Deep Thought...

This issue of abortion is now going to become a real big deal with the appointment of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court and the line now forming to contest Roe v. Wade.

While most young people agree that abortion is a right of the woman, I am not so sure anymore. While I respect that the woman's health is in immediate danger when she conceives a child, I am not so sure that the right to abortion is something that should be so free.

At the center of my concern is the fact that the male that did his part to help create a life has no legal standing in the decision to end this life if the woman chooses to do so. A man could clearly state that he wishes for a child to be born and wants the opportunity to be a father, and the woman can still have an abortion - and similarly so, a man could want the woman to have an abortion, and she could have the child. Now, I know that the child is being carried by the woman, and as such women have the greater burden in the birth process, clearly. With that said, however, in terms of the legal issues here, why is it ignored that the male is legally obligated to support the child once it is born? Granted the man SHOULD pay for his child, and I do not condone behavior contrary to that.

But is it fair that the man is made exclusively responsible for the child when the woman is equally responsible for the creation of the child? Further, is it fair that the man carries the financial responsibility for a child with no say in the abortion issue?

What is really at issue here, is the fact that men have allowed themselves to be pissed on legally in regard to reproductive rights, among other things.

In an effort to get laid, men have allowed themselves to become soft on many issues, and as a result, MY generation, and the generations to follow are going to pay for our fathers' pussification. Whether it is the complete disregard for the fact that it takes a woman AND A MAN to make a child and they BOTH should be allowed to have a legal standing in the birth and financial support; or the fact that men are legally obligated to pay out divorce settlements as long as it can't be legally proven that the woman was unfaithful - men are getting shit on by the courts in this country.

In my opinion, and I am a liberal, I am happy to see that MEN are playing a big role in limiting Roe v. Wade. Thank you, my fellow males for FINALLY growing a spine and finally using the testicles that God gave us. It is complete bullshit that women are given the right exclusively to decide over the life of an unborn child.

If two consenting adults create a child, then two consenting adults should decide its fate - and marriage is not what the right should be limited to. Two people in their twenties who have created a child should be on equal footing in the decision of its fate - while a woman endures the pain of child birth (which I won't say is bullshit, but it is now possible to have a child and not have to squeeze it out of a vagina thanks to modern medicine), the man has the enduring responsibility of PAYING for the child for 18 years.

Likewise, if the two consenting individuals are NOT adults - which certainly happens - there OUGHT to be parental notification of BOTH sets of parents.

I don't think that the right to an abortion will ever be terminated, and in the bigger scheme of things it shouldn't. However, it should not be as simple as a woman deciding, hey, I don't want this child, and I don't HAVE to have it...

...and thanks to this "stepping out of line" I can think of at least one woman who is going to be a little pissy with me, and I am wondering now if maybe our fathers' knew exactly why it was better to just shut up, bend over, and take the legal screwing...

So I think that blogging is kind of corny, but...

... the Winter Olympics has motivated me to once more attempt to put my thoughts to words.

What is the deal with this stuff anyway?

1. Why should I care about the Olympics?

As far as I see it, the Winter Games are a bunch of sports that I have never played, will never play, or cannot afford to play more than a few times in my entire life. Granted, this doesn't mean that they are not fun to watch - but why the hell is NBC cutting out my Law & Order for this crap? Curling? Ice Dancing? The Skeleton Run?

Listen - I am sure people care about these things, but Law & Order has been on for 16 season for a reason, and the Winter Games are once every four years for a reason - food for thought...

2. Are all of these people even athletes?

I used to sweep at my job in Pizza Hut (ed. I no longer work at Pizza Hut.). Had I known that I could be in the Olympics doing that I would have worked a lot more hours perfecting the craft.

Honestly, there is nothing athletic about Curling, so much so that none of the people that I saw engaged in this blantantly lame activity even LOOKED like athletes.

