Long-time readers know by now that I despise Chris Christie, and I think he should go to his happy place: Being a sports commentator. But he's a politician, running to become president of the United States, and if he won, he would do as much damage as Trump without attracting as much attention. This discussion about abortion laws on Morning Joe illustrates how he thinks.
"Nikki {Haley) brought up a very good point, that Republicans are pushing for a 15-week ban. That's what the Mississippi ban was going to be. That's also about what the limit is in France and across the rest of Europe, 15, 16 weeks. Also, that's where most Americans are. That's past the first trimester," Joe Scarborough said.
"It's going into the second trimester trimester, 15 weeks with exceptions. Roe, of course, was viability, right? That's 23, 24, 25 weeks. Doesn't it seem between those two points like there can be consensus, that we don't have to be fighting over this issue and leaving it to unelected judges for the rest of our lifetimes?"
And here's where Panderin' Chris does his thing.
"Listen, Joe, I've argued for decades as a lawyer that Roe was wrong. There is nothing in the Constitution that talks about this issue, and it should be left to the states," he said.
Now, let me point something out. The overwhelming majority of Americans want legal abortion, and they want it to be decided between a woman and her doctor. This issue has turned into political suicide for Republicans, so Chris generously concedes to... split the difference. In other words, the winners of the debate have to give away their rights to keep Republicans in power!
"So if you're president of the United States and Wisconsin has an 1849 total ban of abortion, you'll sit back and go, that's cool?" Scarborough said.
"What I'm going to say is the states have the rights to do what they want to do, Joe. Yet, in my state of New Jersey, it's abortion up to nine months. I don't agree with that any more than I agree with banning abortion," Christie said.
Big of you, Chris! But New Jersey doesn't allow what most people think of abortion until the ninth month -- they allow procedures in many of the heartbreaking circumstances that risk the life or health of the mother. It's not like a nine-months' pregnant woman can walk into a hospital and say, "You know what? Never mind."
Mika Brzezinski was not having it.
"It is not an abortion at nine months, and there's not a doctor that would do it. It only happens in extremely severe circumstances. Bring me the evidence of women across the state of New Jersey having abortions in the ninth month. It's not happening, Chris. Come on," she said.
"You said this the last time you were on and I let it go. I can't let it go again. There's no abortions in the ninth month."
Christie argues that everyone should just give into the minority.
"What I want to do is see all of the states weigh in individually. Then, let's let the federal government look at, is there a consensus, Joe? Is there a consensus, and Mika, and that has been developed by the 50 states that can be implemented by the federal government, and that you can get 60 votes for in the United States Senate, which is what you would need to put any bill on the president's desk. We all know that.
"So the fact is, I want this process to move forward in the states. Lots of things are happening that surprise people. The vote in Kansas surprised a lot of political experts who said that it would go one way and it went completely the other. We've seen that in Ohio, as well. We've seen it in other places, where folks thought the vote was going to go one way and it went totally differently.
"So I want to put this in the hands of the people of this country and out of the hands of the politicians. Let them decide in each state, then let's see if a consensus develops. If it does, then the federal government can get involved. But first, let's let the states do what they should be doing. My point on contrasting New Jersey to, let's say, Oklahoma, is that there is a diversity of opinion in this opinion in this country. Let's honor the diversity of that opinion and see if a consensus can be formed by all 50 of the states. That's the way the Founders wanted these things to be."
No, Chris. What you mean is that the Republican minority should get its way, always, on everything. Abortion, guns, civil rights, voting rights. When you're splitting the difference on rights, they're no longer rights.
