WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.960 I've spent a good bit of time thinking about and talking about in the last 2 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:12.960 day or two the Republican platform, the new Republican platform, and it's a 3 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:17.120 massive disappointment. It's a massive disappointment in a lot of ways. And I'm 4 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:24.079 trying to sort out whether I'm overreacting, and I'm wanting to look at the 5 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:27.679 different arguments for whether or not I am overreacting. And the chief thing that, 6 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:30.519 you know, I don't want this to become too much, you know, 7 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:37.960 right to life radio, But the chief concern I have with the new 8 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:48.960 Republican Party platform is the gutting of language regarding abortion policy. Now, let 9 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.159 me just let me sort of explain what has happened for those of you who 10 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:56.439 haven't been following it. The news cycle has just been dominated completely by Biden 11 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:00.920 his sinility should he jump out of the race. I feel like I'm the 12 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.560 only the only Republicans in America who are upset right now are pro lifers. 13 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.719 Pro lifers who've been following what's been going on with this platform debate. So 14 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:19.519 the Republican Party platform. Both political parties every four years have their convention, 15 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:26.760 and at the Republican and Democrat conventions, One of the things they do is 16 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:34.319 they have a platform for the party that is enacted, and a platform is 17 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:38.959 a restatement, a long restatement of what that party believes. It's sort of 18 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.200 a summary of we the Democratic Party believe in blahlah bah bah bah blah blah 19 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:55.000 bah buph And it has both broad thematic principles as well as in this time 20 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:59.319 and place and circumstance, you know, what are the priorities for the Democratic 21 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:05.200 Party in the twenty twenty four So it has both specific policy proposals and things 22 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:14.919 that the party supports and endorses, as well as long term goals, short 23 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:21.800 term goals, long term goals, long term principles. Now, with the 24 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:28.039 Republican Party, the last normal platform it produced was twenty sixteen. Twenty twenty, 25 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:32.719 they didn't produce a platform Allegedly COVID made it so logistically difficult for the 26 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:42.000 Republican convention participants and delegates that they couldn't really do their normal platform drafting process, 27 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.960 and so they just didn't have a platform in twenty twenty, which I 28 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.960 think is not good. I think for any organization you have to at a 29 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.000 certain point take a step back and restate who are we what it is that 30 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:05.759 we believe, what are the guiding principles that should propel us forward. I 31 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:07.599 think any organization needs to do that, and I think it's a very healthy 32 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:13.039 thing for the Republican Party that every four years they have a restatement what does 33 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:16.400 it mean to be a Republican. This is a document that talks about that. 34 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:20.199 This is a document that talks about what it means to be a Republican 35 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:25.319 in broad terms as well as the short term concerns of what are the issues 36 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:30.919 that the country is facing in the year twenty twenty four. Now, the 37 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.759 last republic normal Republican platform, as i'lse call it, was in twenty sixteen, 38 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.680 and that document was sixty six pages long. I've got the pdf. 39 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.400 It's a sixty six page long pdf, and that it probably includes the cover, 40 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:46.199 so you know, give or take, it's about sixty four to sixty 41 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:52.879 three pages long. But that's a long document, and it has again a 42 00:03:52.919 --> 00:04:00.199 lot of bedrock principles, but also it had a lot of stuff relating to 43 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.199 what the country was facing in twenty sixteen and Republican Party priorities in twenty sixteen. 44 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:11.639 It had specific policy proposals as well as big picture stuff. Now, 45 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:20.600 I think that's important. Other smart political people that I read and respect thinks 46 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:30.399 that the platform is not as important. They think that the platform is something 47 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.839 that nobody really reads after it gets enacted at the Republican or Democrat convention. 