Posted on 12/29/2004 4:19:33 AM PST by Ellesu
For Republicans, Social Security has been the untouchable third rail, at least until President Bush promised reformation by transformation.
For Democrats, the third rail has been abortion - no exceptions, no restrictions, no compromise. Now some Democrats sound as if they might be willing to alter their fundamentalist position on abortion in order to stop their electoral hemorrhaging and start winning elections again. Could they be serious?
In a Dec. 23 New York Times story headlined "Democrats Weigh De-emphasizing Abortion as an Issue," several prominent Democrats suggest their party should at least open its doors to abortion opponents and make abortion less central in future party campaigns.
Some party leaders said Democrats might embrace at least one restriction, such as parental notification before a minor girl can get an abortion. Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, said, "Even I have trouble explaining to my family that we are not about killing babies."
Maybe the reason she is having trouble is because that is precisely what is happening. More than 40 million children have been killed legally in America since the Supreme Court imposed Roe vs. Wade on the nation 32 years ago next month.
Democrats seem unconcerned that so many discarded members of the human family are not with us. These were 40 million taxpayers for new Democrat programs; at least 20 million women, some of whom might have become feminists and Democrat voters; 40 million people, one of whom might have discovered a cure for cancer or other dread diseases; 40 million once regarded as "inconvenient," but surely not if they would have been allowed to be born; 40 million branches of family trees who will, themselves, never bear fruit and whose lines have been cut off.
Comments by Democrats trying to get back into the "moral issues" game are revealing. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, said Republicans had "been successful at painting the view of the pro-choice movement as abortion on demand - and nothing can be farther from the truth."
Perhaps the senator might wish to explain her voting record, which to a fair reader might prove abortion on demand is precisely what she favors. Feinstein:
• Voted NO on a criminal penalty for harming an unborn fetus during a crime.
• Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life.
• Voted NO on maintaining the ban on military abortions.
• Was recommended by the liberal EMILY's List of pro-choice women.
• Received a 100 percent rating by NARAL for her pro-choice voting record.
If the public perceives that the Democratic Party favors abortion on demand, it is because of senators (and many other Democrats in Congress) like Dianne Feinstein who have not done anything to curtail abortion.
There is only one reason to restrict abortion and that is because what is being killed is a human being. Any other "reason" seeks to invoke a moral standard one has just denied.
There is a way Democrats can do something about their image and still remain "pro-choice." They can back laws requiring women to receive full disclosure before receiving an abortion. We do this with automobiles, food and bank loans. Consumers increasingly benefit from laws designed to give them information so their choices will be educated.
Why do so many pregnant women lack information about the procedure and alternatives?
What would be wrong with laws that empower women through additional information, even while abortion remains legal?
If Democrats won't back empowerment by informing women seeking an abortion - at least as much basic information as they receive at the Department of Motor Vehicles before the state issues a license to drive - one can only conclude that the party's reported interest in changing its image is based not on convictions, but on political pragmatism. If that is their game, they will deservedly continue to lose elections.
If every democrat on the face of the earth said they were against abortion I still would not vote for one.
Well, they've de-emphasized gun control, I suppose abortion could be next. Doesn't mean I'd trust them on that issue, either.
The Democrats should be heralding the fact they are for abortion instead of dressing it up in some nonsense wordplay.
Flash back to the first Dem primary debate in 2003..at the NARAL convention...where all 9 swore fealty to abortion on demand....until the Dems change their primary process..remove Iowa from the #1 slot, and stop haveing debates at forums like this...they're stuck..
Well stated! I agree.
As long as they defend Roe v. Wade, we all know they're for abortion, no matter what they say to distance themselves from the abortion issue.
Cal Thomas is right on, in more ways than one.
Abortion is killing the offspring of Democrats, therefore, limiting the influence of the party for, at least the next generation.
My sister and I discussed this recently and figured that by next election, she and her husband would have more than tripled their "political influence", because what started out as two conservative votes, will have become 7 conservative votes. They had 5 kids and all will be old enough to vote conservative in the next election, and if you add in a couple daughter or son inlaws that have seen the light and turned from the "dark side" (i.e. liberal thinking), the influence is even greater.
Democrats tend to have smaller families plus abortion among their ranks is limiting the number of their offspring.
So the title of this piece has more than one implication.
Democrats might "get religion", and "abandon" gun control, and "disavow" abortion -- but they will always be an atheistic, fascistic party of baby killers.
