But seriously — and I’m still on vacation here, so this will be only partially thought-out —- the thing that gives the birth control discussion legs is that it’s a broad coalition of forces: It’s the people should not be able to fuck without permission squad that also wants to shove probes up the vaginas of anyone who needs an abortion to teach them a lesson; but it’s also the we hate health care in all its forms, so birth control is as good a place start as any crowd; furthermore, the debate that went “if a bunch of shitty Catholic bishops think that people should be able to cite moral concerns as a reason why they should be exempt from certain tax laws, why the fuck have we been paying for an illegal war that so many on our side oppose” actually plays into the hands of the anti-tax fundamentalists who are on board with this because they want everybody to insist that taxes are unfair.
Basically, you have three different interest-groups: the fiercely anti-sex/anti-woman hate brigade, the anti-Obama types who want to undo anything he’s done, and the Norquistian anti-taxers who like the idea that people on the left are suddenly receptive to the argument that people maybe ought to be able to opt out of taxes to fund things they disagree with, since those people disagree with every tax for everything.
Add all that up, and you have three different ways of looking at a situation that is a lot more complicated — and thus scary! — than just the birth control basics. Restricting access to birth control may be a losing issue with a public that overwhelmingly benefits from its existence, but if you can muddy it up with “we’re really doing this to roll back SOCIALISM” and “you hate paying taxes, right” then it’s part of a broadening coalition.
That is what the GOP has been for years, and it’s the way that the Christian nutjobs and the Tea Party hardliners can find common ground. Whether you oppose birth control because you want to dismantle Obamacare piece-by-piece; because you want everyone who has sex to suffer for the unsanctioned pleasure they’re enjoying, there’s a place for you at the party; or because you’re trying to further an anti-tax argument by getting more people to endorse your rhetoric, there’s a place for you at this party.