48 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:42.079 It's like it's a binding contract. It's not like there's a penalty that Susan 49 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:47.079 Collins and Lisa Murkowski, the two most liberal Republican senators, vote against stuff 50 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.560 that's in the platform all the time and don't suffer any existential consequences as a 51 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:58.560 result. They don't burst into flames, their GOP membership doesn't get revoked if 52 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.319 they vote against it. And a lot of people think, well, it's 53 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.759 this sort of clumsy thing that commits you to things that maybe the exigencies of 54 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:13.879 time will result in you being embarrassed. It can become actually political baggage for 55 00:05:13.959 --> 00:05:21.079 a campaign, So you know why insist on it? And is it also 56 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:26.800 just a thing of it it's a coalition building thing. Every four years I've 57 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.959 remembered, going back as far as I can remember, pro lifers saying, 58 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:34.720 well, the pro lifers are working hard to ensure that pro life planks remain 59 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:40.519 in the Republican Party platform, and thus the platform became almost this kind of 60 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.279 like coalition building exercise. The pro lifers get their, you know, a 61 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:50.600 couple of paragraphs here, and the libertarian leaning economic guys they get their pages 62 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:58.720 over here using those words specifically, pro lifers got a paragraph, libertarian economic 63 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:08.199 type Scott pages and pages pages, and so there's some thought that it is 64 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:15.160 that really important, and clearly that mindset has animated the Trump team. The 65 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:21.279 Trump team, the Trump team that is running affairs at the RNC, and 66 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:32.439 the Republican Convention folks, the Republican National Committee folks are all one hundred percent 67 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:41.120 Trump acolytes. Trump has completely taken over the party apparatus in a way he 68 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:46.399 did not he had not yet accomplished in twenty sixteen. Around this time in 69 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:54.199 twenty sixteen, the RNC, the Republican Convention folks, they were not Trump 70 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:59.319 acolytes, and so they produced a twenty sixteen platform that didn't look very trumpy. 71 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:04.600 Well, in twenty twenty four the drafting committee for the platform has already 72 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:15.319 met and they have produced a draft Republican platform which will be subject to a 73 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:23.079 sort of formal vote at on the floor of the Republican Convention with all the 74 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:29.199 delegates, which is basically more or less a ceremonial vote. And this new 75 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.480 Republican platform for twenty twenty four is I think woefully inadequate. It's only fifteen 76 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:41.439 pages long. Again, the last Republican platform we had was from twenty sixteen, 77 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.879 and it was sixty six pages long. This thing is fifteen pages long. 78 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:51.240 And one of the chief things that I think is significant about it is 79 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:59.720 one eliminating any mention of traditional Republican positions on gay marriage. And two, 80 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:05.519 most significantly for me, and what I want to spend some time discussing is 81 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:15.160 gutting any language about the topic of abortion, just gutting it. The Republican 82 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:20.560 platform in twenty sixteen reiterated it did what a platform is supposed to do. 83 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:26.519 It reiterates principles we believe in, as well as specific policies to follow. 84 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.959 On the principal side, the twenty sixteen platform was very clear saying that every 85 00:08:31.039 --> 00:08:37.679 human being from the moment of conception has a right to life, and it 86 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.679 gave specific policies. The president, if he's elected, will enact A Republican 87 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.559 president, if elected, will enact that Mexico City policy to cut off federal 88 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:52.559 funding for abortion overseas. The party supports the High Amendment, which is the 89 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:56.399 writer that gets attached to the budget every year, to cut off direct federal 90 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:01.960 funding for abortion through Medicaid, another federal healthcare program. We will oppose federal 91 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:09.960 funding for fetal tissue using fetal tissue derived from aboarded fetuses. We will block 92 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:18.759 funding for abortion providers via such vehicles as Title six. We support the appointment 93 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:24.559 of conservative judges. You know, these are the kinds of things we're looking 94 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:30.679 for in judges. So you had general principles, we believe in the right 95 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:35.639 to life. You had specific policy proposals, but you also had aspirational policy 96 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.159 proposals that you know you're not going to get done in the next four years, 97 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:43.879 but is a thing that you would ideally like to see in an ideal 98 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:52.039 world. The Republican platform since nineteen seventy six included support for amending the Constitution 99 00:09:52.039 --> 00:10:01.000 in order to protect all unborn children and overturning Rew Wade, both of which 100 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.279 were in the Republican platform consistently every four years from nineteen seventy six onward, 101 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.879 and both of which seemed like complete pipe dreams. For all that time. 102 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.919 But guess what one of those two pipe dreams happened. We did overturn Roe 103 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:26.120 v. Wade in twenty twenty two. The messaging coming from the Trump camp, 104 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:30.000 from intellectuals in the Trump sphere, officials in the Trump's sphere, and 105 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:39.720 from Trump himself in certain respects has basically been to say abortion is not popular. 