Dennis Smith, Department of Health Services

This is an unfortunate pick for the Director of Health Services for the State of Wisconsin.

In brief research, Mr. Smith shows himself to be anti-abortion, anti-sex education, anti-senior, anti-BadgerCare, anti-Medicare and anti-progressive thought. Face it, he's anti-humanity. Well, at least we know why Scott Walker wants him on his team.

Mr. Smith advocates an abstinence approach to dealing with teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The abstinence approach is ludicrous. There is no surer picture of human beings as sexual animals as the face of a teenage boy, or girl for that matter. Abstinence tends to ignore the basic fact that we are far more animal than intellectual when it comes to sex. I think Mr. Smith has parlayed the fact that he couldn't get laid in high school into a morally superior rationalization for his existence.

Mr. Smith also believes that Planned Parenthood promotes promiscuity and alternative lifestyles. Planned Parenthood gives complete information to anyone seeking it, and offers family planning to sexually active men and women. The information provided by Planned Parenthood is non-judgmental and completely accurate. Planned Parenthood provides services; services that are not otherwise available to children of ignorant parents. The kind of impassioned ignorance that Mr. Smith promotes is devastating to the uneducated teenager who finds himself in a bad situation that could have easily been avoided. Ignorance, as we've all been told repeatedly, is no excuse.

Mr. Smith seems to think that parents should guilt trip their teens into not having sex. Right. Good luck with that one. Any parent who relies on guilt as a way to control someone's behavior is going to be unhappy with the outcome. Just ask all the nice Catholic girls who delivered babies they were completely unprepared to care for. Guilt, unfortunately, does not prevent pregnancy, nor does it impede raging hormones. It does, however, damage people's perception of themselves and their lives for many years. Guilt, as a tool, only works if your objective is to be responsible for completely screwing up someone's future life. I say no parent has that right, although too many exercise it.

I am dismayed that Mr. Smith is in the position he is in. We are going to take a giant step back from where we need to be once his skewed sense of morality takes over this important cabinet post. A bad pick for Wisconsin, but certainly the right one for Mr. Walker. Not quite the blind leading the blind, but certainly the sexually uptight seeking each other out for solace and comfort. Too bad they'll take a lot of people along for their silly ride.