AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
THE "MIDDLE GROUND" DECEPTION.(Bill Clinton on abortion)
Paul Greenberg, the distinguished speaker at the closing banquet of the NRL Convention in Nashville, gave us the expression "slick Willie" to describe Bill Clinton.
As a candidate, "slick Willie," in 1992, declared ever so sincerely that "abortion should be safe, legal, and rare." It sounded so sensible; but it was, in fact, misleading, dishonest, and nonsensical.
Today's re-emergence of the slogan (and its variants) that "abortion should be safe, legal, and rare" did not, of course, arise by spontaneous combustion. No, there is pleading and bleating for a "middle ground" on abortion, because it sounds like the perfect double talk that "progressive" Democratic candidates would need for the elections in 2006 and 2008: be for "values" and "choice"at the same time. For good measure, the newly moderate and, supposedly, "values"-concerned pro-choicer adds that the number of abortions needs to be reduced, because abortions are bad. Of course, we are never told why abortions are bad.
Let's apply Bill Clinton's dictum that "abortion should be safe, legal, and rare" to other human actions, say, embezzlement. Make embezzlement safe and legal, and see how rare it becomes. Obviously, "safe, legal, and rare" is complete and dangerous nonsense. And Bill Clinton knew it, but I'm sure he loved the phrase.
Worse, in the case of abortion, a whole new industry has developed that depends on the legality of abortion. This industry wants abortion never to be rare. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest operator of abortion clinics, makes a lot less money when abortion becomes rare.
After his election, Bill Clinton did what NARAL and Planned Parenthood wanted him to do: On his first day in office, he made abortion less rare by rescinding the pro-life executive orders of Presidents Ronald Regan and George H. W. Bush. And he made abortion less safe by pushing for the release of RU486 in this country. Later, he tried to make abortion "more" legal (by federal law instead of judicial fiat) with Hillary Clinton's plan of making abortion a routine procedure in federally mandated health care.
Today, the pro-abortionists hope to use Bill Clinton's slogan in various forms to fool the public once again. Your job is to reveal the deceptive nature and illogic of this slogan in your letters to editors and in conversations with your fellow citizens.
- Stalking the middle. (Bill Clinton)(includes related material)
- Magazine article from: Scholastic Update Monagle, Katie October 9, 1992 700+ words
...a moderate approach to government, Bill Clinton is counting on voters' anger to put...the state of Arkansas knew the name Bill Clinton. The primary season was just getting...clearly answer these questions: Who is Bill Clinton? And what will he do for America...
- Clinton must confront balancing act; the deficit versus the economy. (Bill...
- Newspaper article from: Nation's Cities Weekly Barnes, Bill November 23, 1992 700+ words
President-elect Bill Clinton plans a "disciplined reduction...might cost money. Finding the "Middle Ground" Speaking to the press on November...described his position as occupying a middle ground between two extremely different...
- A "New Covenant" kept: core values, presidential communications, and the...
- Magazine article from: Presidential Studies Quarterly Durant, Robert F. September 1, 2006 700+ words
...of the American public is that Bill Clinton exhibited little philosophical...measures of the differences between Bill Clinton's rhetoric and his commitment...Maraniss 2001) or discerned his middle-ground positions after listening to...
- Clinton's plan vexes drug execs. (Bill Clinton's proposed drug price capping)
- Magazine article from: Boston Business Journal Hower, Wendy October 26, 1992 700+ words
Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton's proposal to cap drug prices as part of his overall health...founding member of Act Up/Boston. "There has to be a middle ground somewhere." Price controls will threaten the United States...
- President pledges to break the gridlock. (President Bill Clinton; forest policy)
- Magazine article from: Wood & Wood Products Adams, Larry May 1, 1993 700+ words
...growth forestry issue is expected to be presented to President Bill Clinton to "break the gridlock" of lawsuits and political squabbling...sides offered possible solutions and seemed to find some middle ground in the idea of eco-system managed forests, the catch phrase...
- 'Palestinian Go Home': With his trip to Gaza, Clinton jumps from the frying pan...
- Magazine article from: Newsweek Hirsh, Michael Contreras, Joseph December 21, 1998 700+ words
Even Houdini, Bill Clinton's alter ego, never pulled off a show like this. Back in Washington...Clinton would do what he excels at--fudge his way toward some middle ground. To some, there is a Houdini-like aspect to the fact that...
- Bipartisan group of senators tries to stake out the middle ground.
- News wire article from: Kansas City Star December 16, 2000 700+ words
...Centrist Coalition can send important signals on where the middle ground might be," said Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat...give the president a little taste of what Republicans gave Bill Clinton? Everyone in politics is an elephant. They never forget...
- Inside NCR. (Bill Clinton and Catholic concerns) (Editorial)
- Magazine article from: National Catholic Reporter Fox, Tom February 12, 1993 700+ words
...Cardinal Roger Mahony at the apex of Right-to-Life Day (NCR, Feb. 5). What if we look at these things from some middle ground? Clinton is not going to bring the cardinals along on his choice stance. Is he going to bring Southern conservatives along...
- Bipartisan group of senators tries to stake out the middle ground.(Knight...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Murphy, Kevin December 16, 2000 700+ words
...Centrist Coalition can send important signals on where the middle ground might be," said Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat...give the president a little taste of what Republicans gave Bill Clinton? Everyone in politics is an elephant. They never forget...
- Below the Beltway: Money, Power, and Sex in Bill Clinton's Washington.
- Magazine article from: Booklist Carroll, Mary Taylor, Gilbert August 1, 1996 700+ words
...building, charisma, and credibility. More than fodder for the rate-the-presidents pastime, the text also interprets the middle ground of these five qualities and relates where excess, as in Wilson's visionary ideal for international relations, leads to...
Source: HighBeam Research, THE "MIDDLE GROUND" DECEPTION.(Bill Clinton on abortion)