106 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:45.000 We don't want to discuss it at all during the campaign because we want 107 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:52.240 to win, and we are not even going to commit publicly to any position 108 00:10:52.360 --> 00:11:01.200 that is supportive of restrictions on abortion. And thus the twenty twenty four Republican 109 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:09.159 Platform, which does not even say anything about what the Republican Party viewpoint is 110 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.960 about abortion as such. Is abortion good? Is abortion bad? Do the 111 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:20.159 unborn have a right to life? We have left it blank. All the 112 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:28.639 Republican platform says is that states should be able to decide should be able to 113 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.480 decide for themselves what they think abortion should be. It should be left up 114 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:37.840 to a vote of the people, not even giving guidance that, you know, 115 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:43.960 the National Republican Party supports state level efforts to preserve the right to life, 116 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:50.120 but thinks that this fight is best left for the states. Nothing there's 117 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:56.039 nothing like that. Here's all it says, we proudly stand for families and 118 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:01.039 life, capital l We believe that the fourteenth of Men into the Constitution of 119 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.799 the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life, life, or 120 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:09.000 liberty without due process, and that the states are there for free to pass 121 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:15.799 laws protecting those rights. That it's the biggest world's biggest non sequitor. If 122 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:24.799 the Fourteenth Amendment applies to unborn children, then it's not something that's empowering states 123 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:31.159 to do anything. The Fourteenth Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War, 124 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:39.080 says that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or 125 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:46.559 property without due process. It is a federal constitutional restriction on state misconduct. 126 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:56.600 It's not something that empowers states to do anything. Okay, remember it's passed 127 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:00.279 after the Civil War. What it's basically, it's this. This is the 128 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.919 same amendment that made newly freed slaves into citizens. It says, hey, 129 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:09.960 you can't deprive anyone of life, execute them liberty, put them in jail 130 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.200 or property, seize their stuff without due process of law, without like a 131 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.879 fair trial to actually convict someone of something before you throw them in jail. 132 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:26.480 Or execute them. So the idea there is the federal government. And by 133 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:31.120 the way, the fourteenth Amendment was one of the three amendments thirteen, fourteen, 134 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:35.080 and fifteen that Southern states had to ratify in order to come back into 135 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.720 the Union. So what this was is the federal government saying, hey, 136 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:45.399 this is a federal restriction against U states engaging in misconduct. States were always 137 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.759 allowed to pass laws to protect life. They were always allowed to do so, 138 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.279 they did so before the fourteen Amendment. After the fourteen Amendment, you 139 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.519 don't need the fourteenth Amendment for a state to pass laws to restrict life. 140 00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:05.320 This is the biggest mean, it's totally meaningless. After fifty one years, 141 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:11.200 this new twenty twenty four platform continues because of us. That power for states 142 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:13.879 to pass laws to restrict abortion has been given to the states and to a 143 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:24.559 vote of the people. That's also silly. Not every state has lawmaking processes 144 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.320 premise through direct popular votes. Some states do, but not every state. 145 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:35.320 Not every state has a ballot initiative system like California does. We will oppose 146 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.320 late term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to 147 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:50.360 birth control, and IVF, but never in there does it say it says 148 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:56.279 we will oppose late term abortion. Does the National Republican Party have any principled 149 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:05.639 belief regarding abortion before it's late to It doesn't seem to anymore. All it 150 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:11.480 says is that states can restrict it if they want, without even giving a 151 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:22.840 directive of we think states should do X. But beyond the sort of incoherent 152 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:28.000 language about what the party believes and gutting the normal traditional pro life language from 153 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.000 the Republican platform, there's nothing about the specifics. When we return, I 154 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.360 want to pop this balloon that abortion is a state's issue. Abortion is a 155 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.720 state's issue. It is, but it isn't. Next on the John Jerardi 156 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:50.080 Show, I'm discussing the new twenty twenty four Republican Party platform, which I 157 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:56.919 think is a woefully inadequate instrument. It's a fifteen page long document, unlike 158 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.600 the sixty six page long document, for example, from twenty sixteen, and 159 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:07.919 it's really gutted the language that the Republican Party has traditionally upheld with regards to 160 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:15.360 what it believes about abortion. Now, as I said, there's almost nothing 161 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:21.600 in this new document saying what does the Republican Party actually think about abortion other 162 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:25.159 than late term abortion, which it does say we will oppose late term abortion. 