Political Punch

Had my own encounter with a push poller last night in the Murphy-Gerlach race in the 6th C.D. in Pa. The slimeball questions in support of Gerlach(R., needless to say) were disgusting and anger-generating. A call by me to the Gerlach campaign today led nowhere. The Rovian creatures who engage in this sort of end-justifies-the-means activity should be held up as examples of how NOT to behave in a civil society.

Ouch--what a great pun for today's blog title! I suppose I could make a joke that "youse will sleep wit' da fishes," or something similar, but I won't.

Your observation that stem-cell research isn't probably the most significant issue with voters when so many other more pressing issues confront them is quite perceptive. It seems that most legislators currently in office prefer to deal with legislating behavior and morality (which is always as successful as the Volstead Act ever was) to boost their standing with their rabid supporters instead of tackling the real issues facing the US today: civil rights, poverty, unemployment, adequate jobs, foreign relations, war, climate change, and, well, you name it. Instead, we have a government all-too-willing to act as a "nanny state," attempting to legislate what it considers good or moral or preferable behaviors and actions for us. Why? It's far easier for these legislators to appear to be doing something significant by striking a moral position than to try to resolve significant problems.

(As an aside, I have firsthand experience of the "nanny state" in action. I live in Chicago, whose City Council recently outlawed serving foie gras in restaurants because of the ill treatment of the geese involved. The same body of august lawmakers is currently considering outlawing restaurant use of cooking oils containing trans-fats to improve Chicagoans' health. Suffice it to say that Chicago has a few other problems it should contend with (like government corruption, public safety, taxes, job creation, infrastructure improvements) before it deals with this earth-shattering issue of major importance.)

Lieberman's use of "push polls" (and thank you for the links) just shows how desperate he is in this election, fighting for his political life. It would serve him right to lose, just like Ralph Reed did, to unequivocally prove that there is divine retribution. And as for Rep. Mckinney, maybe someone should slap some sense into her, much as she did with that poor Capitol guard!

When will the argument over what is human life be over? And when will everyone understand that it's not okay to run a country based on religious values? When Bush mentioned "the Creator" in his comments, I nearly choked. (This also coming from a POTUS with a potty mouth. Tsk. Tsk. What would "the Creator" think about that?) The language being used to spin this debate one way or the other is what kills me to, "destroying precious human life"??? It's like we're taking babies to the firing range, then using them for scientific testing, rather than using embryos that have no use whatsoever, to give hope to other lives of actual living, breathing humans.
Your reporting on this issue has really been stellar, Jake. Top notch, insightful, balanced and well researched. Good sources in interviews too. I hate to say I agree with a Pro-Life supporter, but he made a great point.