"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made."
George Burns
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I just read that the House Republicans have scheduled a vote for the 22nd of January on the issue of banning abortion after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. This is reported as being due to their deep and abiding concern that the fetuses feel pain at that stage of pregnancy. In an article in "The Hill" there was a particularly poignant quote in which the speaker, a Republican congressman, states "These are innocent and defenseless children who can not only feel pain, but who can survive outside of the womb in most cases, and who are torturously killed without even basic anesthesia."
As a dyed-in-the-wool humanitarian and a bleeding-heart liberal, I will tell you that those words affected me in no small measure on the abortion issue. The imagery and feeling conveyed by that quote was powerful. And these words showed a deep caring and compassion for human beings that, quite frankly, one is quite unused to hearing from a Republican.
But are they sincere words? One has to acknowledge that the first thing the House Republicans did when they gained control of Congress was to move to severely cut the social security income of the most vulnerable and poorest members of our society - the disabled. And, of course, we have all just recently learned that our last Republican Administration had approved and were running a CIA torture program. For me, those two recent facts alone create confusion, not to mention cognitive dissonance, when it comes to accepting the sincerity of anything a Republican says. And still yet, it is pretty well "common knowledge" that the stock and trade of politicians is the deft and masterful use of highly charged and emotional words to manipulate people in an almost Svengali-like way. It is their use of words and manipulation of emotions that gets them elected, whips crowds into a frenzy and creates unswerving loyalty to the politician or the political party.
I'm reminded that all too often we forget (or choose not) to heed the wisdom of that age-old adage "Actions speak louder than words." It's a pretty reliable test of any man's sincerity, even the ones that aren't politicians. While in the first instance of the use of this wisdom you won't know until after the fact whether the man, the politician or the political party was sincere, you will still have, after the fact, a reliable measure of their sincerity. Thereafter, you can pretty much bank on the fact that if the man, the politician or the political party misled and manipulated you once, they'll more than likely do it again. Caution and reality-testing should become the new rule of the day.
That is, unless and until you choose to sincerely believe that the man, the politician or the whole party has indeed undergone a spiritual and religious conversion experience, not unlike that of Paul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, and is now wholly changed.
I would suggest that if the House Republicans were truly concerned for the 20 week and older fetus, we would expect to see other actions that are consistent with that sincere concern. So I have come up with a simple "Republican Sincerity Test" that is both reasonable and realistic.
If the House Republicans are sincerely concerned about the "pain" and "torture" of a defenseless 20-week-plus fetus, then they should take the following actions:
1. Pass legislation that the physical assault or physical abuse of any woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant would, at a minimum, result in criminal charges of child endangerment. The woman's consent to charging is irrelevant.
2. Pass legislation that the physical assault or physical abuse of any woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant and in which the woman's stomach is hit during the assault, intentionally or accidentally, would result in, at a minimum, charges of criminal child physical abuse. The woman's consent to charging is irrelevant.
3. Pass legislation that the physical assault or physical abuse of any woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant that resulted in a miscarriage would result in, at a minimum, criminal charges of murder of the child. The woman's consent to charging is irrelevant.
Yes, I'm talking about both stranger (or non-intimate partner) assault and intimate partner abuse.
And I would expect to see these actions implemented immediately. Not promised, not put on the agenda, not "we'll see what we can do." Implemented immediately. Just like they immediately acted to implement his ban on abortions, within just weeks of taking control of the House and Senate. It was first on their agenda; a priority above all things. After all, we are talking about a defenseless child who can feel pain, and who is the facing imminent threat of a tortuous killing. And there is a very high probability that the physical assault or physical abuse of a woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant is happening right now, even as we speak.
The issue is that if they don't pass this "Republican Sincerity Test" we would be presented with conflicting conclusions that would be virtually impossible to reconcile:
1. That a woman cannot abort a fetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy because in doing so she would be inflicting pain upon the child and torturously killing the child. The woman's consent to the abortion is irrelevant.
2. That anyone else may inflict pain upon the child, in one instance or repeatedly, by means of the physical assault or physical abuse of any woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant.
3. That anyone else may torturously kill the child by means of the physical assault or physical abuse of any woman who is 20 weeks or more pregnant, in one instance or repeatedly, that ultimately results in the miscarriage (i.e., the painful and tortuous death) of the child.
If they don't pass the Sincerity Test, I would suggest that we consider that this may be just one more insincere manipulative ploy to win back the minds and hearts of the public after a long string of really bad behavior that was particularly damaging to them.
If they don't pass the Sincerity Test, I would also suggest that this may be just another political ploy to manipulate the public and divert our attention from their "I'm-going-to-shove-it-down-your-throat-because-we're-in-control-now, roll-back-all-this-progressive-crap-since-the-Kennedy-Administration, to-hell-with-democracy, to hell-with-the safety-and wellbeing-of-the-people, don't-you-dare-pass-a-gun-safety-law-because-I-don't-care-how-many-kids-or-adults-get-killed, obstructionist, it's-my-way-or-no-way, by-any-means-necessary, white-male-supremacy" philosophy of governing that they have made so clear ever since we scared the bejeebers out of the white male ruling class by electing an African American President who has more intelligence, integrity and strength of character in his little finger than can be found in the whole of Congress.
From: Metaphysical Outlaws In America