Best of the Web Today - December 16, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
The Dems' Abortion Trap
Newsweek reports the Democrats are getting some political advice from an unlikely source:
The week after Thanksgiving, dozens of Democratic Party loyalists gathered at AFL-CIO headquarters for a closed-door confab on the election. John Kerry dropped by to thank members of the liberal 527 coalition America Votes. When Ellen Malcolm, president of the pro-choice political network EMILY's List, asked about the future direction of the party, Kerry tackled one of the Democrats' core tenets: abortion rights. He told the group they needed new ways to make people understand they didn't like abortion. Democrats also needed to welcome more pro-life candidates into the party, he said. "There was a gasp in the room," says Nancy Keenan, the new president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
This scene nicely encapsulates the Democrats' problem with abortion. The suggestion that Dems "don't like abortion" is met with "a gasp in the room." Does anyone "like" abortion? Does it even make sense to talk about it in gustatory terms? ("I like skiing, fine wine and, oh yes, abortion." "The only thing I hate more than broccoli is abortion.")
Kerry's choice of words shows that he himself is unclear on the concept. The Democrats' problem is not that they "like" abortion, but that many of them are (or at least seem) morally indifferent toward it. To them the argument is only about "a woman's right to choose"; all moral claims on the other side of the ledger are null and void, at least in terms of public policy.
The Democrats' problem here is not that they need to make their views clearer; it is their views, as expressed by Nancy Keenan's gasp, which are too extreme for most Americans. Republicans have their own abortion extremists, on the other side of the issue, but as we argued last week, Roe v. Wade precludes those views from affecting policy, so that the Republicans are able to adopt a highly nuanced approach to abortion.
There is only one solution for the Democrats' abortion dilemma, and that is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe, which, as we noted last week, would shift the battle to terrain friendlier to the Democrats and the pro-choice position. This could happen, but it's likely to take a while, since it would require two personnel changes at the court (not including Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a Roe dissenter) and an appropriate case to make its way to the court. We wouldn't be at all surprise if Roe remains "good law" a decade hence.
The Democrats, of course, are committed to fight to the death to defend Roe, which means they cannot openly advocate or encourage an outcome that would be very much in their political interest. No wonder they have trouble explaining their position.
Backing Blue With Green?
A pair of new sites, BuyBlue.org and ChoosetheBlue.com, encourage Democrats to base their consumer decisions on companies' political activity. Thus, according to BuyBlue, you should shop at Costco, which gave 98% of its $208,000 in political donations to Democrats, rather than Wal-Mart, which gave 80% of its $2 million plus to Republicans (though this still means it gave about twice as much to Dems as Costco did).
ChoosetheBlue.com thinks this could make a big difference: "If each American who voted 'Blue' in 2004 spends $100 in 2005 on products of a corporation that by reason of its employees' or connected political action committees' political contributions supported 'Blue' over 'Red,' $5 billion in revenues would be shifted to 'Blue' supporting corporations!" Well, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, you'd be able to buy them in bulk at Wal-Mart.
These efforts seem unlikely to have much effect, for several reasons. Very few people care so much about politics that they give it a higher priority than things like convenience, value and quality when deciding where to shop or what to buy. Even most Democrats would probably shop at Wal-Mart if, say, going to Costco entailed driving an extra 10 miles (though at least those who do the latter would be contributing to global warming).
Besides, two can play at this game. Republicans who want to boycott gripes can avoid blue companies and favor red ones--and, as an added bonus, the folks at these liberal sites have already done the research for them. If members of both parties do this, the Republicans have to win, for there are more red voters than blue ones, and they have more economic power, since the Dems represent the poor and downtrodden while the GOP is the party of the wealthiest 51%.
Still, it's pleasing to see that even some liberals seem dimly aware that economic freedom and political freedom are of a piece.
Soldiers as Victims
With elections in Iraq less than two months away, we're hearing fewer cries of "quagmire," but Vietnam nostalgists in the media are busy putting forward another trope: that of soldiers as victims. Here are three examples:
o ABC News's "Nightline" is airing a three-part series on "concerns that the Iraq war is producing more cases of PTSD [posttraumatic stress disorder] than any conflict in decades." They don't say how many decades, but we're guessing the number they have in mind is around three.
o The Christian Science Monitor has a story on "the pattern of discontent in US ranks"--as if anyone expects soldiers in a war to be content.
o The New York Times, on its front page no less, runs a story titled "A Flood of Troubled Soldiers Is in the Offing, Experts Predict." Did the Times run out of things to write about that have actually happened?
The Monitor takes four paragraphs to make the Vietnam comparison, the Times only two--though if you read through to the seventh paragraph of the Times story, the analogy falls apart:
Military and Department of Veterans Affairs officials say most military personnel will survive the war without serious mental issues and note that the one million troops include many who have not participated in ground combat, including sailors on ships. By comparison with troops in Vietnam, the officials said, soldiers in Iraq get far more mental health support and are likely to return to a more understanding public.
