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February 18, 2004
THIS AIN'T RIGHT
Hate to bring up a hot-button issue like abortion, but there's something brewing here that just ain't right - at least in my mind.
Right after techno-baldie Moby made the public suggestion that anti-Bush voters begin spreading false rumors about Bush having an old girlfriend get an abortion, Larry Flynt - that paragon of virtue - says he's going to expose a "true story" that Bush did in fact arrange for a girlfriend's abortion back in the 70s.
Now first of all, the timing of this revelation is highly, highly dubious given Moby's irresponsible statements last week (we have enough real things to attack Bush with - let's not stoop to inventing stuff... that's beneath contempt!). And I don't know that I trust Larry Flynt as the source of anything beyond my porn collection. (Just kidding, Mom... was being rhetorical.) But let's say, just for a moment, that the story is true - that Bush DID arrange for an abortion 30 years ago.
So what? It's none of our business.
Look, I know the arguments - that it's hypocritical for someone who benefitted from Roe vs. Wade to then oppose it... that rich boys like Bush will always have access to doctors who will perform the procedure on their unfortunate girlfriends if the price is right, while poor women rely on Roe being the law of the land. And if you've read my site for more than 10 seconds, you know that I have a virulent, almost pathological disdain for the Crawford Cretin. And, I'm staunchly pro-choice and don't want to see Bush succeed in chipping away at Roe. Fine.
But you know what? The fundamental argument for me in any abortion case is that it's no one's business but the woman (or couple) involved - that they have the right in the United States to make their own moral decisions and judgements and to live with the outcomes. To me no one - least of all the government - has any right being involved in a personal decision of that magnitude... and that it's no one's business - not some stupid protester's, not the government's, and certainly not the media's - to violate anyone's privacy by prying into whether they've had an abortion.
My position holds here. First of all, the woman involved (again, assuming for a moment that it's true, though I don't know that it is) never asked for this attention, never asked to have her private life and mistakes of 30 years ago dragged out for the world to see. She has a fundamental right to privacy, and it's hypocritical -- not to mention just utterly slimy -- for Flynt or anyone on the left to be violating it now simply in order to make political hay, even against an admittedly easy-to-dislike foe.
But beyond that, as regards Bush himself... I don't care. It's not relevant, and has no business in this campaign. I got news for you... ain't no one on earth who's perfect, kids. People make mistakes when they're young. People do things that they may not later consider "mistakes," but that they certainly would never do again. Granted, not all of them may be of the magnitude of an unintended pregnancy. But think about this: would you want to have your own private life since you were 18 - or 21, whatever - used as a qualifier when you are up for a new job? Would you want to have "never having made an embarrassing or regrettable mistake" listed as a prerequisite for your job?
Granted, we have the right to expect more from someone running for, or serving as, President of the United States. But we don't have the right to expect perfection. If someone broke the law thirty years ago and harmed (or could have harmed) an uninvolved other person - killed someone, molested a child, drove drunk, robbed someone's house at 23, etc. - then I want to know about it, because it matters. But on issues of judgement - use of marijuana, dating a stripper, a reputation as a partier, or a girlfriend with an abortion - a person has a right both to make errors in judgement and to have those errors remain their own secret. Even if that person is a candidate for President.
I didn't care if Bill Clinton inhaled, nor did I think whatever happened with Monica was anyone's business but his, Hillary's and Monica's. And if George W. Bush knocked someone up 30 years ago and she got an abortion, I don't think it's anyone's business but hers and his. We don't need to know. It's not our right. And anyone on the left bringing it up now is doing a great disservice to the woman involved, to Bush himself, to the anti-Bush political cause, and to the level of discussion in America. It's a cheap tactic worthy of an Atwater or Rove... and just because the other side would do it doesn't make it any more right. Knock it off, guys. Even if it's true... let it drop, and leave the woman alone.
