Tag Archives: Abortion

How Dark Money Could Harm Trump in 2024

By J Robert Smith

Nov. 21, 2023
2-min read

Pennsylvania just had off-year elections. They weren’t for high-profile offices. That made them un-sexy. But the results of those contests offer clear warning shots for Trump and Republicans in 2024.

A state supreme court seat was filled along slews of lesser judgeships. County offices and school boards in some places were filled, too.

The Democrats did well, too well. Much of that is attributable to “dark money.” That’s money from sources where the donors are generally anonymous. Dark money involves a lot of big dollar contributors (as in multimillionaires and billionaires) giving huge chunks of cash to national groups who, in turn, target contests in states. The money is used not only to boost Democrat – most often “progressive” – candidates, but to run negative campaigns against Republicans.

This November in Pennsylvania, dark money made significant differences in contests that most voters pay scant attention to. Yet, the mostly local offices targeted serve as building blocks for bigger offices. They’re foundational, so critical in their ways.

If Trump and Republicans aren’t fretting now about what dark money means in statewide and larger district races in 2024 (legislative, governorships, attorneys general, secretaries of state, state treasurers, Congress, and last but hardly least, the presidency), they better start fretting and figuring out ways to raise money to counter this onslaught of rich progressives across the country … accomplished people who don’t hesitate to stroke big checks that are funneled through progressive groups to win elections.

To that end, it’s best to read Matthew Brouillette’s article at Real Clear Wire, Democrat’s National Dark Money Machine Dominates PA Elections.

Even if you don’t live in PA or give much of a damn about what happens there, what is happening there is happening – or will happen – in your state.

Here’s one pull from Brouillette’s piece that sums up the danger. In the statewide contest for a seat on the PA Supreme Court:

The media howls about outside money or individual Pennsylvanians engaging on behalf of Republicans but largely turns a blind eye to special interests bankrolling Democrats. With final spending reports still coming in, nearly 95% of McCaffery’s [pro-abortion Democrat nominee] funding came from unions, trial lawyers, other special interests, and dark-money groups.

Dark money, along with tactics (put charitably) to identify and harvest ballots, made the difference in battleground states in 2020. Trump lost those states – including Pennsylvania – by razor thin margins.

History can repeat itself if Trump and Republicans fail to fully appreciate the dark money threat and put in place strong countermeasures today.

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Looking at Dobbs A Year Later, Part 2

By Rob Meyne

July 4, 2023
5-min read

Many critics of the Dobbs decision observe that life is now harder and more emotionally challenging for people who want abortions. Well, yes, it is. See again the article from Vice, here.

The question is this: how much do stories of the unfortunate aspects of this, or any, Supreme Court decision matter, and based on what values structure? If the issues discussed in Vice are all that matters, of course you would oppose Dobbs. If, however, you cared as much or more about ALL human life, at all stages of its development, you would have to support Dobbs.

And, BTW, it IS that simple.

Is ANY sad or painful result of a law a negative? Strictly speaking, sure. Every law has plusses and minuses. No exceptions. But telling only one aspect of a story, or looking only at one perspective, is comparable to a jury only hearing from the prosecution. It is interesting but hardly conclusive.

How persuasive such arguments are depends entirely on the standards, the foundational values against which you evaluate them. IF the happiness and emotional health of women who have already been born is the only thing that matters of course you would oppose Dobbs. IF, however, you value life in all forms, and at all stages of development, you could easily feel empathy for the women described in Vice but STILL support Dobbs, because you value the lives of 60-plus million dead babies more. The arguments of the pro-abortion crowd are persuasive if, and only if, you value the lives of these women more than those of the more than one million innocent lives murdered in the womb every year in America.

In a Constitutional Republic, it is seldom, if ever true, that only the opinions of a select group matter, and it certainly makes no sense now.

Nevertheless, some people believe the dispositive issue is what effect abortion law has on pro-abortion women (those who have been born). That value structure quite literally requires you to believe that the lives of those who “won the lottery,” so to speak, meaning they weren’t killed in the womb, are more valuable than the lives of those not allowed to be born.

And, let’s be clear about this. Babies/pre-born people/whatever you want to call them are living humans. Period. There is no serious debate about that. The argument that they are not human would be, well, what? Unborn humans are humans just like unborn dogs are still dogs. It is so clear, and logical, that people are embarrassed to even defend an alternative viewpoint.

To make the point even clearer: Democratic leadership in Washington DC, including the president, favors unlimited abortion, at any point. (Biden was asked in 2022 if there should be any restrictions on abortion, and said no.) They support policies like in Minnesota, where you can walk in during the ninth month of pregnancy and say, “get rid of it,” kill it.

