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The Cynical Charade of “Pro-Life” Politicians

You know the old H.L. Menckin quote:

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”

We’d like to think that people who are Dems aren’t suckers like Repubs are but what Trump being in the WH taught me is that there are far more clueless and easily manipulated people on both sides of the fence than we used to assume, there’s just more on the Repub side.

I too had trouble understanding the strident purists and hypocrites who would vote for Jill Stein because they’d claim they were sick of how corrupt both parties were…and Stein was going to dinner with Putin! Some would say how Trump was a threat to our future but didn’t vote because they didn’t like Hillary either. But did they see her as a threat to our future?!

Yes, they were fools but at the same time, they were only one component of a complex situation that led to a madman being in power. And the fact that 40% of the country still supports him? How does that not scare us more about those people than the far smaller number who didn’t vote for Hillary?

There are a lot of ignorant people out there, a scary amount.

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 11:24 am

Excellent points, jerryab! And they prove not only that these insincere Repubs don’t really want to reduce abortions because they also oppose providing contraception but that they are frauds on the issue of deficits and spending too. Instead of saving billions as you describe, imagine the costs that forcing poor women to give birth will drive, not to mention how their hero Trump and their party are now overseeing massive deficit spending that will get exponentially worse.

Nope, Repubs have no sincerity or principles left, they are all about power and money and doing whatever it takes to can get them the most of both.

Heh! I can only imagine the shrieks of these RW Repubs if they got a theocracy but it flipped to a Muslim one with Sharia law. These extremist “Christians” want their version of Sharia to be the law of the land while trying to enact meaningless anti-Sharia legislation around the country.

These fanatics are our ISIS, they want to take over our system and have the US become their caliphate.

But like ISIS, they will fail because the majority of people are against them.

» Posted By AdLib On May 28, 2019 @ 10:06 pm

CL, knowing your experience with the Dominionist, anti-choice extremists out there, I take your views on this very much to heart.

We are agreed that this campaign is really about power, about corrupting our government into a cruel, oppressive theocracy. The lives of other people are actually inconsequential to them (not “sacred”).

As for the 2020 election, you’re right, we have to be dedicated to rescuing our democracy and future by supporting whoever the Dem nominee is. Trump and these extremists can’t be allowed another 4 years with deteriorated checks and balances or we won’t recognize what this country becomes.

As much as I’m with you that the Dem who wins the WH in 2020 needs to be focused on repairing and reversing the profound damage Trump has wrought, I do think voters want to see a bigger vision in the Dem nominee, how they will approach the big problems causing them difficulty in their day to day life.

Unfortunately, many Americans are not keeping up with all the destruction Trump and Repubs are engaged in, they just have their hands full coping with rising costs of food and medicine and a declining standard of living. When you really consider that 40% of Americans don’t even have enough in the bank to cover a $400 emergency and consider all the Americans hit by Climate Change intensified natural disasters, you know how potent the other issues are too to a Dem campaign in 2020.

I don’t know that the Dem that beats Trump would be more likely to be a one termer just because she/he spends a lot of time on repairing the Trump damage. I actually think a majority of voters will be grateful for having a sane president and a more functional and less corrupt government after Trump. And if Trump is hopefully on trial for his crimes after that, the stink he’s left on the GOP should take a very long time for them to escape.

» Posted By AdLib On May 28, 2019 @ 9:54 pm

Very good points, CL. I didn’t refer to those who truly and universally have these “pro-life” beliefs because I think the number of legit ones are a tiny subset. Most of the “pro-life” Republicans that I’m aware of also support the death penalty, slashing funding for food and health care for children in poverty and support wars. So it’s like a gimmick, in my eyes, they cling to that issue to claim moral superiority while most of their beliefs are in stark conflict with what Jesus preached.

You can’t be conditional on “life” being precious if that’s your reason for oppressing women and ending some health care for them in a state.

