Cutting through the Dookey

 

dookey

My friend Gordon, a Vietnam combat veteran who passed away in ’09, had the best sayings. He was from Tennessee and country as a rolled biscuit. Gordon wasn’t one to tolerate fools much. I have missed him a great deal during this election season. He’s probably giving God an earful everyday over Donald Trump. I suspect he’s asked God if the man has a venereal disease that is eating at his brain. How else to explain him?

One of Gordon’s sayings that have come to mind often during this election season is one you have likely heard before – That man will piss on your leg and tell you its raining.

Sure ’nuff.

Now I know Donald Trump’s stance is that Hillary is a liar.

That much is true. She is a liar. So are you and so am I, by the way. The Bible says he who says he does not lie, lies. It’s human nature to lie. It is the better part of human nature to put a muzzle on the lying, to not repeat what we know to be lies, to try and tell the truth, to try and seek out the truth.

The lie in what Trump says about Hillary is that he lies so much more often than she does. Fact-checkers in debates and those following his campaign have repeatedly noted his lying. Trump seems to have a policy to lie as much as possible in order to make it difficult for the listeners to distinguish lying from the truth. They’ll be forced to swallow whatever he spews out. Fact-checkers tell us that Clinton and  Trump have been fact-checked more often than any other candidates in history. Some media outlets have taken to running a fact-checking ticker tape during debates to keep up with the lies.

One of those lies that has been repeated so often by Trump devotees that it is believed to be fact is that Hillary Clinton is a proponent of late-term or partial-birth abortions. I hear this lie repeated at least twice a day in social media. They send out memes and photos of aborted babies. They talk about how Trump has always been pro-life. (A lie). They mention that Trump is going to get Roe v. Wade overturned. Not only a full on lie, but absolutely delusional.

Republicans have had ample opportunity over the last 40 years to address Roe v. Wade. If Republicans really wanted to do that, but they were too busy starting wars to settle old grudges to worry about the issue of abortion. Abortion comes up during every election. Those Americans who base their entire vote over this one issue tend to be men. Some of those men took to Twitter this week calling for a repeal of the 19th Amendment, denying women the right to vote. Honest to Pete, there are men in this nation who still want to live in the world where only they can make the decisions, not women, not blacks, not Hispanics, no one but those white men. That ought to scare the beejesus out of every woman, except there are women who, no shit, think that’s the way God always intended. Men, head of the house, head of the company, head of the nation. Women are supposed to do anything else but think.

Anyway, all this brings me back to the lie that I keep hearing and having to confront. The lie about Hillary Clinton and her stance on late-term abortions.

Her stance, by the way, has been consistent for decades. Clinton, a life-long Methodist, does not believe that we should have government intervention into reproductive rights. Referring back to her travels abroad, Clinton notes that some countries legislate how many babies a woman will have – for some that’s five babies, for some that’s just one. Can you imagine living in the country where you are told you must have five children? Or the county that demands you just have one, and that anymore than that and you must allow them to die?

Trusting any legislative body with a woman’s body is a very bad idea.

But the fact that Clinton does not believe in legislating reproductive rights does not make her a proponent for late-term abortions. Clinton has said repeatedly that she would favor restrictions on partial-birth abortion as long as the life of the mother is part of that legislative consideration.

Here’s the factual record of her position:

Late term abortion only if life or health are at risk. Senate Debate Oct. 8, 2000
Q: Are there circumstances when the government should limit choice?

LAZIO: I had a pro-choice record in the House, and I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I support a ban on partial-birth abortions. Senator Moynihan called it “infanticide.” Even former mayor Ed Koch agreed that this was too extreme a procedure. This is an area where I disagree with my opponent. My opponent opposes a ban on partial-birth abortions.

CLINTON: My opponent is wrong. I have said many times that I can support a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortions, so long as the health and life of the mother is protected. I’ve met women who faced this heart-wrenching decision toward the end of a pregnancy. Of course it’s a horrible procedure. No one would argue with that. But if your life is at stake, if your health is at stake, if the potential for having any more children is at stake, this must be a woman’s choice.

This position by Clinton has been consistent.

She favors a ban and/or restrictions so long as the health and life of the mother is protected.

Partial-birth abortion, by the way, isn’t a medical term. It’s a term coined by the pro-life movement. But did you know that states have the right already to institute a ban on abortions past 24 weeks, except in the instance of protecting the life of the mother? That law that pro-lifers have made this entire election about already exists. Here in Oregon, there in Georgia, legislators can ban late-term abortions as long as the life of the mother is not put at risk.

States are free to ban abortion after viability, which occurs at about 24 weeks’ gestation – and they do. That’s been the law for over 40 years, and that’s what Hillary Clinton supports. [Rolling Stone, 10/5/16]

Trump’s position has not been consistent. I am not going to put up all the links but they are readily available for anyone with access to Google. Trump has said he’s pro-choice and that he would never support such a ban. Then he changed his mind and now is holding the Republican party hostage with his chant over Supreme Court Justices. I know more than one good-hearted person who can’t stand Trump but will vote for him on the basis of that promise alone. Of course, they aren’t taking into consideration his track record on vows (three wives) or his track record for lying (Trump University, unpaid workers), or his track record for outright lies in this election.

I don’t point this out for any political reason. Hillary Clinton is going to win this election. Trump has backed himself into a corner. He cannot win. I only point this out for a matter of truth.

Truth matters.

It may be hard to uncover in an age of memes and when you have a man pissing on your leg swearing it’s raining. But truth, King said, will set us free.

And Lord knows we would all love to be set free from the Election of 2016.

Karen Spears Zacharias is an author and political commentator who can’t stand memes that are just plain wrong, or Donald Trump even when he’s not lying. She misses Gordon and his ability to cut through Donald’s dookey.

 

Karen Spears Zacharias

Author/Journalist/Educator. Gold Star Daughter.

3 Comments

Linda

about 8 years ago

Thank you for all your words of insight.

Reply

Loren Haas

about 8 years ago

Karen, I somehow lost track of your blog, but I am glad to be back reading your work. You remind me so much of the straight talk of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, whom I miss. Please keep kicking ass. You are righteous good at it!

Reply

Karen Spears Zacharias

about 8 years ago

Welcome back Loren. So good to have you rejoin us. I have said for months now that I miss the heck out of Molly Ivins, Ann Richards and Lewis Grizzard this election season.

Reply

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