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Mothers Can Lead The Way
Townhall.com ^ | June 14, 2014 | Kathryn Lopez

Posted on 06/14/2014 1:40:44 PM PDT by Kaslin

I was dismayed to see the latest video from the pro-life activist group Live Action, which specializes in investigating what's going on inside America's "women's health clinics." It highlights a Planned Parenthood educational video and PP employees advising teens about BDSM -- a catchall for sexual violence: bondage, discipline and domination, submission and sadism and masochism.

It encapsulates the darkness of "50 Shades of Grey" -- which one staffer recommends as a good primer on whips and clamps -- and a culture that is bored with sex after having so much of it. It's a dead end.

I actually thought with some hope about our future, though, when skimming through Hillary Clinton's new book -- universally considered to be a pre-presidential campaign prop -- "Hard Choices." I confess that I have long been intrigued by the prospect of Hillary Clinton as president of the United States.

Maybe it's the thought that my colleague Ramesh Ponnuru put in my head when he wrote his book "The Party of Death." He explains a dream he had about the former first lady, secretary of state and senator. "She is at the podium, well into a campaign speech." It's definitely a friendly crowd for her.

In Ponnuru's dream, Clinton talks about prosecuting domestic violence and rape with tremendous sensitivity. And she eventually reaches the point where she speaks with great love for pregnant women and then proclaims: "We should all be able to agree that 1.3 million abortions a year is way too many, and we should work together to bring that number down. The most important thing we can do is to give women more options." She talks about the need to support families, and the ways the government and Supreme Court can help society do that.

She says in Ponnuru's dream, "America deserves better than abortion, and America deserves better than this fight we've been having for over a generation."

Ramesh's point is that we're not a country that's comfortable with abortion; we're a people who want women to have the help they need when facing an unplanned pregnancy. If Hillary Clinton actually gave a speech like this, it could just make her president.

It's not as crazy as it sounds at first glance. Consider Melinda Gates, a leading philanthropist and the wife of Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates, who recently announced in a blog post: "When I get asked about my views on abortion, I say that, like everyone, I struggle with the issue, but I've decided not to engage on it publicly -- and the Gates Foundation has decided not to fund abortion.

"I understand that the abortion debate will continue," Mrs. Gates went on, "but conflating it with the consensus on so many of the things we need to do to keep women healthy is a mistake."

As Mrs. Gates reassesses what exactly women's health looks like, what a gift it would be if she led a rethinking of what constitutes good, basic health care. In "Hard Choices," Mrs. Clinton writes about the importance of seeing women throughout the world "not as victims to be saved but as partners to be embraced." One fundamental way to achieve this goal is to look at women's fertility not as a condition to be managed and pregnancy not as a disease to be prevented, but something that is at the core of her identity.

In "Hard Choices," there's a photo of Clinton at her daughter's wedding. She's radiant in her flowery gown as she and her husband beam with pride and joy. What a credential! She didn't need to be first lady, senator or secretary of state to be a leader. Embracing who we are as women and men, made uniquely and in a wondrously complementary way, is not a political position so much as an opportunity for a cultural reset. This family thing is quite renewing -- literally regenerative. Even with flaws and imperfections, it can bear quite tremendous fruits.

Promoting sadomasochistic primers for teens and "liberated women" isn't a healthy culture. Women leading the way to an embrace of life, now that's something that would be a bit like Hillary's fictional speech: uniting, welcome and much more than a baby step to positive change.

It might just save our political and cultural lives, never mind our souls.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 06/14/2014 1:40:44 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

She seems to be saying that Hillary Clinton could be a good candidate ... if only she were a totally different person.


2 posted on 06/14/2014 1:49:26 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Kaslin
If Hillary Clinton actually gave a speech like this, it could just make her president.

Hillary Clinton should shut her mouth and make someone a sandwich.

3 posted on 06/14/2014 1:50:56 PM PDT by humblegunner
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To: humblegunner

Would you eat a sandwich Hillary made?


4 posted on 06/14/2014 1:52:20 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Tax-chick
Would you eat a sandwich Hillary made?

No. That's why I said "make somebody a sandwich".

Not me... somebody else.

I wouldn't even eat a sandwich she BOUGHT somewhere.