Yep, men are just as absolutely fully responsible for a baby as the mother but because it’s the woman who gives birth, these regressive and male Repub pols feel so comfortable having government control the person who gives birth…because it ain’t a man.

You listed just a fraction of the inhuman, hateful policies that these same “pro-lifers” support. 6 children have died in US immigration custody, no outrage from these alleged lovers of children’s lives. That’s why I think it’s high time to strip this issue of it’s fake morality and expose it and the Repub men in states voting in these horrible laws to make women suffer, as the devious schemers and hypocrites they are.

This is not about morality, that alleged high ground should be taken away from these zealots. The majority of Americans are pro-choice and each day, especially because of these extremist laws, more are joining them.

No question, we will win this in the end. Even if it takes having the SCOTUS take apart or fully eliminate Roe v. Wade. In the end, those who are dishonestly hiding behind morality to hold onto and gain power, will be brought down by the majority.

» Posted By AdLib On May 28, 2019 @ 7:37 pm

Thanks Sue!

Absolutely, the urgent goal for them is overturning Roe v. Wade, no question. But what kept rolling around in my head was, “Why is this the one issue that they are so obsessed with winning?”

There are so many other issues that Republicans could make their priority but they have chosen this one…because it is the one that works best to rally their voters to get them re-elected and donating to them. It’s the issue that keeps them in power and they do not want to lose power.

So overturning Roe v. Wade is indeed their top goal but not because they’re true believers in “every life is sacred”. What I wanted to explore in my article is how they have found the most potent weapon to use politically and are intentionally manipulating the core Republican voters by pursuing it. This is a game to them, a con job that their criminal hero, Trump, could really appreciate.

As for Hillary losing in 2016, there were so many factors involved, including third party voters and Dem voters not turning out in swing states but it’s difficult to say that alone was the factor. Comey’s sabotage of Hillary just days before the election, the Russian hacking, disinformation and social media manipulation, the Trump campaign’s whipping up of and thumbs up to racists, Mitch McConnell’s refusal to alert the public that the election was under Russian invasion…so many factors were involved to hand the electoral votes to Trump.

But even so, Hillary won by over 2% in popular vote so there wasn’t an issue with Dems turning out for her nationwide. One could also make the case that if the voters in just a few swing states weren’t micro targeted by Trump and Russia, voter suppression wasn’t enforced AND some hadn’t voted 3rd Party or not voted, Hillary would have rightfully won.

That’s why I think it’s harder to single out any one aspect of this disgusting but perfect storm that gave the WH to an obviously deranged man.

» Posted By AdLib On May 28, 2019 @ 7:21 pm

For the Planet’s Transgender Columnist: A First Post

That’s the annoyance of caches sometimes, they hang onto the way a page looked even after the info is updated. You did everything right to get the updated page to display, well done!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 5:48 pm

Wow! You have me on the edge of my seat, can’t wait!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 3:11 pm

Also, you’ll need to complete your Profile so that you have a description or statement that appears along with your username, when you author a post. Hover on the Members menu item then click on My Profile to go to that page and fill in a description or statement.

Lastly, you need to add a Gravatar (the image that appears next to your user name) so it’s associated with the email address you used to sign up here. To do so, go here to Gravatar https://en.gravatar.com/ . The image you choose will then show up here and at all sites that use Gravatars.

If you have questions about setting up a Gravatar, here’s an instruction page at Gravatar: https://en.gravatar.com/support/activating-your-account/

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 1:39 pm

Hi Angela! So happy to have your voice here! Appreciate your patience with our setting up a column for you. After you publish another post, we’ll be able to do so.

Again, welcome to PlanetPOV!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 1:28 pm

Mueller, Played by the Rules

Hey Aquarius, it is indeed annoying and I have reduced my viewing of cable news as the punditry drives this divide on impeachment. With Trump tearing up the Constitution and Democrats having the Mueller report providing all the evidence they need to at least begin an impeachment hearing, the decision to impeach seems pretty clear cut…unless you’re politically over-calculating Dem leaders.

