Religious Fanaticism Combined with Self-Serving Politicians and Corruption Cause the Murder of Dr. George Tiller

I have been in shock ever since I heard that Dr. George Tiller had been murdered. I have struggled with hearing him referred to as “the controversial abortion doctor” and hearing people question whether he somehow deserved to be murdered in the foyer of his church on a Sunday morning. I have not been able to gather my thoughts sufficiently to comment before now. It is past time that I do so.

As a long-time member of NARAL, I have marched, contributed funds and generally opposed the anti-choice brigade in their efforts to force their religious views onto our lawbooks. I remember driving through Wichita during “The Summer of Mercy” and seeing the dazed looks on the citizenry, who had no idea what had hit them. My sister-in-law tells stories of confronting members of the intolerant horde about leaving their children locked in hot cars while they marched. She describes the smug righteousness with which they declared that women who sought abortion were sinners and those that would die would reap what they sowed. Without care for QUALITY of life, only bringing every possible child into the world matters to them. They go so far as to condemn the birth control pill; it is also murder in their eyes.

For a long time, in a misguided attempt at fairness to those with opposing viewpoints, I considered each side of this issue to be extreme. NARAL opposed parental notification laws and I waffled in my support of that. It seemed reasonable that a parent should be notified when a child underwent a medical procedure, although I knew that this would make it harder for many girls to obtain an abortion. I did not oppose NARAL’s policies in this regard, I merely did not support them. NARAL opposed laws creating a waiting period and I waffled again. I did not agree with a waiting period, but, what could it hurt? Again, I did not properly support the position. NARAL’s argument was that each one of these laws was inching us closer to a world in which it would prove impossible for anyone but the most wealthy among us to obtain an abortion. NARAL predicted that they would even go after birth control eventually. I wondered if NARAL wasn’t being a tad extreme. I knew that the anti-choice crowd had a problem with birth control, but did not believe that they would ever be able to move policy or laws in that direction. I have never waivered in my support of NARAL, yet I have waffled in supporting some of their positions. Mea culpa. I take responsibility for my lack of support here.

But I read an article the other day that struck a nerve and I wanted to share it here. Hopefully, those of you who read this, will click on the link in the blog title and will pass this article on to your friends and family and begin a dialogue. In this article, Katha Pollitt offers a point of view so reasonable and yet so radical, I was truly jarred by it. She is absolutely right and I hope that more people will see the reason in her words.



We’ve been conditioned to believe that both sides of the abortion issue are extreme. Ms. Pollitt puts forth a firm argument that illustrates the fundamental incorrectness of that view.

There's only one set of extremists here, the one that uses language like "babykiller," " Nazi," "murderer," and "death mill," kidnaps and murders providers and clinic workers, burns and bombs clinics and drives cars into them, posts pictures of clinic workers and their families on the internet, and harrasses patients on their way to get care…If a desperately ill pregnant woman wants to risk her life to give birth, if she wants to carry an anencephalic fetus to term so it can die in her arms, or have her rapist's baby, or become a mother at 14, or produce octuplets, pro-choicers are not going to compel her to abort. Pro-choicers don't go around lecturing girls and women that they will blame themselves forever if they have a baby they may not be equipped to raise well. They don't paint gory pictures of the horrors and dangers of childbirth to scare pregnant girls and women into ending their pregnancies with a quick and safe termination. They don't tell women Jesus is going to send them to Hell if they sacrifice their futures to the whims of a wayward sperm -- although they might mention from time to time that the Bible nowhere mentions abortion. Pro-choicers don't blow up churches or assassinate the leaders of Operation Rescue…only one side murders and bombs to make its point. Only one side has a terrorist wing.

She goes on to quote a Michigan pastor, Bret McAtee, as saying of the news of Dr. Tiller’s murder, “…I also know joy. Not the shallow type of joy but a deep resonating joy…How could a sane person not feel joy at the death of a mass murderer and a terrorist?”

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Perhaps you may think that this is a rare point of view. You would be wrong. Our local news interviewed some nutjob from Wichita who said, on camera, unhesitatingly and without pity or sympathy--apparently even for the family of Dr. Tiller--that he got what he deserved for being a baby killer. I find it profoundly ironic that some ugly fat woman would get on tv and say something like that because somewhere in this backwoods state, a man is looking at her and judging her unworthy of decent treatment because she doesn’t look like Barbie. It’s the same sort of rationalization that a rapist uses when he says that he attacked a woman because of the way she was dressed. It is the same sort of rationalization that a country uses to justify kidnapping and torture against people they assume are terrorists because their government says so. It is rationalization without logic, based on personal discriminatory beliefs.

As my esteemed fellow blogger, Tango Daddy, said, they are “domestic terrorists…I say the gloves are off for any and all that condone this form of violence. The so called religious community is more in keeping with radical extremism than any religion I know.”

