In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Remember that time I received multiple emails from someone telling me to quit killing dogs babies?

Jill

from [redacted]
to [me]
date Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 4:53 PM
subject Heard on Medved. How many?

Greetings Ms. Filipovic,

I just heard you on the Michael Medved show. I ask, in all seriousness:

How many abortions have you committed; that is, how many times have you hired someone to kill the ultimate underdog, the most vulnerable person in the world, the defenseless infant growing in your womb?

Again, I ask in all seriousness, as I’m convinced that your radically disordered Weltanschauung is fundamentally related to your commissioning the slaughter of at least one of your pre-born children (along with your use of abortifacients like “the pill” etc.).

By the way, do me a favor. No matter how ridiculous, how absurd, how repulsive it seems to you at the moment, overcome any resistance and say this, right now, three times:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

You did it. Thank you. Now, please continue to say it three times after you wake up every morning and three times every night before you go to sleep. It’ll be hard at first, I know. No matter. Continue…. At some point, you may wish to read this great work by a great Saint:

http://https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/829

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum,

Jackson K. Eskew, Esq.

“”It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

-Mother Teresa

“A country that legalizes the murder of its own children is doomed.”

-Dietrich von Hildebrand

______________________________________________

from [redacted]
to [me]
date Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 5:00 PM
subject Corrections

Hello again, I need to correct two things from my first message I sent to you. Say this:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I forgot that last word.

And here’s the correct link:

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/829

Cheers.

______________________________________________________

from [redacted]
to [me]
date Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 5:03 PM
subject Last correction!

NOW here’s the correct link:

http://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/829

Sorry. This email program is really annoying.

117 thoughts on Remember that time I received multiple emails from someone telling me to quit killing <strike>dogs</strike> babies?

  1. how many times have you hired someone to kill the ultimate underdog, the most vulnerable person in the world, the defenseless infant growing in your womb?

    As I’ve already mentioned elsewhere – what is this? A Cohen Brothers movie? Assassin hired to kill underdog! With a cameo appearance by The Pill!

  3. Although I am moved by what he says, I am also concerned for those lives that are ruined by rape. Should that victim following such a tragic ordeal be asked to accept the child of an unwanted sexual act? As a side note though for those that practice abortion as their method of birth control of course they ought to find a better way.

  6. INTERNAL SEMIOTIC DEBATE: Under what conditions do women “commit” abortions, instead of just “have”-ing them?

  7. C…: As a side note though for those that practice abortion as their method of birth control of course they ought to find a better way.

    Although I am moved by your compassion for hypothetical rape victims and their hypothetical pregnancies, I doubt your abilities to empathize with real live women and their real live circumstances. But thanks for the input, really.

  8. *bursts into laughter* Oh Jill I am so sorry. If something like that happened to me I wouldn’t know if I should be amused or become an axe murderer.

  10. Holy crap. I don’t know if I’m more repulsed by his ‘baby-killer’ schtick or the order that you start saying Catholic prayers.

  11. One thing I find particularly absurd is that your correspondent appears to think that reciting some magic words a few times a day is going to change anything about your views.

  12. INTERNAL SEMIOTIC DEBATE: Under what conditions do women “commit” abortions, instead of just “have”-ing them?

    Dude is way removed from reality. In his world, an abortion cannot possibly be a medical decision or anything like it. Instead, it’s like a thrilling murder plot. *popcorn crunching, etc.*

  14. He really captures the Zeitgiest with this Bildungsroman, doesn’t he? Perhaps the two of you could have a Kaffeeklatsch and work it out?

  15. Sheelzebub:
    This is performance art.

    Oh, I agree. It rolled over to April first here about an hour and a half ago, so my immediate reaction was to assume someone had got off to an early start.

  16. I would just like to point out that babies are not defenseless.

    Mine, in fact, hijacked my blood pressure regulation system to increase the flow of blood dramatically, thus causing my blood pressure to spike dangerously (this is called pre-eclampsia), and also suppressed my insulin production so as to increase the amount of sugar in my bloodstream available for their needs. They also stole the calcium out of my teeth — I ended up with three cavities and a root canal — and, as a side effect of their growth, they destroyed the connective tissue that supports my bladder, giving me urinary incontinence that would have been permanent if I hadn’t had surgery, and they also pushed the muscles of my abdomen so far apart that there was nothing but skin and a thin layer of membrane protecting my intestines from things like the corners of countertops I was leaning against. The surgery required to fix this problem made my entire abdomen numb.

    So no. Babies are not defenseless. They cannot stop you from *aborting* them, no, but they don’t just sit there harmlessly in your body, peacefully growing. They actively steal from your body, they are quite capable of pumping you full of chemicals that push your body into unsafe conditions because doing so gets them more nutrients, and their weight inside you wrecks the place. Sure, they’re not deliberately, consciously doing any of this stuff, but they are still *doing* it nonetheless.

