About a week ago, I noted that at least with respect to Lincoln Chafee, NARAL was playing along with the ridiculous "pro-choice moderate" charade of voting to close debate on confirming Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, but "against" confirmation on the floor. There was only one vote that counted on Samuel Alito, and that was the cloture vote. Period. A vote for cloture was a vote to hasten the end of legal abortion in the United States, and everyone involved knew it.
Now, NARAL has gone from just going along with the lie of that charade to actively promoting the lie. They recommend that NARAL supporters "Thank your senator for opposing Alito!". They then list all of the Senators who voted no on Alito when it didn't count. That, in my view, is spreading to NARAL's supports a lie about how many (and which) Senators actually voted yes on Alito when it did count. Why is NARAL covering for these Senators' willingness to throw the rights of women under the bus? Why is NARAL deceiving their supporters as to the effectiveness of NARAL's efforts and the real moral fiber of the American political class?
Bottom line: NARAL got schooled by the anti-choice crowd, and their nominal allies sold them out. NARAL should be outraged. NARAL should not be covering for these people. NARAL should not be playing whatever silly tactical game they're playing.
For them as are interested, I've reproduced NARAL's list below the fold, striking out the Senators who don't deserve your thanks (but who NARAL wants you to thank for selling you out).
| California | Senator Barbara Boxer |
| Connecticut | Senator Chris Dodd |
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| Delaware | Senator Joseph Biden |
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| Illinois | Senator Dick Durbin |
| Illinois | Senator Barack Obama |
| Indiana | Senator Evan Bayh |
| Iowa | Senator Tom Harkin (Did not vote on cloture) |
| Maryland | Senator Barbara Mikulski |
| Maryland | Senator Paul Sarbanes |
| Massachusetts | Senator Edward Kennedy |
| Massachusetts | Senator John Kerry |
| Michigan | Senator Carl Levin |
| Michigan | Senator Debbie Stabenow |
| Minnesota | Senator Mark Dayton |
| Nevada | Senator Harry Reid |
| New Jersey | Senator Frank Lautenberg |
| New Jersey | Senator Robert Menendez |
| New York | Senator Hillary Clinton |
| New York | Senator Charles Schumer |
| Oregon | Senator Ron Wyden |
| Rhode Island | Senator Jack Reed |
| Vermont | Senator Jim Jeffords |
| Vermont | Senator Patrick Leahy |
| Washington | Senator Patty Murray |
| Wisconsin | Senator Russell Feingold |
They have become irrelevant.
Posted by: InsultComicDog | Feb 07, 2006 at 08:56 AM
As if reality was ever affected by symbolism.
Posted by: jack* | Feb 08, 2006 at 11:04 PM