I predicted immediately that this scumbag that killed Dr. Tiller would receive aid from the Anti-Choice movement. I stand by that prediction. Operation Rescue can PRETEND all they want that they had nothing to do with this, but I will never believe it and neither should any thinking person.

Dr. Tiller was targeted by Operation Rescue for years and years. The nation witnessed this during the summer their members showed up every day to harass poor women who were in need of healthcare. (They didn’t care that some of those women were just there to get their birth control pills; they don’t want women to use those either.) Dr. Tiller was targeted by Operation Rescue when a local candidate that was heavily backed by Anti-Choice groups managed to worm his way into the State Attorney General’s office and wage war against Dr. Tiller, his practice and his patients. Phill Kline illegally seized and possessed and shared with multiple parties the federally protected health records of many women who had been patients at Dr. Tiller’s clinic. Though his efforts to prosecute Dr. Tiller proved unsuccessful, he was never punished and his efforts were further persecution that Dr. Tiller underwent at the hands of the Anti-Choice movement. It has been a scant few months since those charges against Dr. Tiller were dropped. The man that is accused of murdering Dr. Tiller, whose identity was known but not released by the local media, is from the same area where Phill Kline launched his ultimately unsuccessful career in politics. What a coincidence; or is it?



My immediate thought upon hearing that Dr. Tiller had been murdered was that the Anti-Choice movement’s reaction to losing control. They had decided that this was their only remaining option due to their hysterical fear of the Obama presidency and the change that it has brought. They had missed their best chance of getting rid of Dr. Tiller when public momentum was swinging their way. They had been unable to get him using intimidation tactics. They had been unable to get him using corrupt public officials. Now that the Obama administration was supposedly ushering in a new movement toward liberalism, they saw their opportunity disappear. How convenient that a looney steps out from the shadows and effectively puts an end to the activities they had been so offended by for all these years by murdering Dr. Tiller. How many doctors will step up to take his place and take a stand for women and families? My prediction; 0.

Supposedly there is a Federal investigation into whether Roeder was acting alone. He was in contact with high officials of Operation Rescue and has made statements to the Associated Press that more murders are planned. It is my fervent hope that the government will be able to prove the links that do exist between Roeder and Operation Rescue and that Federal Anti-Terror statutes will be used to charge him and them with crimes of terror. An example must be set here. It is high time, past time, that this nation stand up against the wrong-headed, delusional thinking that was born during the Reagan era and has metasticized into the what is currently called “The Religious Right.”

Check out a local "ministry" here:
http://www.ffc.org/index.html

It is high time that we all stop pretending that we are not surrounded by insane people suffering from religion-inspired delusions that are whipped up by self-serving politicians hungry for power and money. It is time for the nation to finally acknowledge that the Religious Right is a group filled with religious extremists on par with those Islamic terrorists that we have all come to fear.

The time is coming when we will need to consider the REAL DANGER of religion and its affect on the weak-minded among us. Many citizens have no idea that churches are run just like corporations these days. They have subsidiary businesses that include financial arms, banks, investment companies, etc. There are millionaire pastors with their own private planes and they keep the money in the family by hiring their family members as employees. They are making money hand over fist and they are not paying any taxes. With all that money and power comes corruption unimaginable to the likes of you and me. It’s time to investigate the churches and their actions and dealings with politicians, business interests and interest groups.

It’s time to examine the link between church finances and political corruption. It’s time to STOP putting up with this insanity and corruption in the name of religious freedom. This murdering and intolerance can’t possibly be what the founding fathers had in mind when they created this nation.

Another excellent article on Dr. Tiller's murder here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-mapes/no-mercy_b_209529.html

And please check out this website as well:
http://iamdrtiller.com/

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DEFINING OUR CHOICE

The upcoming Presidential election may be one of the most important elections of our lifetime. For many years, people said that it did not matter who was running the White House and that there was no difference between the two parties. So much has occurred in the past eight years that has proven that this is not the case. There are stark differences between the platforms of the two parties and what their nominees for President are promising for our future.

The basis for the Republican Party’s political platform is that government and taxes are bad; rules and regulations on business are bad, but strict rules and regulations on individuals are necessary to maintain a decent society; “free market” forces will solve societal problems if government stays out of the way; and government programs (including education, healthcare, or social security) are bad; we don’t need a “nanny” government. Republicans support removing regulations from industry, and so deregulated the banking, insurance and financial services industries, resulting in our current economic recession and market crash. Republicans advocate eradication of all taxpayer-funded social safety nets. They support privatization of social security, see no use for welfare programs, believe healthcare is a commodity to be bought and sold, have privatized our national defense (resulting in huge profits for a handful of large corporations, even to the detriment of our troops and military strategy) and would like to either privatize or eradicate public education. They have established a record of being pro-corporate “rights” and anti-individual rights, and claim to be the party of law and order but appear to believe that the law does not apply to them and refuse to honor court-ordered subpoenas. The past three Republican Presidential administrations have established a record of war, huge budget deficits, and increased unemployment, homelessness and poverty. The current administration has destroyed our reputation abroad by use of illegal, unilateral military action, exhibiting a complete disdain for diplomacy and making arrogant foreign policy statements. It has advanced the radical idea of the “unitary executive” which gives broader powers to the executive branch OVER the other two branches of government in direct conflict with the US Constitution.

