I've been disturbed here lately by the attempts to impose orthodoxy on Democratic/liberal/Kossack political views -- heck, I've been troll-rated for posting in a Gannon thread a question about separation of powers between the Senate and the White House Press office.
But what bothers me most is the substance. When it comes to issues regarding torture, those Democratic Senators who have voted to confirm Gonzales or Rice have been absolutely vilified here -- even shining star Barack Obama -- even though there are rational reasons to believe that (a) the President ought to be deferred to on his Cabinet appointments, and (b) it's not like Bush is ever going to appoint someone who passes our muster, policy-wise. We're going to win the White House again, and it'd be nice to get our Cabinet members confirmed swiftly.
Moreover, most Americans approve of Bush's conduct of the war on terror, and I don't know that seeming to oppose (clearly unconstitutional) aggressive measures is going to win us any votes. It didn't win us 2004.
Now, however, when it comes to abortion, we've got the biggest tent of all. The DSCC,
and many posters here, are thrilled to death to encourage pro-lifers like Jim Langevin and
Bobby Casey (PA) run for the Senate in 2006, despite the fact that most of our party --
and most of America -- respects a woman's right to choose far more than they do.
I think it's insulting to the women who make up our party's base (and the men who love them) to have Reid et al cram these candidates down our throats, sacrificing a woman's right to choose in order to get closer to 51 -- as though there weren't equally palatable pro-choice candidates available in these states. (There certainly are in PA.) If someone's a die-hard on pro-life causes, why would they ever move away from Rick Santorum, who has been their champion? When the next noxious "fetal violence" or "partial birth" bill comes up, why does it matter if the 51 votes to pass come from 51 Republicans or 47 Republicans plus 4 Democrats?
So why does the sanctity of a suspected terrorist's body seem to matter more to people here than that of an American woman?