    I made a deliberate choice to have those babies, knowing what it might do to my body, and I am fucking pissed off at anyone who tries to tell me that what I did was so easy and so worthless and the damage to my body of so little concern that my sacrifice should be completely taken for granted, and forced on women who don’t deliberately choose it. When you fucking assholes are all legally required to be firefighters for nine months, then you can talk about abortion, mmkay?

    By the way, you know what else is a poverty? Denying sick and dying and badly injured people any pain medication whatsoever because your religion fetishizes suffering. Ever since I learned the truth about Mother Theresa I have been unable to take any of her opinions about anything seriously. Sure, the woman ministered to the sick and dying, sure she fed them… but she refused to give them anything for PAIN because she thought pain was holy. And that, in a nutshell, is half of everything wrong with the Catholic Church.

    Also, dude, how many times have you tithed to an entity that protects rapists of the most vulnerable, that is, defenseless children who were raped by priests? I’m firmly convinced that your radically disordered mentality (which I will not write in German, because I’m not a pretentious git) is fundamentally related to your belief in the holiness and righteousness of an organization which protects and shelters the rapists of defenseless children from justice.

    Man, these people.

  17. Yes, he is indeed clueless! What’s this about a crush I hear? Where do I sign up? Is there a petition? Can I sign it?

    I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. Who was conceived of the Virgin Mary… and so on and so on.

    ( I recited this every Sunday for ten years. Can you tell?)

  18. C…:
    As a side note though for those that practice abortion as their method of birth control of course they ought to find a better way.

    No one does this. No one. Not even millionaires.

  20. Mr. Eskew instructed you to say the prayers in his capacity as an attorney so as a member of the bar you are ethically obligated to follow his instructions!

    I’m completely amazed when people that seem like complete nutters were able to pass the bar. This guy passed the California bar no less!

  21. How many abortions have you committed; that is, how many times have you hired someone to kill the ultimate underdog…

    Now I’m picturing a blastocyst wearing a tiny Bad News Bears cap.

  24. He really captures the Zeitgiest with this Bildungsroman, doesn’t he? Perhaps the two of you could have a Kaffeeklatsch and work it out?

    *is ded*

  25. Ever since I learned the truth about Mother Teresa. . .

    Not just refusing to give people anything for pain, but also thinking the poor should accept their lot, and in general thinking suffering was a good thing for certain kinds of people. MT:

    “I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.”

    Indeed, the world of the rich and privileged is much “helped” by the suffering of the poor through military (mis)adventures and exploitation of third world labour and resources, although if that isn’t “decid(ing) that a child must die so that you may live as you wish”, I don’t know what is.

  26. Alara Rogers @16–yes yes yes!!! Still hobbling around due to the lingering effects of my last pregnancy… I’ve never been more pro-choice than after going through two of them.

  27. Alara Rogers, FTW!

    He really captures the Zeitgiest with this Bildungsroman, doesn’t he? Perhaps the two of you could have a Kaffeeklatsch and work it out?

    Ha ha, lulz. *snort*

  28. @nahida – I know I like to have a menstrual extraction once a month, I combine it with a mani/pedi and then go for drinks. It’s a real ‘me’ day, you know? So much nicer and more convenient than taking a pill every day.

  29. paraxeni: So much nicer and more convenient than taking a pill every day.

    And you know you’ve “made it” when you can take me-time once a month for some invasive surgery instead of going the lazy kid route with an IUD.

  30. I myself love having my cervix dialated and having a fetus extracted. It beats the hell out of reliable birth control any day.

    Of course, we can pay no attention to the refusal clauses and the efforts to keep BC out of health insurance coverage. Because that would require critical thinking, and why do that when we can scare up a straw woman who has multiple abortions as BC?

  31. Jackson Eskew, I understand you! Someone disconnected the HTTP automatic redirect to HTTPS at my office earlier this week without telling me, and it cost me half a morning and nearly more. SSL is an asshole.

    1. Unfortunately, I think Mr. Eskew actually wants an answer! And since he considers birth control to be “abortion,” I think any period I’ve had since I started having sex might count? So I’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 96 abortions.

  32. I think these emails from Eskew are a put-on. I laughed and laughed when I read what he wrote. And that business about the Hail Mary? Oh, come on! Someone’s pulling your leg, Jill.

  33. I love how people say things like “I just don’t like people using it as a form of birth control.”

    Newsflash. It IS a form of birth control. A painful, costly, sometimes traumatic and incredibly invasive form of birth control. It’s preventing a birth, controlling its outcome, so it IS in effect, birth control.

    Now, if they said “I don’t like people using it as a type of contraception”….

