The Flip-Flop Express or Republic B.S.

posted by Bill Arnett @ 11:56 AM Permalink

This, I guess, should not have come as a surprise, but I still find it fascinating that when principled politicians of the liberal stripe come to modify a past position as new information has become available that enables or sparks a change of heart regarding an issue, they are condemned by the Republic Party as "flip-floppers" of the worst kind and unworthy to breathe oxygen. (And "Republic Party" isn't a typo. As long as those rude @$$h0les keep calling us the "Democrat Party" as a not-so-subtle insult, I will continue to call them the Republic party and I encourage all else to do the same.)

Yet when one of the darlings of the Right, like St. John McCain, the self-annointed "maverick" and "straight talker" does it again and again it is somehow just dandy with 'em.

St. John in 1999 during an interview, reprinted today at ThinkProgress:

In 1999, the “moderate” version of John McCain said that overturning Roe v. Wade would be dangerous for women and he would not support it, even in “the long term.” Here’s McCain in the San Francisco Chronicle:

I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.

Comes there now a new position, one presumed to appeal to the Religious Right (and, no, I do not mean bent over grasping his ankles) from an article on Yahoo:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record), looking to improve his standing with the party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.

McCain also vowed that if elected, he would appoint judges who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."

So now we need to explain to all the little chirrun' that according to the New Testament version of St McCain it is perfectly fine to "…force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

Just so everything is clear, dontcha know.

Labels: abortion, flip-flops, McCain, politics, Roe v. Wade