Former NARAL Pro-Choice America president Kate Michelman spoke at Town Hall last night. She spoke of her own transforming moment in the late sixties, when as a practicing Catholic and a stay-at-home mom with three young daughters, she was suddenly abandoned by her husband, with no financial support… only to discover she was pregnant.
Michelman spoke of her own internal struggle, her responsibility not just to care for her daughters, but to provide them with a sense of stability and security, and how a pregnancy at that time, under those circumstances would surely have turned “a crisis into a catastrophe.” She spoke of her decision to go against the teachings of her church, and for the good of her daughters, terminate her pregnancy.
Michelman spoke of the “choice” women in her situation faced back then in Pennsylvania: between a dangerous, illegal, back-alley abortion… or seeking approval from an all-male panel of doctors for a “therapeutic” hospital abortion. She described the humiliation she was subjected to under multiple interrogations… how they pried into every aspect of her private life to determine if she was “unfit” to bear the child. And she spoke of the ultimate degradation… how she was required by law to obtain the signed permission of the husband who had abandoned her and her children.
Of course, she went on to talk about the history and future of the reproductive rights movement, and the political imperative we are facing today, with a conservative Supreme Court prepared to eviscerate the right to privacy… and one vote away from overturning Roe v. Wade entirely. So I urge you all to read her book — With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose — and to listen to her entire talk when it is eventually broadcast on KUOW.
But Michelman told one other anecdote which I believe is very relevant to voters here in Washington state today.
She talked about how angry she was when it became apparent that the strongly anti-choice Bob Casey Jr. would be the Democratic candidate to challenge Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, and how many friends and colleagues urged her to run as an independent. She was so angry, that she actually seriously considered running, consulting with her closest political advisors.
But eventually she realized that such a bold stand on her principles couldn’t win her the election… it could only lose it for Casey and the Democrats… and she didn’t want to become Pennsylvania’s Ralph Nader. To run against Casey, she realized, would have been an act of hubris that may have been cathartic, but which the nation simply couldn’t afford.
While Casey’s position on choice is abominable to her — and intractable — she understood that there are other issues, even on reproductive rights, where she could work with Casey. And of course, there are many issues unrelated to her cause on which Casey is downright progressive. In the end she decided that Democratic control of the Senate — and thus control of both the agenda and the confirmation process — was more important than where Casey stood on this single issue… even an issue to which Michelman herself has passionately and tirelessly devoted most of her adult life.
That is a lesson in maturity and pragmatism from which some of the loudest members of the anti-war camp could learn.
Sen. Maria Cantwell voted for authorizing the Iraq war, a vote she cannot take back, and for which she is unlikely to apologize. In a guest column today in the Seattle Times, Sen. Cantwell calls 2006 “a year in transition,” a year in which the Iraqi government must take control and we start to bring our troops home. But we all know that’s not enough to silence most of her anti-war critics… what they want is a public mea culpa, a call for an immediate withdrawal, and a fierce denunciation of the Bush administration lies, policies, and incompetence. And even that won’t mollify many on the angry left.
Yes, there are some on the left who feel it is more important to “send a message” to Cantwell and the Democrats than it is to win the Democratic majority necessary to change our nation’s course. These purists… these living, breathing examples of the aphorism the perfect is the enemy of the good… claim to be standing on principle. But I think Michelman would recognize it as good ol’ fashioned hubris.
For her part, Michelman is in Seattle today campaigning for Sen. Cantwell, not only because the Senator is a strong supporter of reproductive rights and liberties, but because Michelman knows that the only way to protect these rights, along with the broader right to privacy, is for Democrats to seize control of the Senate’s judicial confirmation process.
My only hope is that come November, all my fellow progressives can bring themselves to act as strategically and pragmatically as Kate Michelman.
And the moral of the story is…..
Had she married a Reublican in the first place, she would not have been abandoned and left to fend for herslef.
let this be a lesson to to all you ladies out there.
RE 1: …as all the former wives of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh can presumably attest to..
