I just received a wrong-number phone call for a "Miss Ford," from someone who said that they were calling from Jay Sekulow's American Center for Law and Justice. I had never heard of either one of these, but it sounded as though it might be an interesting phone call. The caller asked me to remain on the line and listen to a short recorded message from Jay Sekulow, and then I would talk to an operator. I'm not in a huge hurry this morning, so I did.
For the next three minutes, I was subjected to a rant that was so offensive it was fascinating. I was informed by a recording of a shouting man that, with the support of Congress, Barack Obama was getting ready to sign a Freedom of Choice act that was instantly going to "repeal" all federal and state legislation restricting abortion; that it was going to bring back "the hated partial-birth abortion"; that "he's going to make us pay for these abortions, even if we object to them," and that if I didn't remain on the line, Barack Obama was (with his pen, I suppose) going to kill 1.5 million children next year. Almost 400,000 children were killed this year by abortions, the shouting man informed me.
I patiently waited until the recording had finished, told the operator that my views and those of Mr. Sekulow diverged and that no, she could NOT add me to her petition against the legislation. But I wonder: why is it that the other side resorts to the tactics of exploiting ignorance, stirring up hate, etc., rather than laying out before its constituency what is really being discussed in a rational manner? According to various sites on the internet including govtrack, the bill--which dates from 2004 and simply restates current law recognizing women's right to reproductive freedom-- has not even been reintroduced in the 111th Congress.
Is it cynical for me to think that there is a deeper agenda here; and that the Republicans will use any pretext necessary to stir up hatred against those whom they think are their enemies in the culture war?