MountainMornings

It would seem that what happened in the Lone Star State without much of a whimper, is going to blow up in the Old Dominion. I first started writing about this repugnant piece of legislation called the “ultrasound bill” awhile ago, highlighting a woman delegate’s idea for a man to submit to a rectal exam should he seek medical care. Then Jon Stewart did a brilliant skit and VA became a national laughingstock. Now Gov Bob McDonnell is backing down. I guess his greater ambitions got the best of him. All it took was thousands of women standing mute outside the Capitol this week, and millions of signatures on petitions; and probably more lucid members of his own party. Today is a Day of Outrage for women and the men who love them in VA – if you would like to write to the Gov, please feel free, just ask him to “Please veto mandatory ultrasound and two-trip requirements for women seeking abortion care in Virginia.”
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm
I did and his site was so busy it took a full 10 minutes for the email to sail off.

It got me thinking of Greta Garbo, the Flapper’s favorite actress. “I vant to be alone.” Then Bob looked up Justice Brandeis’ 1928 quote on his iPad. Speaking in Olmstead vs US about wiretapping, he said that one of a citizen’s most important rights is “The right to be left alone.” Now here was a man ahead of his time, he even envisioned a future where papers may not have to be taken from a drawer, but ‘by another means’ produced in court. Technology wasn’t a word yet, so he imagined a ‘psychic method.’ Imagine that before the Great Depression, he could envision computer hacking! Which led me to think about a landmark book, Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. This gifted Harvard Public Policy Prof has often said that with great social changes comes great controversy. Once we bowled in leagues after work, and now our social capital is diminishing – we bowl alone, we sit in cubicles in front of computers alone while ostensibly connecting with others. Here are some of his ideas for becoming more invested in a democracy:http://www.bettertogether.org/150ways. Hey Bob, check out #119…

Thank you women of VA, for telling the Gov we are watching, we want government to leave us alone! This religious attack on contraception and women’s health is unconscionable, outdated and immoral. Our bodies, our choice, our doctors! We knit together, and we vote – red, blue and purple.

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