Posts on District of Columbia

For several years, a handful of far-right activists have promoted the idea that the occurrence of African American women choosing abortion amounts to a so-called “black genocide” perpetrated consciously by clinics. But it’s only seeming to catch on now, as more and more right-wing media outlets have picked up on the claim in the last few months. Televangelist Rod Parsley recently embraced the notion as a personal cause, and a UCLA student group deployed actors to call Planned Parenthood offices and pose as racist donors (under the assumption that if the operator accepts the money, the organization must be racist).

Activists promoting the “black genocide” idea converged on Thursday at a Washington, DC clinic protest. From a CBN report:

Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life: Planned Parenthood, guess what? Your secret is out!

John Jessup, CBN: That secret? That Planned Parenthood is deeply rooted in targeting African Americans for Abortions.

Day Gardner, National Black Pro-Life Union: Black America must wake up, and stand up, to this racist organization that purposefully plants abortion facilities firmly in black and minority neighborhoods. […]

Rev. Clenard Childress, Black Genocide: I believe, as always, that if abortion was not lucrative, it would not be legal and they are benefiting off of the blood of innocent babies.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) attended, promising to offer legislation to make it illegal “to abort a baby based solely on their sex or their race,” while others pushed Congress to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funding for its non-abortion health programs. (Federal funding of abortion is already prohibited by law.)

Protesters also linked their cause to the presidential campaign. Gardner’s National Black Pro-Life Union sent a letter to presidential candidates, calling on them to condemn Planned Parenthood’s supposed “racist business practices.” In particular, Barack Obama seemed to be the target. "If (Obama) supports abortion, which is a scourge of our community, which is devastating our community, then we cannot, we must not, support him," said Dallas pastor Stephen Broden at the protest.

The National Black Pro-Life Union has dogged Barack Obama for some time, as have others at Thursday’s protest. Clenard Childress of BlackGenocide.org, for example, recently accused Obama of being a black “front” man for Planned Parenthood.

Associated Press stories run almost identically in various newspapers—maybe the headline will change, or a few paragraphs will be trimmed. Or, in some cases, certain copy-editing standards will be enforced. Take this AP story from last week, as run in the Washington Examiner, a right-leaning tabloid in D.C.:

Md. lawmakers renew debate on in-state tuition for immigrants

By KRISTEN WYATT, AP

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland lawmakers renewed debate Thursday over one of the sharpest topics to come up in recent years - whether to allow residents who are illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition.

Now consider the version published by the right-wing Washington Times:

Tuition for illegals stirs strong debate

By Kristen Wyatt

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — Maryland lawmakers renewed debate yesterday over one of the sharpest topics to come up in recent years — whether to allow residents who are illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition.

Replacing “illegal immigrants” with “illegal aliens” was part of the Times’ stylebook. The same went for “same-sex marriage,” which the Times published as “same-sex ‘marriage’”—that is, the paper added scare-quotes around the word "marriage." These typographical tics were more than a conservative badge of honor for the Times, owned by Korean religious leader Rev. Sun Moon. For many observers, they were also a running gag, a joke that the newspaper didn’t seem to be in on.

But the comical stylebook, at least, is now a thing of the past—another casualty of executive editor Wesley Pruden’s retirement, along with the departure of longtime staffers Fran Coombs and Robert Stacey McCain, who gave the Times an unfortunate air of white supremacy. New executive editor John Solomon promises “news down the middle”; we’ll believe it when we see it.

When Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president last month, many on the far Right were outraged. Randall Terry, a militant anti-abortion activist, was crushed that the religious-right icon would side with “Beelzebronx”:

Is Pat Robertson so terrified of Hillary that he will betray the Right to Life, Marriage, Self-defense, and The Church Herself as long as a fellow Republican snatches power? Rudy may wade through the blood of the innocent to reach the throne; he may be a stench in the nostrils of Angels – and the nostrils of devils for that matter – but at least Rudy is a stench that comes from the GOP stable – and he's not Hillary. Is this the conviction we expect from Christian Leaders?

Terry, known for his aggressive clinic protests in the 1980s and 1990s, issued a clarion call for pro-life activists to turn those tactics on the D.C. bureau of Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. Here are a few highlights:

It appears as if the rift forming in the Right over which candidate, if any, to back in the Republican Presidential primary has been exponentially exacerbated by Pat Robertson’s decision to back Rudy Giuliani. 

And while many of his erstwhile allies have limited themselves to publicly blasting Robertson for his decision, it looks as if Randall Terry and whatever remains of Operation Rescue are set to turn the whole thing, as they always do, into a public spectacle:

"I am literally sick to my stomach over Dr. Robertson's decision. He wrote a forward to my book, Operation Rescue, I have been on the 700 Club, I have spoken at Regent University, CBN helped me get started in radio, and the attorneys of the ACLJ have been heroic advocates for our pro-life mission.

"This is what happens when a leader puts party ahead of principle; it corrupts ones ability to reason consistently. We can only pray that this horrific decision of Dr. Robertson is ignored by the 'Christian Right' and the 'Christian Coalition,' and that he comes to his senses quickly. God have mercy on him, and give long life to him."

Demonstration at CBN, with News Conference

When: Saturday, November 10, 1:30 – 2:30 P.M. (ET)

Where: CBN Washington DC Headquarters, 1919 M Street, NW, between 19th and 20th.

Who: Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, and pro-life activists from the Washington DC area.

As the Federation for American Immigration Reform and a number of radio talk-show hosts convene their anti-immigrant rally in Washington, D.C. this week, organizers were hoping to feature a convoy of truckers riding around the Beltway (Interstate 495) to protest illegal immigration and the mythical “North American Union.” The stunt, planned by bicyclist and author Frosty Wooldridge of the Save American Fund, was supposed to cause “a complete backup of traffic” by “encouraging truckers to form side-by-side convoys and circle the highway at the posted 55 mph speed limit.” A spokesman for the Maryland State Police didn’t sound too worried, saying “We have no problem with that, we want them to do the speed limit.”

Although the truckers apparently didn’t make it out today, one has to wonder about the feasibility of such an endeavor. Making it up to 55 on the Beltway during the excruciating rush hour would be impressive indeed.

A frequent complaint from opponents of same-sex marriage is that courts shouldn’t meddle in the issue – even though courts are charged with enforcing the equal protection of rights under the law. But anti-gay activists were pleased enough when courts in New York and other states rejected the claims of gay couples. How serious are anti-gay activists about letting the elected legislature decide?

Perhaps that logic only applies when the legislature comes down on their side. Last week, the California-based Campaign for Children and Families decried as “undemocratic” a bill to establish same-sex marriage going through the legislature. (It passed last year, but the governor vetoed it.)

And yesterday, the Family Research Council managed to juxtapose, in the same paragraph, their opposition to Washington, D.C.’s elected representatives getting to decide the issue and their claim that marriage in Maryland is “the province of the legislature”:

Hoping to avoid any "congressional meddling," the D.C. City Council is testing the waters for a same-sex marriage bill in the District. After passing a string of pro-homosexual legislation, the Council believes this to be the next logical step. While federal lawmakers have been all too receptive to the city's recent actions on "gay rights," Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who will soon chair the committee overseeing D.C. affairs, said the issue is not expected to surface. Congress has 30 days to challenge any law passed by the District government, and with the country's near sweep of marriage protection amendments many believe the move would be frowned on. In neighboring Maryland, the state Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in the case to uphold a ban on same-sex marriage. Plaintiffs will continue to argue that a social issue of this magnitude is the province of the legislature--not the courts.