The Wrong Day to Defend Planned Parenthood

Julie revels in Republican “Fractiousness” in a press release from Richard Viguerie who warns that if Giuliani’s the nominee, the GOP will not survive.

Julie makes an appeal to voters:

As a Democrat, I’d say to disaffected Republicans: At least look at our party. We are working for fiscal restraint, personal responsibility, and an America that can once again cooperate with the world community. Religious extremists and free-market zealots will not feel comfortable in our fold, but many who feel abandoned by the GOP can find a home here under our big tent.

Yeah, if you happen to be pro-life, you can even get ripped to shreds by a liberal blogger. As for fiscal restraint, let me translate that: Tax Increases and Spending Increases. As for personal responsibility, the Pelosi-led House has seen numerous members of Congress renage on their campaign promises and even trading votes on national security for big campaign contributions. However, look at the two parties and find whose closer to your views and join up.

However, Julie goes into a defense of Planned Parenthood:

Well, I’ll note here that as the nation’s largest supplier of contraceptives, Planned Parenthood has prevented far more abortions than it has provided. The so-called conservatives just don’t get this, because it’s about women having control over whether and when to have children.

Given that Planned Parenthood encourages the free love culture, and that 58% of women who have abortions were using birth control before they became pregnant, I would say that Planned Parenthood’s prevention is somewhat temporary. They create a culture of contraceptives and the image of conseqeunce-free “safe sex” that when the odds go against you ends in huge negative consequences, including unplanned pregnancies and abortions.

However, Planned Parenthood is not quite a group to be defending right now given the national news:

A teenager in Ohio has sued Planned Parenthood affiliates in Cincinnati, alleging that when she sought an abortion, its employees failed to report that she was a victim of incest.

The lawsuit comes at a time Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles is fighting back against a pro-life activist who posed as a pregnant 15-year-old and recorded a clinic employee suggesting that she lie about her age to avoid filing a statutory rape report.

The suit in Ohio alleges that when the girl sought an abortion in November 2004 — she was 16 years old at the time — she told Planned Parenthood staff that her father was the baby’s father and that he had been raping her since 2000.

It alleges that the employees did not comply with Ohio law, which requires them to report suspicion of rape and incest to authorities. The suit charges that failure to report the rape led to another year and a half of abuse.

The girl, whom Cybercast News Service will not name because the crime was committed when she was a minor, is seeking $25,000 in damages “to compensate her for the severe harm she has suffered as a direct result of [Planned Parenthood’s] breach of their duties owed her.” She also asks the court to levy punitive damages against Planned Parenthood.

Now, their main responses to the California story has been to threaten the Investigative Reporter with a lawsuit, because she exposed Planned Parenthood’s willingness to break the law by encouraging a minor to lie to avoid filing a statuatory rape report was filed, as well as showing a Plannned Parenthood staffer stating she wished she’d aborted her 16 year old son to finish school.

I’ll have some reporting on the next couple days on our own local Planned Parenthood. Stay tuned.

But given the news hitting recently, perhaps Julie should have saved her defense for another day.

Levy Votes Bode Well for Community College

While I wouldn’t have voted for the school levies in Ada and Canyon County School districts, I can’t help but observe that the areas that approved school levies are the same areas that might be expected to be resistent to the College. If they’ll pass School levies, they’ll pass the college. Of course, the “No” votes might succeed in getting their vote out better, but I’m doubting it. The efforts started against it are too little, too late. Western Idaho College, here we come.

I do have to note the sillyness of the Statesman Reporter saying he polled 10 people. Come on that’s not representative of anything other than a random sampling and ten is always pretty biased.

Tonight’s Podcast: We Have Amnesty

Tonight on the Truth and Hope Report, we talk about the Amnesty Bill, Planned Parenthood’s misbehavior, and Republicans in Congress doing something right for a change.

Click here to download. Click here to add my podcast to your I-tunes.

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Idaho Statesman:

Rep. Bill Sali: Every ‘no’ vote is a vote to get our country on track

CNS News:

Ohio Teen Sues Planned Parenthood Over Child Abuse

Fox News:

Huckabee Unsure If He Would Join Abortion Rights Candidate

Who Is Anti-Mormon?

