Another AND column out

This one is on the problems with theocracy and why JFK was right about it and Santorum wrong. As I note in the opening, it’s not that Santorum is any worse than a Republican Protestant theocrat, it’s that he’s the most outspoken (at least among anyone of prominence) about wanting to impose his church’s faith on others.
Switching to another nasty piece of work, you may have heard about Rush Limbaugh proclaiming a young woman a prostitute because she wants her insurer to cover contraceptives: She’s saying she wants someone to pay her before she has sex, so that makes her a whore, right?
Again, this isn’t that far beyond what the right wing often says. Attacks on birth control are bound up with the horrifying image of some “slut” having sex and getting away with it (as discussed here and here) and the importance of chastity—which must be imposed on those sluts if they can’t control their own sex drives. Ron Paul, for example, asserted in one of last month’s debates that the problem isn’t the Pill, it’s the immorality that drives women to use it.
Nevertheless, actually labeling a specific woman as a prostitute seems too much even for some of Limbaugh’s advertisers: Six have pulled out so far (further discussion of the reaction here).
It should also be kept in mind that:
•The birth control pill is something you take on a regular basis. That frequency isn’t affected by how frequently you have sex.
•Does Limbaugh’s insurance cover his Viagra? Because wouldn’t that make him—or any many who gets it from an insurer—a prostitute too?
In other related news, a religious-exemption bill has stalled in Congress. And here’s a discussion of the implications of the religious opt-out position.