Pro-choice groups have battered woman syndrome

By -
It seems that Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America have endorsed Joe Lieberman over Ned Lamont (HT: MyDD via Atrios). How stupid can they be? This is the same Joe Lieberman who voted for cloture on Alito, assuring his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Yes, Joe eventually voted against Alito, so some pro-choice scorecards show Lieberman as a good guy. Don’t be fooled. The real vote that actually could have stopped Alito was the cloture vote. So when it actually mattered, Joe voted for Alito. This is the same Joe Lieberman who wants hospitals to be able to deny emergency contraception to rape victims. Yes, it’s true. Here’s his quote: “In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital.” Anyone who says something like this should not be getting pro-choice endorsements when there’s a better candidate to support.

If pro-choice advocacy groups endorse candidates regardless of their undermining the pro-choice agenda, is it any wonder we’re losing the reproductive rights battle even though more of the country is pro-choice than not? (Here’s a recent poll. It’s close, and depends on wording, etc., but it seems we are still in a pro-choice country.) Matt Stoller at MyDD outlines what he thinks will happen if another Supreme Court vacancy opens up:
But at the end of the day, every Senator will know that the guns on the progressive side are not loaded and they can vote against women's rights and pay no price. That's the message that NARAL and Planned Parenthood just sent. And the Republicans, if they are disciplined and on message, and if no third party force asserts itself, will win easily.
Thank goodness NOW endorses Lamont. I’m glad some pro-choice advocacy group believes that a candidate should actually support pro-choice positions in order to get an endorsement.

I’ve already sent postcards to Planned Parenthood (of which I am a member) urging them to reconsider their endorsement. I hope my other readers will take similar action.

By the way, Markos has a great chapter in Crashing the Gate (see sidebar) on just this kind of idiocy. Single issue advocacy groups that could gain enormous power by being part of a progressive coalition constantly shoot themselves (and the rest of us) in the foot with these bone-headed political maneuvers. Sucking up to incumbents who then piss on your agenda is not winning politics.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snarking The Odyssey (with AD&D)

By -
Image
WARNING: Those of you who are accustomed to pithy political remarks here on Internal Monologue should brace yourselves for a major dose of gaming geekitude. Here's a link to one "Jamie R." who does a very snarky close reading of Homer's The Odyssey (HT: Mad Latinist via email). I've only read book 1, but it's pretty funny so far. An excerpt: Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men… Sooooo, he’s in charge, and everybody dies. Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero and his colossal failure. What? … for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever rea
Read more

Where is 56th and Wabasha? "Meet Me in the Morning" Dylan Mystery Solved

By -
Image
Short version The lyric is not "Fifty-sixth and Wabasha", it is actually "Fifty-six and Wabasha", referring to the intersection of old Minnesota Highway 56 and Wabasha Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. If you listen, you can hear Dylan sing "fifty-six", rather than "fifty-sixth", particularly on the take that was released as the B-side to "Duquesne Whistle". Minnesota Highway 56 no longer intersects Wabasha Street, but from 1963 to 1974 it did intersect Wabasha Street, at what is now (in Feb. 2021) the intersection of George Street and Cesar Chavez Street in St. Paul, or possibly South Wabasha & Cesar Chavez.  Long Version "Meet Me in the Morning" is the first song on side two of Bob Dylan's celebrated 1975 album  Blood on the Tracks. In the opening lines of the song, according to the lyrics on Bob Dylan's official site (https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/meet-me-morning/), the narrator invites the listener to a rendez
Read more

Victim or perpetrator? How about both!

By -
Remember in the movie Adaptation , the main character's brother has this idea for a screenplay called The Three? It's about a detective trying to track down a serial killer before he kills his next victim. Pretty standard, right? The twist is that the detective, serial killer, and victim, are all actually the same person . Whoa, dude. Fight Club 's got nothin' on that one. Well, this isn't quite that weird. But apparently, Utah legal authorities are somewhat perplexed by a situation in which a 13-year-old girl and her 12-year-old boyfriend are both simultaneously the perpetrators and victims of the same crime: having sex with each other (HT: Feministing ): Utah Supreme Court justices acknowledged Tuesday that they were struggling to wrap their minds around the concept that a 13-year-old Ogden girl could be both an offender and a victim for the same act - in this case, having consensual sex with her 12-year-old boyfriend. The girl was put in this odd position be
Read more