I’ve got to admit any article that declares Bill Sali, Brandi Swindell, and Bryan Fischer to be socialists has an interesting perspective. After describing how Mormons came to vote GOP thanks to an anti-Mormon Democratic Senator named Fred Dubois

Fast forward 100 years and that adage still holds true. But I believe today’s Idaho Republicans take the Mormon vote for granted much more than they should. Consider that the Idaho Republican Party is increasingly dominated by evangelical Christian extremists, a community which just happens to be known to preach against Mormonism as a godless, heretical cult. Ironically many Idaho Democrats, particularly the more liberal elements, are openly disdainful of Mormons because they lump them in the same boat as the aforementioned Christian extremists.

Increasingly Mormon voters are left with a Hobson’s Choice: continue to support the Republican Party, which is more and more dominated by people convinced they’re going straight to Hell, or support the Democratic Party, which they perceive as a cabal of liberals hostile to their faith.

This is an incredibly simplistic analysis, typical of a Democratic Party that prefers to treat people as a group only concerned with parochial issues (the same people will tell you the main issue Blacks should worry about is affirmative action.)

The LDS Church values family very much, and after the late 19th Century repudiation of polygamy, they’ve become as big of advocates against things like gay marriage and abortion. It is not as if the vast majority of LDS folks are pro-choice Socialists who long for the nationalization of health care. I should note that Bubblehead is pro-choice, but he’s in the minority.

The argument here is that Mormons should jump ship because Evangelicals disagree with them on theology to join Democrats who also by and large disagree with them on theology. Evangelicals didn’t protest the appointment of an LDS Lieutenant Governor. We have an LDS Congressman, and an LDS US Senator, all Republicans. The fact that the Minority Leader of the Senate is a Minority Leader was cited in the article, but so is the Majority Leader!

Consider the Bryan Fischer/Brandi Swindell/Bill Sali strain of evangelical Christian socialism will never truly succeed in Idaho without Mormon support. They’ll never get lasting Mormon support until they prove they’re not out to discredit Mormon faith. To date they’ve done a terrible job of that; this is their fatal flaw. Uncle Fred’s ghost haunts them too.

As for Democrats, while we can debate at length the validity of Mormon theology, the fact is Mormon culture in Idaho is very real. As our experience with Uncle Fred 100 years ago shows, we ignore that at our own peril. Whoever drops their prejudices first has a lot to gain.

Have Fischer/Swindell/Sali done anything in their political capacities to oppose the Mormon Church? No. I think that most Mormons, Catholics, and Evangelicals will agree more often politically than they disagree. As for the theology, that debate can be held for decades: door to door.

A Tough to Enforce Law

Someone writes a Letter to the Editor complaining about License Plate laws not being enforced:

It appears from observing the large number of vehicles without a front license plate in Ada County that it is no longer necessary to display a front license plate in Idaho. Oh, it is still on the books and every vehicle owner is given two plates to be displayed, but law enforcement won’t stop you. I have even called the Ada County Sheriff’s Office about this common violation and was told that it wasn’t a high priority and that “we have other things to do.”

Hmmm, a lot of potential income on tickets is being lost because officers won’t enforce an obvious violation of the law. You can keep driving those one-plate vehicles. You won’t be stopped.

As some of the commenters at Unequivocal Notion have pointed out the police indeed do have better things to do.

I also think the letter writer is missing a key point. Police officers approach cars from behind usually and spotting a front license plate violation can be a challenge. True, they may spot it in a car beside them, in which case all they have to do is slow down, change lanes, get behind them and flash the lights. This can be a difficult arrangement.

Truth be told, I don’t think we really need the front license plate (yes, I still have mine.) We only need the back license plate because that’s what people see. The front is redundant and police can do better focusing on real criminals.

Podcast #257: Will Doing Nothing Accomplish Anything?

A response to Richard Viguerie and other who believe sitting on the sidelines is an answer to the GOP’s current crisis.

Click here to download. Click here to add my podcast to your I-tunes.

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Related:

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