@ 2 and don’t forget the former wife of David ” buy me a beer” Goldstein.
Or Ronald Reagan, for that matter. At least Duke Cunningham only did it with prostitutes.
Really, momus, do you really believe Reublicans (sic) have some sort of higher standard of personal fidelity and integrity? I mean really, do you believe that? how cute!
GORDITOS DE LOS ALBERTO @ 2
Newt Gingrich
Rush Limbaugh
Henry Hyde
Dick Armey
Bob Barr
Bob Livingston
Heck, this will take all day. Go to the follwing site for a complete list:
http://quinnell.us/politics/family.html
Poster Child…
I don’t know.
why don’t you ask Goldy why he chose to abandon his family… or was it the other way around?
Anyway about it, he is the last person that should be writing about a woman being abandoned, let alone endorsing someone because she had lived throug this.
pathetic fucking loser that he is.
Fuck you “momus”.
Goldy’s personal life is NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS.
Actually it is.
It became everyones business whe he started prying into the personal lives of people like David Irons.
Goldy is nothing but a Deadbeat Motherfucker
The strongarming for Casey Jr. is absolutely ridiculous in Pennsylvania. I spent 8 months there listening to people tell me how much they hated Casey Jr. and were being threatened into supporting him. He sucks.
Gay rights groups have supported this homophobic bastard. Anti-gun groups have supported his pro-gun stances. Meanwhile, the Senate Democratic “leadership” who came up with Casey Jr. brainstorm have been carefullu agreeing with every fucking thing Rick Santorum puts forward. Maybe I’m crazy but if opposing Rick Santorum at all costs is so important, wouldn’t it make sense TO OPPOSE HIS LEGISLATIVE CENTERPIECE, S.333????
But what the fuck do I know. All I’m good for, apparently is getting asplitting headache while I watch the Democratic party fuck up.
Oh, and there IS NO ANALOGY between PA and Washington state. Kerry won PA by two points. Maria Cantwell is running before a VAST anti-Iraq-war majority. So, if she can’t get her head out of her ass on supporting BushCo’s wars, she sucks and she deserves to lose.
SO we move on and spend our evergy on Daarcy Burner. Cantwell is not, at this writing, worth our time.
Momus, no Democrat ever used family values as a political weapon. My Republican brothers chose to do this, even to the point of impeaching a President over a blow job. Do not throw stones if you live in a Glass House.
See also ChickenHawks: http://www.nhgazette.com/news/chickenhawks/
And The Battle Hymn of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders (Code Name: Operation Yellow Elephant)
http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/
What the fuck do you know about what Goldy does or does not do…what bills he does or does not pay…or any other fucking thing else about him? A
Irons fucked his OWN shit up when he LIED about himself and his qualifications and character.
How does that open Goldy up to a personal attack from YOU?
Are YOU David Irons? Or are YOU Iron’s “personal protector”?
How do YOU have a dog in this hunt, buster?
If it isn’t more than SOUR GRAPES…
…SHUT THE FUCK UP!
momus @ 8:
Yeah, but we BEAT David Irons. He LOST! and Goldy is still here.
Rujax….
first off, suck my dick little liberal woman.
Secondly, let Goldy come out and talk about how he has abandoned his family and ruined his kids life by making them yet another statistic.
How can i get contact info on his ex-wife. I’d like to call and einterview her to find out what a scumbag of a husband he was.
@ 13
I know Goldy personally, I know for a fact that you’re wrong about all the things you say about him. But you DO say them with such assurance, I must wonder: why are you so convinced of this stuff? Do you have a clue how ignorant you are? Are you related to David Irons or something? Is THAT why you’re mad?
Yeah “momus”…
You ARE Irons aren’t you.
If so, you’re a sicker fuck than we all thought…
…but a typical Republican office seeker.
Moral of the story – it is very hard to kill your own children.
Perhaps the government should decide instead. Problem solved.
