One thing I forgot to mention about the Blog Meet...it seems that Rep. Jim McDermott has a GOP competitor in this go-round, one that keeps popping up...building more support each time...
Steve Beren.
A former leftist who's seen the light according to Phil over at Random Nuclear Strikes, Beren may well be what's needed to extract the silliest member of our states Congressional delegation from the strangeness that is D.C....and take one small step forward towards deposing Pelosi.
He survived the top-two primary this time around, and this is the first time I've taken real notice of him. The one thing that concerns me is his rating with SEAMEC (think LGBT version of a League of Women's Voters, but a bit less multi-partisan) ...or lack thereof.
For one reason and another I have some insights into SEAMEC's process, and usually a rating of (?) means either that a candidate has refused to respond to either the standard questionaire and/or interview request, or that the responses and history available were so sparce as to make an informed rating untenable.
Sometimes this means that a candidate is a fervent anti-LGBT bigot; other times it means that while friendly (or at least not hostile) that the candidate is of the view that an LGBT group blessing him is electoral poison in their district; and yet other times, the candidate simply views an LGBT elections rating group as a self-destructive waste of time (since, according to this theory, we all hate the GOP unalterably and in lockstep anyway - so why try, and potentially hand ammunition to the enemy).
As much as I like Beren's positions on guns and fiscal issues - the phrase "social conservative" without substantially more definition makes me nervous. I'm not especially thrilled with his views on abortion, but that's not an absolute deal-killer for me - I tend towards Roe v. Wade being absolutely horrid precedent that, in spite of itself and the miserable can of worms it opened, actually accomplished a good end.
Not every moral decision is best made in a courtroom or in a legislature - some are best made by individuals, affecting their own lives, in the darkness of their souls - and having made those decisions, answer for them to their faith and their ultimate judge.
Abortion, I believe, is one of those intensely personal decisions. One that with ridiculously rare exceptions, should be the untrammeled choice of the woman involved right up till that point in time where the fetus is externally viable. And even then...there are issues that trouble me.
For me, just for me, that is the line where medical treatment becomes murder, with all the defenses inherent to that act - including that hoary old classic, self-defense - where it's either the mom or the kid, it doesn't seem unreasonable that the Mom or her representative have decision making power.
Beyond that, in that whole theoretical grey zone where life gets complicated, I don't have all the answers. Hell, I don't think I have the answer to hardly any of the questions on this one.
Late stage foetal injuries? Late appearing genetic issues? Anencephaly? I don't have those answers, and I don't think the law should carve out a "one size fits all" solution, because I don't think all situations are identical (or even comparable). And that barely even touches on the realm of issues that can go awry as a foetus develops...
And that's merely the beginning of the debate - if a child (i.e., sticking carefully to what we all agree is a child - the critters that've hatched and are still under 18) is struck down by some terminal or near-terminal event (disease, accident, or malicious act) the parent(s) are stuck with the hard decisions about treatment or the lack thereof. Even that last and most horrible decision, to let a child go, falls on the parent(s) under such circumstances. And barring rare circumstances, they don't go to jail for it.
Apply that same logic now to abortion. See why I might be conflicted? Or have issues with someone that claims there's a black'n'white solution?
Yet, that's not a deal-breaker. Not by itself. After all, he's running against McDermott. But I'd sure feel better if he played nicely with SEAMEC.
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