When any DemocRAT proclaims to be pro-choice, they're actually pro-abortion.
It doesn't take a ROCKET SCEINTEST to figure that one out.
I'd hate to have to be a Democrat and have to defend their positions daily.
If they couldn't get more than 50% of themselves to support the ban on PBA...they have no clue...it's like suddenly making vegnas eat meat..
Cal Thomas need not worry. The Democrats are trying to pour old wine into a new bottle. Its still the same old wine behind the slick new label. I just just love how they try to devise a new "how can we fool 'em better today" tactic. They are a soulless party.
So Feinswine voted against Laci's Law. Figures.
The Democrat Libs /Gays are on the sure path of SELF EXTINCTION with their values, and life styles.
Neither abortion or homosexuality will promote and endure their survival because of the lack of procreation.
There is a reason that there is a set of core values, commonly thought of as conservative, in most cultures around the Earth; these societies have survived because of those values.
If we were talking in evolutionary biological terms, conservativism is in a Darwinistic way superior to neoMarxism because it cherishes and nurtures its next generation.
The left may censor, purge and persecute the conservative mainstream of this nation and others, but the conservatives in all likelihood will dance on the leftists graves - quite literally.
Being anti-WOT won't help the Democrats in the long run either.
what is anti - WOT ?
As Rush Limbaugh says, "Liberalism is a religion and abortion is its sacrament".
The act of an abortion is the essence of liberalism. It is one (or several) selfish individual's dumping of his or her responsibility at the expense of another.
If Libs were truthful, they would carry political signs saying, "Will Lie for Votes" and "Will Kill Babies for Votes."
Ouch! Calling a democrat a fundie!
That's going to leave a mark
Which just proves the point that the democRATS have NO CORE VALUES, and those they do have go against most of America.
BUMP
Not to mention innocent children.
"For Democrats, the third rail has been abortion"
Liberalism may be a self terminating disease-but it is still one heck of a death to watch. The judgement bill on this atrocity is about to come due.
Which just proves the point that the democRATS have NO CORE VALUES, and those they do have go against most of America.
Wow, when I thought they were standing on perverse principles, I hated them respectfully. Now I can't even respedt them.
Don't worry, Dems. We here at FR and others will MAKE it more central in your future party campaigns. Don't ask / don't tell ain't gunna fly on your stump speeches.
APf
Yeah, I thought that, too.
Sure, but they still control the schools and colleges.
Who influences more young minds, conservative parents who have 5 kids or a Woman's Studies professor who teaches a class with 100 students every semester?
My sister's kids have all been college educated and stayed conservative.
My kid is in college now and you'd be surprised at the conservative movements on some college campuses.
Straw polls taken in his college classes before the election were not that one-sided for Kerry. An interesting note was that in one particular class the Bush supporters included the three black students in the class.
Didn't I read a study recently that said young people were trending more conservative than their parents?
And it seems that conservative young people may be more motivated to vote than liberal young people. Wasn't Kerry banking on an overwhelming number of young people flocking to the polls, and it turns out the youth vote average was about the same this year as in past elections.
Nor would I, because I know they'd be lying. The little buggers can't get elected anymore if they tell the truth, and that's a good thing. The more lies they gotta tell, the harder it is to get elected.
Ignorant about what ?
must be a troll
If they do it it will only be to get votes. It won't be because they're actually sincere.
Baal is alive and well and resides in Hollywood and NYC among evil people who spread the religion in movies and TV every day. Baal is all about base immorality including: murder, violence, abortion, sexual freedom, homosexuality, pornography, incest and devil worship. Until this truly unholy, inhuman religion is eliminated, it is sure to continue to triumph.
Abortion is not jut a sacrament in the religion of liberalism. It is the MOST HOLY SACRAMENT of liberalism. The very foundation of their world view.
True. Ergo, they rely heavily on the results of the 1965 Immigration Act to keep them alive now.
The Wall Street Journal calls this "The Roe Effect". More Democrats abort their own, thus less of them.
I once asked a Republican pol who wanted to de-emphasize the party's pro-life stance the question, "If there is a pregnant woman standing in front of you, what does she have in her womb?" The pol promptly replied, "A baby." I asked, "Why would I vote for you if you truly believe that and would do nothing to stop its destruction?"
It's not what you emphasize in your speech that counts, it's what you do.
Shalom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.