The Sexual Revolution vs The Visual Revolution

Two distinct stories are making the viral Internet rounds this week. And they couldn't be more alike, or more different.

One is the video of a transgender girl (born male) opening up a box of hormones her mother bought for her. After years of therapy, a psychiatrist has prescribed the estrogen, and with tears in her eyes, the young teen was overcome with gratitude to finally get her wish.

The video has gone viral, with help from celebrities like George Takei.

How touching it is.
And it is. It's hard not to feel the emotion and gratitude of the video. Yeah for transgender! Yeah for the new sexual evolution!

And then there is this other story...

"Psychologist Blinds Woman With Drain Cleaner - Because She Wanted to be Blind!"

Jewel Shuping has dreamed of being blind since she was three or four years old. She would walk the halls at night with her eyes closed. By the time she was six, she was comfortable "being blind."

She has always believed that she was meant to be blind. She should have been born blind. It was her greatest desire to be blind.

She saw a therapist for years for Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID), a condition in which able-bodied people believe they are "meant" to be disabled. Her desire to be blind was so strong that in 2006 she decided to blind herself - by having a sympathetic psychologist pour DRANO into her eyes.

Most people feel what Shuping did was crazy. How could she mutilate herself like that? How could a therapist actually think this was the right thing to do?

But it begs the question- why is it okay for transgender persons like Caitlin Jenner to permanently alter their bodies? (And even herald them as heroes!) But Shuping is considered crazy? Isn't sexual reassignment surgery just as damaging and permanent as pouring Drano in your eyes?

Why is one okay and the other not?

Is it because one is about sexual desires? Why is sex okay? The thing that must be fought for?

Where is the line between "she should get what she wants" and "she's crazy?"

Benghazi-Petraeus-Broadwell-Allen-Kelley Scandal

With the elections over it almost seemed like I was going to run out of material for this blog. But that is not the case! This Benghazi-Petraeus-Broadwell-Allen-Kelley scandal is too crazy to not talk about.

Let's do a really simple recap of what promises to quickly not be a simple situation.

General David Petraeus-
Former top dog in Afghanistan
Former General
Was the CIA director until a few days ago
Knows a lot of dirt on Benghazi
Had an affair with Paula Broadwell (his biographer)
Married

Seriously, Herman Cain?

Seriously, Herman Cain, seriously? You want us to believe that for thirteen years you had a "friendship" with a younger woman, called her and texted her late at night (ahem, 4 am), gave her money from time to time, and your wife never knew about her! Sure! Because men have relationships for thirteen years with younger women that their wives don't know about! That sounds completely on the up and up!

You know, if the story had been that she was just an acquaintance that he kept in touch with, maybe I'd believe him. But no "friend" calls at 4 am. (In my case they wouldn't be a friend anymore if they did call at 4 am.)

The second you start sending your "friend" money to help out, and never mention it to your wife, it becomes suspicious.
You're making the GOP look like the sex scandal party, and not the family values party.

Herman Cain 'reassessing' his candidacy

Herman Cain Source: HermanCain.com

In light of yet another woman coming forward and accusing Herman Cain of infidelity and a 13 year romantic extra-marital relationship, Cain is considering dropping out of the GOP race. Or to put it more politely, he is 'reassessing his candidacy."
CNN is citing a top campaign official as saying that they will determine whether or not he's dropping out when they see how these latest allegations affect the fund-raising. (My words, not theirs.)
According to the NY Times, Cain "said that he had not lost his enthusiasm to run, but suggested it was a distraction that could be difficult to recover from."
Cain has denied all allegations of the relationship (and of all the other sexual misconduct accusations). However, he did tell his staff Tuesday that the accuser Ginger White was "a friend and he helped her financially but that nothing inappropriate took place."
“It’s also taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine,” Cain said in a call to the National Review where he broke the news.“For some people, you’re guilty until proven innocent. And so, the public will have to decide whether they believe her or whether they believe me. That’s why we’re going to give it time, to see what type of response we get from our supporters.”
Of course, we're now up to five different accusations or allegations of marital infidelity by Cain. What's that old saying? Where there's smoke there's fire? One accusation, maybe even two, would be suspect. But five? And especially when the fifth one is producing financial and phone records to prove the relationship? Reminds me of another old cliche, "caught red-handed."
But of course, the real question is who will benefit if Cain drops out? Who will get his supporters? You better believe the campaigns are all kicking it into high gear right now to come up with that strategy. If you look at the polls over the past 3 weeks, you will notice that Cain was declining at nearly the same rate as Newt Gingrich was rising. So it is quite conceivable that if Cain drops out, we'll see another Gingrich surge. But my gut doesn't agree with that. Gingrich already soared by attracting the people who were on the Cain bandwagon. They were not necessarily all that supportive or informed about Cain, and then when Gingrich started to look good, they jumped ship.
I think the real question is what was it about Cain that attracted people to him in the first place? Other than his 9-9-9 plan, he's not all that different from the other candidates, but brings a side of pizza. He was an anti-candidate if you will. He was exciting for not having the same style as the other suits on stage. I think that is what drew in his supporters. If his supporters are still looking for the big business smarts, they will go to Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman. Or if they are just bandwagon types, we'll see them go over to Gingrich because he's the exciting flavor of the month right now. If his supporters are jaded and burned out over the extra-marital affairs issues I think they will go over to anyone but Gingrich.
No matter who the supporters go to, we're talking about a completely different horse race in just a matter of days. Nationally, Cain is pulling in at 15%, and in Iowa he is in second place with 17.7% of the votes. Considering he's only 4-8% behind Gingrich in most polls, and just behind or nearly even with Romney in most cases, that 15% can really change everything. If Cain comes out and throws his weight behind a candidate, we'll see huge things happen fast. But if he withdraws and doesn't back another candidate, it may be a few weeks before things really materialize.
Only 5 weeks till Iowa, and 6 weeks till New Hampshire. Let the games really begin!

