Power

Lies going unchallenged

Sure, it's tiresome to be always refuting the lies that the forced childbirth crew spew, but it must be done, and I don't see it happening. Where is the pushback to the recent false and inflamatory quote in a national publication that, "Planned Parenthood raked in more than $300 million in profits..."

Just the other day, the new head of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (probably mangling her name) correctly and truthfully said that the Republicans are anti-women and that she was planning to mobilize women to vote against the Republicans who are advancing legislation that negatively affects women. (Good Idea!!!)

In covering this story for US News and World Report, in the column, Washington Whispers, Paul Bedard decided that a true statement by a nationally respected and powerful member of Congress who will be directing the election campaign for the whole Democratic Party needed balance, or something, so he turned to the leader of an anti-abortion group and quoted her factually incorrect and inflamatory remark, “Planned Parenthood has raked in more than $300 million in profits over the past four years…” (Marjorie Dannenfelser)

He didn’t add any qualifier or note that this is disputed. Oh well, surely someone will challenge this smear in the comments? Nope, just right wing vitriol aimed at Schultz. Then I thought, one of the feminist bloggers will write about this, so I looked around, and nope, nothing. Does Planned Parenthood have a site where I can easily access some numbers to disprove the statement? No. And besides, PP is a non-profit and just like any other non profit, it’s innacurate to say that they “rake in profits.” Media Matters, anything on this there? No. How about RHRealityCheck, anything there on how part of the drastic new attacks on reproductive rights is achieved is through outright lies? A short article calling Mr. Bedard out for including an innacurate “counter-point”? A call to write to the editors of US News and World Report about this quote?

No. A big fat silence in response to this column. This is why we’re getting creamed.

If Democrats and women hope to win elections, a quote like this has to be pounced on. It’s disheartening to see the pathetic non response to a horribly biased and damaging assertion in a nationally influential publication.