163 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:30.879 But one of the principle that's underlying this and the messaging we're getting from 164 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.679 Trump and from all these states is that no abortion is a state's issue, 165 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:41.879 and so the federal government's not going to pursue policies to restrict abortion. And 166 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:45.919 I think a lot of people hear that, and it's an easy thing to 167 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.679 sort of repeat. If you're inclined to defend Trump, if you're inclined to 168 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:51.799 like Trump, you're gonna be able. You're going to sort of say, 169 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:53.360 well, well, Trump's just saying that it's a state's issue now, and 170 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.399 that's right. It's a state's issue. Now. That's what Row does. 171 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:57.440 It makes it a state's issue. It's a state's issue. It's a state's 172 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:10.799 issue. So two things to think about. One, what the Supreme Court 173 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:18.680 did was simply turn abortion over to normal lawmaking processes. What Roe and its 174 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:25.720 successor, case Parenthood versus Casey did was basically say, the Constitution mandates that 175 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:30.559 abortion has to be legal. Therefore, no legislative body, whether it's state 176 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:37.640 legislatures or Congress, can make laws to restrict abortion as such or ban abortion 177 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.079 as such. For you know, let's say you want to ban abortion after 178 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:44.359 the first trimester, Well you could not do that, whether that was at 179 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:51.039 the level of Congress or at the level of the states. Overturning Row just 180 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:55.920 does not specifically only mean it can be handled at the level of the states. 181 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:02.119 If abortion in some way involves inter a commerce, or some other area 182 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:07.799 of activity that the Constitution allows Congress to regulate, then it can be handled 183 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:14.160 at the level of Congress. So no, overturning Roe v. Wade didn't 184 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:18.039 just make abortion quote a question for the states. Yes, states certainly can 185 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:23.480 regulate it, but there's very strong arguments that Congress can regulate it too. 186 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:38.119 Secondly, a lot of abortion policy is must be at the federal level, 187 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:44.599 and saying that abortion is a state issue now does not magically make it not. 188 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:53.480 So let me give you some examples. The Mexico City policy, which 189 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.279 Republican presidents always put in place and Democrat presidents always get rid of. It's 190 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.880 an answer to the question of will the federal government, in its foreign aid 191 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:10.240 fund foreign NGOs that perform abortions. We have to answer that question. We 192 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.680 give foreign aid to these countries. Will we give foreign aid to medical entities 193 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:21.839 that are offering abortions? That's a federal question. It's an executive level question. 194 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:26.839 The president decides it. Saying that well, abortions of States issue doesn't 195 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:32.519 answer that question. So okay, so President Trump is going to if he 196 00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:38.039 does nothing about it, then federal money will keep going to foreign NGOs performing 197 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.119 abortions in Africa, in Africa and Asia and wherever do we want that? 198 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:52.799 I don't. Here's another federal question. Is medicaid at the federal level going 199 00:19:52.839 --> 00:20:00.279 to cover and will your tax dollars pay for abortion through federal health and insurance 200 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:06.559 programs like medicaid. It's a federal question, it's not a state question, 201 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.119 and it has to do with abortion. So is Donald Trump going to push 202 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:14.519 for the High Amendment language to be included in any spending bill that he signs 203 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:21.400 when he's in when he's elected. You have to decide that it's a federal 204 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.000 question. You can't wish that into not being a federal question. You have 205 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:33.279 to answer the question, will medicaid cover abortion? Will the National Institutes of 206 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:41.440 Health do research using cells or tissue taken from aborted fetuses? Or aborted embryos, 207 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:48.799 millions and millions of your taxpayer dollars. We have to decide. It's 208 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:56.680 a federal question. You can't wish that into being a state question. Will 209 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:02.480 Title six go to abortion providers in violation of the clear language of Title six, 210 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:06.640 which says, don't give this money to abortion providers. It was a 211 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:11.599 federal program to fund family planning operations that Nixon signed, but the money has 212 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:18.680 been going to abortion providers consistently almost the entire history of Title six. Trump 213 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:22.559 cut off that funding to abortion providers in his first term. Will it be 214 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:27.079 cut off to abortion providers in a second term. I don't know. It's 215 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:32.400 a federal question. It's not a state question. You can't wish Title six 216 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:34.119 into becoming a state program. It's not a state program. It's a federal 217 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:41.039 program. We have to decide where that money's gonna go. And most importantly, 218 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:49.319 the abortion pill miff A pristone again, this is a pill. This 219 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:53.839 is not the morning after pill. This is a pill to bring about an 220 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.640 abortion up to ten weeks into a pregnancy. It's the most common method of 221 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:03.519 abortion in the country today, and its popularity has exploded since twenty sixteen. 