Exactly what makes Herman Cain so great anyway?

Herman Cain Source: HermanCain.com

I've been thinking a lot about Herman Cain and what it is exactly that bothers me about him. And then today it hit me as I looked over the headlines.

Cain bets that he can stay a Republican front-runner without acting like one
Source: WashingtonPost.com


Herman Cain Cancels Interview After Making Unusual Requests
Source: Huffington Post

Herman Cain's Unconventional Approach
Source: WashingtonPost.com

Cain quick to play the blame game
Source: The Daily Republic

I don't trust him. He is too full of himself. He acts like he's better than everyone else- a little too much swagger if you will. It is almost as if he's running for president just to put another feather in his cap. "I'm so great, I should do this too. America will thank me for being so great!" is my impression of him. And exactly what has he done that is so great other than run one company (and I never liked their pizza much anyway)?

And let's not forget that horrible video featuring his campaign chief of staff, Mark Block.


A lot of people questioned the purpose of this ad. First of all, who does an ad featuring their chief of staff, who is a complete unknown nobody? Well, the answer to that is someone who is so cocky that they think they can pull it off. Mark Block's responses to the video only made me think he's just as full of himself as Cain in. But in the end, I did catch the unspoken message of the ad- Cain is setting himself apart from Romney specifically, and the other candidates. By sending a gritty, darker, less wholesome image than the whitewashed, squeaky clean candidates, he emerges as the alternative. From a marketing standpoint, it is fairly brilliant. But I hated it. I don't want the gritty alternative. I want the bright, shining ensign to the nations to follow, and not the guy who leaves me with questions about his motives and morals.(I am absolutely referring to the sex scandal allegations that have suddenly quieted.) Now, to figure out who that bright, shining ensign is!

Scandalous Values

Herman Cain (photo linked to source: LifeNews.com)

With all of the news about the Penn State Scandal and Herman Cain's possible sex scandals this week, I've made a new level of standard for myself- I will only vote for scandal free politicians. Whether they be sex, drug, money-laundering, etc., scandals, this is my new litmus test. Any candidate attached to a scandal gets crossed off my list. Even if criminal charges are never brought, or the accusations never fully fleshed out, I believe that where there is smoke there is fire.

The current field of presidential candidates

Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntstman, Jr.
Barack Obama
Ron Paul
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum

And if we eliminate them by scandals-

Michele Bachmann*
Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Barack Obama
Ron Paul
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum


4 out of 9 candidates have been involved in well-known scandals. Pathetic.

According to a CBS News poll " 61% of Republican primary voters say the sexual harassment accusations against Cain won’t make any difference in their vote, but 30% say the charges make them less likely to back him, and that rises to 38% among women.  Cain has lost support among women since last month – from 28% in October to 15% now.  He has lost ground with conservatives and Tea Party supporters as well."

Personally I find it very sad that a man can sexually harass 4 different women, and it doesn't lower the public's opinion of him. How can any one choose to make a man with such little disregard for women, and who has abused his authority to disgustingly the most powerful man in the world?

*There will be some who claim that Michele Bachmann was involved in a scandal where her husband stated his very negative opinion about gays. That isn't a scandal, in my book. That's just stating your opinion. A scandal requires breaking a law and trying to cover it up.