While on the subject, the luge has to go, too. Aside from the fact that there aren't many more homoerotic activities out there for people to engage in than that two man luge, the fact is that these guys run for all of, what, five seconds and then pray to God they don't kill themselves for another two minutes... I guess the athleticism comes from pointing the toes...

The Bobsleigh is close as well, though, at least there is something TEAM oriented in that as everyone plays a part in the control of the sled of death...

3. Ego? What ego?

Toss up: who is more of an ego freak? Michelle Kwan, with her groin injury that went away long enough for her to march in the opening ceremony, and attend all the festivities that Emily Hughes missed, or Bode Miller, who has yet to even MEDAL in an event, let alone win the supposed FIVE golds that he was hyping himself to be able to do.

My winner, by a gate-straddled ski is... Michelle Kwan. Sure, Bode Miller is all about Bode Miller, and he has the Nike contract to go along with that attitude, but we all KNEW that. And while he did hype himself to oblivion by speaking candidly, and then "apologizing", he actually IS one of the best American skiers we have.

Kwan is another breed. After suffering a serious injury to her groin - love to know how that happened - she tried to be ready for qualifying for the Olympics and fell short.

BUT, never fear! The U.S. decided that she should get a "private" tryout for the team, and in a demonstration that was not televised and VERY few saw, she "qualified" for the Olympics - leaving Emily Hughes to sit at home.

Then she gets to go to Turin, and party like its 1999 - until of course, she is then expected to actually SKATE. All of a sudden, the injury that merely a week prior was supposedly a non-issue, became an issue and she withdrew from the games...

As a Olympian TWICE prior, and as an athlete, no one knows Michelle Kwan's body like Michelle Kwan. She should have known that she was not going to be able to compete. From personal experience as an athlete myself, it is easy to know if you are completely healed from an injury and whether you are ready to compete at your best.

My belief is that Kwan got what she wanted out of these games, and that was the party and fanfare. As an athlete that tends to go unnoticed for four years, she wanted to be seen and heard, and the competition was never really what was in her focus - at least Bode Miller has competed.

If nothing else, Kwan took away from Emily Hughes what Hughes had earned - the party and fanfare that she will have to wait another four years for that comes with the Opening Ceremony. Here's to hoping that Hughes gets to take in all of that in 2010...

4. Racism

This one actually hurts to talk about, as it has shades of Hank Aaron chasing Ruth all over it. Shawnee Davis...

I am sure that the story around this is well-known enough for me to not go into all of it, so I am just going to go right into the commentary:

Chad Hendricks is a douche bag.

The bottomline on what has gone down is that Shawnee Davis did a couple things that were true milestones, and have been forgotten. First, he won a gold AND a silver, which if you have not noticed, is not something the U.S. has had a lot of at these games (not that they haven't won golds, but when you consider the amount of events we have not medalled in AT ALL, a gold and silver are a big deal). Second, he is the first black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual event - which is a MAJOR LEAGUE accomplishment.

But the media has had little air time about that. Consider if Michelle Kwan HAD competed and HAD won gold, what the media would have done for that. Now consider that the story around Shawnee Davis is whether he is a good team player.

For the record, Davis had NEVER agreed to be on the relay... ever.

My take, is that no one aspires to go to the Olympics to be on a relay. Anyone who has been an athlete and had aspirations of going someplace in an event KNOWS that the goal is always a gold in your discipline - the exemption being team sports like Baseball, Basketball, et. al. Davis' goal was to win a gold in his event, not to help Hendricks get ANOTHER gold for his mantle. Perhaps that is selfish in some ways, but in respect to what he had worked for, is it not his right to be a bit selfish? If I had worked for years to do one thing and someone (who is NOT a person in charge of anything really) wanted me to do another, I would tell them where to go...

The shame in this is that Davis was not able to relish his historic moment in a manner he should have been able to. Like Aaron, who was being sent death threats as he chased the Babe, Davis could not really take in the moment in the way that people do when they win a medal. Winning a medal should not be bittersweet...

5. In closing, thank God this only happens once every four years...