Murder Of Doctor Who Performed Abortions Could Ease Sotomayor Confirmation
One thing it’ll be interesting to see is whether the horrific shooting yesterday of George Tiller, who performed late-term abortions, has the side effect of making the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor go a bit more smoothly. It seems likely.
For one thing, pro-life groups that have been gearing up for a big fight against Sotomayor may find themselves somewhat disarmed. Yes, it’s true that many issued statements roundly condemning the killing. But fairly or not, the murder of Tiller could cast a shadow, at least temporarily, over the whole pro-life movement, particularly if a clearer link emerges between Tiller’s killer and elements within that movement.
The pro-life movement could also find itself tainted by the killing if figures such as Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry continue subtly celebrating Tiller’s death. As First Read notes today, the pro-life movement is worried about potential blow-back in their direction from Terry’s rhetoric. One of the GOP’s main lines of attack on Sotomayor was to be about choice, and it seems like the murder could take this off the table, at least for now.
More broadly, the Tiller killing is a brutal reminder of the stridency, polarization, and outright violence of previous culture wars. It could perhaps depress the public appetite for the culture-war resurgence that Sotomayor’s nomination seems to be feeding. And it could make GOP Senators and leaders more wary of any strategy that riles the base, and smacks of past fights, at a time when officials like Michael Steele and John Cornyn are already condemning culturally-loaded attacks on Sotomayor and trying to shake the GOP’s image as hidebound and captive to extreme elements.
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I think this is an astute post, Greg. It’s hard not to associate what happened in Kansas with the apparent plan of attack on Sotomayor. It will be interesting to see whether people do back off, at least temporarily.
thanks much, ABC.
Prior to Sotomayor being nominated everyone has said repeatedly how crucial the Hispanic vote will be in all future elections. Especially for the Republican Party because of how horribly they fared last year with them. Yet and still as soon as Sotomayor was announced the blatant racism came bubbling right up to a head. And most of it wasn’t from elected Republicans to their credit, but by the same token less than a handful have taken the tact of actually criticizing Rush and Newt and the rest of the clowns who were calling her a racist. I forsee the exact same situation happening with the subject of abortion. Organizations like Operation Rescue don’t give a d@mn about Republicans winning office and neither will Rush Limbaugh. They are going to attack the hell out of her over abortion because its what they do and its all they know. And elected Republicans while they may not join in will similarly also not try to tell them to stop. I don’t see any reason to believe that the loudest right to lifers will temper their message just because Dr. Tiller was murdered.
If the hearings were tomorrow … maybe. But, according to Sessions on MTP and McConnell on CNN yesterday, it’s not likely to happen before the summer session ends.
That’s a lot of time for this tragedy to still resonate.
Plus, conservatives already have started to take the line, in effect, that murder in any form is unacceptable:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDM5NGYyYWMxZDY3NWFmYjhjZmJiNTI2YmRjZmRlYWE=
By the time the hearings roll around, they can say “we’ve condemned this attack time and again. But that isn’t what this is about.”
well, SG, I’d argue that this makes it tougher for mainstream GOPers to pick up the pro-life attack on her. and it revives memories of past culture wars, and will make GOPers more reluctant to go down that road. Maybe.
While your analysis seems sound, I found this to be a little crass.
Dr. Tiller was brutally murdered by a domestic terrorist. I’m saddened when either camp in the abortion debate talks about how his death might benefit their cause. It may not have been your intention, but that’s how I read it.
Looks like this is one site I’ll have to avoid for the rest of the day. You should be ashamed, Greg – stoking these fires. Just terrible!
Bye sbj. As they say, don’t let the door hit you lol.
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Que sbj coming back in 3…2….1
Not every person who takes the course will feel comfortable producing their own show, which takes a lot of work, but most people will volunteer to work on other people’s shows operating the cameras and such.