The NARAL wimp-out

[guruoo]

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Democrats Conflicted on Playing Rough
Lack of Support for Roberts Ad Raises Question of Tactics

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 13, 2005; Page A04


The decision by the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America to pull an incendiary ad attacking President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court has produced a fresh round of recriminations within the Democratic Party and a return to a nagging question: Has the opposition lost its nerve?

When conservatives complained about the ad -- which suggested that nominee John G. Roberts Jr. condoned violence against abortion clinics -- a number of prominent liberals joined in the criticism and elected Democrats ran for cover rather than defend the ad, which was dropped.

Amid similar criticism against another controversial ad, most Republicans brushed aside demands to repudiate Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that had taken aim at John F. Kerry's war record. Some Democrats said the difference revealed on their side an ambivalence about modern political combat that helps explain why their party is out of power.

"Republicans don't mind running an ad that's entirely false, but Democrats have never learned, and I'm not sure many of them want to learn, how to play that kind of politics," said Robert Shrum, an adviser to several Democratic presidential campaigns. NARAL had to pull the ad, he said, because "they weren't getting support from any substantial quarter."

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201596.html

[Jade Fox]

1. God dammit!!

When will we stop apologizing for ourselves???

This is truely appalling. Republicans tell LIES about Democrats, and
we end up apologizing for telling the TRUTH!!

[leesa]

4. Exactly. I am so sick of wimpy progressives who cave whenever

the GOP scowls at them. And I am sick of the people on this board who support such BS.

[ClassWarrior]

8. I'm sick of people who don't give them credit for putting it out there...

...to begin with. They may have pulled it in (feigned?) humility - but you can't deny they got the message out there.

Is that wimpy? Or wickedly bold?

NGU.

[jasmeel]

2. I liked how Dean handled that on Bob Scheiffer's show- he simply

said (paraphrasing) "It's a distraction. The issue is we need to know what Judge Roberts is going to be like as Sup Ct Justice." End of story. It was perfect. Don't even engage in that crap. he also said that the repubs do stuff like this all the time and don't apologize. Perfect!

[madfloridian]

7. Yes, he said it was to divert from Bush's refusal to release records.

And it was most definitely. They even got our own scaredy cat Dems involved.

[donsu]

3. whose afraid of the big, bad bushgang

nt

[Kenroy]

5. I don't think this is a case of "wimping out"

the NARAL ad was factually misleading. As I recall, it claimed Roberts defended an abortion clinic bomber, but the bombing occurred years after his involvement in the case.

I'm a huge supporter of NARAL, and I've supported them financially for a long time. But it was right to pull this ad - it was an easily-provable lie.

[madfloridian]

6. Not factually misleading at all.

Just a very in your face ad.

[Kenroy]

10. not at all?

To claim he defended an abortion-clinic bomber, when the bombing hadn't occurred at the time of his involvement?

[guruoo]

13. His action contributed to the

defense of women's clinic bombers.
It's all about idelogy.
Point is, we can't afford to back down once
the stand is taken. Every time we do it the Repugs win.

[OneTwentyoNine]

16. He helped to try and keep Randall and his fanatics out of jail here in 91.

Another Operation Rescue here in Wichita in 91. A judge told the OR they could protest but COULD NOT block entrances to Tillers clinic. Of course being the crazed fucks that they are that Judges order lasted about a minute before they started there usual tactics. The police handled the matter for awhile and then it really got shitty. There had to be so many police at the clinic it basically left the rest of the city vulnerable.

The Federal Marshall's were called in to make arrests and thats when Roberts showed up with all his legal might. He tried to argue for Terry Randall and his nut cases that this was a local matter and the Federal Marshall's shouldn't be allowed to make arrests. It wasn't in that protest but another one where Tiller was shot--not fatally by a Randal Terry supporter. So...IMO Roberts helped this shooting occur even if he only offered legal advice. He knew damned good and well what they were doing was illegal even after being warned by a Judge.

[madfloridian]

17. He enabled them.

Bottom line.

This is how we eat our own. That ad should have stayed.

[Hidden Stillness]

15. The NARAL Ad Was Not a Lie, It Was a Fact

I am completely baffled by your claim, "15 Posts," that the bombing (and there was not one bombing connected with Michael Bray, there were many), occured "after" John Roberts' involvement in the case. That is, as we say, "a lie." The bombings of which Bray was convicted happened during 1984 and 1985, (Planned Parenthood.org has a great Extremist Biography on the horrifying Bray), and the case was defended and argued by Roberts, who co-authored the brief, (NARAL Pro-Choice America has a great 5-page PDF on this case, with notes), eventually before the Supreme Court (and Bush and Cheney's friends), from 1989 to 1991 and the decision which went against the threatened and harrassed clinic workers. Bray was convicted of two counts 1985, sentenced to 10 years, it was appealed, the conviction overturned 1986, and Roberts argued it before the Supreme Court from 1989 to 1992 (NARAL PDF, dates).

There is a huge and strange organized attack on NARAL and all women's groups, coming from all angles, and even Google itself, that "objective source." If you search the name "Michael Bray," the FIRST FOUR listings are 1) the Army of God, complete with "A Time to Kill," Bray's book; 2) Gargaro.com, an anti-abortion extremist site; 3) ChristianGallery.com, an anti-abortion extremist site, (and calling themselves "Christian" is what I call blasphemy); 4) About Us--RWD, an anti-abortion extremist site. WHY?? Planned Parenthood.org, a legitimate organization, is listed 5th!

Republican attacks, media attacks, complete with the strange lie that the "bombing" was "after," which THEY were not, (there have been anti-abortion bombings and murders going back to the '70s, regardless), attacks by the now-dick-waving corporate-extremist "D"LC, and the typical cave by Democrats--with a few notable exceptions, such as Howard Dean--on women's rights, and you realize why again, people do not even consider these "D"LC approval rating-watchers to be real Democrats. It wasn't NARAL's fault they were pressured and stood alone; it was the fault of all these strange people who will join Republicans and attack us Democrats every single time.

[kentuck]

9. Joe Biden said the ad was "wrong" and should have been pulled...

this morning on MTP... If they agree with the Repubs, why can't they just say "no comment", rather than tearing down their own Party. They obviously do not know how to fight on the same terms as the Repubs. They think it makes them look like a "straight-shooter"...

[leesa]

12. Joe Biden IS a Repub, isn't he? He agrees with Bush most of the time

He even wants a GOP running mate for God's sake...one who has been in lockstep with Bush.

[madfloridian]

11. Dean's comments on the NARAL ad.

NARAL Television Advertisement:

"I'm not even going to get into that. I'll tell you why: There's been a lot of stuff that's gone too far. And, the Republicans really are great authors of that kind of stuff. This is a diversion. The issue is, will the White House release the documents so that we can find out who Judge Roberts really is? Judge Roberts is likely to be on the bench for perhaps as many as three decades. That is a very important to the American people. We need to know who this man is and what he believes before he's confirmed."

Go Howard.

Biden can go and do something...just go away for a while.

[guruoo]

14. Good response...

excellent redirect.

[formernaderite]

18. I don't blame Naral...they were under alot of pressure from...

democrats. They were afraid of becoming inconsequential...the dems are mulling over which progressive issues to throw over board. 2006 and 2008 will end up being elections between the repub-lite party and the extreme right.