Speaking Out - NARAL vs. John Roberts
NARAL has purchased time on CNN and other networks to run an anti-John Roberts ad featuring an abortion clinic bombing and John Roberts filing papers "defending" the bombers. Tip of the hat to Carlos, who pointed me in the direction of Factcheck.org from UPenn's Annenberg Public Policy Center. Here's one snippet of how the ad deviates from the truth:
Is there just not enough stuff in this man's background to get criticism right?
The ad fails to mention that the "court briefs" it mentions are actually from nearly seven years before the abortion clinic bombing talked about in the ad. The woman in the ad, Emily Lyons, was injured by a bomb blast at the New Woman/All Women Health Clinic in Birmingham on January 28, 1998 that also killed an off-duty police officer. The bomber was Eric Rudolph, who was captured in May 2003 after a five-year manhunt. Rudolph pleaded guilty and in July 2005 was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole.
The brief that Roberts signed, and on which the NARAL ad is based, is from another matter entirely. It is dated April 11, 1991. Furthermore, it is from a civil lawsuit brought by abortion clinics against protesters who were blockading the clinics. Bombing was not an issue.
Is there just not enough stuff in this man's background to get criticism right?
posted by Xavier and Pedro at 8:00 PM
1 Comments:
Sure enough, NARAL pulled the ad after complaints (among the complainers was Sen. Arlen Specter of the Judiciary Committee). But NARAL still defends the underlying thrust of the ad, saying Roberts (and by extension the US Government) supported those who advocated violence because he chose to file an amicus brief on their behalf. You wonder what the next ad will claim.
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