John McCain wants to make tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent and give small tax cuts to working families. He is a believer in the “trickle-down theory” of economics which advocates policies to enrich the wealthiest portion of society in the hopes that some of that wealth will trickle down to the working class. He wants to tax your employer-provided health insurance benefits as income that would be applied as a payroll tax on your paycheck. To make up for the extra tax burden, he offers a “tax credit” ($2500 for individuals, $5000 for families) that is payable directly to your insurance provider. He has a record of advocating for and participating in the deregulation of banking, financial services and insurance because he believes that rules are an unnecessary hindrance to the free market. He has supported school vouchers to publicly subsidize the cost of private school education. He has stated that he is willing to allow our military to remain in Iraq for one hundred years and has advocated “pre-emptive military strikes” on Iran and Pakistan. Though he experienced torture firsthand as a prisoner of war, he has advocated our government’s use of torture and “extraordinary rendition” (kidnapping). John McCain calls himself a “maverick” but has staunchly supported the current administration’s policies and has completely changed his stand on many political issues in the past eight years so that he is now in lock-step with the Party he says he stood up against. He states that he is against special interests and wants to change Washington, but he has surrounded himself with special interest lobbyists and revolving door insiders and he chose a running mate that would appeal to certain voting blocks instead of someone who would be a knowledgeable, strong contributor to his administration.

The basis for the Democratic Party’s political platform is that government has an obligation to provide necessary services and protections for the people of the country and funds these services by taxes; common-sense rules and regulations on individuals and commerce are necessary to maintain a balance of power and a stable society and economy; national security can be maintained without sacrificing individual civil rights; fair market policies will create a stable economy and better foreign policy and promote a strong middle class which is the backbone of our economy and society ; and healthcare is not a commodity, but a right of all people. They support increased benefits for veterans and military families; equality; civil rights; healthcare for all, regardless of income; and will not privatize or do away with social security because they understand that this is a necessary program. They have established a record of policies that lift up the middle class, use our military as a last resort, utilize diplomacy to avoid conflict in foreign policy, fund education and healthcare for children and the elderly and create policies to assist with the costs of college education and the American dream of home ownership. The most recent Democratic Presidential administration took a budget deficit and turned it into a surplus while still managing to fund education, healthcare, and social safety net programs; overhauled a social security system that Republicans insisted was broken beyond repair; stimulated the economy, providing jobs that decreased unemployment; maintained our moral standing abroad; lifted the hopes and means of the working class and left behind decreased poverty and a budget surplus.

Barack Obama wants to work within the current employer and government provided healthcare system to expand healthcare and insurance to all citizens regardless of income. He wants to cut taxes to everyone making less than $265,000 a year and repeal the Bush taxcuts for the wealthiest portion of society. He wants to fund education and programs that will make college education possible for all. He advocates the use of regulations to protect consumers from bad products, fraudulent practices in banking and lending, and promotes policies that reward corporations for keeping jobs in the United States. He has a record of working with and for America’s working classes, supporting our troops, supporting equality and working in government in a bi-partisan fashion to solve problems. He has promised to bring an end to the Iraq occupation in a safe and responsible manner and go after Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. He promotes raising the minimum wage, affordable housing, equal pay for women and wants to create policies that will support the growth of “Green” industries, providing more jobs. He supports increased consumer protection, farm programs and policies that support family farms instead of corporate farms, upgrading rural infrastructure, and increased access to healthcare in rural communities. He promises to bring change to Washington and backed that statement up by refusing to take campaign funds from Political Action Committees and special interest lobbyists. He has proven that he can stand up against unwarranted personal attacks on his character and patriotism, dirty whisper and smear campaigns questioning his religious beliefs and family origins, and a steady stream of outright lies about him promoted by the McCain campaign. And he chose as his running mate a qualified, knowledgeable, experienced person who will not act as a "Yes man" but will contribute fresh and differing points of view to his administration.

There are obvious philosophical, ethical and economic differences between the two political parties. What you have to decide is which party’s philosophies and which candidate’s policies will best serve the interests of this country and her people for the next four years and beyond. If you prefer candidates and policies that will continue the “trickle-down” theories, divisiveness, souring economy and endless war that has been the hallmark of the Republican party, McCain/Palin is your ticket. If you believe that this country is on the wrong track, are ready for logical economic policies that create jobs and promise hope for the future and that we can all act NOW to change the system and get things working for the citizens again, Obama/Biden is your ticket. That’s the choice we are all faced with on November 4th.

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