President Trump’s Meet the Press interview – where he decried some conservative messaging on abortion – has attracted the ire of many of the institutional, D.C. “pro lifers” who presided over no actual changes on the matter, in America, for over four decades. These people – some of whom claim America’s Founding Fathers are in hell right now – profited off it indiscriminately, but it was Trump who finally managed to bring an end to Roe v. Wade by appointing Supreme Court justices who supported his perspective: that it is a matter for the states.
Now, the same groups who cheered him on just a few weeks ago are having very public conniptions over his pro-Constitution rhetoric. Save the fact that attempting a federal abortion ban would fly in the face of the Dobbs ruling – again, returning the matter to the states – it’s also worth remembering who these people are, and who warned about them decades prior.
“Mr. Conservative” himself, Senator Barry Goldwater, fought for President Reagan’s Supreme Court justice Sandra O’Connor, despite her signaling that she would not be in favor of changes in abortion rules via the court at the time, in the summer of 1981. Goldwater delivered a speech in Congress making clear that like O’Connor, he was not “pro-abortion” but rather, understood that governing was not as simple as broad declarative positions on any one matter alone.
“The uncompromising position of these groups is a divisive element that could tear apart the very spirit of our representative system, if they gain sufficient strength,” the Arizona man said, adding:
“As it is, they are diverting us away from the vital issues that our Government needs to address. Far too much of the time of members of Congress and officials in the Executive Branch is used up dealing with special-interest groups on issues like abortion, school busing, ERA, prayer in the schools and pornography. While these are important moral issues, they are secondary right now to our national security and economic survival.”
Sound familiar? This is the mantra of those banging the drum on “woke” on repeat, while simultaneously struggling to find the time to address the plethora of other issues on America’s door step. True to form, Goldwater wasn’t decrying their perspectives, but their tactics, much like Trump on Meet the Press:
“I must make it clear that I don’t condemn these groups for what they believe. I happen to share many of the values emphasized by these organizations… Of course, the saddest part of the whole dispute was that Judge O’Connor was attacked by these religious factions for a position she doesn’t hold. She opposes abortion and said so. I firmly believe that she recognizes the authority of legislatures to regulate it.”
He was equally unequivocal in further comments made that year, as quoted by John Dean:
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”
It’s worth remembering, as these “please rush $5 to stop abortion” groups try to do to Trump what they failed to do to Justice O’Connor.