  35. Jadey: Trying to imagine how that would even work!

    I don’t know. Pre-emptive abortion? I mean, since we are all so fond of having abortions anyway, why not have ’em just in case?

    Grammatically it works, but logistically it’s still lacking.

  36. You just have to think outside the box!

    You could use the case as a decorative coaster!

    Or super glue the pills onto studs for fun earrings!

    Or use the foil to make a hat!

    See: Spending all that money on pills as contraception is a waste when there are so many other things you can do!

    Jadey: Trying to imagine how that would even work!

  37. gretel: n pills as contraception is a waste when there are so many other things you can do!

    Jadey: Trying to imagine how that wo

    Let’s not forget the ever popular and delightfully retro Birth-Control Sundial!

  38. Sure, I could use another form of birth control other than abortion, but at hundreds of dollars a pop, and the incredible lack of access, and the 24 hour mandatory waiting period following the mandatory ultrasound- abortion is just so much more convenient than condoms!

  39. Well I am only referring to people that I’ve know in the past who have had upwards of 5 or more abortions because they don’t try to do anything to prevent the pregnancy in the first place.

  40. Holy crapola! >_< Such sanctimonious bullshit. And what are the Hail Marys supposed to accomplish, exactly?!

    I vote for you telling him that, according to his parameters, you've had 96 abortions, Jill! Not to wish a stroke on anyone, buuuuuuuut…

  41. @C… Even if someone you know does nothing to prevent pregnancy and ends up getting 5 abortions a year, that’s her choice and right. You might not like it, but it’s true.

  42. I agree it is their right and I would never want to have that taken away from me or any other woman. I am just stating the irresponsibility of it but that’s my opinion.

  43. You had someone tell you about her fifth abortion? I haven’t had an abortion and hopefully will never be placed in a situation where I have to have one, but if it happens (since it does to 1/3 of women), I guarantee you I won’t be talking about it to anyone who’s sanctimonious about my vacuum-sucking afternoon activity.

  44. C – Splitting abortions up into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ones is exactly how we ended up where we are, with all the sanctimonious Democratic anti-choicer asses. If a woman doesn’t want to have a baby and chooses a medical procedure to avoid a life-threatening complication of a normal, healthy adult life, then it is a perfectly good abortion. Abortion cannot be a thing only perfect people are allowed to get without shame. Or do you also support chemotherapy except when people use it instead of eating a macrobiotic diet and having perfect genes?

  45. Verity Khat:
    @C… Even if someone you know does nothing to prevent pregnancy and ends up getting 5 abortions a year, that’s her choice and right.You might not like it, but it’s true.

    This.

  47. (And that’s in reference to the emails Jill got, though I do continue to call bullshit on the WOMEN USE ABORTIONS BECAUSE THEY’RE TOO LAZY TO USE BIRTH CONTROL AMIRITE).

  49. Loan words are useful because they allow us to name concepts which do not have a direct translation in our native language. Weltanschauung translates, directly, to “world view” and means exactly the same thing that we mean when we say “world view.” Catholics lost the power to order non catholics to do shit around the time of the printing press. “Esq.” is something people use because no one is that impressed by a Master’s degree. Latin is a dead language. That is all.

    1. Loan words are useful because they allow us to name concepts which do not have a direct translation in our native language. Weltanschauung translates, directly, to “world view” and means exactly the same thing that we mean when we say “world view.” Catholics lost the power to order non catholics to do shit around the time of the printing press. “Esq.” is something people use because no one is that impressed by a Master’s degree. Latin is a dead language. That is all.

      All true things.

      Jill N. Filipovic, Esq.

      “I have had 96 abortions.” -Me.

  50. C…:
    Although I am moved by what he says, I am also concerned for those lives that are ruined by rape. Should that victim following such a tragic ordeal be asked to accept the child of an unwanted sexual act?As a side note though for those that practice abortion as their method of birth control of course they ought to find a better way.

    Nahida: No one does this. No one. Not even millionaires.

    What Nahida says is true! Abortion is not easy, cheap or convenient!

    However, even if there was some extremely rich, extremely pain-tolerant person who had hir own personal abortion doctor available at all times who DID use abortion as birth control, what is it to YOU, C…? Opining on the birth control choices of another person (unless you are a doctor who is CLEARLY and EXCLUSIVELY commenting on the efficacy, cost and potential side effects of a particular method for the sole purpose of facilitating that person’s informed choice) is COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE and OPPRESSIVE.

  51. Alara Rogers:
    I made a deliberate choice to have those babies, knowing what it might do to my body, and I am fucking pissed off at anyone who tries to tell me that what I did was so easy and so worthless and the damage to my body of so little concern that my sacrifice should be completely taken for granted, and forced on women who don’t deliberately choose it.

