Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of my most glorious and amazing canine companion Boomer being born into this world. Forged with Earth’s two most precious elements (Beagle and Boston Terrier), Boomer is a twenty-pound tornado of adorableness. I assure you, although he is “post-op,” he’s all bite.
In celebration, I took him out for the day. We got coffee and went for a walk before making our way into town for a much deserved and therapeutic birthday shopping spree. Given the occasion, I bought him a Tom Brady New England Patriots jersey. I later reveled in watching him tear it to shreds. We are both New York Jets fans.
With the Super Bowl this weekend, regardless if you happen to fancy either of these two abysmal organizations, there is much to look forward to: food, drink, camaraderie, rooting against the team you hate the most and, of course, the commercials.
Or so you thought.
If Randall Terry has his way, he’ll not only get your vote for Presidency, but he’ll also have you spend that precious time in-between your chip meeting its dip watching a “political ad” depicting a strong, graphic Pro-Life message. The ads can be seen here, and again, they are graphic, and not for the faint of heart.
Without going too far into treacherous waters, I have to ask, “What purpose does this serve?” David Rosman of the Missourian wrote a great piece about it, and with him being in one of the targeted areas for these ads, it’s worth reading.
To be fair, Terry doesn’t stand a chance in winning the election. A letter from the Democratic National Committee claims Terry — who is running as a “Democrat” against President Obama — is in fact a self-proclaimed “lifelong Republican.” His message and actions are as fringe as Terry Jones from Florida, the "Koran burner.” Randall Terry’s own websites touts his accomplishments of being incarcerated, filing for bankruptcy and now this.
Of course, there are supporters of Terry’s cause. Jill Stanek, a nurse-turned-public-speaker, columnist-blogger and “national figure,” wrote, “Airing graphic ads during the Super Bowl represents a unique opportunity to show a huge number Americans the truth about abortion during the one time a year they actually look forward to watching commercials rather than ignoring them.”
While this is mostly true, in that Americans love their Super Bowl commercial watching festivities, how do these ads effectively communicate the Pro-Life message to actually garner support?
Abortion is a serious subject matter, I will make no illusions to the contrary, but addressing the issue rationally and constructively seems the wiser move rather than taking advantage of an audience under false pretenses to shock and disturb them to your cause.
Taking such extreme steps will only alienate the two groups. The “right” will feel they are making a “positive” impact in fulfilling their role in social awareness, and the “left” will flail their arms in the air for a variety of reasons.
So much of today’s problems could be fixed with simple education reform. I won’t waste your time by rattling off various education statistics and how improvements to the education system would yield a “more informed, and better” citizenry, but what I will say is this: Teaching children about sex and about how to be “safe” and “selective” before they decide to “figure it out on their own” seems the better first step. For those who find themselves in a situation and in need of information or support, as humans — we should honor that, and help them — not throw stones.
It’s a choice on how you educate yourself and those around you, and what you do with that information. By all means, watch those commercials with your children if you want, but waiting until the Super Bowl to rub everyone’s face in your extreme stance seems a little late (and inappropriate) to be getting your message out to people that might listen.
Reach the reporter at jbfortne@asu.edu
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