Freaks win again

WASHINGTON - A high-ranking Food and Drug Administration official resigned Wednesday in protest of the agency's refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception.

Susan Wood, director of FDA's Office of Women's Health, announced her resignation in an e-mail to colleagues at the agency. The e-mail was released by contraception advocates.

The FDA on Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to sell without a prescription. The agency said it was safe for adults to use without a doctor's guidance but that young teenagers still needed a prescription and it couldn't determine how to enforce an age limit — a decision contrary to the advice of its own scientific advisers.

"I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled," wrote Wood, who also was assistant commissioner for women's health. "The recent decision announced by the Commissioner about emergency contraception, which continues to limit women's access to a product that would reduce unintended pregnancies and reduce abortions, is contrary to my core commitment to improving and advancing women's health."

There once was a day where the religious freaks had no impact on the lives of the greater public. That is not the way it works anymore.

Which, of course, is all related to George Bush's cultivation of the religious right during the 2000 and 2004 Presidential campaigns.

There are some people left who will stand up for sound judgment and do the right thing, but in the long run, what will that resignation amount to? Nothing. They'll just backfill her job with another religious freak.

I do have a limit to the amount of political craziness I will tolerate before I leave this country. I just wish I could do something that really matters - but I can't. There are a great number of people on the left writing about these issues every day. There are protests. There are people camped out in Crawford.

The net effect? None. Our movement is completely powerless, and while optimism is a nice thing, we also like to claim we live in the "reality based community". Well, reality is, we're fucked.

** update **

It didn't take long for the freak Christians to start blaming gays and other assorted sinners. Link:

"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence’, New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same," he continued.

New Orleans is also known for its Mardi Gras parties where thousands of drunken men revel in the streets to exchange plastic jewelry for drunken women to expose their breasts. This annual event sparked the creation of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series.

"Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God," Marcavage concluded.