    Thank you. That’s perfectly phrased.

  52. Alara Rogers: I made a deliberate choice to have those babies, knowing what it might do to my body, and I am fucking pissed off at anyone who tries to tell me that what I did was so easy and so worthless and the damage to my body of so little concern that my sacrifice should be completely taken for granted, and forced on women who don’t deliberately choose it.

    This. I haven’t even finished reading the comments, yet, but THIS. OH, THIS!!!! Thank you. Let’s stop ignoring the physical and emotional impact that pregnancy has on a woman which is, in the best of circumstances, significant and, in the worst, potentially deadly.

  53. “”It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

    -Mother Teresa

    But is it more of a poverty than taking money from Charles Keating?

  54. Saying the Hail Mary sure hasn’t prevented Catholic women from having abortions. Some of them even have the gall to believe God loves them anyway, and go straight back to Mass!

  55. Jill: Unfortunately, I think Mr. Eskew actually wants an answer! And since he considers birth control to be “abortion,” I think any period I’ve had since I started having sex might count? So I’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 96 abortions.

    OMG, I’m at 400 or so, since I actually had a period while I was pregnant. Girls, what if we add them all up and send him that many requests for prayers. Perhaps he’ll stay busy genuflecting and leave us alone?

  56. Wait, NOBODY is impressed with Masters degrees? Nobody? Goddamnit! I had to read de Tocqueville, James Fenimore Cooper and Spivak in the same week for that shit. I’m still paying approximately 273% of my after-tax income for the degree every month (teacher’s salary). Now I need gin. Thanks, Feministe community buzzkills!

  57. @C:

    The only truly irresponsible act for that individual is giving birth to a child one does not want, cannot provide sufficient time and resources to raise, and has no intention of caring for. Picture that individual you’re discussing with a child or two she doesn’t want instead of five abortions she did. Imagine what her life, and the life of that kid, would be like in one, five, ten years.

    It is likely you either have no idea why she doesn’t make use of other forms of birth control, or you do and have left that out to strengthen your argument about “bad” abortions (I will assume that this individual actually exists for now).

  58. I actually prefer to birth my babies and leave my genetic legacy to the likes of the forced-birthers.

    Her Infernal Majesty Sheelzebub, BS, BS, BS.

  59. @Heo, I just got my MBA and I happen to know we all sit in a circle patting each other on the back, so I’m sure someone is impressed by your Master work. That said, it’s probably the kid sitting to your right in class.

  60. Pre-born children??

    Ooo, so I’ve been aborting my “unborn” children/eggs since I had my period at 10 years old??

    Awesome.

  62. Wait, NOBODY is impressed with Masters degrees? Nobody? Goddamnit! I had to read de Tocqueville, James Fenimore Cooper and Spivak in the same week for that shit. I’m still paying approximately 273% of my after-tax income for the degree every month (teacher’s salary). Now I need gin. Thanks, Feministe community buzzkills!

    Came as quite a shock to me as well. I was all like “I’ve got a Master’s degree” and the world glanced at me and collectively said “…and?” I’m telling myself the same isn’t true for my doctorate but thats because I’m comfortable with being delusional.

  63. Heo: Wait, NOBODY is impressed with Masters degrees? Nobody?

    But my Microsoft Office Certification is still prestigious right?

  65. Yes, Jill, when will you stop killing babies and start making them in perpetuity? Me, your mother, and this guy all want to know.

    Pro-natalism is silly, but letting it compel you to try to save the obvious object of your crush from what you believe is eternal damnation is frankly comendable. Kudos, dude.

  66. The damned dictionary can’t catch everything apparently: I obviously meant “commendable,” joke ruined.

  67. Catholics lost the power to order non catholics to do shit around the time of the printing press.

    *dies* This Renaissance lit scholar salutes you, sir.

    I will go ahead and warn you, though, that the only reaction you can expect from the general populace when you get your doctorate is lots of stupid jokes about whether you can write prescriptions now. They started three minutes after I defended my dissertation and haven’t stopped since.

  69. “Heo: Wait, NOBODY is impressed with Masters degrees? Nobody?

    Kristin J.: But my Microsoft Office Certification is still prestigious right?”

    I have a Safeway Club Card!

  70. Nahida: I’ve got 108 here!

    Oh darn. I missed the part where Jill said “since I started having sex.”

    I’ve had zero abortions. =( We can pretend I had 108, yes? Why don’t my abortions count? I WILLINGLY LET THE EGGS BABIES DIE!

  72. Although C…’s first post was quite absurd, I think all y’all should lay off a little now. I am of course pro-choice, and don’t think a woman should ever, for any reason, be forced to carry a child to term if she does not wish. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to be impressed or supported if a woman with access to birth control gets “5 abortions a year” (however rare or mythical this may be). I’m also not going to be impressed or pleased if someone gets five root canals a year. Just take the time to brush your damn teeth and prevent the thing.

