Open Letter to Senator Gordon Smith Senator Smith,
Thank you for asking my opinion this evening through your very detailed phone poll. Perhaps the polling organization should ask if the respondent is a blogger as well as asking if they are a reporter, because this is going straight to my blog.
http://pslasswell.blogspot.com I wanted to communicate with you directly because some of my responses might be atypical, and I want to clarify them.
Please continue funding, and oversight, of the Title X contraception programs. I strongly believe that underage pregnancy is a substantial cause of misery in the United States. Tremendous potential is wasted when immature women become mothers, in both the parent and the child. I support adoption, but for many young girls with incomplete identities it is too hard to release the one person who will always make them unique. It is far better to help prevent a young woman's time of vulnerability from becoming permanent. The brutal truth is that nine out of ten underage mothers never climb out of poverty.
I also believe that you need to make sure that the funding for contraception is efficiently spent and reaching its intended users. I don't mind a little bit of wastage in making sure that plenty of contraception is available, because this is one form of medication that can save taxpayers a lot of money down the road. It is worth noting that all of Title X funding is less than the cost of one bridge in Alaska that serves no purpose other than to carry indigenous pork.
I would like to note that the one issue that matters to me most is the continued support of the Global War on Terror. Although it might seem attractive right now to start hedging away from President Bush on the war, I think that is due to a media bubble that is due to burst. The fact is that we are winning the war in Iraq and elsewhere, and those who think otherwise are watching biased media and not talking to the people who have been and are there. We have a stronger force than we had going into the war, and we are forging the leaders we will need for the rest of the century in the crucible of a very hard, but not very bloody war. (Look at the Battle of the Somme casualty statistics as a reference for what is a bloody fight.)
Thank you again for asking my opinion,
Patrick S Lasswell