Cheers to the Party of Death!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ.....1?n=283155
so did anybody ask her about NARAL’s endorsements of Lieberman and Chafee? guess not. oh well.
wil….
Following Goldy around like the puppy dog we all know you are does not make you any kind of authority.
So what am I wrong about Wil?
Isn’t he divorced?
If so, why should he not be held to the same standards he attacks others by?
What does his ex-wife think of him? How about her family? Is he current on all of his divorce agreements? What were the grounds of the divorce? How did Goldy contribute to the failure of this marriage? How about his kid, how has he/she suffered by his bad decisions?
Considering the vicious attack dog antics he placed on Irons, I want to see Goldy held to the same standards and ridicule he orchestrated on David Irons. I’d like to see his failure as a man be made public information.
And for the record, No, I am not David Irons. I am just a Seattlite who is sick and tired of slimeballs like Goldy
I don’t know crap about Bob Casey, but I can’t help but figure that bringing Ted Bundy back from the dead and putting him in the Senate (or for that matter, just putting his rotting corpse in the seat) would be an improvement over Oh-So-Holier-Than-Thou, Let’s-Keep-Our-Wimmen-Barefoot-And-Pregnant, Bill-Frist’s-Closet-Partner Santorum.
I’ve always found it interesting that the people who are the most vocal proponents of “family values” happen to belong to families whose “values” are on the order of millions of dollars on up.
Speaking of the ultimate ‘slimeball’…how are you doing PRR(momus)?
@ 20
Drivel, I’m not prr, nor david Irons, Richard Pope and whoever else your going to say as well
Well guess what “momus”…
I’M sick of shitheads like David Irons…and shithead apologists like YOU!
Well, this is all interesting stuff (and thanks, Roger Rabbit for taking the day off) but I think all of you are missing the point. Deliberately so in Goldy’s case.
Of course Kate Michelman supports Bob Casey Jr. He is a Democrat. Kate is like Goldy. Neither really cares about the well-being of women, much less unborn babies. They are both about being “strategic and pragmatic.” This means that Slade Gorton and Jennifer Dunn could be pro-choice and still not receive any endorsement from NARAL and Michelman. Why not? Because NARAL is simply a Democrat money laundering operation set up to help skirt the campaign finance laws. They have no interest in choice or health or even in feminism.
Do you think if all the Republicans in the Senate announced “Gee, we’ve thought about it and we are all now officially pro-choice; Oh, and lets withdraw from Iraq, and ban Fox News while we are at it…” that Goldy would come on this site and write that these guys are okay? No. He wants you to vote for people who voted for the war, voted for anti-Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court candidates, and voted to extend the Patriot Act – as long as they are Democrats! Why, because Democrats are the “Progressive” Party!
I have been really, really down on the use of bad language on this site in the past, but I have to say this. Goldy, you are a whore.
OK “Lys…
I’ll bite.
Who are the “progressive republicans?”
Momus
When you molest your children, do you feel manly? Does beating your wife give you a rush? I’m confident, because I know you and your family so well, that your wife and children would leave you in a heartbeat if they weren’t so scared that you’d hunt them down. I so admire a fellow like you who rules the household the way nature intended a man should do. Keep it up. Maybe some of us weak guys can learn traditional values from you.
rujax @ 24:
A better question might be: Which tax exempt organizations show a little integrity and endorse candidates who genuinely support their position regardless of their party? Are there any organizations out there who aren’t just shills for one party of the other?
Planned Parenthood? Nope. Sierra Club? Nope. Emily’s list?Nope. NOW? Nope. Oh…..shit. There is one. The NRA!
Lys,
Sierra Club donations are not tax-exempt. Nonetheless, the Sierra Club does endorse Republicans for office periodically. So, your premises appear off-kilter from the get-go. Hardly surprising, given your party’s aversion to reality.
So “Lys”…
I ask again…
Which “progressive” Republican candidates are deserving of our support?
Name…well, one…OK, OK, TWO!
Proud @ 27
Who? I gave real examples. Can you?
