Upper Left

…to add to the discussion of Dr. George Tiller's murder. Like everyone of sanity and good will, I deplore the act and the ideas that led to it, but there's scant evidence that the purveyors of those ideas feel any regret or responsibility, and some evidence of a perverse sense of pride. That's terrible, but if anything positive comes from this tragedy, it will be a firmer resolve by those who believe in a nation of laws to refuse to be terrorized.

Labels: Abortion, Choice, Dr. George Tiller, Law, Terror

…his rep as a "moderate" Republican was based in a large part on his pro-choice views, but jeebus, with friends like these...

Senator Specter supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 50 percent in 2006.
Senator Specter supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 20 percent in 2005.
Senator Specter supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 0 percent in 2004.
Senator Specter supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 21 percent in 2003.
Senator Specter supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 0 percent in 2001.

OK, to be fair, he scored 100 in 2007, but his pointedly anti-choice colleague Bob Casey pulled a 65 from NARAL that year, higher than any of Arlen's scores in the previous five years.

And Arlen, the anti-EFCA friend of labor? Don't get me started.

But, hey, welcome!

Labels: Arlen Specter, Bob Casey, Choice, EFCA, Labor, NARAL

Sir Charles…

For the first time in eight years I am looking forward to reading the morning newspapers.

Me too...

Bush's 'War' On Terror Comes to a Sudden End

Obama slams companies for squandering bailout funds

$20 billion clean energy bill clears hurdle

Obama to reverse foreign abortion rule

Intelligence Pick Calls Torture Immoral, Ineffective

Labels: Choice, Energy Policy, Headlines, President Obama, Torture, War On Terror

Practically-not-President Bush, now…

All human life is a gift from our creator that is sacred, unique and worthy of protection.

…and then...

George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States.

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

Well, that and the recklessness, lawlessness, brutality, stupidity, yada, yada, yada...

Labels: Bush Legacy, Choice, Death Penalty, Fail, George W. Bush

Stephen Suh offers his "policy prescription for a totally centrist Obama Administration…"

· Get the USA out of Iraq. This is the majority position in the country, the centrist view.

· Protect women's right to choose along with access to safe abortions and birth control in all areas of the country. The clear majority of Americans want abortion and birth control to be legal and accessible, which makes protecting these the most centrist position available.

· Establish a national system of healthcare. The majority of Americans are dissatisfied with our current system and want to see everyone in the country provided with access to care.

· Nothing is more quintessentially American, nothing more centrist than the idea that Americans, more than anyone else in the world, are free to chart their own course through life. No idea is embraced by more Americans of all political stripes than that we are a free nation. Therefore, the centrist position for Obama is to tear down the roadblocks to full equality for the LBGTQ community that religious extremists have been able to erect. Full marriage equality for all Americans is the centrist position, all others are extremist.

· Also central to the character of America is the idea that anyone, no matter the circumstances of their birth, can become wealthy, or famous, or powerful depending solely upon their desires and willingness to work hard. A corollary to this idea is that we have no aristocracy. This is not a nation set up to reward people simply for being born. Therefore, Obama should follow the eminently centrist path of reforming our tax code and corporate regulatory regime so that the children and friends of the rich and powerful are no longer rewarded for merely existing.

Personally, I'm fine with "governing from the center" if it's done with the understanding that at the very heart of everything American lies the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of the framers of the Constitution, liberalism. The Constitution is nothing more than a blueprint for the governance of a liberal nation, which is why conservatives always make such a hash of it. Their essentially non- (if not anti-) American ideology is simply incompatible with the operation of our government as it is designed.

Liberalism is the American center.

Labels: Choice, Iraq, LGBT, Liberalism, Taxes, Withdrawal

That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health."

…that's not extreme. This is extreme...

...the current McCain-Palin stance on abortion is identical to that in fundamentalist regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Labels: Choice, Health, Iran, John McCain, McCain-Palin, Saudi Arabia

Senator Obama…

"You have to make a choice in this election. Are you gonna go along with the past, or are you gonna go towards the future? Are you gonna do the same old thing, or are you gonna try something new?"

Labels: Barack Obama, Change, Choice, Democratic Primary