On Obama, the Global Gag Rule, and the Myth of Post-Partisanship

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Let's be clear. There's no such thing as post-partisanship. President Obama's annoying tendency to try to please everyone could one day cause him to lose everybody. The most recent group he threw over the side was women—who gave him his job. Unlike his two predecessors, Obama did not take action on the so-called global gag rule on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. But major media sources say he will act to end it, possibly as soon as today.

The delay is due to Obama's ridiculous attempt to curry favor with the religious right. He can't do it and maintain the support of progressive women and men, gays and lesbians, non-Christians, or, in other words, the bulk of his constituency.

Say some on the religious right:

That's a respectful move, said the Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of Northland Church, outside Orlando, Fla., an abortion opponent who has tried to expand the evangelical agenda.

"I really do appreciate their sensitivity to this day and this issue," he said. "To do it [the policy change] on a day that pro-life people see as a day of grief, and a day of a really hurtful decision, would be, I think, very insensitive. And that's not who I think President Obama is or would mean to be."

Washington was awash yesterday in these folks, who, by the way, left behind a mountain of street trash. Uber-Christians close the religious schools and bring all the students, willingly or not, to the rally to billow the ranks.

President Obama cannot find common ground with these radicals, and he's kidding himself if he thinks he can. Some of the most radical elements of these groups murder ob-gyn doctors. They are the ones who throw themselves on the pavement to stop women who are trying to gain access to women's health clinics. They are fanatics, plain and simple, and there's no pleasing them in the long run. I say he's wasting his time and precious political capital trying.

• Read more by Bonnie Erbe.
• Read more from the Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
• Read more about abortion.

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