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    6Feb, 2019
    The State of the Union

    President Trump delivered probably the strongest State of the Union speech I’ve ever heard–especially on the issue of life. In his speech, he said:

    To help support working parents, the time has come to pass School Choice for Americans’ children.  (Applause.)  I am also proud to be the first President to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave, so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child.  (Applause.)

    There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days.  Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments from birth.  These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and their dreams with the world.  And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth.

    To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.  (Applause.)

    Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.  (Applause.)  And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: All children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.

    Even with a pro-life president, we are in deep battles on the state level in a couple of states. As President Trump mentioned, New York legislators cheered when Governor Cuomo signed legislation that removed all protective legislation in the state and opened the door for abortions literally up to the moment of birth.

    Shocking? Yes.

    True? Most definitely.

    Earlier this week, I wrote about what we have been dealing with here in Virginia and the push to open the floodgates to allow abortions for any reason at anytime–even up to birth–and our governor’s desire to enshrine that in our state constitution.

    Contrary to what Planned Parenthood would have you believe, many, if not most, late-term abortions are NOT done for severe fetal abnormalities. Several years ago, I remember being stunned when, while on staff at National Right to Life, we received a copy of papers submitted by a leading late-term abortionist. In it, he listed the number of abortions he did for things like Down syndrome, cleft lip/palate or the fact that the mother was a teenager. These are not severe fetal abnormalities.

    But even if all late-term abortions were done for severe fetal abnormalities, ask yourself this: Is it better to deliver a child who will likely die but will spend his or her last moments wrapped in the loving arms of his or her parents or is it better to kill the baby? Does any child deserve to die?

    We should show compassion to both the parents and the child but killing a child through the act of abortion is not compassionate–it’s cruel.

    3Feb, 2019
    Governor Northam, the Right to Life, and Northam’s Yearbook Photo

    The focus in the news has been Governor Northam this week. Just a few days ago, the governor of our great commonwealth, interviewed on WTOP’s “Ask the Governor,” defended the Repeal Act which would reverse protective legislation in the state of Virginia. The protective laws in place, for example, include a parental notification/consent law and a law that requires an ultrasound before an abortion

    In his comments, the governor also defended abortions up to birth and the idea of a third-trimester abortion where, if the infant is born alive, he or she could be left to die. As egregiously pro-abortion as this is, he was being defended by supporters.

    The pro-life movement in Virginia mobilized and some voters were beginning to express their shock.

    Move forward about 48 hours and it’s revealed that the governor’s profile page from his medical school yearbook includes a photo of two people: one in blackface and one in a KKK costume. The governor issued an apology for appearing in the photo but then backtracked and said he was not in the photo BUT that he did appear in blackface at a different event where he portrayed Michael Jackson.

    I don’t know if Virginia has a provision for impeachment but quite a number of state and federal representatives on both sides of the aisle are calling for Governor Northam to resign. So far, he refuses.

    As an aside, I think his crisis communications team is doing a poor job of dealing with this. It may be that they are having a hard time because he wants to do things his way but it’s the job of the communications team to vet responses and address the issue consistently. If you were at fault, apologize. Apologize first to those you have offended then apologize to everyone else. And then, don’t back track. Don’t apologize then defend. That’s not an apology.

    But the KKK costume? It was bad in 1984 and it’s bad today. Some might argue that blackface in 1984 could be a “youthful indiscretion” but the KKK costume cannot be defended.

    Can he survive? I’ll be shocked if he can.

    22Jan, 2019
    Media Madness

    Having served as the media director for a national citizen’s lobby group several years ago, I know that the media can have their own agenda. I experienced it first hand.

    Years ago, after I did a live interview on a major national network, the producer used the footage to put together a package on the same topic to air later that night. The edited version was cut to make it sound like I said something I really didn’t. While the edits were consistent with our organization’s overall purpose, strategically it was not something we were saying at the time. I was really angry with the producer and left her a message to that effect.

    When I spoke with the producer the next day, she admitted that she cut the interview deliberately to create a brand-new-with-a-different-meaning quote for me because, as she put it, it was something that she “thought” I would say. It was the first time I had had that happen to me and when I spoke with another spokesperson–who had years more experience– he just laughed and said that it had happened to him several times and it was just the way reporters and producers could be. The edited quote, while not ideal, wasn’t the end of the world. His advice: never trust them.

    But I was angry. A journalist is supposed to report the news without bias and they’re not supposed to go “quote shopping”– i.e., trying to set up an interview to get a quote that fits a preconceived narrative. They’re not supposed to cut interview footage to reflect what they think a spokesperson should say.

    And, before you say it, I know they’re human–they make mistakes just like everyone else– but a single producer doesn’t produce a news package in a vacuum. She has supervising producers and executive producers who are supposed to act as stop-gaps to prevent such things from happening.

    So, yeah, I was angry.

    But I was a trained spokesperson. I knew what to expect and how to react and how to respond, yet I was still upset by how I was treated. I was still shocked by how easily it was–and is–in this day and age to have the words I said edited so that they sounded like a completely different quote.

    And the worst part is that those particular edits were a sham–a set up–designed to give “legs” to a story, make the news cycle, and put a particular network at the front. All in the name of ratings–which leads to advertisers and more money for the network.

    Newspapers around since the 1800s have had to compete against 24-hour news cycles since the 1990s and, today, they have to compete against the Twitterverse with posts from Joey875555 or Sebastian254486 (I’m making these up so don’t look for them on Twitter). And often the things posted on Twitter can become viral in moments.

    Pictures can be cropped and airbrushed, video footage edited, and yet, everyone still believes that what they see is the truth.

    And they take sides. Often viciously–because the basest, most feral parts of mankind feel freed in the anonymity of the internet.

    A lie can lede and a retraction doesn’t have the same power as the original story.

    There is a saying–modified from something Jonathan Swift once wrote–that says, “A lie can travel around the world before the truth has a chance to put on its pants.”

    Sadly, a few centuries later, it’s still true.