Aborting the Working Class

It would be an ignominious defeat worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy if abortion ends up being the issue that derails Trump as the Tank Engine. By claiming that there would have to be “some form of punishment” levied against any woman who would dare get an abortion in Donald Trump’s Great-Again America, the poor bastard walked right into Chris Matthews’ well-crafted trap. In fact, he eagerly took the bait that those he considers his lessers have been wise enough to pass up for years. All Republican presidential candidates in recent history—the “dummies,” the “failures,” the “disasters,” the ones who “got captured” in Vietnam—have at some point during their campaign been asked the “would you punish women who get abortions ” question by members of the mainstream media, and every one of them understood that it was a “gotcha” question and answered accordingly.

The late Tim Russert made a cottage industry out of the “would you punish women” question. He asked Mitt Romney in December 2007:

Russert: If a woman had an abortion, would she be perceived a criminal? And what would be the legal consequences to people who participated in that procedure?

Romney: You wouldn’t—I don’t think anyone is calling for—maybe some of them, but no one I know of is calling for punishing the mother, punishing the woman.

He put the same question to Mike Huckabee just two weeks later:

Russert: And what would happen to doctors or women who participated in the abortion?

Huckabee: I think you don’t punish the woman, first of all, because it’s not about—I consider her a victim, not a, not a criminal.

Russert grilled John McCain on the “punishment” issue in 2000 and 2008, and he got the same response both times: “Prosecute abortion doctors, not women who get them.”

It never mattered how many times he failed; every presidential election year, Russert would lob the question anew at every Republican running. Perhaps now that the hook he so lovingly baited over the course of so many years has finally landed “the big one,” his restive soul can be at peace.

Rest easy, Tim, your work is done. Walk toward the light.

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