Sexual Perversion And Modern Conservatism: Joined At The Hip?
by tristero
Via Atrios, I learned about the arrest of S.D. Republican Ted Klaudt on rape charges. The charges are revolting: He duped foster children in his care into letting him perform “exams” on them to see if they qualified as egg donors.
A little googling turns up this list of bills sponsored and you could predict that among them would be things like:
establish certain legislative findings pertaining to the health and rights of women, to revise the physician disclosure requirements to be made to a woman contemplating submitting to an abortion, and to provide for certain causes of action for professional negligence if an abortion is performed without informed consent.
clarify the application of certain provisions pertaining to the sale of pistols.
provide for recognition of certain valid nonresident permits to carry a concealed pistol.
provide for limited confidentiality of certain firearms information.
establish a task force to study abortion and to provide for its composition, scope, and administration.
prohibit the performance of abortions, except to save the life of the mother, and to provide a penalty therefor and to provide for a delayed effective date.
In support of free religious expression in public schools.
Proposing and submitting to the electors at the next general election an amendment to Article XXI of the Constitution of the State of South Dakota, relating to the definition of marriage. [The proposed amendment:: “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota.”]
revise certain provisions regarding the performance of abortions on unemancipated minors and those found to be incompetent. [The bill required a 48 hour delay after notification of a parent befor an abortion could be performed, with certain exceptions noted.]
prohibit the performance of abortions, except to save the life of the mother, and to provide a penalty therefor and to provide for a delayed effective date.
One of the problems with sex scandals is that they are often excuses for prudes to behave like prigs and pricks, as if there’s something uniquely immoral about sexual intimacy and the many different varieties of pleasures experienced.
But I think we can all agree that what is alleged against Klaudt is so disgusting that it clearly is the work of a deeply disordered mind who really shouldn’t be out in the general public. But this scandal brings up loads of questions, (like how he could live with himself as probably the most obvious). But the most puzzling of all is how he could persistently seek legislative office (and he tried for the Senate but failed) and not only that but go out of his way to sponsor this legislation, given his propensities.
And I think it may be fair to raise a more general question, whether an obsessive concern with regulating abortion and defining marriage has more than just a casual association with sexual perversion. By “obsessive concern,” I’m not talking about some decent schnook who’s been fed christianist propaganda,. I’m talking about someone who, like Klaudt, gets all proactive about it, deliberately trying to legislate morality, trying to build a career on it.