Consistancy Hobgoblins

Echidne of the Snakes has a great post on the various contradictions or paradoxes in how Conservatoids portray liberals. You know the one about how Liberals are unemployed bums and wealthy elitist snobs at the same time?

A certain common type of conservatives will say anything to make Liberals look bad, even if it contradicts something he has said previously. The point isn't to make an argument; the point is to hurt the enemy. If calling them pointy-headed intellectuals one minute and dumb as a sack of hammers the next is effective, than that is what you do.

Sometimes I find myself thinking we liberals need to adopt the same approach. That if calling President Bush a power mad fascist one moment and a drolling idiot the next would work, than that is what we should do. Such tactics have obviously proven effective for Republicans; presumably they would work as well for us.

Or would they?

The Alito Files IV

Ben Shapiro writes today on the wonderful nomination of Judge Alito. Apparently this is a great day for us all. It's interesting that Shapiro, in listing off the cases he thinks shows Alito's good side, starts with one that his opponents are bringing up as well.

He was the lone dissenting voice on the Third Circuit in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1991), the case concerning a Pennsylvania state requirement that husbands be notified before wives received abortions. Alito, still an appellate court judge bound by Supreme Court precedent, criticized the majority opinion's conclusion that spousal notification created an "undue burden" on pregnant women seeking an abortion. Wrote Alito: "The Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems -- such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands' previously expressed opposition -- that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion."

A few points

1. This ruling does place wives in the same category as children. A child should be required to tell her parents before getting an abortion, because she isn't able to make the decision on her own (or so the argument goes). She needs the counsel of someone more mature and responsible than her who knows her; hence she needs to consult her parents. Requiring wives to consult with their husbands puts them in exactly the same position.

Echidne of the Snakes wrote a good post on this the other day, discussing this ruling and another in which he argued that a wife could be strip searched if her husband had a search warrent against him (hey if you can search his car why can't you search his wife?)

While I can understand opposition to abortion, I don't countenance opposition to abortion that places women in the same category as children or property.

2. Ben Shapiro did underline something else that you are all well aware of. Let's go back to this phrase "Alito, still an appellate court judge bound by Supreme Court precedent, criticized the majority opinion's conclusion . . ." Obviously if Alito is on the Supreme Court his relation to Supreme Court precedent changes quiet a bit, doesn't it?

Anyway we aren't done with Ben Shapiro yet, as our new feature (A Catalogue of Commentators) debuts this afternoon, and young Ben is first up.

Good morning

Hey slow posting today. Cheery is at the dentist and I am being held by work. Grumbly was given a weeks suspension after the incident last week, I'm afraid. The monster phoned in from Zhanjiang, China, and, after listening to Cheery's tearful complaint mandated that Grumbly Muffin be suspended for one week or until she had "got me one hundred squirrels!" Me being the Monster.

I assume Grumbly will wait out the week.

Anyway since I can't post much, here's a few links.

Echidne of the Snake has a nice story that refutes the whole "why don't peaceful Muslims ever protest against the terrorists?" So naturally this will be ignored by conservatoids.

Bark Bark Woof Woof has a story on how Cindy Sheehan Did get to meet with an American President. Kind of nice.

The Goblin's Lair has a selection on why we shouldn't be ashamed to be "liberals." Damned inspiring, if you ask me - go read it and see what you think.

Anyway hopefully we'll have some more later on, if things quiet down.