I Blog The Billboard Electric!

Remember how the people on the right complained when the Supreme Courts in some states overturned laws banning gay marriage - how they liked to say that “activist” judges shouldn’t be allowed to legislate from the bench?

They don’t mind as much, though, when their cowboy leader tries to legislate from the Oval Office - which is part of what Bush was doing when he sent up John Roberts and Samuel Alito for confirmation to the Supreme Court, to replace William Rehnquist (dead) and Sandra Day O’Connor (retired, although she is still working hard - she served on the Iraq Study Group, whose report and recommendations Bush ignored, probably because Darth Cheney explained them to him using small words and told him it would be a good idea to ignore them).

Those on the far right hope that Roberts and Alito, both conservative, will help to steer the court toward overturning Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that confirmed that a woman has the right to have an abortion. They replace one conservative vote (Rehnquist) and one generally liberal vote (O’Connor, who was often referred to as the “swing vote” on a number of issues - a tag she did not care for) with two conservative votes, though that still leaves the righties one vote short.

So a woman’s right to choose isn’t precisely shrinking, since the number of votes to uphold the decision has no impact on the validity of said decision; but if you’re clever and into marketing, you could certainly read it that way. And if you are such a person and have the balls of a Pamplona bull in the streets, you can use that interpretation to dramatic effect - which is exactly what a company called Manhattan Mini Storage has done with a billboard in New York. To wit:



Letha sent me an e-mail with a link to this article that talks about the billboard and the related ad campagin - and there are several other links in this article that point to other articles and blog posts about it, with comments both positive and negative from New Yorkers. (Yes, Virginia, there are Republicans in New York - they just don't admit it to their friends, and they wear disguises when they go to vote.)

And yes, positive comments from me. I am half tempted to rent a storage unit from these cats and ship some of my stuff to New York just to be supportive. I blog the billboard electric! (Now that's esoteric!) I know! I'll buy a bunch of Rush Limbaugh books (easily found in the clearance section of your local used bookstore, on the Guys Whose Fifteen Minutes Are Up shelf) and ship them to New York for storage. Maybe they'll spontaneously burst into flames once the unit is locked!

Living here in Hillbillyana, I sometimes forget that there are other people in the country besides me who are ready to see Bush eaten by alligators - and it's always nice to be reminded that I'm not the only one. Thanks, Letha!