The cunning minds in the Democratic Party have come up with another sure-fire way to shoot themselves in the foot (again.)

Is it time for Roe vs. Wade to go away?
Then the debate over abortion would begin

The debate over abortion began decades ago, has had major victories, yet these bozos want to throw all it out the window, including Roe vs. Wade, start over, and call it progress.

Should pro-choicers just give up and let Roe go? With the resignation of Sandra Day O’Connor from the Supreme Court, and the nomination of John Roberts, more people are asking that question. Democratic Party insiders quietly wonder if abandoning abortion rights would win back white Catholics and evangelicals. A chorus of pundits — among them David Brooks in the New York Times and the Washington Post’s Benjamin Wittes writing in The Atlantic — argue that the Roe vs. Wade decision’s unforeseen consequences exact too high a price: on democracy, on public discourse, even, paradoxically, on abortion rights.

Absolutely, the best possible way for a party to convince voters to support them is to abandon their base, toss long-held beliefs out the window, and grovel for votes by acting like the other party. A real recipe for success, you betcha.

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has relished the role of the fearless “Terminator” armed for battle against an army of special interests, is suddenly looking more like Gulliver — besieged, tied down, and overrun by his opponents.

Arnie, Arnie, Arnie. “The Terminator” was a movie. A fantasy. Not real life. In real life, especially in politics, you need to play well with others, build coalitions, and actually listen to what others say. The belief that you can do it all alone and thus slay your opponents is just lunk-headed macho delusion.

And no wonder: After months of campaigning, fund raising and warning of a Nov. 8  special election he insisted was “guaranteed,” the governor’s team blinked this week. Campaign adviser Mike Murphy floated a trial balloon — most likely to gauge Democratic Party as much as voter reaction — with Friday’s public acknowledgement that Team Schwarzenegger has discussed the impossible: dumping the much-heralded special ballot altogether.

Democratic strategist Garry South said there’s hardly an outpouring of pity for the GOP action-hero-turned-governor with this latest development. “He’s gotten himself into this pickle,” he said. “This was all about testosterone, and we’ll have to see whether his glands outduel his brain on how to get out of this mess.”

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Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair has apologised to the family of the Brazilian man shot dead by police in south London on Friday.

He said the death of Jean Charles de Menezes was a “tragedy”, but admitted more people could be shot as police hunt suspected suicide bombers.

“Who will police the police?”

Maybe he didn’t even know they were cops.

Witnesses say Mr. Menezes was running away from plainclothes police officers moments before he was fatally shot.

Plainclothes? If several men not obviously police point guns at you and yell at you to stop, hey, you might run too.

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U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters led a rally Saturday calling for the United States to withdraw from Iraq, where attendees tried to raise awareness of documents they said raised questions about the justification for the war.

This was part of 320 events nationwide on the 3rd anniversary of the Downing Street Memo. Several of us from ANSWER LA were there tabling, and we got out hundreds of flyers for the mass march and rally opposing the war on Sept. 24 in downtown L.A., part of similar actions in D.C., S.F., and elsewhere.

The rally seemed a bit tepid to me. Lots of talk about how Dubya may have lied to us (this is news?) and how we need to do something. Yet not a peep from the podium about the nationwide antiwar protests on Sept. 24. Um, if you wish to do something about the war, then  shouldn’t you at least mention those who actually are? Else it just seems liberal hand-wringing, all talk, no action, which is precisely where Congressional antiwar opposition is.

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