Never forget that our nation, “conceived in liberty” as we may be, was in fact initially founded by people too uptight to be British.

The latest manifestation of this ongoing American puritanism is detailed in the latest New Yorker; forces on the Right are working to prevent the widespread adoption of an HPV vaccine, since to remove its risks would be to encourage sex. HPV is a precursor to cervical cancer in women, but men can carry the virus as well. By pursuing this angle, they are actively attempting to stifle medical innovations that would reduce disease and death because they don’t want people fucking any more than is absolutely necessary. How much more screwy can you get? In what way is this moral?

(Yes, we just linked to Andrew Sullivan, but we initially got it from Atrios.)