What possible argument could be made that a baby in the 9th month isn’t a human? If you just remove it, the child will likely grow up to live a normal life. It is inarguably human, yet the leadership of the political party in power thinks killing them is ok. The key issue for our time on this subject is NOT rather the baby is human and alive – indisputably, it is – but why abortion supporters would think killing them is fine.

There is no logical argument that babies aren’t people. None. What would it be? How would you prove a baby isn’t human? Of course, you can’t. To be fair, we generally can’t prove a negative. (You can’t prove you’ve never been to Australia.) But the question remains: If they aren’t human, what are they? Iguanas? Sloths? Hummingbirds? Lesser pandas?

A human life is human from conception, just as a bald eagle is an eagle from conception. Of course, destroying an eagle’s egg is a federal crime. Eagles are loved and protected. Humans are not. Horrifically, destroying a person at an early point is legal and celebrated by about half our population. An eagle in the early stages of its life gets protection your children do not.

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State Abortion Laws Vary, But the Trend is in Support of Life

By Rob Meyne

June 30, 2023
5-min read

Abortion – Part 1

Much has been written about the consequences of the Dobbs decision. As you know, SCOTUS ruled that there was no constitutional right to abortion. It did not make it illegal. It recognizes abortion law is up to each state.

That, of course, is exactly what our founding fathers had in mind. They saw states as essential laboratories for considering and debating public policy. Our founders knew that law may be different from state to state. They were fine with that, even happy about it.

Our legal landscape in the aftermath of Dobbs is inconsistent and confusing from state to state. That is ok. It does not mean Dobbs was a bad decision or that we somehow have a crisis at hand. When we have different policies in different states, it is not a bug in the system; it is a feature of it. That is not in itself a problem.

The effect this ruling has had on some women is explored in an article from Vice, here. It is an interesting read. Even if you don’t agree that the “problems” created by Dobbs should make us question the decision, it is still important to understand how people with opinions different from your own came to their conclusions. That is why we read pieces every day written by people with whom we are likely to disagree.

Remember what the great Hugh Hewitt likes to say. He prefers clarity to agreement. Or as Stephen Covey says, paraphrasing, seek first to understand, then to be understood.

If the Vice piece isn’t persuasive, it is at least interesting, tugs at heartstrings, and shows how a lot of pro-abortion people view the SCOTUS ruling.

No doubt, there are troubling aspects of post-Roe America. It causes, for some people, stress, pain, and heartache, and makes getting an abortion more difficult. Well, as they say… “Duh!” Of course, it does.

States that have passed laws prohibiting or regulating abortion make it harder to get one. That. .. Is… The… Point…

Laws that regulate the purchase of pharmaceuticals, the practice of medicine, carrying firearms, or driving at high speeds are also designed to make those things more difficult.

As is the case with new laws, it isn’t a perfect situation. We often don’t understand all the ramifications of laws until they are implemented. This is a lesson we learned years ago when working in the Indiana House of Representatives. Most of the legislation, in any given session, involves attempts to correct, improve, and revise existing law. Most bills don’t propose new laws. The new state laws on abortion will likely be modified and improved over time. That is a good thing.

Having fewer abortions is a huge improvement in the minds of millions. Whatever troubles exist in the meantime should be addressed and, where needed, the laws revised and clarified.

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If You Think the Parties Are the Same, Look Again

By Rob Meyne

May 9, 2023
4-min read

Whose side are they on?

It is often argued there is little or no difference between America’s two major political parties. In all honesty, if you say there is NO difference between two options you are uninformed or lying. There most certainly are differences. The issue is how important are they?

The bottom line is this: the differences between the two parties are both few and essential. Yes, in many ways, each party is depressing and like the other. However, it is the few areas of distinction that make one party worthy of tentative support and the other deserving of unending derision.

As we’ve observed previously, the biggest factor that makes both party organizations distasteful is that they are composed of … wait for it … people. Many people are lovely and admirable, but far too many are corrupt, undependable, and narcissistic. And those are their GOOD qualities! 😊

All humans are to some extent dishonest. That’s like saying water is wet, the sun is bright, and Al Gore is boring. So how much sense does it make to clutch our pearls and whine about how our institutions have failed us when we know organizations are fundamentally flawed, from the start, because flawed humans are in charge of them?

Those who perennially throw up their hands in desperation and say “there is no one to vote for” are lamentably honest IF they are looking for perfect people to support. And if you’re looking for them, just stop it, please. You’re going to be disappointed.

