Abort Mission

There have been commentary recently about how several Republican candidates having been "softening" their anti-abortion positions.  While I know what the analysts are attempting to say, the concept of "softening" their stances gives a very wrong impression of what's actually occurring.

Putting aside that "softening" some of these positions would be near-impossible, akin to putting a steel i-beam in the sun and waiting for it to melt a bit before you could bend it into a pretzel, there is of course no "softening" involved.  "Softening" one's position means that after careful consideration of factors involved in your original stance, you've had a change of heart and come to a less strict viewpoint.  This from "All life is sacred from conception, I have always believed that all abortion should be banned, no exceptions" Republicans is pandering for votes after seeing what happened in Kansas.

It's also a long-held GOP tactic.  All politicians use it, too, but less often than Republicans, since the party has a far-stricter and inflexible purity test.  We see this in the GOP voting near-unanimously on bills in Congress, far-far more regularly than Democrats. We see it, as well, when a Republican dares stray from the GOP doctrine on a single issue, and other Republicans rise up and paint the person as a RINO, a Republican in Name Only.  Count on the fingers of one hand the number of times you've heard a Democrat called a DINO. 

(You can pretty much stop after naming Joe Manchin, and even that doesn't qualify because it doesn't comes from a single vote, let alone two or three, but rather that he's a conservative from a highly conservative state and votes with Republicans around 40% of the time.  It takes that much for the most angry Democrats to come around to it -- and even then they don't call him a DINO, but flat out, "He's a Republican."  Even Krysten Sinema really doesn't get called a DINO, but instead when dismissed it's not because she "really a Republican, not a Democrat" but rather as being bought by special interests and in their pocket.)

Democrats overlap with a range of viewpoints which is what often causes in-fighting.  As Will Rogers said many decades ago, "I'm not a member of any organized party.  I'm a Democrat.  But Republicans tend to have to stick to the script.  If you don't cry out that "The election was stolen!" you'll get a primary challenge.  The same on most issues, there's little wiggle room.  Look at poor Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who was among the most vociferous critics of Trump in the 2016 primaries, calling his a nut and that nominating him would ruin the party -- and even he came around to being Trump's most loyal lapdog.  So, Republicans tend to run to the very far, extreme right in their primaries to appeal to their base -- and then in the general election, waddle a bit to the center to seem reasonable, safe and palatable to enough undecided voters in the middle.  And then if elected, run quickly back to the far-right.

Glenn Youngkin did this in Virginia when he ran for governor. He moved to the gentle center in the general election, but once elected went back to the far-right to the shocked surprise of too many voters.  In reality, the only thing shocking and surprising is that there were people in Virginia who were shocked and surprise.

So, these GOP attempts by now-general election candidates to delete past draconian fire-and-brimstone proclamations from their campaign websites and filming new campaign ads now insisting that abortion is the law, all the while cuddling babies is just carnival barker flim-flam.

And if you need any additional evidence, just look at a new bill pushed by dear Lindsey Graham and several other Republicans which is called for a national ban on abortion. Keeping in mind, too, that the cry from Republicans for the past 50 years has been that abortion is up to the states, leave it to the states, it's states rights.  But now, after getting a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the sheep's clothing comes off.  Not that it ever hid much.

No states rights cries any more.  Just a pure national law to make abortion illegal.

That's who the Republican Party is.  Not "States Rights!!!"  Not "softening" position. Just -- pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.  Ban abortion.  Everywhere.

"Softening" their position.  Good one!!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go outside and check to see how my i-beams are doing, and if I can start bending them yet.