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Posts published in “Day: September 9, 2008”

What “except life of the mother” means

September 9, 2008

Back on the Sarah Palin track, but not just that - this is a question pertinent to her views, but not necessarily only hers.

On the subject of abortion, Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president (by which you also have to say, possible future president) has famously said that were her daughter raped and impregnated, "I would choose life" - taken as a statement that she would not allow her underage daughter to have an abortion. Elsewhere, "In an Eagle Forum Alaska questionnaire filled out during the 2006 gubernatorial race, Palin again stated that she is against abortion unless a doctor determined that a mother's life would end due to the pregnancy." Earlier, "In 2002, when she was running for lieutenant governor, Palin sent an e-mail to the anti-abortion Alaska Right to Life Board saying she was as 'pro-life as any candidate can be' and has 'adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion.'" Presumably, then, she is contending that such abortions, with one limited causal exception, should be against the law; if she does, there should presumably be a penalty - incarceration, fine, or something - for violating that law. (We have to say "presumably" because the small matter of exactly what should or shouldn't be legal and what the penalties for violation should be is fudged over, unaddressed, on the dozen or so pro-life websites we checked today.)

That in hand, consider this bulletin (sorry, no available link) today from the Idaho Falls Post Register:

A St. Anthony man has pleaded guilty to raping and impregnating his girlfriend's 10-year-old daughter. Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez entered the plea today as part of a deal with Fremont County prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to one felony count of rape, prosecutors dropped two other rape charges. Gutierrez-Juarez and Isabel Chasarez were arrested earlier this year after the victim gave birth at a local hospital.

A question Charles Gibson might consider asking Palin: What should the legal penalty imposed on that 10-year-old girl - incarceration or otherwise - have been had she wanted/been allowed not to bring that rapist's child to term?

Going negative

September 9, 2008
Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith

The political norm for an incumbent seeking re-election, especially one whose support is based in great part on the fact that people like him, is to stay positive, at least most of the time: Emphasize those things people like about them. Be sparing in the shots taken at the opposition, and mostly just ride over top of them; look bigger than they are.

Which makes the current round of press releases (and more) from the campaign of incumbent Republican Senator Gordon Smith highly interesting. Already unusual for its attachment in a couple of spots to national Democrats Barack Obama and John Kerry, it's of interest here because of the nearly unbroken stream of releases critical of Democratic opponent Jeff Merkley. Here's the complete list of press releases now noted on the Smith campaign website:

09.09.08 MERKLEY ALLIES LAUNCH MORE FALSE ATTACKS
09.01.08 Smith to Merkley: You’re Not in Kansas Anymore
08.28.08 History Channel’s ‘Ax Men’ Endorse Gordon Smith
08.26.08 Jeff Merkley: Slinging Mud, Twisting the Facts
08.25.08 Gordon Smith Releases New TV Ad
08.22.08 Smith Announces Debate Schedule
08.21.08 The Liar, the Switch and the Wardrobe
08.20.08 Merkley Cannibalizes Fellow Democrats
08.14.08 Jeff Merkley: Flat Out Wrong on Seniors
07.30.08 Another Merkley "Plan:" Gas Plan Still Hypocritical, Out of Touch, Stolen

Of course, it's always a candidate's prerogative to go after the opposition, and Smith acknowledges, "It's the strongest headwind I've ever faced." Still, is he doing some damage here to one of his best assets - his likability?

More cuts to the bone

September 9, 2008

How much longer can this go on before local newspapers have to simply say they're no longer providing anything resembling meaningful news coverage? They're not there yet, and hats off to those in the newsrooms struggling to do the job. But be clear: The job cutbacks are cuts to the core; whatever fat there was, was dispensed with long ago.

Today's news is impending job cuts at three McClatchy newspapers in Washington, the Tacoma News Tribune, the Olympian and the Tri-City Herald. At all three, most newsroom employees are being offered buyout options. That doesn't mean most will be leaving, but word is that if enough don't, substantial layoffs will be next. The size of the newsrooms cuts expected isn't made clear - an ominous thought all by itself.

At Olympia, Publisher John Winn Miller was reported as saying "he thinks The Olympian, which has 180 full- and part-time workers, will survive as an independent news voice in the state capital."

Note the language: He thinks it will survive.