  74. C…:
    I agree it is their right and I would never want to have that taken away from me or any other woman.I am just stating the irresponsibility of it but that’s my opinion.

    The fact is some people are just hella fertile. One of my friends was told he was born with a condom in one hand and a diaphram in his other, and I used to joke with a co-worker that her brother could just poke a woman in the arm with his finger and he would get her pregnant.

    The fact of the matter is birth control fails, and it can fail more than once, for the same woman. Also, it’s really none of our business if it does or doesn’t. I trust that she is making the best decision for her health.

  75. Nahida: I WILLINGLY LET THE EGGS BABIES DIE!

    I prefer to think of it as letting them “go off”. Like cheese at the back of the fridge, everything has an expiry date.

  76. This reminds me of the time a poster on talk.abortion, on hearing that I was both pro-choice and childfree, replied solicitously,

    “Wow, really? No wonder you don’t see the love in their {newborns’} eyes. It would be very painful for you if you did. How many of your children have you killed, if you don’t mind my asking? Do you know what sex they were? I hope you don’t think it rude of me to ask.”

  77. Wow. Not like he’s being intrusive or anything, huh?

    Nthing Alara. And Jennifer – sorry to tell you, but I had continuing hip problems from halfway through my first pregnancy until my youngest child was six years old – about eight years total, due to damage caused while the ligaments were softened by the pregnancy hormones. I think I still would, but I took up karate, and all the kicking built up the supporting muscles enough to compensate.

    I was pro-choice before my first child. I was a rabid, fire-breathing pro-choicer after the birth of my last.

  78. My “baby” tried to kill me. We had to fight to the death, and I won, though it took several rounds of chemo to fully accomplish the job. I suppose conservatives weren’t thinking about ectopic pregnancies when they talk about defenseless, harmless babeies created at conception. I wonder if I should be tried for murder, or if I can claim self defense?

  79. @ Alara at 16: For some reason I couldn’t stop picturing some sort of female Gerard Butler saying “This! is! WAR! It is US angainst THEM! They hijack OUR BODIES and we have to STOP THEM!” (Ahem, sorry for turning this serious issue into a lolfodder. Carry on).

    Oh, the naivete! He still thinks that Hail Mary’s accomplish anything. Does he also believe in unicorns? Maybe you should ask him how many “abortions” he had committed, because I bet that the only sex he has is for procreation.

  81. I’m in shock, as I just discovered that I’ve had 193 abortions. And my Master’s degree is worthless (and I haven’t even got it yet). *cries*

  83. @ Commenter #3 who said “As a side note though for those that practice abortion as their method of birth control of course they ought to find a better way.”

    Abortion IS birth control. That’s what it is. And, no matter how many abortions someone has, it’s not anyone’s decision except for the woman who’s potentially going to have to raise it.

    Saying someone “ought to find a better way” is passing judgement on someone’s decision that’s none of your business.

    Choice is Choice is Choice.

    A better way? How about leave those women alone and work on the real problem?

  84. I like “The pitiful gods of neopagan emptiness: celebrities.” and “The first dissenter was SATAN” because I’m pretty sure he’s the Church Lady.

    Oh, and the last page where he’s like “I’m a motherfucking bigot. In case you didn’t get that on pages 1-5. BUT YOU’RE A HYPOCRITE FOR THINKING I’M WRONG FOR BEING DIFFERENT THAN YOU. YOU’RE WRONG. NOT ME.”

  85. Colin Day:
    “”It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”


    -Mother Teresa

    But is it more of a poverty than taking money from Charles Keating?

    Well said.

  86. Oooh, I like how he compares people with tattoos to cows!… He should totally harass some particularly ill-tempered bikers about tattoos sometime. I’d love to see that one play out. Then again, he probably only has the *cue gendered terminology* balls to go after attractive female baby killers – such as Jill.

    The “barren wombs” one is just fucking distasteful as hell. Like, what if I was really trying to conceive and happened to come by his stupid site?

  87. I will go ahead and warn you, though, that the only reaction you can expect from the general populace when you get your doctorate is lots of stupid jokes about whether you can write prescriptions now. They started three minutes after I defended my dissertation and haven’t stopped since.

    We’ll see how Illinois goes in the next couple of years. My doctorate might actually get a scrip pad if some of the advocacy that going on succeeds. Not that I’d want scrip privileges, the malpractice insurance would be crippling and frankly I’m not the biggest fan of the kinds of meds I’d get to write for.

  88. Among the things we can expect: Barren Wombs, Plastic Souls, Men Without Chests, and Mass Shamelessness.

    Aside from men without chests (good lord, man, how would they BREATHE?!) am I the only person who doesn’t see any of these as bad things?

