Agree with Pat and Marty and would add that this T/V ultrasound business is yet another example of the hypocrisy of those who label themselves prolife. These trolls only care about their own life, about their corporate earnings, about what they want–all the while denying what women want, denying the very life of women, especially women who are capable of thinking for themselves.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:12 am
And they are so insulting. They think women do not understand their own bodies and what they are carrying in their bodies. I guess it goes back to a simple thing – control. I wonder how many of the male pro-lifers are also wife beaters?
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February 8, 2014 at 12:31 am
Hi! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wndenriog which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
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February 27, 2012 at 6:21 am
Abortion is a matter of the heart: for until one understands the heart of a woman, nothing else about abortion makes any sense at all.
– Dr. George Tiller
P.S. Anti abortion terrorists, including Virginia legislators, don’t understand the heart of a woman. They only understand what they want.
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February 27, 2012 at 9:04 am
It is a sick thought. Aren’t there other states that mandate this intrusive and often unnecessary Penetration?
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February 27, 2012 at 11:15 am
Evan, I believe Texas has passed such a law but I’m not sure of its status. I’ll try to check
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February 29, 2012 at 4:13 pm
That is what I heard.
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March 4, 2012 at 11:36 am
my understanding is that in texas, an ultrasound must be performed at least 24 hours prior to an actual abortion procedure, that the heartbeat of the baby must be played audibly and that the doctor must describe the development to the woman ( my understanding is that the doctor must be the one to do these things. if i am mistaken, please correct me)
advocates for this law state that it is important for informed consent.
but abortion proponents point out that so many women are already mothers and know what is on that screen, and if from an area where there are no facilities in which they can obtain an abortion, they must arrange extra time for child care ( i have yet to see an abortion clinic with a day care facility in it.) and lodging, not to mention extra time off from work.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:14 am
Not only do they not understand the heart of women, they do not respect women in general. The Dunkles, Hills, Benhams and Terrys of the world hate women, pure and simple.
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February 27, 2012 at 11:38 am
Pat, when does politicians do know about a thing???
Not long ago, in Miami, they were arguing about lay off TEACHERS because they have no money to pay them anymore or to raise their salaries, which we all know that any employed person gets a review on their job every year and with that, a raise if they achieve all goals for that particular position! So, anyways, can anybody tell me which politician came forward and said – Hey, teachers are the ones responsible for the education of our children, we can’t lay them off!!!
I will answer that myself…
NONE!
Why??? easy, because politicians care ONLY for what they can get money wise! If they won’t be able to have money in their pockets, they will vote WRONG about whatever it comes in front of them as long as they can keep money entering their bank and the rest of us?
Just like the music of Cee-Lo says… F**Y you… forget you….
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February 28, 2012 at 11:51 am
I’m sorry, Sonia, but that is a totally ludicrous thing to say. I know many politicians that support our teachers, that think they should make even more money – beginning with President Obama! And not all politicians are in it to line their pockets. The public, unfortunately, hears only about the bad guys, they do not hear about folks like Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia or Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon who are very honorable and who truly care about education, healthcare, the needy, etc. Please try not to be so cynical!
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February 28, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Cynical, me? Don’t make me laugh Pat…
You mention what 3 or 4… And on the news they show like 10 or 20…
How many teachers are out of work??? How many lost their house???
Well, maybe you called me cynical for not being part of the ones that like to lie, i will take it… i think that was actually a compliment.
Pro-lifers, why do you think they are so strong on their opinion? Same for Pro-choice… how much money do they get on the back stage for that! What is really behind the scenes?? I DOUBT who really does any of this just for believing on the cause… and that includes me!!!
I do believe that President Obama is a good guy, i believe him. But unfortunately he can’t do miracles. Whatever he does, the interests of the “big fish” will always prevails…
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February 29, 2012 at 6:01 am
Sonia, have to agree with you about the big fish prevailing, generally. They can prevail because they have money to buy airtime (think free speech that is paid for by corporate interests), they have many public officials doing their bidding (thanks to corporate donations, lobbyists), they have front groups who purport to represent one agenda while in reality it serves some other party or interest whose sponsorship is hidden or rarely mentioned (think petroleum, logging, pharma, chemical, insurance industries).
