Newsweek: Teen Abstinence Is 'About as Likely As Seeing the Pope in a Speedo'

Is Newsweek even pretending to be a news magazine (or news site) any more? On their Gaggle blog, political writer Katie Connolly decried Sen. Orrin Hatch for reinstating federal funding for abstinence-only sex education: "I've been trying to think of a measured way to riff on this, but instead I'll be frank. It's an absolute waste of money." Newsweek doesn't favor a "measured" take these days. But Connolly’s conclusion about “pointless moralizing” really cranks up the editorializing:

Let's face it. Teenagers are going to have sex. They always have, they always will. Sure there will be a decent number of teens who choose to abstain and they should feel supported in that decision, but there will still be a large chunk of teenagers doing the dirty. Making them stop is a fools errand. It's about as likely a seeing the Pope in a speedo. It's like asking the Queen to declare her hatred for corgis. It's not going to happen. Sex education policies should take into account this basic reality and tailor programs that broadly educate teens about their choices, abstinence included. Policies should be set up to work. Anything else is just pointless moralizing.

With all this sexual fatalism and colorful mockery of old, unhip people like Pope Benedict and Queen Elizabeth, it sounds like Connolly is trying out before a panel of judges to be the next Anna Quindlen on the back page of Newsweek.