So I’m off kilter, huh? Are you saying that if McGavick came out pro choice (where is he on this, anyway?), supporting Roe Vs. Wade, for immediate withdrawal, and against extension of the Patriot Act, Goldy, (and Michelman) would support him over Cantwell? Is that your position? My position is that he wouldn’t, because he is a whore for the Dems, and has no real position or ideology (or principles). My position is also that Michelman is the same. See my post above.
Goldy, you could clear the air for us a little. How about it?
Lys…WTF are you talking about?
Is it still too late to convice JCH’s mother to abort him?
Rujax @ 28:
The word “progressive” is a marketing term invented by leftists to fool people about where they are coming from politically and ideologocally. So, maybe you could name some “progressive” Republicans, but would prefer to agree with you and say that hopefully there aren’t any.
There are Republicans who are pro-choice, and many others who are pro-life. Some think dope should be legal, others think it should stay illegal. Soem are for the war, some are against it. Some think lowering taxes is the answer to all our economic problems, soem believe tax cuts are voodoo economics. Some Republicans support the President, others don’t and still others have changed their minds.
Hopefully, none of us is a “progressive” by even your loosest possible definition, and I consider that a good thing. Your tired, discredited socialism is the subject of a failed rebranding exercise, no matter what snappy new name you invent for it.
You know Lys, before you start saying what an organization will or will not say, it would probably be a good idea to, I don’t know, go look and look at their website and find out if they already said the opposite and proved you wrong.
So Lys…which RNC office do you work for, and don’t think anybody is buying that you’re a girl.
Bill @ 33:
Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve seen it myself, and I’m here to tell you it’s bullshit. It is the best evidence of the inherent dishonesty of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood does not endorse or donate money to Republican candidates – even the pro-choice ones. Nor do they claim to on the page you cite. I mentioned Gorton and Dunn above because PP came out strongly against them despite their pro-choice positions. This is consistent with PP’s behavior nationwide. I am friends with many Planned Parenthood volunteers, as well as a former state head of the organization who confirms that they don’t endorse pro-choice Republicans, only Democrats.
But what about Goldy?
Actually, they contributed to 9 republicans. Are you interested in the truth or am I messing up the party line as you last were told it on the radio?
Momus @ 18
You know what, sport? If you want the real scoop on Goldy’s marital history, why don’t you ask Richard Pope? He looks up Darcy Burner’s traffic ticket, he probably can look up Goldy’s divorce. Go ahead, ask Richard Pope to look that up.
So, do you have any facts about Goldy, and why he split with his baby’s momma? Or his child custody status? Or his child support (if he’s obligated to pay, that is)?
And what’s the bug up your ass about divorce? This isn’t fucking Ireland, for chrissakes. It’s legal. After all, Ronald Reagan was the nation’s first divorced President.
About Irons: you do know that Goldy interviewed David Irons’ family, right? He let them tell THEIR story. Candidate Irons was given a chance to respond. You on the other hand just pull this stuff out of your ass. Do you have any facts whatsoever? Are you content just to slander Goldy? Slander, as in your accusations that he’s a deadbeat, that he’s a bad father who doesn’t pay support. Do you have any facts to back yourself up on this one, kemosabe?
Pro Life? Does that mean the Taliban wing of the GOP will stop seeking the death penalty and stop letting poor people die at hospitals because they can’t afford medical treatment? Is that pro-life?
Like Sheriff Davie, Irons had trouble with violence toward women. But republicans don’t mind violence toward women as long as it’s republicans doing the violence. In fact, they get off on it!
Bill @ 36:
“9 Republicans, 178 Democrats, and 1 Independent” That’s the actual quote, I think. Who are you, Maureen Dowd? Also, I don’t see a breakdown of donations by party. I’m pretty comfortable that this web page proves my point.
Lys’s comments are interesting, because they point out the danger of blind partisanship. Bipartisanship HAS seriously eroded in Washington state over the last decade or so.
