I'm catching many hints that people know they were crazy to vote for Bush, but want to blame Democrats for making them do it. The wording goes thus: well, if you had put up almost anybody but a Massachusetts liberal, I wouldn't have voted for Bush. You made me do it! Never mind that Kerry is a war hero with years of foreign-policy experience, an excellent mind, and a serious awareness of the issues, and that the ticket was balanced with southerner. I'm not sure what these people wanted, but they shouldn't kid themselves: if they voted for Bush and his record of failure, then they wanted more of the same. I refuse to go through the next four years being blamed by other people because they voted for Bush! How weird is that?
There was an article, somewhere, in the ether which concerned itself with the Democrats and religion:
"One of the things a few of us are talking about is a reassessment of how the Democrats deal with an issue like abortion -- could there be a more moderate ground, where even if they retained their pro-choice stance, they talked about uniting pro-choice people together to actually do something about the abortion rate?" said Jim Wallis, editor of the liberal evangelical journal Sojourners.
"If the Democratic Party were to "welcome pro-life Democrats, Catholics and evangelicals and have a serious conversation with them" about ways to reduce teenage pregnancy, facilitate adoptions and improve conditions for low-income women, it would "work wonders" among centrist evangelicals and Catholics, Wallis said. "
Look, the abortion rate has fallen. Teenage pregnancy rates have likewise fallen, particularly in urban areas. Effective, long lasting contraceptives have been the key. And the single most important improvement in conditions for low-income women is access to health care. There is no mystery here. But that's not the conversation that's wanted - what is wanted is some fig leaf so lots of people can feel religiously righteous while keeping their own options open. So, if a sop were offered - some degree of parental notification plus some restriction on late-term abortions, well, abortion could stay. That's the conversation that's wanted. I'm sick of it. If the rest of the country wants to impose changes on pro-choice, then they will have the power to do it soon. If they want to hammer out some formula so they feel better about it, they will have the power to do that. If they want to criminalize abortions completely, ditto. Just remember, guys, DNA testing now will allow any woman who gives birth to require from the father 20 years of 1/3 of his income in child support.
Then today, this inanity in an MSNBC story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6453647
The Democratic leadership doesn't go to Denny's, Applebees, or Cracker Barrel. They were busy flagellating themselves over this. As though a sudden conversion to chain restaurants is going to reveal anything other than enormous portions of high fat food. No one is going to be fooled. Besides, since medications are going to be increasingly expensive, it may be unrealistic to encourage people to consume more at these places. Does anyone think the Republican leadership is worrying about whether they eat at Denny's?
Meanwhile, a new effort was announced to dismantle any vestige of a social safety net via a reduction of benefits in social security. Bush supporters welcomed the chance to reduce their guaranteed benefits and hand over more money to financial managers.