Why the NRA reminds me of Planned Parenthood and Vice Versa

Kirsten Powers, writing for The Daily Beast, says it well:

“The abortion clinic of alleged killer Kermit Gosnell was not illegal. But any talk of more government regulation unleashes an NRA-style assault from the abortion rights contingent.”

More here: Abortion Rights Community Has Become the NRA of the Left

Ms. Powers’ double-edged approach here reminds me of our man Walker Percy’s NYT piece back in the day: “A View of Abortion with Something to Offend Everybody.”

Are you offended?

Up from comments: Churchill breaks radio silence

neogeo

“Hello. Since I can’t post, I’ll put this short thing I wrote about heliocentrism under a comment; I had added it under the one below, but would prefer to repeat it here. I’d be grateful for your comments on it, although I realise it’s not directly related to the topic above:

If the earth rotates around its axis at one thousand miles an hour (and at a much faster speed around the sun), then: (i) if the air above it does not move, why wouldn’t this influence the distance/time travelled by aeroplanes – ie if the earth moves, why isn’t this taken into account; (ii) if the air above the earth also moves at the same speed, why don’t, for example, leaves blow in an air current of 1000 miles an hour, whereas they do at a speed of, say, 1020 miles an hour; (iii) if there is a distinction between a moving air above the earth and wind in terms of their effects on moving objects, how can this be explained, rather than asserted. And is not also then unlikely that the earth travels around the sun.

I had wondered if much of cosmology was invented for political reasons: to undermine religion and in order therefore to encourage technological advancement and a change in values, although I had wondered if certain developments, such as plane travel, might even have been held up until the view of the universe had consolidated.”

Of course, Churchill gives away too much in this concern – knowing full well that it is a hot topic among Catholic triddywackers.

Today in NJLNJ (Now Jesus Loves New Jersey): Rino Edition

rino

Now that’s the Garden State I remember…

Because a long time ago, God loved the Republicans; now, if the 2012 election was any indicator, God loves the Democrats and so, naturally, Republicans must also love Democrats… So, I repeat, this is the diminutive mid-Atlantic state once inhabited by the Lenni Lenape which I knew so well in my youth.

Even nature groans to give birth to such an oversized pacakage as Mr. Chris Christie offers to midwife – as NJ now has a place to throw all the good money following this tom-foolery.

Which brings us to the slow browning out of America – and to that end a quick Browning out of Mr. Christopher Christie:

Christie Crashes

The pigs’re on the wing,
And Christie’s on the horn;
The presser’s at seven;
The surrender-flag unfurled;
The buzz has a sting;
The cynic yawns with scorn;
God’s lost in heaven—
All’s left in the world!

Located: The Selfish Gene

toure

“It was a thrill to watch that boy grow inside her, but I must admit during that second trimester as we watched him move around on 3-D sonograms I saw how human they were and my life long belief in abortion rights was – let’s say – jostled. It was life colliding with belief system. I had to rethink my position, but in the end I remain committed to being pro-choice because I cannot imagine arguing against a woman’s right to control her body – and thus – her life.”

I think I prefer the glass of whisky, fire on the hearth, roses and sexy talk when I’m seduced into buying a bill of goods… But, oh well.

Film at eleven.

Ever Clever

obama crocodiles

This guy? Prolife? Who knew?

Whew!

The crisis is over! Well, no, not really. With hundreds of trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, it’s probably just beginning. But the always-dependable Yuval Levin has a number of interesting things to say about the whole “fiscal cliff” debacle, so representative of our hopelessly malfunctioning federal governement. A few highlights:

The Democrats have made the Bush tax rates permanent for 98 percent of the public, which Republicans couldn’t even do when they controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency.

The fiscal trajectory of our welfare state is not sustainable, no matter how much taxes go up. That is the truth at the heart of our budget crisis. The fiscal-cliff debate ignored that truth from start to finish, and so has achieved nothing worthwhile for anyone.

If you must, read the whole thing here.

But I thought corporations were people?

Hobby Lobby fails in bid to avoid HHS mandate: “Plaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.”

The Psephological Korrektiv

Somewhere, some time, someone said something like “politics is crack cocaine for the middle aged man” (I think it was Thomas Pynchon, but I can’t find the quote, and it probably applies to an increasng percentage of the population and not just middle aged males). In any case, it’s true, at least it is for me around election time. I’m not going to get into who I’m voting for or why, as I’ve burned too many bridges in my life engaging in these discussions, and perhaps one or two here at Korrektiv.

And I’m long past that point, anyway. One way of embracing the Manichean division of our political universe is to talk about polling and probable outcomes and suchlike. Sort of meta-politics, but not really, because this is what it comes down to. Before the lawyers come and decide it all for us, anyway. Some time during every election cycle, one’s focus turns from the actual issues to the guessing game of what our schizophrenic body politic is actually going to decide.

Two of the most interesing guessers out there are Nate Silver and Jay Cost; they will certainly be the writers I’m following for the next several days. Silver writes the FiveThirtyEight blog at the New York Times and has a fairly active Twitter feed. He leans left, pretty hard, as might be expected from the Times. More importantly, he’s accurate: in the 2008 election, he predicted the outcome of the presidential election successfully in 49 out of 50 states (missing only Indiana, which went for Obama). He claims Obama has an 85% chance of winning on Tuesday. Cost is at the Weekly Standard and also tweets fairly often. He swings right, as would certainly be expected from the Weekly Standard.

So there you go. Have at it, or ignore it; as you like. Maybe you know about these two already. If there are other weather vanes worth following, by all means let me know.

Up from the comments.

Also Posted Without Comment


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