Alas, Lys’s analysis tips over when she blames blind partisanship on “socialist” activists. That strikes me as way off the mark — the more leftist activists have always had an ambivalent relationship with the Democratic Party, and some have bolted to the Greens.
Lys also failed to acknowledge that the Republicans have played a key role in the partisanship of politics. Look nationally at the K Street Project, where DeLay effectively blackmailed lobbying outfits to only hire Republicans. Or look at Grover Norquist, who runs around the country supporting anti-government radicals who genuinely believe that bipartisan problem solving is amounts to “rape.”
I consider myself a leftist, but I’ve frequently voted for moderate to liberal Republicans such as Sam Reed. So what do you make of that, Lys? Do I not really exist because I don’t conform to your stark, white-and-black worldview?
I mentioned Gorton and Dunn above because PP came out strongly against them despite their pro-choice positions.
This may have something to do with their, ah, legislative record and how they voted on items important to PP. My apologies if this may not fit the tidy little straw man narrative you are attempting to build.
Given this, who would you endorse if you were PP? A “pro-choice” republican–a member of a party whose platform, if memory serves, is definitely not “pro-choice” in any sense? Or a Democratic candidate who promotes sound policies to make abortions legal, safe, and rare?
If you’re going to talk the talk, you gotta’ walk the walk. Gorton and Dunne did not do this, showing their “pro-choice” pronnouncements for the shameless political pandering they were.
Green @ 41:
Okay, okay, lets just agree that Goldy and Michelman are the only blindly partisan whores around here and the rest of us are totally objective.
RE: your comments about lobbyist money. Now you are just being ridiculous, and I’ll just let it pass. You are sounding like Roger Rabbit or something.
Proud @42:
Thanks for mentioning votes. Unfortunately the no one gets to vote on abortion since Roe V. Wade. When that gets overturned, maybe we’ll all get a chance to make our voices heard. Not just Kate Michelman.
You get defensive easily, Lys. Who said I was “objective”? I’m just saying that I vote for people, not parties. Certainly you can’t argue that you are completely objective either, e.g., do you donate equally to Republicans and Democrats?
What is so “ridiculous” about my discussion of the K Street Project? What I said is a well-documented fact. Are you honestly going to argue that you haven’t heard a thing about how DeLay and colleagues have dramatically transformed the way lobbying works in Washington, D.C.? If not, you need to inform yourself, because this is going to be a very big issue in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
No…Lys is not “interesting”.
Lys is a troll.
Transparent and not very imaginative.
Green:
Two words. George Soros.
rujax @ 46:
I’ll tell you what’s interesting. Nobody has gone to bat for Goldy.
Does anyone have anything to say in his, or Kate Michelman’s, defense?
So George Soros gives money to Democrats. So what?
The K Street Project was famously successful in redirecting massive amounts of campaign money from Democratic congressmen to Republicans — at least until all of the indictments hit.
Are you a paid troll?
Lys @ 48:
Why would anyone need to defend Goldy or Kate to you? You’re a troll — you aren’t here to have an honest discussion. And if you are a paid troll you aren’t a very good one. Your arguments have the vapidity of someone who didn’t do well in school.
Kate Michelman… claims she used to be a Catholic and uses the excuse that her husband dumped her to become a babykiller, and to ENCOURAGE and PROMOTE babykilling… isn’t that special?
“My life sucks so I’m going to go out and encourage the murder of 40 million babies… and make some big money at it while I’m at it”. Tell us, Kate, did that make your sad little life any better or was the point to drag down as many other women as possible to share your misery?
Sorry, that anonymous was me – not on my own computer for a few days.
Momus
When you molest your children,
Commentby proud leftist— 5/4/06@ 4:14 pm
I don’t believe Momus is a public school teacher Left turn. You sound like one though. I bet you paid up on your union dues too.
Sandy, did you used to be Rufus before the sex change? Gotten any stains on your new dress yet?
What is a paid troll, anyway? Is there really someone who would pay me to make fun of you on your own blogsite? I’m just doing this for fun, but if there is money in it, sign me up!
