C-SPAN1 -
Brian Lamb hosted Washington Journal this morning on C-SPAN1, and the initial topic of discussion for caller responses was whether or not Iraq should have general elections.
The situation in Iraq with regard to an election was recently hindered by the Grand Shiite Ayatolla Sistani who had thousands of his followers demonstration recently for a general election. The belief is that if a general election were held then Sistani and the Shiites could take control of Iraq and help Sistani further his plan to turn Iraq into a Muslim state. That would not be good for the region, for the U.S., or for Iraq. And, as the old saying goes, women and minorities would be hurt worse.
To try to prevent the Shiite extremists from getting control, the U.S. wants indirect elections in which caucuses of appointed Iraqis would choose a new leader for Iraq. While this approach isn't perfect, it's the best one available at the moment.
C-SPAN callers were asked to call in on either the "Support Bush", "Oppose Bush" or "Independent" line. So, which approach to Iraqi elections do the C-SPAN callers prefer? It depended on which line they called in on. About 30 minutes into the program Brian Lamb pointed out that all of those who supported general elections had called in on the "Oppose Bush" line.
How sad. It's as if their hatred for President Bush is so great that they would want to hurt the U.S. and an unknown number of Iraqis civilians as long as it would hurt Bush too. I just hope that some day not too far in the future they could somehow find it in themselves to love the U.S. more than they hate President Bush.
C-SPAN2 -
C-SPAN2 played a rerun of the celebration by NARAL of the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade ruling. In the portion I caught there were three adult women on stage, and they were the daughters of Kate Michelman, the NARAL president. They gave a very loving tribute to their mother, and before it was over, three of her grand children were brought on stage to also pay tribute to their grandmother.
Aside: Now, I usually try to avoid any discussion about abortion - both sides can make very persuasive arguments, and both sides can sometimes act like bone heads. And, it's such a hot button issue that even a neutral position alienates some people. (Particularly if you call them bone heads. - ed)
Be that as it may, I was struck by the irony of that familial display at the NARAL celebration. Isn't the avoidance of children the main reason for the pro-choice movement? I would think that people in pro-choice groups would want to try to avoid parading their children like that unless it's supposed to be an object lesson: "See what you end up with if you DON'T get an abortion?"
And, I can't help but wonder if somewhere deep in the recesses of the daughters' minds there is a yearning desire to give a huge sigh of relief that the mother didn't have a "pro-choice moment" in the months before they were born. Maybe that was at the heart of their tribute. "Thanks, Mom, for not aborting us." (I think you just wrote a Hallmark card. - ed)
Anyway, that was what was on C-SPAN this morning.
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