5 posted on 06/14/2014 1:54:53 PM PDT by humblegunner
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To: humblegunner

LOL!


6 posted on 06/14/2014 2:08:02 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Tax-chick

Zackly!

TC, I'm always glad when you express the reality of the thing with such zactitude.

7 posted on 06/14/2014 2:38:32 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("See something, say something.")
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Thank you. If there was a Zackness Badge, I’d have it.

I do agree with the author that Hillary looked very happy at Chelsea’s wedding. I remember being scoffed at for saying so here! It was a glimpse of what might have been a nice, normal mother, breaking thought the cloud of evil.


8 posted on 06/14/2014 2:43:29 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Tax-chick

Narcissists don’t change - Barry Soetoro is living proof of that.

This was no dream, this was a nightmare. Clinton is worse than her husband, and even worse than Obama. She has sold out everything right and good about being a woman (human being) for Power to destroy our country. The MSM are going after her surprisingly, so that is my signal that all is not well... or a fraud to get us to think they might finally be doing their job.

BTW, nothing has changed with Melinda Gates either. She is a faux Catholic who gives her hubby cover for his perverse behavior. She will merely funnel her vast fortune to organizations that will do her evil bidding (PP, for example).


9 posted on 06/14/2014 2:48:31 PM PDT by Sioux-san
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To: Sioux-san

I wasn’t suggesting Hillary would change. I think the author is imagining another personality entirely inhabiting “Hillary Clinton.” It’s not a strong article ... the “hypothetical” is just too far away from reality to serve as illustration of the point.

Regarding the Gateses, I’m also dubious. When you start from the population-control premise - too many of those poor, dark-skinned people hurt ME! - then it’s hard to go anywhere but wrong.


10 posted on 06/14/2014 2:51:56 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Tax-chick

No, I didn’t think you were suggesting that. I am just surprised that Lopez was so lame in her piece. We need not give Ms. Clinton any quarter that could make people believe Wow, she really has changed....No, fools, she is just a highly experienced liar.

“Hard to go anywhere but wrong”: AMEN to that.


11 posted on 06/14/2014 3:07:57 PM PDT by Sioux-san
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To: Sioux-san

I don’t think Hillary can change, either. (At least, not without such a dramatic conversion that she completely left public life.) I just don’t believe anyone is 100% bad. Sometimes a decent person shows through ... a genuine love for her daughter ... or with Michelle Obama, a sincere pleasure in exercise.

Nobody is just a political robot.


12 posted on 06/14/2014 3:11:30 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Tax-chick

Richard Nixon underwent such a conversion. I don’t believe he was a bad man, but once in office, he turned into another Big Govt. Statist - I think he wanted to win the Vietnam War but the anti-war dems in Congress wouldn’t allow it — they needed the cannon fodder. Looking at what he resigned over compared with what goes on now, this whole Administration should be prosecuted for Treason.

I honestly don’t care if Hillary loves her daughter or Michelle loves being buff so everyone can groove on her arms. Hillary’s core values and actions as a Politician are evil - that’s all I care about - I will not be diverted by organic gardening at the WH or Hillary’s latest book of lies, to make these women appear ‘nice.’


13 posted on 06/14/2014 3:25:37 PM PDT by Sioux-san
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To: Sioux-san

I agree with you. I don’t support any of their public goals.


14 posted on 06/14/2014 3:29:14 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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To: Kaslin
"We should all be able to agree that 1.3 million abortions a year is way too many, and we should work together to bring that number down. The most important thing we can do is to give women more options." She talks about the need to support families, and the ways the government and Supreme Court can help society do that.

There's the rub. The way government can help do that.

After 40 years of the "poverty war", even the worst lib should realize that government cannot take the place of a married mother and father raising their children together. Hillary and her admirers aren't interested in that reality. The only "other option" they want is wealth redistribution that rewards poor judgment, bad choices and ultimately destroys the very children and "families" it purports to help.

15 posted on 06/14/2014 3:36:59 PM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is PUBLIC ENEMY #1)
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To: Tax-chick
I don’t think Hillary can change, either.


16 posted on 06/14/2014 4:33:34 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: B4Ranch

LOL!


17 posted on 06/14/2014 5:09:35 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I have a classic sports car.)
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