Payment aside, what do you guys mean by troll? I post anonymously. You post anonymously. I laugh at you. What exactly makes on a troll? Is Roger Rabbit, for example, a troll? I ‘ve always suspected that Roger Rabbit was actually Goldy.
A constant theme on this site is the superior intelligence of Democrats. Why don’t you show it? Would you like to have an honest discussion? Okay, read my original post at 23. Then explain why Kate Michelman wouldn’t endorse Jennifer Dunn, Slade Gorton or any of the other pro choice Republicans, but she endorses anti-choice Democrat Bob Casey Jr? Is she really working for choice or is she a shill for Dems?
Then let’s talk about why Goldy wants us to support every Democrat and shoot down every Republican, Independent, or Green, regardless of their position on the war, abortion, the Patriot Act, Supreme Court nominees, etc. There is room for interesting and honest discussion here, at least while Goldy is hiding.
If you were interested in an honest discussion you would have addressed the points I brought up. You didn’t. That’s because you aren’t interested in exploring why bipartisanship has gone down the toilet in recent years. You want to bash Democrats, plain and simple.
Am I wrong? Then how about acknowledging that Republicans have contributed to rampant partisanship both in Washington and at the national level? Based on what you’ve said so far, I don’t think you can, either because you are ignorant or because it would offend your own rigid partisanship — a partisanship that you have refused to acknowledge.
Your diatribe is akin to the pot calling the kettle black. That’s why we don’t take you seriously.
C’mon, Kevin, you can drop the “Lys” bit.
And there is a 73% chance that Momus is David Irons.
The biggest improvement Goldy could make to this board would be to post the first three of the four identifying numbers of a poster’s IP with each comment. For example, this would say “Comment by David ‘Motherbeater’ Irons (268.193.2.xxx)”. It doesn’t specifically identify the machine, but odds are against most posters having the same visible identifiers. This would also give us some geographical info, so we could see that Christmascunt is actually on Mercer Island and JCH is actually “Pasco” Herman, and that the rest of them originate in Kevin Carn’s Mom’s basement.
But that would spoil all Kevin’s fun. Don’t you have any empathy for the poor sociopath?
Green Thumb:
Okay, I’ll respond to your tiresome obsession with the K street project. When the Dems were in the majority, they got the majority of the lobbyist money. You didn’t bitch then. Now the GOP is in the majority, so they get the majority of the money. When, and if, the Dems regain the majority in both houses, they will get the majority of the money again. That’s the whole story in a nutshell. What is to discuss?
So what does this have to do with Goldy and Kate Michelman? Please hurry up and get to the interesting and honest part.
You know, if you are going to spew the RNC talking points you could use a bit more imagination and subtlety.
Come on, admit it: Your singular focus is to attack sources of support for Democratic candidates. You use “objectivity'” only as a cynical tool to achieve those ends. That’s why you have repeatedly refused to discuss in any meaningful way how Republicans have contributed to the corrosive partisanship that pollutes both Washington and national politics.
Goldy should be flattered at your attempts to attack him. That shows you Republican operatives see him as a serious threat.
Wow, Green Thumb, I never thought about it that way. You are so right. I see now that it is I who have been cynical and partisan. It is very sharp of you to see that I am merely regurgitating GOP talking points rather than doing any thinking of my own. My posting on this site is most likely just interfering with the good work you people are doing — work that will ultimately benefit all of us.
I will now leave this site and never return. I need to spend some time contemplating my soul. Pray for me.
Yeah, right. When all else fails play the self-pity card. Go back to Sound Politics, where you can wallow in good-and-evil thinking.
Life must be wonderfully simple in your world. Republicans all good; Democrats all evil; JCH is a hero, Goldy is a whore.
Life must be wonderfully simple in your world. Republicans all good; Democrats all evil; JCH is a hero, Goldy is a whore. -Commentby Green Thumb— 5/5/06@ 7:16 am
Truer words were never said.