Bipartisan Brain Dysfunction Keeps Late-Term Abortions Legal
Count me among those who were delighted that social conservatives tested Republicans on the partial-birth abortion issue - even though the GOP was found wanting.
Someone had to hold a mirror up to the party of Lincoln.
Here we have a party which owes its slender congressional majority to grass-roots efforts. Yet, it can’t pass a simple resolution denying party funding for GOP candidates who back this extreme form of abortion.
Even the occasional Democrat realizes killing a viable third trimester fetus borders on infanticide. U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York comes to mind.
Generally, Democrats pride themselves on caring for the downtrodden, excepting, of course, the truly helpless: the unborn. Republicans, on the other hand, care only for their own preservation.
A pox on both their houses.
Cruelty in this case doesn’t equal felony
State Rep. Jim Stoicheff’s heart is in the right place, but a recent bill he filed against pet haters isn’t. The Sandpoint Democrat wants to make it a felony to shoot pets on a neighbor’s property. Said Stoicheff: “It’s such a cruel act. Bloody terrorism, that’s what it is.” I agree, to a point. Anyone who would trespass on a neighbor’s property to kill his animals is despicable.
The proposal stems from a Bonner County case in which neighbors were suspected of shooting a man’s dogs. However, there already are too many people in Idaho prisons for crimes that are not felonies in other states. In fact, Idaho will spend $130 million in the next two years on new prison cells, mainly to house small-time felons. A prison term for a dead dog is too much, by a tad.
Tater Tots
Bret Bowers’ stint as a KXLY-TV reporter should serve him well in his new role as executive director of Concerned Businesses of North Idaho. Life as a television talking head can be stressful. Then, it’s probably not half as bad as dealing with 60 finicky mid- to upper-level business leaders. Ask ex-exec Pat Raffey. Good luck, Bret … Don’t look now, but Idaho legislators are starting to nibble at voter-approved term limits. First up in ‘98: House Bill 479, which removes limits for county prosecutors. Stay tuned … See, I told you Washington state will get a bargain when it signs football coach Mike Price for $450,000 per year (counting guaranteed outside income). U-Dub’s Jim Lambright just inked a pact that could pay him $567,000 annually through 2001. And his team finished second in the last Apple Cup.
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