    Oooh, I like how he compares people with tattoos to cows!… He should totally harass some particularly ill-tempered bikers about tattoos sometime. I’d love to see that one play out. Then again, he probably only has the *cue gendered terminology* balls to go after attractive female baby killers – such as Jill.

    Of course he doesn’t. The good Deacon Eskew doesn’t want to have sex with bikers, he doesn’t want them subservient to him, he doesn’t want to dominate them as the Divinely Appointed Head of Household and Grand Pubah of Whatever. Because this isn’t about babies, its about property. He’s used to living in an ocean of privilege and he just found out its fishing season by finding himself thrashing on deck.

    We see you, Mr. Eskew.

  89. Hell, I hate to chain post but….has anyone else noticed the “Ferdinand & Isabella 2012” bumper sticker? As in Isabella I, Isabella who kicked the Jews out of Spain and started the damned inquisition? THAT Isabella? He also has a “Charles V 2012.” Charles V being the guy tried to outlaw protestants through the novel method of invasion.

  92. Regarding whether Mr. Eskew’s post is a put-on, from Wikipedia:
    Poe’s law states:
    “Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.”

    Assuming the post is for real, there is a much-repeated story in physics. Responding to a particularly egregious flight of theoretical fancy by a younger physicist, Wolfgang Pauli famously remarked that the hapless fellow was “not even wrong”. That is usually taken to mean that his musings were so far removed from verifiable reality that it was impossible even to speculate whether they were wrong. I have always liked this story because it applies to so many other areas besides physics. See Mr. Eskew’s post.

    Of course his insistence that birth control pills are abortifacients is verifiably wrong, but I mean the rest of it.

  93. Ooh, I gave up too soon and missed Mass Chronological Snobbery. I haven’t got the faintest idea what that means, but I want in on it.

    Do Plastic Souls come with the same good music Rubber Soul did? If so, right on!!

    Maybe it’s the Bouncing Soles sellout album? Also, Men Without Chests is what results when we don’t do the safety dance.

  95. I’m almost thirty now so that must be… geez, I think I’m approaching 150 “abortions” by this guy’s logic soon.

  96. Tapetum:
    Wow. Not like he’s being intrusive or anything, huh?

    Nthing Alara. And Jennifer – sorry to tell you, but I had continuing hip problems from halfway through my first pregnancy until my youngest child was six years old – about eight years total, due to damage caused while the ligaments were softened by the pregnancy hormones. I think I still would, but I took up karate, and all the kicking built up the supporting muscles enough to compensate.

    I was pro-choice before my first child. I was a rabid, fire-breathing pro-choicer after the birth of my last.

    I got those hip problems too, although my hip problems still haven’t gone away. You’ve given me a new reason to get serious about exercising again. I want that pain gone.

    I also have to agree about being more pro-choice after having kids. They’re wonderful, wouldn’t trade them for anything, and anyone who says a woman shouldn’t be allowed to abort if she so chooses is wrong. Motherhood doesn’t blind me to the reasons why others choose to abort or to that it’s not my decision to make for someone else.

  97. I really like how he must have been fretting over forgetting the “Amen,” forcing him to send you another email. And then seemed sincerely apologetic about the mixed up link after calling you a baby killer.

    He also sells bumber stickers that say, “1517-2017: 500 Years of Wretched Heresy.”

    I have to wonder how well his business is doing. Who in the hell would put that on their car?

    Oh, FFS:
    “Islamophobic? You bet.”

  98. Christine: However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to be impressed or supported if a woman with access to birth control gets “5 abortions a year” (however rare or mythical this may be). I’m also not going to be impressed or pleased if someone gets five root canals a year. Just take the time to brush your damn teeth and prevent the thing.

    One of these things is not like the other, y’no.

  99. William:
    Hell, I hate to chain post but….has anyone else noticed the “Ferdinand & Isabella 2012″ bumper sticker? As in Isabella I, Isabella who kicked the Jews out of Spain and started the damned inquisition? THAT Isabella? He also has a “Charles V 2012.” Charles V being the guy tried to outlaw protestants through the novel method of invasion.

    What the fucking fuck. This dude Eskew is on one hell of a power trip.

  100. Opheelia:
    I really like how he must have been fretting over forgetting the “Amen,” forcing him to send you another email. And then seemed sincerely apologetic about the mixed up link after calling you a baby killer.

    He also sells bumber stickers that say, “1517-2017: 500 Years of Wretched Heresy.”

    I have to wonder how well his business is doing. Who in the hell would put that on their car?

    Oh, FFS:
    “Islamophobic? You bet.”

    I hate to make these kinds of predictions, but I predict he’ll become a full-fledged terrorist within 5 years.