Agreed on Dems in the House needing the best and most convincing evidence they can have if they prosecute impeachment in The Senate. However, they have the evidence and report from a 2 year investigation that Mueller has already declared in Special Counsel Speak, proves obstruction of justice. So they already have all they need to proceed with an impeachment inquiry and during it, they could uncover more and more evidence.

There is no need to wait. Remember when the first Dem Leadership stall tactic was, “We have to wait until we get the Mueller Report before we decide about impeachment”? Now that that’s happened, they move the goal posts again and claim hearings are now needed before impeachment. And as the frustration of Dem voters builds, they keep trying to hold the impeachment door closed.

As you mentioned, they seem a bit unaware of what the blowback could be with Dem voters if the party they elected into power in 2018 to put a check on Trump, refuses to do so out of self-interest. It might be another case of Dems grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yep, there will always be the pundits who have to prove how smart they think they are by criticizing whatever they think might get them more airtime. We don’t need that, we need as many people as possible working together to protect our democracy from the danger it’s currently in.

And thanks so much, so glad you like the new Planet!!!

» Posted By AdLib On June 5, 2019 @ 6:58 pm

Well said, Escrib, The Senate is just a Trump Cheerleading Team now (led by Lindsay Graham in his cheerleading outfit).

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2019 @ 10:48 pm

Hey Aquarius! Nice to see you!

I am one of those who thinks the Congress has a Constitutional duty to impeach when they become aware of a president committing high crimes or misdemeanors. Like a cop who witnesses a crime, their job is to police the presidency.

What I’d propose to argue against the view that impeachment is only worthwhile or successful if 2/3 of the Senate votes to convict, is to note that The Senate didn’t convict Nixon either. It was their televised Watergate Hearings, publicizing Nixon’s crimes, that created a majority of support for impeachment and caused Nixon to resign. When they started those hearings, Nixon’s approval was in the high 40’s…whiile Trump’s current approval remains much lower, around 40%.

Since The House is the only part of Congress that will hold hearings now and since Trump is stonewalling regular hearings like The Watergate Hearings, preventing witnesses to testify and documents to be provided, the option that would allow Watergate-type hearings would be impeachment hearings.

And the goal should be publicizing Trump’s criminal acts and accomplishing the same popular swing the Watergate hearings caused by publicizing Nixon’s criminality.

It’s expecting things to work backwards to wait for a big majority of the public to demand impeachment hearings, it works the other way around. Televised hearings will inform the public and change minds…even in the GOP if they look at a big swing in public support against Trump and have to consider their re-election in 2020 with a majority of voters wanting Trump impeached.

That’s when the GOP could collapse in on Trump and out of self-preservation, want to cut him loose.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2019 @ 10:46 pm

Welcome to PlanetPOV, misapope, and such an auspicious arrival! Wonderful article, so many points right on target!

One thing I heard said about Mueller is that he played this as he always has, by the book and with deference and respect for the institutions…but in a situation where the subject of an investigation is the president and has vested himself in destroying respect for institutions and those who act out of principle, it’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Mueller seems to have expected that once his report was made public, everyone would read it and Congress would pursue impeachment since the evidence he presented should trigger that.

Old School has come up against the Trump Era and it has met its match. I’m not saying Mueller’s report has been successfully thwarted by Trump, just that, as you point out, truth is no longer a universally respected thing, tribalism comes first for far too many, especially the GOP.

What we could have used in this era is someone who recognized that playing by all the rules religiously when facing off against someone breaking all the rules, handicaps one side in a conflict. Mueller is who he is, he’s not the one Dems had hoped for (then again, how many Dems kept repeating like a mantra, “Oh, Ivanka and Jared will temper Trump’s worst impulses!”?). People wanted a hero and in Mueller but he acted as he has in the past, as a dedicated, precedent obeying employee at the DoJ. That’s not a bad thing, it’s better than a toady like Barr.

