President Theodore Roosevelt on Contraception and Divorce Laws

It is really amazing what you pick up in American history when you least expect it. The Black Cordelias has verying interesting excerpt from one of TR's State of the Unions. See Theodore Roosevelt The Finest President This Republic Has Dad On Contraception. ALso see his other links in that post on the subject that leads to another good article. I recall watching the Archie Bunkie tv show and the character meat head had a population zero t-shirt. He also got "snipped" so not to lead to more population growth. Nixon and Rockerfeller at the time in real life were buying into all this. It is amazing how now we seen a huge demographic crisis.

I should add that these same people that got this so wrong are using the illegal immigration issue to get their radical population control views in the backdoor. A problem that everyone seems to have an amazing lack of curiosty about

However there is more to the State of Union(that he has linked) than this. It is indeed a fascinating speech to get a glimpse of the times and see the issues the nation was following. Including THIS that just preceded his paragraph on Contraception:

I am well aware of how difficult it is to pass a constitutional amendment. Nevertheless in my judgment the whole question of marriage and divorce should be relegated to the authority of the National Congress. At present the wide differences in the laws of the different States on this subject result in scandals and abuses; and surely there is nothing so vitally essential to the welfare of the nation, nothing around which the nation should so bend itself to throw every safeguard, as the home life of the average citizen. The change would be good from every standpoint. In particular it would be good because it would confer on the Congress the power at once to deal radically and efficiently with polygamy; and this should be done whether or not marriage and divorce are dealt with. It is neither safe nor proper to leave the question of polygamy to be dealt with by the several States. Power to deal with it should be conferred on the National Government.

The same ole questions rise again. I do find it fascinating that "Polygamy" was still sort of a issue this late.