I was watching some of the coverage about the new abortion bill in the Texas Legislature and it made me realize just how much of American politics is stuck in the 1960s and 1970s. The country, however, has moved on; the reality is different from 40 or 50 years ago. Here are some examples:
1. In Texas, the legislature is passing a bill that makes it extremely difficult for anyone to get an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. It also sets certain minimum standards for abortion providers. In response, the pro-choice groups are treating this as an all out assault on the right of any woman in Texas to get an abortion. Really? Each woman in Texas will have the first four and a half months of her pregnancy to get an abortion on demand. So just who are the protesters protecting: women who have unprotected sex and then don't realize for four and a half months that they are pregnant? Come on, now. Before the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, there were many states that totally banned abortion, but that is not what the Texas law is all about. Well how about the minimum standards for clinics? These are designed to prevent establishment in Texas of clinics like the horror that was operated by convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia. Can you imagine what would happen if the same legislature voted for minimum standards required for dentists' offices? Would we hear that it was a plan to deny dental treatment to folks because the office was required to be clean and antiseptic? No, the pro-choicers are fighting an old battle that passed long ago and trying to make the present be the past again.
2. In the 1960's, America waged a battle regarding civil rights for minorities. All sorts of legal restrictions were removed despite non-stop opposition from Southern Democrats. In the decades that followed, social norms changed as well so that racism has been nearly eradicated in the USA. It is not gone, but we did elect a non-white president twice, so it is indeed nearly gone. Every political battle, however, is still fought as if racism is the motivating force behind everything. If one doesn't like Obamacare, one is a racist, right? If one doesn't like high government spending and centralization of federal power, it must be racist because it could not be principled opposition, right? Look at the reaction to the Tea Party, a group that was well mannered and not in the least racist. They were fought as if they were the KKK.
3. Think about voting rights. The Supreme Court just struck down a section of the Voting Rights Act because it was based upon conditions that existed 50 years ago but which are undeniably no longer accurate. That means that the Court recognized the very subject about which I am writing. But what has been the reaction? How many times have you heard that this is the return of Jim Crow laws? Any day now there will be a move to bring back slavery, right? Do these folks realize just how lost they are in the mists of time?
4. And how about those who see Communism in the actions of president Obama? When I turn on a lesser radio talk show (like Bob Grant in New York), I almost always hear about how Obama is actually an agent of international Communism. Really? Don't these folks know that "international Communism" is no longer international or even Communist? In fairness, they are not living in the 1960s or 1970s. They are stuck in the 1980s.
Without a doubt, there will always be people who get stuck in the past. It has always been that way and nothing will change it. Nevertheless, America ought to be able to have political discussions and debates dealing with actual facts rather than battles of the distant past. The sooner we all realize this, the better our future will be.
1. In Texas, the legislature is passing a bill that makes it extremely difficult for anyone to get an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. It also sets certain minimum standards for abortion providers. In response, the pro-choice groups are treating this as an all out assault on the right of any woman in Texas to get an abortion. Really? Each woman in Texas will have the first four and a half months of her pregnancy to get an abortion on demand. So just who are the protesters protecting: women who have unprotected sex and then don't realize for four and a half months that they are pregnant? Come on, now. Before the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, there were many states that totally banned abortion, but that is not what the Texas law is all about. Well how about the minimum standards for clinics? These are designed to prevent establishment in Texas of clinics like the horror that was operated by convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia. Can you imagine what would happen if the same legislature voted for minimum standards required for dentists' offices? Would we hear that it was a plan to deny dental treatment to folks because the office was required to be clean and antiseptic? No, the pro-choicers are fighting an old battle that passed long ago and trying to make the present be the past again.
2. In the 1960's, America waged a battle regarding civil rights for minorities. All sorts of legal restrictions were removed despite non-stop opposition from Southern Democrats. In the decades that followed, social norms changed as well so that racism has been nearly eradicated in the USA. It is not gone, but we did elect a non-white president twice, so it is indeed nearly gone. Every political battle, however, is still fought as if racism is the motivating force behind everything. If one doesn't like Obamacare, one is a racist, right? If one doesn't like high government spending and centralization of federal power, it must be racist because it could not be principled opposition, right? Look at the reaction to the Tea Party, a group that was well mannered and not in the least racist. They were fought as if they were the KKK.
3. Think about voting rights. The Supreme Court just struck down a section of the Voting Rights Act because it was based upon conditions that existed 50 years ago but which are undeniably no longer accurate. That means that the Court recognized the very subject about which I am writing. But what has been the reaction? How many times have you heard that this is the return of Jim Crow laws? Any day now there will be a move to bring back slavery, right? Do these folks realize just how lost they are in the mists of time?
4. And how about those who see Communism in the actions of president Obama? When I turn on a lesser radio talk show (like Bob Grant in New York), I almost always hear about how Obama is actually an agent of international Communism. Really? Don't these folks know that "international Communism" is no longer international or even Communist? In fairness, they are not living in the 1960s or 1970s. They are stuck in the 1980s.
Without a doubt, there will always be people who get stuck in the past. It has always been that way and nothing will change it. Nevertheless, America ought to be able to have political discussions and debates dealing with actual facts rather than battles of the distant past. The sooner we all realize this, the better our future will be.
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