  101. GallingGalla: What the fucking fuck.This dude Eskew is on one hell of a power trip.

    Power trip? He’d have to undo the Treaty of Westphalia first. It’s actually kind of pathetic.

  102. Elee:
    Maybe you should ask him how many “abortions” he had committed, because I bet that the only sex he has is for procreation.

    This made me want to start singing the “Every Sperm is Sacred” song.

  103. Wow, I just realized that I did my actual first killing in the womb…while still in the womb myself! That’s right, I apparently had an identical twin, who I killed at the ripe old age of approx. 4-6 weeks of gestation. My mother didn’t even find out until I was born as a full-term wanted baby with my dead twin-ish thing. I don’t actually remember this, given my age, but they probably should have sent me right to jail or whatever.

    I mean, I was raised Catholic and said the Hail Mary every night with my dad growing up (along with three other prayers) but somehow still ended up being pro-choice.

    You’d think about 16 years – I’ll even round down – so about 5000 repetitions of the Hail Mary, not counting in church, after confession, or rosaries would have made some sort of impression if that prayer is as magic as he thinks. Nope, observing the hardships of enormous Catholic families (I’m even from one!) put me precisely in the pro-choice camp. Your family, your life, your uterus, your choice, not mine.

  104. Jill:
    Unfortunately, I think Mr. Eskew actually wants an answer! And since he considers birth control to be “abortion,” I think any period I’ve had since I started having sex might count? So I’ve had somewhere in the neighborhood of 96 abortions.

    Tell him over 9000.

    P.S. I googled him and wooowwwwww.

    Despite being a non-practicing lawyer, he still needs his “Esq.”

    “I was once an atheist (of the Nietzschean variety). Along with today’s “freethinking” herd of “individuals,” I explicitly rejected God; but I knew that this indicated catastrophic decay, not enlightenment. Anyway, far more common than such avowed atheists are practical atheists: they don’t expressly deny God, indeed they might even claim to embrace God, yet they live as if God doesn’t exist. If you’ve come to see the bankruptcy of either way, or if you’re just curious about whether or not they’re bankrupt, I’ve put this together to help you find the true way. Yes, there is truth! But please don’t be deceived. Sanctity isn’t found merely by reading books, but by how we think and live. Amidst today’s unprecedented breakdown in every form, reading books like these may be necessary for most of us, but reading alone is never sufficient. Virtue by its very nature must be lived. So it is of holiness. I know it might be a repulsive idea for you right now, but please regularly pray for Christ’s grace to lead you to truth.”

    His YouTube:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Jitpring#p/u

    His 44 book lists:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/byauthor/A3JTN7DLFCJ38O/ref=cm_pdp_lm_all

    Likes: Catholicism, Classical Guitar, Revisionist History, A Brave New World
    Dislikes: Feminism, Abortion, “Oprahism,” Aetheism, Islam
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/3H5D1QDA94YQS/ref=cm_pdp_sylt_more_1

    But wait, there’s more! You can buy such awesome things from him as bumper stickers and t-shirts with slogans like:
    “Ours are the true Dark Ages. Reject the myth of progress.”
    “Progress? Is somebody kidding?”
    “If it’s too loud – your tastes are improving.”
    “Defy the dictatorship of relativism.”
    “1517-2017 500 Years of Wretched Heresy”
    “Hi! I’m compassionate, tolerant, and exquisitely open-minded. You’re a filthy thought-criminal if you disagree with me.”
    “The pitiful gods of neopagan emptiness: Celebrities.”
    “Abortion IS a choice: to MURDER”
    “Right to choose? To choose murder? Is somebody kidding?”
    “Ferdinand & Isabella 2012”
    “Got tattoos? MOOOO….You’re branded.”
    “Islamophobic? You bet.”
    “Stop Texting.”
    “Entomb the enwombed? Never!”
    “The new McCarthyism: Are you now, or have you ever been, a traditionalist?”
    “‘The Court must be living in another world. Day by day, case by case, it is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize.’ -Justice Antonin Scalia Wabaunsee County v. Umbehr, 518 U.S. 668 (1996) (dissenting).”
    “Orwellian tolerance: Agree with us or else.”
    “Orwellian Openness: Open to Anything but Disagreement.”
    “Orwellian Compassion: The Unborn Must Die.”
    “Orwellian Love: Sacrifice infants, not yourselves.”
    “Mustapha Mond elected President. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Designer Babies. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Roses without fragrance. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Mass permanent adolescence. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Men without Chests. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Mass shamelessness. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Screens everywhere. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Laboratory babies. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Wombs without fruit. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “‘Compassionate’ killing. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Silence intolerable. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Barren wombs. Welcome to the Brave New World.”
    “Mass chronological snobbery. Welcome to the Brave New World.”

