Posted on 03/11/2009 9:02:19 PM PDT by xjcsa
In an interview with GQ, Michael Steele called abortion an "individual choice" and said the question should be left to the states.
Quotes from the interview; interviewer's questions in italics:
THE GOOD:
Do you think bipartisanship can work?
No. [pause] Look, I’m sorry, I know this is, you know, la-la land and Rodney King time and we all wanna get along, but that is not the nature of American politics. That is not the nature of politics, period.
I don’t know if refreshing’s the word, but to hear someone say bipartisanship doesn’t work—
It doesn’t work! I mean, I understand the ideal of it. But at the end of the day, this is a game of winners and losers. This is zero-sum. Your winning is my losing. My winning is your losing.
[snip]
THE BAD
Do you think homosexuality is a choice?
Oh, no. I don’t think I’ve ever really subscribed to that view, that you can turn it on and off like a water tap. Um, you know, I think that there’s a whole lot that goes into the makeup of an individual that, uh, you just can’t simply say, oh, like, “Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being gay.” It’s like saying, “Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being black.”
[snip]
THE UGLY
Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion? Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.
You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.
Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.
Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?
The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Another one bites the dust!
He sounds confused.
Abortion an ‘individual choice’
Priesthood-safe closet for gays
On minorities and the GOP:
“we have offered them nothing! And the impression we’ve created is that we don’t give a damn about them or we just outright don’t like them.”
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2009/03/the-reconstruct.html
You had my blood boiling with the headline but it wasn’t so bad. As long as he’s for RvW being overturned. Let the states decide.
Apparently no tagline when you post the article; anyway see my profile page for my bias here.
How did this nincompoop win the chairmanship?
Ugh. Although , of course, if Roe v Wade is overturned, it goes back to the states, which is where it belongs. But that homosexuality answer was absurd.
how did Steele ever get elected?
If he had given this interview in front of the RNC last month he’d have gotten 0 votes.
And does he even understand what he’s saying?
He says abortion is a choice and that it’s up to the woman, but he thinks that Roe, which said just that, is wrong and should be overturned, and it should go the states where the states decide, not the woman, who he just said should be the one who decides. i.e, if 50% of say LA(including men, btw) decides against abortion then it won’t matter what Diane in Baton Rouge or Lisa in New Orleans decides, others decided for her.
His whole answer is totally incoherent and makes no sense.
And this guy is the head of a major national party???
Wow
I was really cheering for ya, Mike. I really was.
Once again, conservatives letting the media force us to focus on issues that quite frankly will not matter in the long run of this country
When we allow Zero to spend us into oblivion, and the nation is broke in 20 years and us conservatives are digging in trash cans for food, we won’t give a damn whether or not the now insolvent state of CA allows a woman to have an abortion
Who cares what his personal opinion on abortion is; his professional opinion is the Constitutionally correct one — that the decision should be reserved to the states.
Thank you! This is a 10th Amendment issue. Let the states decide!
it’s not even so much that he has a pro choice position, but that he seems utterly befuddled and unable to even understand the basics of the issue. I mean, it’s only one of the foundational issues of the modern GOP, along with anti-communism and low taxes/supply-side economics among others. And the nat’l chairman doesn’t appear to even be able to discuss it at a level that even a 1st year law student would understand.
I mean, imagine if he was talking baout say say freedom of religion and said that it’s an individual choice and then 30 seconds later said that it’s up to the state to decide.
or if he was talking about guns and said the same thing.
It is bigger news that the GOP elected a pro-choice chairman. I don’t think we’ve ever had that before, much bigger than being the first black guy. Were people aware of this? Did the RNC know this when they voted? Did Steele hoodwink and bamboozle and give them the old okeydoke on abortion to quote Obama?
I mean, even McCain was pro-life.
Is this a sign that abortion no longer matters to the nat’l party? If so, they won’t win the WH again for quite some time.
Because a lot of us care quite a bit what his personal opinion is. We want to see if he has any moral standing, we want to see if he has any guts, we want to see if he stands on principle or expediency, looks like he answered that one. This is the kind of person that will stab you in the back when the chips are down. No thanks Steele, unlike your name, your backbone is mush.
I don’t like abortion, but there is no mention of it in the constitution. Roe v Wade was a terrible decision.
The abortion issue should be left to the states to decide.
> Do you think homosexuality is a choice?
>
> Oh, no. I don’t think I’ve ever really subscribed to that > view,
Once you’re an alcoholic, it’s not a choice, either. But that’s not a license to go through life drunk.
I submit that homosexuality is just like any another addiction, like alcoholism, gambling, drug addiction. Some folks have a proclivity for it. But that still doesn’t make it right.
Steele is an idiot.
The Republicans are toast as long as they have Donkey-lite at the helm.
Tell that to the baby who's going to be hacked into pieces without anesthesia tomorrow morning at Planned Parenthood.
Unlike abortion, guns are dealt with in the Constitution by the 2nd Amendment. Any matter that isn't settled by the Constitution should be left to the states.
Lots of Freepers supported him, too. Lots.
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