The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Raymond Noodles’?

Posted on | February 19, 2011 | 38 Comments

I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced Rah-men noodles, but whatever. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) thinks it’s terrible that kids have to eat them because they don’t have Planned Parenthood:

I just want to tell you what it’s like not to have Planned Parenthood. You have to give your kids ramen noodles at the end of the month to fill up their little bellies so they won’t cry. You have to give them mayonnaise sandwiches. They get very few fresh fruits and vegetables because they’re expensive. It subjects children to low educational attainment because of the ravages of poverty.

What’s shocking about this argument is not merely the astonishing assertion that poverty is worse than death — for that is the essence of Rep. Moore’s argument — nor is it her assertion that “low educational attainment” is a necessary corollary of “the ravages of poverty” (as if no poor child ever succeeded in school).

Rather, what is so shocking is that this argument is being made by Gwen Moore, who is herself the eighth of her parents’ nine children. If Rep. Moore believes that her own life has been of some benefit to humanity, shouldn’t that give her pause before making an argument on behalf of Planned Parenthood? 

Michelle Malkin suggests that Ramen noodles are now the official pro-life food. (My personal favorite recipe: Add a slice of cheese and imitation bacon bits.) Sister Toldjah says Rep. Moore demonstrates the bankruptcy of the abortion cause.

Rep. Moore engages in the emotional-personal-anecdote mode of arguing public policy that liberals love, especially when they can get a Designated Victim to tell the heart-wrenching “just so” story. (Ann Coulter wrote an entire book about this phenomenon.) And sometimes liberals tell heart-wrenching stories just for the sake of telling heart-wrenching stories.

During this week’s debate over Planned Parenthood funding, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told such a story about undergoing a D&E procedure after she suffered a miscarriage.

Speier’s story was a complete non sequitur. She wasn’t describing an elective abortion, and the procedure wasn’t performed by Planned Parenthood. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) had just described a second-trimester abortion, and Speier evidently decided to introduce her own obstetric history into the debate, without regard for its actual relevance to the issue at hand.

Liberals do this sort of thing all the time, of course: One minute you’re having a discussion about the Second Amendment, and next thing you know you’re being blamed for the death of some innocent bystander who got gunned down in a drive-by shooting: “If it weren’t for you right-wing gun nuts, little 8-year-old Juan would be alive today!”

As if you, personally, had supplied weapons to the MS-13 gangsters who shot little 8-year-old Juan. (And no fair, by the way, using this situation to talk about our nation’s broken immigration policy as a contributing factor to crime.)

Hijacking debates with heart-wrenching stories is so habitual with liberals that they apparently don’t even care whether the anecdote is germain to the argument. So we have Rep. Moore telling her Ramen noodle story and Rep. Speier telling her miscarriage story, and liberals expect us not to notice that their stories have no relevance to the legislation that was being debated.

Republicans weren’t trying to outlaw Planned Parenthood, nor did the bill have anything to do with obstetric services to women suffering miscarriages. This was a debate about whether Planned Parenthood should receive taxpayer money, period.

Liberals purposely sought to confuse the issue, just as they seek to confuse the issue when Republicans who propose cutting taxpayer funds to PBS are accused of hating the Muppets.

By the way, this blog is not federally subsidized, so if you don’t hit my tip jar, I might be forced to feed my six kids Ramen noodles.

Or maybe even “Raymond noodles.”

Category: Democrats, Planned Parenthood

Comments

Comments are closed.