Magazine covers are more important than abortion rights.

[beerandjesus]

69. Thank you. Sad to say, sometimes the obvious needs to be stated!

I'm with you in being sick to death of thread after thread about "controversies" like SI, and I think to equate a magazine counter with segregated lunch counters shows a real lack of maturity, not to mention a lack of appreciation for just how serious some of these political issues are.

I enjoy the sport of politics as much as anyone. My favorite political show is probably Hardball, because Chris Matthews is all about the sport, the spin, and the score-keeping, even though he tends to be light on substance (in contrast to, say, Rachel Maddow). It's good fun, and it's a cheap thrill for people like me, who get no closer than Hardball to actual team sports (because I could give a good goddamn about sports).

But that said, the political issues we talk about here are literally life and death for many, many people. I don't hate Republicans because they run mean attack ads, because they're cozier than Democrats with the nation's plutocrats, or because they're religious hypocrites. I hate them because they're murderers. I hate them because their mission, through their economic and social policies, is to increase the amount of suffering in the world in general and in America in specific. They do this by starting wars, creating poverty, withholding medicine, poisoning communities, fomenting bigotry, and rewarding others who do the same. Fighting Republicans--and Democrats who act like Republicans--is not a game.

It IS a game, however, to pretend that men on DU, because they're insufficiently offended by a magazine cover, are the enemy. It's a game about as enlightening, sophisticated, and original as a remarkably-similar game called Smell My Finger. Like probably everyone else on here, I completely support feminist causes. But if we're going to pretend that a magazine cover is as important as abortion rights, I have to call bullshit. Bullshit, and shame on anyone who thinks this game is more important than extending unemployment benefits. Or expanding, not cutting, social security and food stamps. Et cetera.