Many pundits and political commentators have called Social(ist) Security the "Third Rail of American Politics." For those that do not know what that means, it's an analogy to the third or middle rail of a train/subway track that conducts the electricity that powers the rail cars. The voltage it conducts is lethal, therefore "Untouchable."
It was once the conventional wisdom that trying to privatize or eliminate the Social(ist) Security entitlement program was the death knell to any politician's career...although it is now common knowledge that the program is in dire demographic straights, and it is perhaps not quite the untouchable program as it once was in the American political scene.
No, the real third rail is what No-Nonsense Man, Mark Rudov refer's to as "Invented Women's Rights."
From his review of the VP Palin - Biden Debate last Friday:
Among other accomplishments, Biden bragged to Palin that he had authored the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). No response from Palin. No response from moderator Gwen Ifill. But, that’s not surprising. Have you ever heard — just once — any law professor, politician, or talkshow host publicly challenge Joe Biden on this pernicious, misandrist, unlawful legislation-turned-industry? Never: invented rights for women are off the table.
This is EXACTLY how you know that RepuliCons and DemonRats are two sides of the same coin. As I wrote in my previous blog entry, The Politics of Marriage, some issues are NEVER discussed publicly in either RepubliCon or DemonRat forums.
While they argue ad naseum over issues like Same Sex Marriage (which affects what, 2% of the population?), the REAL problems with marriage - i.e. no-Fault Divorce, gender biased divorce courts, the unconstitutional actions of the family court system, the biased way in which child support and visitation violations are enforced all tells us just what is the true third rail of American politics.
No one dare touch the feminist entitlements that have become codified into American jurisprudence, which is why we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to the likes of Phyllis Schalfly for spearheading the effort to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 70's...because, like VAWA, once an invented female right becomes law, it's nearly impossible to get it rescinded.
1 comment:
The episode that Rudov cites also documents another phenomenon about women in American politics:
You can never make them happy. Give them what they want, and they'll move the goalposts even further out.
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