Joan Walsh Needs Help as a Political Analyst; Allow Me
So according to her bio, Joan Walsh is a National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation and MSNBC political analyst. She’s not a particularly profound pundit nor is she particularly ghastly — ghastly profundity being my preferred flavor of punditry. No, Joan Walsh is neither and into the drawer full of boring she goes.
Except of course, when she tweets something like this straight from the stinking gorge of her own asshole. “Tweeps” say, she says. “Tweeps.”
But God damn, if we’re going to just pull this steaming pile out, let’s take it all the way.
To even insinuate for a fraction of a second that Bernie Sanders even needs to reiterate his life-time stance on the issue of abortion is to be playing pollyannish when your JOB IS TO BE A FUCKING POLITICAL EXPERT.
Bernie Sanders has been running for office SINCE BEFORE Roe v. Wade! That means he literally has an unbroken record in support of abortion since the day it became legalized. He has never wavered in being a pro-choice candidate. Never!
Can Hillary Clinton say that? NO! SHE CAN’T. She literally can’t.
But can Bernie Sanders? Yes, absofuckinglutely. Bernie Sanders has a lifetime pro-choice voting record! For the entire duration of time that abortion has been legal in America!
Before she married Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham campaigned for George McGovern in 1972. Though Roe v. Wade was making its way through the Supreme Court, in 1972, McGovern was not a pro-choice candidate.
After Roe v. Wade, Hillary then worked for her husband’s campaign for Governor of Arkansas. And “For most of his years as Arkansas Governor,” wrote New York Times’ Felicity Barringer in 1992, ”Bill Clinton was a study in reticence on the volatile issue of abortion.” In fall of 1986, Governor Clinton wrote to a constituent: “I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong.”
I recognize that Hillary Clinton has no doubt been a pro-choice feminist for probably most of her adulthood. But I know that for most of *his* adulthood, Bernie Sanders has actually been a pro-choice politician.
When Hillary Rodham was working for pro-life candidates, Bernie Sanders was running for office as a pro-choice candidate. At the exact same time.
Go ahead. Look it up, Joan Walsh. Do your job.
Lifetime pro-choice record, plus funding for family planning
Q: Where does Bernie stand with regard to women’s reproductive health?
A: Bernie believes in protecting a woman’s right to choose and has a lifetime pro-choice record:
In 1993, he co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, which aimed to bar states from restricting the right to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability or at any time when a termination is necessary to protect the health of a woman.
In April 2012, Bernie wrote “We are not returning to the days of back-room abortions, when countless women died or were maimed. The decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman, her family and physician to make, not the government.”
Bernie voted numerous times to allow women to travel interstate for abortions, supported permitting federal funding of organizations that conduct abortions, and voted to increase access and funding for family planning for women.
In light of these votes, Bernie has repeatedly received ratings of 100% from NARAL Pro-Choice America
