Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 50%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 50%

My concern, Mr. Secretary, is that the proposal does not go far enough.

As you know, the risk that oral contraception will prevent implantation of an embryo is purely theoretical. There is no documented case of such a tragedy, since we have no way to verify conception inside a woman's body, prior to implantation, without causing the embryo's death. Even theoretically, the risk is vanishingly small, since the primary effect of oral contraception is to prevent ovulation, and the secondary effect is to prevent fertilization. To classify oral contraception as abortifacient, one would have to posit a scenario in which the drug fails to block ovulation, then fails to block implantation, and yet somehow, having proved impotent at every other task, manages to prevent implantation.

It is a tribute to the president's courage that despite this profound implausibility and total absence of documentation, he is protecting the right of employees to refuse to facilitate any such risk, no matter how small.

I?ve been trying to figure out the same thing for days. As the Obama campaign kicks off ?energy week? with a new contrast ad and a policy speech in Michigan, Time?s Mark Halperin reports, ?McCain supporters in Michigan will distribute tire gauges at Obama?s energy speech in Lansing. The RNC will also deliver gauges reading ?Obama?s energy plan? to Washington newsrooms.?

As of this morning, it looks like far-right blogs have received their copies of the Republican script, too. RedState.org?s Erick Erickson is on message: ?Inflating your tires and getting a regular tune-up sounds more like Obama?s plan for ego maintenance than it does for helping American families.? Ed Morrissey added, ??Obama refers to ?big oil? and the need to reduce our use of oil by 35% over the next twenty years. How do we get there? Keep inflating those tires, folks.?

We are, quite obviously, in the midst of a very aggressive roll-out here. John McCain criticized the notion of well-inflated tires on Friday, and Newt Gingrich described Obama?s remarks as ?loony toons? during a Fox News interview. Yesterday morning on ABC, McCain said, ?It seems to me the only thing [Obama] wants us to do is inflate tires? to improve gas mileage.

And over the weekend, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, still auditioning for the role of VP, took to using a tire gauge as a prop...

There?s something deeply wrong with these people.

Let?s review. The other day, Barack Obama mentioned to voters in Missouri that there are things individuals can do to help conserve energy, including bringing their cars in for regular tune ups, and keeping their tires properly inflated. It seemed like a rather unremarkable thing to say.

But at this point, Republicans can?t seem to stop commenting on just how remarkable they think this is.

To reiterate a point from yesterday, someone sent me a transcript yesterday of Obama?s specific remarks in Missouri, and he apparently said the amount of energy to be saved by routine auto maintenance is comparable to the savings we?d get from the GOP?s coastal drilling policy. I have no idea if that?s true ? it may very well not be ? and I?ll be happy to let energy policy experts weigh in on whether Obama exaggerated the significance of scheduled car care. If he did, Obama should obviously drop this line from his speeches.

But oddly enough, that?s not what McCain and his surrogates are complaining about. They?re insisting, over and over again, that tire pressure is the entire Obama energy policy. Who, exactly, is supposed to believe such transparent nonsense? 

Consider a counter-example. McCain was talking about skin cancer the other day.

McCain emphasized that skin cancer is preventable, and implored Americans to wear sunscreen, especially over the summer. What?s wrong with this advice? Not a thing. It?s a smart, sensible thing to say.

But imagine if Obama and his surrogates said the entirety of McCain?s healthcare policy is sunscreen application. McCain doesn?t really care about cancer, they could argue, he just wants everyone to run out at get some SPF 30. Those vying to be Obama?s running mate started holding up bottles of Coppertone during their speeches, saying things like, ?We want you to wear sunscreen, you know, it will very mildly improve your chances of not getting sick. But wearing sunscreen is not a healthcare policy for the United States of America.?

This, of course, would be insane. And yet, that?s pretty much what?s become of Republican campaign rhetoric of late.