Posted on 03/31/2016 3:51:54 PM PDT by Kaslin
By this time, everyone with a television, a smart phone or a computer has already seen the MSNBC town hall exchange between Chris Matthews and Donald Trump where the abortion question came up. (Even if you lack all three of those modern devices, you may have caught wind of it via the screams of horror emanating from the windows of your neighbors, both Democrat and Republican.) But on the odd chance that you were in a coma for the past sixteen hours and happened to turn to Hot Air before doing anything else this morning, here’s the short but brutal recap. (WaPo)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came under fire Wednesday for saying that women should be subject to “some sort of punishment” for undergoing illegal abortions, a position that antiabortion and abortion rights groups alike emphatically denounced.
The GOP front-runner said during a pre-taped town hall hosted by MSNBC that criminal punishments would be appropriate for women seeking abortions if the procedure were made illegal nationwide. Moderator Chris Matthews pressed Trump on the practical implications of banning abortions.
Before going any further, I’d like to preface this column with something that at least approaches a bit of an apology to my friends in the #NeverTrump camp because yesterday’s events led to a wake-up call of sorts for me on a personal level. As regular readers know by now, I’ve gone out of my way to leave some maneuvering room for the GOP this fall by attempting to maintain Donald Trump’s status as a viable back-up plan if Ted Cruz fails to secure the nomination. (And I’ve been gently taken to task for it by some very prominent writers.) I recognize that I may have even engaged in a bit of willful disregard for some of the more troubling aspects of his campaign rather than simply throwing up my hands and tossing the keys to the Oval Office to Hillary Clinton. But after a night to sleep on and digest last night’s debacle, even I must confess that something in the stew smells like it’s gone past its expiration date here.
Allahpundit seemed to touch on part of what went wrong yesterday when he wrote this:
You can almost see the wheels turning in his head here: He knows, as a political matter, that he can’t let Cruz get to his right on abortion. Republicans will let him slide on a lot — a lot — but if he gives them reason to think he’s BSing them on an issue at the very core of social conservatism, it could give Cruz the break he needs to take off.
I think part of that analysis is correct, but it doesn’t fully get to the uneasy feeling that interview brought on. It’s a suspicion that I’ve had nagging at the back of my mind for months, even as I’ve tried my best to keep Trump viable as a general election candidate. Unlike Allahpundit, I don’t see this as Donald Trump making a quick calculation of how to best position himself against Cruz here. The more likely (and disturbing) conclusion is that Donald Trump is someone who really doesn’t know much of anything about the conservative movement beyond what he read in some headlines while contemplating a run for the GOP nomination. He’s like the student who failed to study for the test and is now picking the multiple choice answers which sound the best even if they are extreme catnip designed to catch the unwary in a failing grade.
This isn’t a crazy theory because what we’re seeing is the essence of a populist strategy without any real research behind it. If you want to win over the hearts and minds of conservatives, you identify what they most want but can’t obtain under the current rules and then offer them the moon. In retrospect, we’ve seen this too many times before, and while some of the answers sound great and stir up the masses with great support, they all fall short to one degree or another in terms of practicality. Immigration? Everyone else wants more border patrol and aggressive ICE enforcement. So I’ll give you a wall the size of the moon which won’t cost a dime. Trade deals? The other candidates are free traders who don’t address issues of job outsourcing and trade deficits. I’ll just screw everyone else on the planet and build virtual tariff walls. War on terror? Those other guys talk tough about confronting the enemy, but I’ll give you torture and huge conquering armies laying waste to the Arabian Peninsula.
And when it came to the abortion question, Mr. Trump obviously recognized that everyone on the conservative side of the fence was, to one degree or another, against the procedure. So his first impulse was to start putting pregnant women in jail. Too many authors on the Right have already described how damaging this is to the pro-life movement, but it took several hours of immediate backlash before Trump finally arrived at his third answer which was at least somewhat close to the correct one.
What this tells me is that Donald Trump never studied for the test when he decided to win over conservatives in his quest for the nomination. He just trusted in his instincts, scanned a few topic summaries and went into it like a real estate negotiation, promising the clients a mansion when he knew they’d wind up in a condo. Unfortunately this is akin to trying to win over the affection of a petulant child you’re babysitting who doesn’t want to eat their vegetables. Rather than promising a better selection of healthy options and a treat after the meal, your first move is to simply tell them everyone will have chocolate layer cake for their entire dinner.
It’s difficult to admit it, particularly when so many pieces of the plans Trump has proposed at least sounded like great ideas on paper. And the rest were able to be written off by saying, “at least he got a conversation started” on the issue. All that may be true, but underneath it all, Donald Trump doesn’t understand conservatism. He’s winging it as he goes along and the learning curve has finally left him behind.
And his supporters just love it.
Sad thing is all of the drive-bys are going to use the abortion clip day-in and day-out from now til November to "prove" how Trump wants to put women in jail for having an abortion.
Yup, Trump put his foot in his mouth all right.
Spittin’ Chrisyy doesn’t even own his own WIFE, Queen Kathleen...she had DE-BALLED him.....he’s a GIRL.
