February 22nd, 2011

A political juxtaposition along the lines of A Deadly Addiction and Constitutional Quiz…

“We are a legal business providing a legal service that our customers have a constitutional right to. Yet our ideological opponents use political power and intimidation to try to keep us and our customers from exercising our legal rights.” – Abortion clinic owner

 

“We are a legal business providing a legal service that our customers have a constitutional right to. Yet our ideological opponents use political power and intimidation to try to keep us and our customers from exercising our legal rights.” – Gun store owner

 

“They are responsible for many thousand deaths per year. It’s morally wrong. We can’t stand by and let this continue to happen.” – Anti-abortion activist

 

“They are responsible for many thousand deaths per year. It’s morally wrong. We can’t stand by and let this continue to happen.” – Gun control activist

Where you stand depends on where you sit

(I.e., on which side of the abortion/guns cultural split).

The two issues are not directly connected,

But a co-relationship can often be detected.

Those who favor guns usually oppose abortion,

And the reverse is true in equal proportion.

Does either group see the irony of its position

And the potential constitutional juxtaposition?

Gun lovers talk of constitutional rights, but then deny them

To those they think shouldn’t have the right to apply them.

They oppose “Big Government” but then blithely assume

It’s OK to stick that Big Government into a woman’s womb.

(For these members of the conservative devout,

I guess it depends on what right you’re talking about.)

Lest it seem that I of the Right am being over-critical,

It’s also possible for liberals to be hypocritical.

We forget that there’s always some degree of regulation allowed

Of the constitutional rights with which we’re endowed.

I actually fall in the middle on both of these issues:

I believe in reasonable regulation of both guns and a woman’s right to choose.

(That means my views piss off almost everyone,

But if we all agreed on everything, politics wouldn’t be much fun.)

If I lean a little “liberal” in my definition of what’s right,

It’s because our political culture has moved to the right.

But I guess I also have to admit,

That view’s influenced by where I myself sit.

So while I know I won’t change anyone’s mind on this abortion-guns link,

I do hope I’ve at least inspired some of you out there to

rethink.

***

As the above hypothetical quotes show, there’s the potential for hypocrisy on both sides of the ideological divide where constitutional rights are concerned, though I do personally feel that one side of the political spectrum is guilty of more such hypocrisy than the other.

One should also point out that gun control activists don’t picket gun shops, or spit and scream at people coming in to buy guns. They don’t threaten gun purchasers, or write down their license plates, or stalk them. They don’t try to intimidate and sometimes assassinate gun store owners. They don’t show video of gaping gunshot wounds, nor did a gun control supporter stand on the House floor and graphically describe exactly what happened when nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was shot to death by Jared Loughner. Can you imagine what gun rightists and the NRA would do if gun control advocates adopted the tactics that anti-abortion activists regularly use?

Here’s Rachel’s 2/21/11 report on the tactics of intimidation used by the anti-abortion movement.

 

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Here’s Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) on the House floor graphically describing an emergency abortion procedure, followed by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) describing how she had the procedure. There is no such video of anyone on the House describing in gory details of nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green’s death.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Rights and Wrongs (But Which Is Which?)”

1. Newsericks » Blog Archive » Stopping for an Abortion on a Busy Evening Says:
   February 24th, 2011 at 3:31 pm

   [...] Her house is in the suburbs though. [...]

2. Newsericks » Blog Archive » The GOP’s Assault on Women Says:
   February 26th, 2011 at 11:01 pm

   [...] follow-up to our earlier piece on the guns-abortion nexus, with links to my other recent pieces on the GOP assault on women’s [...]

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