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February 29, 2012 at 8:44 am
Sonia: I know when I was a lobbyist for the pro-choice movement, I did it for the cause. In 1994, a magazine named me one of the Top 50 Lobbyists in Washington, D.C. After that, I got offers to lobby for oil companies and other biggies and I could have made hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. I turned them all down “for the cause.” There are many others out there like me. Despite the media, not all lobbyists are sleazeballs. Think of the lobbyists who are working for the Cancer Society, the ACLU, low income housing coalitions, needy children. Believe me, those folks are not making a lot of money. But the press does not focus on them…..
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February 8, 2014 at 10:38 am
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February 29, 2012 at 7:13 pm
pattypoo, here in florida, the current governor ran as a pro-life candidate.
once in office when he was faced with budget cuts, the first and largest ones he made were to education and benefits to the seniors.
this state is just chock full of seniors, and those cuts have been catastrophic to so many of them.
my seniors have supported, defended and nurtured the system all of their lives.
and now when they are vulnerable and need help from that system, it is denied to them.
he is the perfect example of someone who claims to be pro-life, whose value for life ends at the delivery room doors.
he is a multimillionaire, and i hope he is able to keep his money and is never in the position that he has put many of my seniors in. i wouldn’t want that for anyone.
i think the situation here in florida is what sonia is referring to.
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March 1, 2012 at 11:36 am
Rogie: I dont know all the details about the cuts in Florida. I would bet anything that Jeb Bush made the cuts that affect seniors probably thinking that somehow the cuts would not hurt them. I mean, in Florida, you dont just willy nilly decided to go out and hurt that very, very large constituency. Not to defend him, but governing is tough stuff. Let’s fact it, everyone is “pro-life” in some sense of the word. He is probably thinking that his cuts will enhance the “lives” of many in the state.
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March 1, 2012 at 8:57 pm
jajajaja
patty, jeb bush was 2 governors ago.
after he left, there was charlie crist ( the one who was looks like he and george hamilton were spearated at birth ) and then rick scott.
the cuts came directly from scott.
i understand that cuts had to be made, but if he thinks that children growing up to be ignorant and seniors and disabled people being left uncared for will enhance anyone’s lives, he is as crazy as he looks.
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February 7, 2014 at 10:40 pm
Can I just say what a reduction to secrah out someone who really knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You positively know how one can bring a difficulty to gentle and make it important. More folks must read this and understand this facet of the story. I cant imagine youre not more well-liked because you positively have the gift.
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March 1, 2012 at 9:06 pm
of course you are correct, though, about us all being pro-life in some way.
some of the most pro-life acts i have ever witnessed came from choicers.
my friend ron fitzsimmons, with his siblings, found a charity to help needy children. check it out sometime: http://www.aliceskids.org/
on this blog there are kate and lorraine, both of them nurses, kate taking in those who were cast out by society all of her life, lorraine actually talking women out of aborting their babies, in her own clinic because in her heart she felt that the women would be better off having their babies, and chuckles’ life has been about everybody other than himself.
if these people are not selfless and compassionate, then i don’t know what is.
yet they make no claims to be something that they aren’t.
it irks the pure living motherflip out of me when an anti-abortion person tries to claim the label of pro-life and shows such blatant disregard for human life as scott has.
people like him aren’t pro-life. they are simply aborticentric.
where have i heard that term before?
*scratches head*
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March 1, 2012 at 9:08 pm
of course you are correct, though, about us all being pro-life in some way.
some of the most pro-life acts i have ever witnessed came from choicers.
my friend ron fitzsimmons, with his siblings, found a charity to help needy children. check it out sometime: http://www.aliceskids.org/
on this blog there are kate and lorraine, both of them nurses, kate taking in those who were cast out by society all of her life, lorraine actually talking women out of aborting their babies, in her own clinic because in her heart she felt that the women would be better off having their babies, and chuckles’ life has been about everybody other than himself.
if these people are not selfless and compassionate, then i don’t know what is.
yet they make no claims to be something that they aren’t.
it irks the pure living motherflip out of me when an anti-abortion person tries to claim the label of pro-life and shows such blatant disregard for human life as scott has.
people like him aren’t pro-life. they are simply aborticentric.
where have i heard that term before?