Kaslin, thanks for posting that. Every word is right on.
I am sorry I read the comments.
These people are truly cultists. Truly, truly cultists.
The old saw about what Trump would have to do to get them to see the light... yeah, he could shoot someone on Main Street and they would still support him.
He could kick a puppy and shove an old lady in a wheelchair into traffic.
He could say women should be put in prison for doing what he so eloquently advocated only a few years ago and, yeah.
AMEN. Sister!
It’s really funny that you people continue to try and deny the truth about your malfunctioning candidate.
There really is nothing funny about the mountain of dead babies whose killing was fully funded by Ted Cruz and the rest of the career politician beltway GOP.
That Freudian
I was trying to write about something I knew in my heart he doesn’t possess
He’s actually a Pinnochio looking eunuch
Interesting for Amanda and the harem....
altura is the very definition of conservatism. Or maybe it’s humility. Something.
Trump should build a large mental institution and put his name on it.
Then he should check in.
But I agreed with Trump. If it were against law, all parties involved should be punished. The law allows for diminished capacity. Women shouldn't be portrayed as victims if they procured an abortion through their own free will. I would argue the degree of punishment to be meted out to the woman, depending on the circumstances.
I would take no pleasure in the punishments; if doctors were more ethical, and others who know how to perform the procedure, we would be discussing "back alley" abortions again. Anyone not licensed to perform or assist in abortions is breaking the current laws and subject to punishment. We have seen it happen. And we have seen it not happen when it should as in the things Planned Parenthood gets away with outside the bounds of the law.
Some women are punished the rest of their lives with regrets over what they did. Some are not and use abortion as a form of birth control.
The Catholic church has an ex-communication latae sententiae for anyone involved in the procurement of an abortion, doctor, assistants, those who help the woman before but not after, the woman herself is the only one ex-communicated as far as I know.
Curiously the man who participated in the insemination is absent unless he can be categorized as facilitating the abortion. But some men are aggrieved and the women can legally override him totally, even if he or his family is willing to assume total responsibility for the child.
Should we quit fighting it? It's legal in almost every country on the planet. Islamic countries have much tougher conditions. Much tougher punishments when you think of it.
We should continue doing what we legally can, including prayer, to end the plague of abortion regardless of how supporters malign us. It's an unenviable position at this point.
If Trump had said no, women should not be punished for abortion, the headline today would be “Trump is pro-choice!”
How does it feel to be an establishment stooge on the same side as Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Lindsey Gram, Paul Ryan, Carly Fiorinia, Golden Sacs and the entire GOPe donors class against those of us that wish to preserve the USA as a constitutional republic? Have you gotten your NWO ball cap yet? Has Heidi sent you your long live the North American Union t-shirt? NEVER EVER complain about RINOs ever again, you have lost all credibility.
As the old saying goes, if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullsht.
No Larry.. I knew that you were smart. It’s all these other people here who are stupid. You are smart. Did I mention that you are smart?
I’m not saying that a woman should go to jail for having an abortion. The jails would be full. But lets discuss this without a “correct answer”, but a genuine discussion. Is it wrong to kill a baby? Do single mothers still have the stigma that they had in the old days. If abortion becomes illegal is it right or wrong to hold a woman responsible?
Once again without second thought Ted Cruz and his deluded followers gleefully pile on with the Dems in attacking Trump. This has happened on quite a laundry list of issues now:
KKK
Chicago
Brussels
“War” on Women
Abortion
And on and on
This is quite instructive, IMO. There is no longer anything principled or conservative about Ted Cruz and his followers.
Thank you. Thank you very much!
I’m waiting for the Trump trashing storm to pass on this issue. Then, what Cruz responded(his clearest statement yet on his abortion stance) will begin to sink in. It differs little from any Liberal one. Murdering mothers are “victims” of their Divinely granted purpose of carrying children. I wonder do they realize just who they’re blaming for their “punishment”?
Lady, do you mind if I call you that.
I exist in a world outside of Free Republic. I read and hear other news and talk to other people.
I am not smug, I am terrified. I am terrified that little trumpers like you will make this unfit man the nominee and we will have Hillary for four years.
The trump wing is small compared to the republican vote. Most Republicans do not like Donald Trump and won’t vote for him.
Your insulting me make make you feel better but it won’t make Trump president. He’s not fit for the job.
If Trump had said no, women should not be punished for abortion, the headline today would be “Trump is pro-choice!”
Yep. Cruz and his Cruzers are using those beautiful dead babies as political footballs to attack Trump. How sad.
No, that is MY personal opinion. I read and heard Trumps stated opinion on Abortion, and how it has changed, as it has for many people over time. I also posted, on this thread a link to those opinions held by Trump on this thread.
Only an idiot thinks that whatever his stand on Abortion or women’s rights will be the sole deciding factor on laws in America. If that were true, Obama would have gotten so much more done in Congress and the Senate, but has instead, used Presidential Fiat, to get his way.
His views are published and known. Dealing with the likes of Chris Matthews is difficult, and for someone he does not like, its near impossible. But to presume that this in some way denigrates Trump, is for Matthews Grandstanding on a very slimy scale. IMO.
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