Of course, Vietnam nostalgia isn't the only thing driving this; it's partly a product of our therapeutic culture. After all, World War II was much bigger and more "traumatic" than Iraq or even Vietnam, yet as Malcolm Gladwell recently noted in The New Yorker, there weren't a lot of complaints of "posttraumatic stress" back then.
Kerfuffle Watch
We haven't been paying much attention to the Bernie Kerik story; it seems to us that it was pretty much over when he withdrew his nomination to be secretary of homeland security. If you're interested in it, Josh Marshall has been following it obsessively. Marshall, needless to say, is trying to gin it up into a Bush scandal, which is kind of pathetic, but at least this has a lurid tabloid quality that makes it more interesting than the other nonscandal scandals.
Actually, though, this whole item is just an excuse for us to note that CNN has declared the episode a kerfuffle.
Homelessness Rediscovery Watch
"If George W. Bush becomes president, the armies of the homeless, hundreds of thousands strong, will once again be used to illustrate the opposition's arguments about welfare, the economy, and taxation."--Mark Helprin, Oct. 31, 2000
"Nick Coleman: 'A Homeless Crisis, and It's a Scandal"--headline, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dec. 15
Proof That France Backs Global Terrorism
"Greek Bus Hijackers Had Croissants Not Dynamite"--headline, Reuters, Dec. 16
What Would We Do Without Christian Conservatives?
"Christian Conservatives Say It's 'Christmas' Time"--headline, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 15
What Would Drowsy Drivers Do Without Studies?
"Study: Drowsy Drivers Can Cause Accidents"--headline, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dec. 14
This Just In
"Accidents Result in Injuries"--headline, El Dorado (Ark.) News-Times, Dec. 16
Maybe That Would Embarrass Them Into Stopping
"Mothers Who Breast-Feed in Public Should Be Applauded, Experts Say"--headline, Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, Dec. 15
Finally, Eskimos Get Relief
"Treasury's Snow-Tax Code Overhaul a Priority"--headline, Reuters, Dec. 15
Not Too Brite--CLXXVI
" A Mexican man killed his lover in a drunken, drugged fight then cooked the man's body in tomato and onion sauce and ate it over three days," Reuters reports from Mexico City.
Oddly Enough!
(For an explanation of the "Not Too Brite" series, click here.)
A PC Perfect Storm
In February we noted that a kerfuffle had erupted at the University of Oregon over a production of "The Vagina Monologues," with protesters objecting to the lack of "diversity" in the show. We're pleased to report that hilarity has ensued as a result of the efforts to head off problems in this year's performance. The result, as recounted in the Daily Emerald, a student newspaper, is a perfect story of political correctness:
o The producers will not hold auditions. Last year, says "Women's Center spokeswoman" Stefanie Loh, "the fact that they had auditions means that some people are automatically excluded." Instead, the "Women's and Gender Studies Program" will nominate potential cast members.
o Producer Nicole Pete says that last year, "the queer community, the women of color community and the plus-size community did not feel represented," and she plans to remedy this by selecting performers who are " 'not necessarily drama-oriented' in favor of 'people who work (toward) 'The Vagina Monologues' mission of ending violence against women."
o "All parts in the script calling for women of color will be played by women of color," reports the Emerald. Says Pete: "That was one of the big concerns last year was that a white woman portrayed a woman of color." Presumably it will be all right for a woman of color to portray a woman of pallor.
o There's one big problem, however: "It will be more difficult to ensure that women who identify with the queer community participate in the production. 'That's where it gets kind of tricky,' Pete said. 'I don't think we can legally ask anyone what their sexual orientation is.' Instead, the producers will inform a potential actor that a particular part is a 'queer role' and ask, 'Do you feel that this represents you?' "
This whole story is wonderfully rich, but our favorite part is the bit about "the plus-size community," a euphemism for fat women. Will anorexics now demand to be called "the minus-size community"?
Band Banned
The Toledo Blade brings us this news from nearby Rossford, Ohio:
Rossford High School officials were considering letting a Christian rock band play during an anti-drug assembly next week, but decided yesterday to cancel the performance because of concerns over having religious music played in a public school.
"We are just shutting the whole thing down," Rossford Superintendent Luci Gernot said. "There is some controversy, and I'd rather err on this side."
The school district's law firm, Whalen & Compton of Akron told school officials yesterday that it "wasn't appropriate" to let the band Pawn perform at the school, Ms. Gernot said.
The story concludes with this interesting bit of trivia: "It was a 1936 Rossford High School graduate, atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, then known as Madalyn Mays, whose lawsuit against Baltimore public schools led to the 1963 Supreme Court ruling outlawing prayer in schools."
O'Hair died a few years back, but somewhere she must be smiling. Unless she was right. |