*scratches head*
jajajajaja
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March 3, 2012 at 6:58 pm
rogelio, you are absolutely wicked!
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March 1, 2012 at 10:44 pm
Oh, Scott, not Bush! the most hated governor in America at this time; should have gone to jail for having his hospital chain bilk Medicare out of billions, but took a pass from the Bush-era regulators. Known in liberal circles as Governor Voldemort for his resemblance…
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March 2, 2012 at 8:23 am
THAT’S THE ONE!
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March 1, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Pat, Bush is part of the wrecking crew that defines America as those who earn more than $250,000. Don’t expect him to do any more for seniors than will ensure that they vote for him. Lying to them is the cheapest way to buy their electoral affection. He is as crooked as any other Texas oil man you’ll ever come across. I recommend reading “Bush Family Secrets” by Russ Baker to understand him.
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February 29, 2012 at 8:47 am
The perception may be that the big fish always prevail, but that is not necessarily true. Big money does not always win. The oil companies, big pharm, etc. do not always get what they want. Now, sure, if the GOP controlled everything, it would be a different story. And big money does not always win elections either. Look at the money spent in California for a Senate seat – the one who raised the most did not always win.
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February 29, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I agree when you say that they don’t always win and that the press also doesn’t not show that to us, poor mortals, because they want something that will bring them what??? MONEY…
But besides all of that, i understand that there are people that do anything for the cause, i know that! But what drives me crazy is that even though there are good people among us, we still can not make too much of a difference. As you all know i am from Brazil, and when a guy named Fernando COLLOR de Mello, a guy who once was a president of Brazil, did what he did stilling money from EVERYBODY on his first day of command, a nation came together and took him from his not so warm seat… I just wish that there were more people like that to take the front of action and make it happen.
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March 1, 2012 at 11:40 am
Sonia, I cannot comment on the situation in Brazil but do not give up hope! Look what happened in Mississippi, where the most conservative state on the planet DEFEATED by a wide margin a bill that would have declared the fetus a “person.” Then, here in Virginia we just did the same thing. We also – because we were politically organized – helped water down that bill that would have required a vaginal ultrasound. The system can work – but you/we have to have the energy to organize and not just whine about things (I”m not suggesting you do that but many others do).
Look at what happened in Florida in the year 2000. Look how they determined that Bush would be President. And it was all because of a few thousand votes. People can make a difference, but yes sometimes you lose. That’s the nature of the beast…..
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March 1, 2012 at 7:24 am
In a response to Kelly Ayotte, the bishops, Rick Santorum and Franklin Graham and other religious nut jobs who meddle in medicine:
“They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.” Isaiah 44:18
They are not attacking me — they are attacking all who are not like them. All who are not them are “the Other.”
They are not attacking me — they are attacking America.
These are the new Taliban, mullahs, ayatollahs, who want to elevate religious law, Sharia law, God’s law, above the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. When they speak of respect for rights of conscience they are speaking only of their rights and their conscience. Not mine. Not yours.
Fearful of changes they can neither foresee nor control, trapped in their ignorance, they are launching a new attack on America. They want to be your deciders. Ask them how many children you can have, what books you can read, what medical treatment you are entitled to, who you can marry, and what you can do in your bedroom.
They will decide.
Ask them if science is true.
They will decide.
And when they don’t like who you are they can decide to go to war with you.
You want marriage equality? They’ll go to war with you. You want to control your own body. They’ll go to war with you.
You believe in climate change and evolution. They will really go to war with you.
Their patriarchal, my-way-or-the-highway confrontation in the public square, their attack on science, on American principles, all embellished by Scripture, is an attack on all the principles embraced by this country’s Founding Fathers.
In the end, remember that when we embrace truth, when we chip away the plaster and open our eyes and our ears, when we understand with our heart, when we love rather than fear, then we can be healed.
America needs a lot of healing. This winter has been mild but the nights are still long, dark and cold. This winter of discontent is lasting too long.
Excerpted from Robert Azzi, Seacoastonline
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March 1, 2012 at 11:42 am
Hey, I said the same thing the other day!!!
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March 21, 2012 at 4:57 am
surprisingly
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April 3, 2012 at 7:37 pm
life quotes insurance…
[…]John Stewart Saves the Women of Virginia! « Abortion – Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information[…]…
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