In which we talk politics

Ooh that title will make you shudder, and maybe haunt me for years to come.

But I've been wondering.

Part of that is the health care overhaul bill. Like 49% of Americans, I am pleased it passed. While I know it isn't perfect, and while I know I will probably end up paying more money into the "system" without reaping obvious personal benefits, I still feel that some things are worth paying for. Health care is one of those things. To me, it's about the people. The sister, for example, who will no longer be denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition. She will no longer have to choose between keeping her current insurance protections or living with her husband in another state as he begins a top ranked grad program. People like that, facing decisions like that, will still have to make difficult decisions, but not with the added worry about what might happen to their strained finances in a medical emergency.

Anyway, I see the core of the bill as about helping people. So why is there so much hate in response to it? Why are people mad enough to fling bricks through windows? I do not understand. And I wonder, where did these people go to kindergarten? My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Campbell, wouldn't have stood for that kind of behavior.

Another thing that makes me wonder is an article I read recently about grad students having children. Grad students who have children have few legal protections. For example, the family and medical leave act does not apply to them, so if they can't make it back within a few days of giving birth, technically the school can throw them out, cut off their health insurance, and leave them stranded.

I had a child in grad school, but my advisor and department were very willing to help me out. I was fully funded my last quarter of grad school -- the one in which the due date landed -- even without teaching duties. They scheduled my defense several weeks in advance of my due date. My advisor moved our one on one meetings to later in the mornings when I was feeling pukey. (My spell checker says that pukey is not a word, but I'm sticking with it.)

Why aren't all grad students who have children so lucky? Shouldn't there be a safety net for students who get pregnant but are willing and eager to continue their degrees? And let's be completely realistic. Fathers are vital in families as well. Shouldn't male students get some time to bond with a new family as well as female? Doesn't that just seem like common sense?

But read the comments on that news article, and you will feel sick to your stomach from all the brick hurling. Mrs Campbell would not have stood for that. No sir.

Many commenters say that this smacks of just another liberal entitlement program. The students chose to have children, so should suffer the consequences. Drop out. Lose insurance. Housing. Visas. The liberals are out to get us.

Wait wait wait wait wait! I thought it was the conservatives who favored families? And these students aren't asking to be held to any weaker standards. They still have that dissertation to write. Exams to pass. Work work work to complete. Along with a newborn. Let's be realistic. These family students are going to be working a whole lot harder than their traditional counterparts. All they want is enough time to recoup so they can continue to put in that work. How is that entitlement?

The most interesting comment was from a woman who wrote of her experience of unexpectedly becoming pregnant while a student, and her struggles to finish inside a system that expected unexpected pregnancies to be aborted. There, my friends, is where the pro-choice-ers' arguments run into moral trouble. An honest choice includes honoring a woman's choice to carry a child to term -- responsibly. And not steamrolling her into an abortion.

Now wait a second, you are asking yourself. This started out sounding like such a liberal blog post, and now it has morphed into pro-life sentiments.

That's my point. I refuse the labels "liberal" or "conservative". "Pro-choice" and "pro-life". Many of the people who wear those labels, I don't like them. Mrs Campbell doesn't like them. And I'm tired of watching them throw bricks through people's windows.

I favor the politics of listening, of flexibility. Of giving people the benefit of the doubt and a helping hand. And I hope for the same from you in return.