The way Mueller’s investigation succeeds is if Democrats put duty above political expedience and begin an impeachment inquiry. They can use the report as a solid basis for charges of obstruction of justice against Trump and build on it. There are also the many referrals of cases Mueller made to SDNY and other districts that have yet to ripen and could be devastating. And tangentially, the investigations in the State of New York into crimes Trump and his crime family have committed.

So Mueller’s work and his performance as a good soldier to the institutions may have ended up less impactful in this era than they would have been in previous eras but this isn’t over by a long shot.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2019 @ 6:05 pm

A Hardy Hidey-Ho to All Yabberzis and Welcome to the Planet

I think therefore my brain is delicious.

» Posted By AdLib On May 31, 2019 @ 8:43 am

Damn, I thought we were hiding perfectly behind the refrigerator.

Welcome to PlanetPOV, Jake!

» Posted By AdLib On May 31, 2019 @ 8:42 am

Now you know why they’re known for eating brains. Glad you’ve kept yours safe!

» Posted By AdLib On May 30, 2019 @ 9:44 pm

Sorry about that, Amalek, there was an issue that’s been corrected. You’ll no longer see “guest”, you’re a “member” (and have been).

» Posted By AdLib On May 30, 2019 @ 5:46 pm

I like it! The design and the name!

» Posted By AdLib On May 30, 2019 @ 1:09 pm

No worries, feel free to explore! And welcome to PlanetPOV, OldShooter!

» Posted By AdLib On May 30, 2019 @ 12:15 pm

Great to see you too, gyp46!

» Posted By AdLib On May 30, 2019 @ 12:14 pm

Good point, that makes sense.

Really appreciate your thoughts on your post. I scheduling it because I like the discussion it starts but it is a bit short for a post. What I’ll do is move it back to draft status then you can go back to it and copy and paste the text it into a comment on this post.

It is a great topic for discussion!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 11:17 pm

Welcome to The Planet, Bud!

You said it so well, all I can do is reply, “What he said.”

Very pleased to have you here!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 8:56 pm

Welcome to The Planet, Ghostolini! Glad you braved the wilderness of WordPress registration to join us!

Great to hear that you like WordPress-based sites, you should know your way around here pretty quickly.

So you know, our regular hang out for posting comments about anything at all can be easily reached by clicking the Comments button at the top of the right hand column. The post there is called Time Out For Off Topic, where no comment is off topic.

So go a-haunting around the site and explore. Happy to have you here in the…ectoplasm.

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 7:30 pm

Great Gravatar choice! You are officially a member now (you were before but there was a glitch, glad it’s fixed now!)!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 2:02 pm

Nice!

BTW, you only need to paste the URL for an image for it to appear, you don’t need the IMG brackets here.

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 2:00 pm

Hi Dahlia, welcome to The Planet! Happy to have you here!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 1:18 pm

You mean PlanetPOV?

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 1:18 pm

Dajuan, I think I solved the issue, very sorry about this. Could you try again and let me know if all is well now?

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 1:16 pm

Hi Pamela! Welcome to PlanetPOV! Feel free to click everywhere and check out the site! One helpful hint, you can go to the main hangout here by clicking the “Comment” button at the top of the right hand column (one of the 4 buttons there). That takes you to Time Out For Off Topic, where you can post any comments about anything or reply to anyone else.

Otherwise, comments on specific articles of course appear on those article pages.

Welcome to The Planet!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 11:14 am

Hi Dajuan. No, membership is free and you are a full member. If you are not able to access your profile, that would be an issue.

To figure out the issue, we need to first make sure you’re logged in. An older window might show you’re logged in when you’re not. So to test, click on the Home menu item at the top to refresh the page. Make sure your login name then appears in the upper right corner. If it says “Login/Join” instead, click on it and login.

Then hover your cursor on the Members menu item and click My Profile in the drop down menu. If you don’t see your Profile page come up, please let me know what you see, that will help me fix this. Thanks!

» Posted By AdLib On May 29, 2019 @ 11:11 am