Oh, Hold Up There, Mr. Man

The other evening, TX state Senator Wendy Davis performed a multi-hour filibuster that, for now, has killed a draconian anti-choice bill. This has impressed an awful lot of people (me included), but you know what? It didn't impress Governor Rick Perry. Let's see what he had to say:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry today slammed Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis, who filibustered a GOP-backed 20-week abortion ban this week, for not learning from “her own example” as a teen mother. 

“She was the daughter of single woman, she was a teenage mother herself,” Perry said today at the National Right to Life Convention in Dallas. “She managed to eventually graduate from Harvard Law School and serve in the Texas Senate. 

“It’s just unfortunate that she hasn’t learned from her own example that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential and that every life matters.”

Huh. Why, it's as if Governor Perry believes he knows better than Sen. Davis about the lessons she should take away from her own life experiences. It could just be that she has come to the conclusion, among other things, that a woman is the best judge of what choices are best for her own life, body and future, and that it isn't the place of the government to reduce those choices with excessive regulations.

It also seems like Governor Perry could stand to learn from his own life experiences, because among them are the simple fact that he sometimes doesn't seem to know what he's talking about when he talks about, say, teen pregnancy (or really, lots of things).  Also, when he indicates that "every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential", it seems like he might mean full potential--without little luxuries like a good education or affordable health care access.  And his concern for how much "every life matters" is a bit of a head-scratcher when posed against his record as the US governor who has presided over the most executions. (Or, he could bother to realize that women's lives matter, and that this bill could endanger some of their lives.)

In short, Perry could stand to borrow a nice cup of shut up just for that. But WAIT! That wasn't all he said. Try this out:

 “The louder they scream, the more we know that we are getting something done.”

Referring of course to the pro-choice opposition to this bill. Well, either you're "getting something done"--or maybe you're doing active harm. Something like that. But really? "Louder they scream"? In a debate that has been largely about women's voices being heard, this jackass wants to say that women raising their voices in protest--in a scream!--is like music to his ears.  If screaming means he's thinks he's doing something right--what the hell kind of noise do you have to make to tell him he's doing something wrong?