trade proposal

Hey, I just had a brainstorm!

You know, I've been pretty pissed off about the whole torture issue. In fact, that America could even consider approving torture depresses me greatly, and make me wonder just how I could have grown up in a country and still have it seem like such an alien place now (and wonder what these goddamned alien pod-people have done with the real Americans, the ones who understood the concept of "cruel and unusual punishment").
But I had an idea to get rid of the torture issue, at least until the next generation of psychopathic leadership rears its ugly head. It'll cost something, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run.

Liberals, i.e., the Democratic Party, need to offer a trade to the Conservatives, i.e., the Republican Party:

Abortion in exchange for Torture.

That's right, as a party, the Dems will agree to the outlawing of abortion, if the Republicans agree to make torture illegal in all forms.

You think I'm nuts, dont you? But I'm not.

This plan is a sure road to a slam-dunk victory over the Republican Party. Listen to my idea, and tell me if I'm wrong.

To begin with, there's a chance that the Republicans wont accept this, which will look really bad to the Anti-abortion crowd, for whom all other issues fall a distant second, at best. And Karl Rove will be shitting in his pants if the offer is made, because he knows that without the Abortion issue, Republicans fall way behind Democrats on every single other Christian value issue, except for gay-bashing and maybe that "strict father" authoritarian stuff.
The offer will serve as a wedge then, which will split the party between those true anti-abortionists who really do want to end the practice, and those who've merely ridden the coat-tails of the issue to office, but know that once the issue is gone, they'll have to answer for their less moral choices in other areas. This crowd will then find itself trying to fend off the Democrats, using National Security as an excuse to keep torture, which will invite discussions about killing children to keep the Nation safe.
At this point, the real trick will be to make sure that the discussion of both torture and abortion are kept together, both being held out as morally questionable acts. Dems need not worry about holding up the abortion side of that arguement, there will be plenty of anti-abortion true believers to do that. They need only hammer at the morality of torture as a parallel arguement to the arguement about abortion (which has often used torture imagery in its arguements).

But let's say that the Republicans do accept the offer. True, they will gloat about the victory, tell everyone how they are the moral party because they won the battle against abortion. Thing is, everyone will know that they won the battle because the Democratic party felt so strongly about torture (a decidedly Republican-backed policy) that they were willing to let their largely idealistic stand on abortion go. After all, while the Democrats may have supported abortion-rights, none of them ever appeared to feel good about their stand. On the other hand, there are just a few too many Republicans (including the President and Vice-President) who seem very happy about the prospect of torturing human beings, even if the benefit from such a policy is dubious, at best. Let that thought stew in the back of Christian minds. (Dont forget to mention that Jesus was tortured, also)

To all of you out there dismayed at the thought that abortions will be gone and we'll return to the bad old days of back-alley abortions, well, yes, perhaps we shall. I'm sorry about that. But an illegal abortion would be a choice that someone would have to make, as opposed to those who will suffer under the auspices of Lord Bush's Torture Policy (and dont respond that those under the loving hands of the CIA, et al, chose to to be "enemy combatants", because that assumes guilt before it is proven, another American value currently being raped by the Bush Cabal).
And there is another difference between now and those dark days before Roe v. Wade. Before, those who died of botched abortions performed in grimy rooms by amatuers did so mostly in obscurity. In the future, these deaths will not go hidden, they will be news, if for no other reason than because some Pro-Abortion forces will be just as tenacious as abortion foes are now. And remember, today we also have the RU-486 pill, the retaining of which can be part of the deal, and which may even find itself legalized in more states once it is the only "abortion" option available. Increased use of the pill may also lead to greater awareness, and efforts towards the reduction, of rape, especially when the victims are forced to carry the children conceived in those attacks.
It's entirely possible that abortion, with all it's moral quandaries, will return in the course of a generation or so, anyway. It's one thing to be against abortion when it is a choice, but when it ceases to be so, many may find that they would prefer to have the decision left up to them, after all. I have little doubt that, whether they know it or not, every single person who campaigns against abortion knows someone who has secretly had one.

Finally, this might be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but consider this: We are in the midst of a cultural war. Certainly the Conservatives think, and even say, so. They claim that it is Christianity under fire, but really, the influence of Christianity has been on the wain for decades. Now, Christian "soldiers" are fighting back without mercy, laying siege to the culture and apparently forgetting all they supposedly stand for in an effort to regain power. Make no mistake, in a war, sacrifices are made. Personally, I'm willing to sacrifice "a woman's right to choose", especially if it works to remove a party from power that seems to be intent on removing other, far more important (and less morally questionable), rights.

Ask yourself, would you call trading anti-abortion legislation for anti-torture legislation fair? And if I'm right, and the end of the abortion battle also brought the end of the dominance of the Republican party as the so-called "party of morality", you would also be trading anti-abortion legislation for tax reform (away from tax breaks for the rich), an end to the madness that is educational testing, and a return of monies for social services, arts, medical care, and infrastructure. Imagine a military with a fully funded veterans administration, or increased money put into higher education returning a college education to within the reach of working students, or funding for solutions for childcare for working parents; do you think these things will happen under the Bush Administration, and whoever follows in their footsteps?

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Okay, I said "finally" above, but this is actually my final point: The Abortion Issue is an albatross around the neck of the Democratic Party. It will never go away until abortion itself goes away. This can happen in two ways:
One, slowly over the years, as the Republican Party turns back the clock, wiping out decades of Liberal policies because a few people throw out the fetus with the bathwater. A lot of damage has been done to this country because people cannot see beyond one issue. (Those reading this who think my idea betrays Liberals everywhere might consider those words also). The Democrats can never say, okay, we've changed our minds, we dont like abortion either, because Republicans will simply accuse them of pandering, a charge that will look true enough to the public, giving the GOP another club to beat Dems with. Or...
Two: Using my plan. But with this second route, the Democrats do not say, "oh we've changed our minds", they simply say, "Torture is something we feel very strongly about, while we're more ambiguous about abortion. So we're willing to end abortion to put an end to torture, if you Republicans are willing to end torture to put an end to abortion". Let Karl spin that idea.

Remove the albatross, give it a little time, and the abortion debate will come back; and next time, everybody can avoid making it a party litmus test. In the meantime, we will cease to be a state that condones torture. That seems more than reasonable to me.