It seems Life of the Party has hit a nerve. Eric Earling, contributor to Sound Politics and frequent rhetorical sparring partner of mine, has a problem with my use of the term "Pro-Death Republicans" in naming the list of Republican groups who align themselves with the Culture of Death. He says, "She might be able to intellectually argue that point, but as political rhetoric it’s unnecessarily offensive."
Would "pro-choice" be better? They certainly aren’t "pro-choice" when it comes to a pharmacist’s right to choose, for instance. I do like the term "pro-abortion-choice" because nobody can really argue with that term, yet it adequately tells the truth about what they mean by "choice". (It also points out how silly it is to be unnecessarily sensitive). But that is only if we’re referring to abortion alone. Serious pro-lifers know that the Culture of Death refers to an array of issues other than abortion (attn. Wikipedia: they’re not necessarily war and the death penalty and you missed a few others). That said, I wonder what he would prefer this category of groups be called. Should we say "pro-abortion, pro-gay-rights, pro-euthanasia, pro-embryonic-stem-cell-research, pro-environment-first-man-second, but not necessarily all, but at least one of the above Republicans"?
"Pro-Death Republicans" is much more succinct and accurate, and yes provocative. But I’m open to other suggestions that might not be as "unnecessarily offensive" but equally accurate. Any ideas?
I just with there were more Pro-bono Republicans. All those “pro-choice” Republicans are so darned expensive! While Chris Vance was getting raises and spending the Party in to 2 million dollars of debt, Diane “lets let the courts decide” Tebelius was raking about a hundred thousand dollars off the top in attorney fees.
Coming from someone who is unnecesarrily sensitive (I think I am an expert on this subject) I know that he is.
I’ve got it!
Pro-Death people don’t like the term “Pro-Death” because they want everyone to think it is not a “life” in the womb. They prefer to talk about “terminating a pregnancy.”
So… we could just call them “TERMINATORS.” That’s a term everyone should be able to agree on.
We could even use the Governor of California as an Icon.
http://www.thereaganwing.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=26
Very appropriate, Doug. In more ways than one. And good comic relief too. Though, the image of the terminator/governator is pretty positive, and there is nothing funny or positive about the Culture of Death. So the name still holds for now.
I don’t have a better suggestion but I can see how calling someone “pro-death” would ruffle some feathers and offend those with the feeling that we have to accomodate those who support legal abortion because they have something we want. “Gosh, now that we’ve got all these death camps we might as well all learn to get along. Besides I need to eat.”
Which brings up an interesting thought — for all the talk of support for abortion as the “freedom” and “liberty” position it would seem to me that people who follow this line are some of the least free people. Kind of a self-imposed mental prison or Stockholm Syndrome where they feel it is pointless to resist or fight and begin to identify with the kidnapper, jailer, etc. and end up facilitating and perpetuating the injustice. I mean why cooperate with something or someone you don’t approve of. How sad that men especially seem to have fallen into this mental trap. Whatever happened to great escapes, ploting against evil-doers, feats of daring-do, and the pursuit of goodness at all costs and against all odds? Abortion didn’t liberate women and it took men captive. But I digress..
There is hope though in the fact that they are offended by the term “pro-death”. (Though I’m not sure certain people were offended. They just thought it hampered their short or long term goals.)It shows that they are uncomfortable with the situation and it possibly reminds them of this inner conflict. Obvious, anyone who believes an acceptable position is: “I don’t like it, I feel bad about it but I’m going to resolve it by changing who I am” either can’t live that way forever or goes further and further into despair. “Please don’t call me pro-death” is really a request that you don’t remind them of this conflict.
I don’t understand all the nashing of teeth, wringing of hands, pacing to and fro in front of the barred window, and the mental, verbal gymnastics, (it’s a “potential life”, it’s a blob of tissue, terminating a pregnancy, etc.) It’s human. It’s alive. It’s being killed. You are either ok with that or you are not. You don’t get extra points for feeling bad about it.
Oops. That’s me posting above.