  105. Also, he sounds like me when I was 10 and horrified by the anti-abortion propaganda at my Catholic church. Then I grew up.

  106. “Hi! I’m compassionate, tolerant, and exquisitely open-minded. You’re a filthy thought-criminal if you disagree with me.”
    This one’s my favourite.

  107. Oh my. If I saw a “500 Years of Heresy” bumpersticker, my assumption would be that it was tongue-firmly-in-cheek. This guy is serious. He’s really concerned that people are misinterpreting the Inquisition…..

  108. The 5 abortions thing does not surprise me at all. I’ve heard of a number of similar cases of women getting abortions frequently and never using contraception.

    But I suspect the untold part of the “5 abortions” story paints a different picture than a supposed bad, lazy woman. In all the cases I’ve heard about, the woman was forced away from contraception by either an abusive partner who forced her to not take contraception (and thus getting abortions was her only choice if she didn’t want children), or she was forced away from contraception by very strong religious beliefs.

    See for some examples of being forced to not take contraception: http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/young-women-susceptible-to-forced-pregnancy/

    Considering that nearly all sane people with the ability to do so would choose to brush their teeth rather than have regular root canals, it is very hard to imagine that the “5 abortions” woman didn’t have some extenuating circumstances. Just because she didn’t reveal any extenuating circumstances, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

  110. You know, I had two root canals that I could never have prevented. It turned out that something I was eating was causing a reaction that weakened my enamel, but also I had a wisdom tooth grow in at an angle that caused decay well below the gum line on the tooth next to it. The dentist explained that there was nothing I could do to prevent that …

    And then gladly took the $1000 for the root canal and $800 for the extraction. Lovely.

  111. C…:
    I agree it is their right and I would never want to have that taken away from me or any other woman.I am just stating the irresponsibility of it but that’s my opinion.

    Well, I’m not going to pretend like you’re the only one who makes unhelpful and harsh judgments about people they can’t begin to empathize with. We have all (and probably still do) do it. But:

    Even if you know half a dozen young women who make weekly habits of having unprotected sex with near-strangers, who’ve had a few abortions as a result of their and their partner‘s presumed irresponsibility, that does not change how making decisions to: use a condom (which is a decision a man, usually unable to have abortions, makes), the Pill, a diaphram, an IUD, etc., etc., etc., is so completely incomparable to making the decision to have an abortion.

    Generally, the intentions of the types of women you’re likely referring to are to not get pregnant. She may or may not have access to reliable and affordable contraception, she may or may not have an abusive partner who is reproductively controlling her, she may have just been a part of a couple of people who made an irresponsible decision. And her intention now shifts from not intending to get pregnant, to whether or not she intends to stay that way. Then it becomes whether or not she wants to be a parent. Point being, contraception and abortion are not comparable.

    As you may have noticed, I’m emphasizing the point that making birth control decisions is not solely the woman’s responsibility, and you’re very clearly and thoughtlessly implying that it is. Probably not intentionally, but you are.

    Also, the idea that having several abortions can be “irresponsible” relies heavily on the fact that every terminated pregnancy is a sacrifice, or a lost opportunity, or some other intrinsically problematic event. It’s not always.

  112. April: Also, the idea that having several abortions can be “irresponsible” relies heavily on the fact that every terminated pregnancy is a sacrifice, or a lost opportunity, or some other intrinsically problematic event. It’s not always.

    Not “the fact,” but “the notion.” If that wasn’t already implied.

  113. American Jurisprudence contains a very well reasoned article about the use of Esq. by attorneys.

    The long story shortened is that Esq. is an honorific that is always GIVEN, never TAKEN. Such as, I refer to other attorneys as Esq., but I never refer to myself as Esq.

    The principle concerning inelligibility to practice also applies. As with medicine, physicians who are retired or who have opted not to renew their medical board memberships may not use the initials M.D. after their names. Same with non-practicing attorneys using Esq.

    Mr. Eskew is obviously a de classe little worm in his backwater in Texas, having failed spectacularly at practicing in the legal community here in California. We on the west coast are only better off for his absence.

    P.S. He lists his home address on the calbar.org website. Probably not a good idea if someone wanted to pay him a visit and correct his delusion that an Invisible Sky Man speaks to him and gives him instructions to hate on people with whom he has no business.

  114. I WISH children could be “pre-born” in the same sense that you can get food that’s “pre-cooked”. Having kids would be so much earlier if no one had to go to the trouble of having to give birth to them and they were delivered pre-born for your convenience.

  115. gretel:
    He really captures the Zeitgiest with this Bildungsroman, doesn’t he? Perhaps the two of you could have a Kaffeeklatsch and work it out?

    My thoughts exactly! Why would one use Weltanschauung instead of world view? Perhaps he is German since he capitalized it.

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