Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Remind Me Why I Should Take Planned Parenthood Seriously
This just arrived by e-mail:
No, it doesn't bother me in the slightest that Planned Parenthood (in conjunction with SaveROE.com, apparently) has set up a gag site, in which you can ask any question you like and get totally irrelevant answers. Pretty funny, if you like that sort of thing.
What gets to me is that they hope to be taken seriously. Is this supposed to contribute something significant to the debate? Do they honestly think this nonsense will persuade people that Alito Is Evil?
Apparently, they do. Go ahead, play the silly game. After a few bogus "opinions" from the cartoon Alito, the screen says "Heard enough? Keep Alito off the court! Join our Save Roe Campaign!"
In all fairness, the animation is cute, and well-thought-out. But come on, people! The basic idea is right out of Calvin & Hobbes... and is one of the lamest straw-man arguments I've ever seen in my life.
(Think about it. What they're basically saying is: Here, look at this cartoon. Isn't this ridiculous? Isn't this totally lame? Would you want a cartoon like that sitting on your Supreme Court? To which I have to answer: no, I wouldn't want that cartoon, or any cartoon, to sit on the Supreme Court. Say -- perhaps we should listen to some of what the actual man has to say, instead of words put in his mouth by people who hate him? How would that sound?)
I'm willing to have an honest debate about the issues, really I am. But they're giving me nothing to work with.
UPDATE: The news of Judge Alito's hearings, if anything, make this even more ridiculous. Can anybody truly say that the U.S. Senate is avoiding asking Alito "the tough questions", when their browbeating yesterday made Alito's wife leave the chamber in tears?
Many things this confirmation process may be, few of them positive. But an honest debate it ain't.