People who are disappointed in political choices strike me as folks who don’t know much about life in general. What area of life offers you perfect choices? Do you have the perfect job, spouse, kids, house, car, or church? (I have a perfect wife, of course, but most don’t.) Most of life’s choices present us with alternatives between imperfect options. So what? They can still be marvelous. Perfection isn’t a necessary predicate for most of life. It makes no sense to expect it ONLY from government.

That doesn’t mean we don’t get to be disappointed. Of course we do. Anyone who wishes we had “better choices” has a lot in common with most of us. Who doesn’t? But focusing on primarily the negative aspect of candidates and parties isn’t likely to lead us to a better place.

Neither party is perfect. That is not the same thing as saying they are equal. They are not. The way our system is supposed to work is that people vote for a candidate that pledges to do things we want them to. We were never expected to vote for someone who we enjoy hanging out with, who we would like to see date our sister, or who you would hire to mow your lawn. We’re supposed to care about the policies that determine our quality of life and the future of our nation. And we’re supposed to vote for the people or party that support the policies that we do. It isn’t that complicated. Yet we act like we either can’t figure that out or care more about a person’s looks, personality, or tweeting habits than we do the well-being of the country.

But back to this: yes, the Republicans suck, but the Democrats suck even more. If that seems like a weak campaign slogan, it is. There are differences, even if neither party has earned your support. The parties are not the same, but the world looks different under Democratic leadership in 2023 than it did under Republican leadership in 2020. If you don’t see that, again, you just aren’t living on the same planet as we are.

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The Herschel Walker Smear

By J Robert Smith

Oct. 10, 2022
4-min read

Democrats operate by a simple dictum: If one of their candidates may lose, smear the Republican opponent. And if that doesn’t cut it, cheat. Or do both, just to play it safe.

Herschel Walker is the recipient of a Democrat sneak attack. That’s because he’s running neck-and-neck with a tainted U.S. senator, the Rev. Ralph Warnock. The smears made against Walker are called “October Surprises.”

Sandbagging Walker isn’t much of surprise, actually. Walker is a football legend in Georgia. His college career with the Bulldogs made him so. He’s public about his embrace of Christianity and doesn’t hesitate to admit that he’s made his share of mistakes over the years and, yes, sinned. But as the Rev. Warnock should know, Christians make no bones about their sinfulness. Some of the greatest sinners became the greatest Christians. The Apostle Paul is the preeminent example of a bad man gone very good through his encounter with Jesus Christ and his repentance.

So, like the rest of us, Walker is a flawed man, but the smears leveled against him are lies. Walker flat-out denies that he impregnated a past girlfriend and paid for her abortion. The allegation stinks of an election-motivated gambit.

Said Florida senator Rick Scott (who should be the next GOP Senate leader, not sold-out Mitch McConnell) , Newsweek, October 4:

Senator Rick Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, defended GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker amid his latest controversy and suggested that Walker was up against the same “smear machine” that targeted Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.

Coincidence that on the eve of Kavanaugh’s and Thomas’ confirmation hearings that they were slammed with uncorroborated accusations of sexual misconduct? Now, just weeks before the November election, Walker is being slapped with a charge that he paid for an abortion?

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Americans Reject Extreme Democratic Positions on Abortion

By Rob Meyne

July 25, 2022
3-min read

The decisions issued in June by the Supreme Court are, collectively, about as important a collection as we have seen in decades. The most notable, and most relevant to conservative Constitutionalists, is of course the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

When a major decision is issued, especially one that impacts the laws of the fifty states and DC, it can take time for the effects of it to work their way through the system. Many state laws will remain unchanged while some will fine-tune them as a result of the decision. In fact, in several states, it happened automatically, as they had trigger laws that went into effect because of the ruling.

It is important to recognize, up front, that abortion is among the most contentious issues in America. Yet a look at the opinions of Americans shows there is actual common ground. In addition, the people overwhelmingly reject the position of Democratic leaders.

The Democratic position on abortion today is that there should be no restrictions on it. None. Women (if you can define the term) should be able to kill their babies through the ninth month, for any reason or no reason. Biden says so, apparatchiks like Stacey Abrams say so, and so do 49 out of 50 Democratic senators who voted for a bill that would eliminate all restrictions on abortion. About ninety percent of Americans oppose that view.

Yet, the prevailing narrative is that the GOP is the extreme party. Nonsense. Republicans have an opportunity to demonstrate they are the party closest to the American mainstream.
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