If you want me to keep my laws out of your body, be prepared to keep your babies out of my pocketbook... otherwise, it�s "our choice," not "your choice."

Hey, while were on the subject of social responsibility, I�d like to explain why I�m voting for Bush.

See, I figure that the liberal left and the conservative right are both interested in stripping away my civil liberties, albeit in different directions. The trick is to strike a balance between the opposing ideologies, in the hopes that they�ll devour each other rather than me. So long as the feminists and republicans keep at each other's throats about things like the abortion issue (which, frankly, seems unlikely to slide too far in any one direction) they won�t have time to fuck up the things that really matter. Bush will have his hands full maintaining the current abortion stalemate¹, thereby making it relatively unlikely that he�ll be able to devote the resources and effort to setting up counter-terrorism strip searches directly outside my door (which, as far as I can tell, is his ultimate fantasy). On the opposite end, with a genuine evil dictator to face off against, the liberal left won�t fall prey to the boredom that inevitably results in movements that are apparently intended to make Orwell�s thoughtcrime a reality.

No, I�m not thrilled with the idea of a country where abortion is a felony and gays are forced to hide their sexual preferences. I�m also not thrilled with the idea of a country where I can be prosecuted for maintaining eye-contact with a woman for more than several seconds, or where my language is so heavily moderated that it becomes prudent to simply avoid certain topics of conversation rather than run the risk of saying something criminally offensive.

So. Bush it is. It�s kind of like treating arthritis by infecting yourself with HIV, but I prefer a little overkill when it comes to these matters.