222 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:10.000 And again since twenty twenty one, when Obama and Biden loosened up the health 223 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:14.119 and safety regulations around it and made it wildly more accessible. Now you can 224 00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:17.799 get an abortion pill abortion with that with just a telemedicine visit, and have 225 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:25.880 the pill mailed to your house. Thanks to President Biden. Will A Donald 226 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:32.440 Trump led a Donald Trump appointed head of the FDA push to re restrict miphi 227 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:36.720 pristone, which is the single biggest driver in the of abortion in the nation. 228 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:40.079 Since Biden loosened up restrictions allowed the abortion pill to be shipped through the 229 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:45.200 mail, we have had one hundred thousand more abortions per year today than we 230 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.400 had in twenty twenty one, hundred thousand more abortions per year, and they're 231 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:53.200 all pill abortions. It's clear that the increase is purely from pill abortions. 232 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:03.000 So will Biden have the FDA regulated It's a federal question. It's not a 233 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.119 state question whether the FDA approves or doesn't approve a drug, and it's there's 234 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:12.160 a hugely solid argument that the FDA approval for Miffi pristine was unlawfully done. 235 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:18.559 In two thousand, President Clinton's FDA used an expedited approval process, which is 236 00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:22.759 only to be used for diseases to cure serious illnesses. The abortion pill does 237 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.799 not cure any illness. It ends a pregnancy. Pregnancies are not illnesses. 238 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.279 There's a strong argument that its approval was unlawful. Will Donald Trump roll it 239 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:40.000 back. It's a federal question. It's not a state question. So if 240 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.319 you're repeating this line that, well, abortion it should just be left to 241 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:48.519 the states, maybe it should, but it isn't. It's a federal question, 242 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:56.279 and no amount of wishing will make it not a federal question. A 243 00:23:56.359 --> 00:24:06.599 president and a national political party has to decide what it's going to do when 244 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:11.680 we return, whether this should make me leave the Republican Party. Next on 245 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:19.279 The John Girardi Show, I must confess I feel very weird right now as 246 00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:23.720 a you know, I've been a registered Republican my whole life, and I've 247 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.319 been talking the whole first half of the show for those of you just joining 248 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:33.720 about the new Republican platform and how wildly disappointing I think it is, particularly 249 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:36.400 on the questions of life, but not not only on life, even on 250 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:41.400 questions of you know, judges. There's nothing the only thing. This new 251 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.119 Republican platform, which was voted on by sort of the Platform Committee, and 252 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:51.000 usually the way this process works is the Platform Committee drafts it, approves it, 253 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:53.039 and then it's sort of presented to all the delegates of the Republican Convention 254 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.640 for sort of a show vote where everyone just says, yeah, that's great, 255 00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:03.920 they vote and approve it. It's so short. It's only fifteen pages, 256 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:08.680 as opposed to the last normal Republican platform we had in twenty sixteen was 257 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:15.640 sixty six pages long, and it gutted all the pro life language that there's 258 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:19.279 almost nothing. There's almost nothing indicating what the Republican Party actually thinks about abortion, 259 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:26.000 other than that states should be allowed to vote on it and saying that 260 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:33.279 late term abortion is bad. There's no specific policy questions that it addresses or 261 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:41.839 policy proposals that it promotes. There's no general principles that it affirms. Of 262 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:45.039 it. It vaguely says the Republican Party stands for Life with a capital L, 263 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:48.079 whatever that means. Does that mean you think that unborn children have a 264 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.880 right to life? It abandons a lot of long held things that have been 265 00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:59.039 in the Republican platform, like supporting an Amendment to the Constitution to protect the 266 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:02.960 Lives of the unborn that's been in the Republican platform every four years since nineteen 267 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:11.680 seventy six, and it all seems to be done for the immediate political expediency 268 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:18.160 of right now that Donald Trump pulls better than Joe Biden on every single issue 269 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.799 except for abortion, and the Trump team recognizes that and are basically just like, 270 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:25.880 we just want to run as far away from this as possible and not 271 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:37.079 commit ourselves to anything. And then though we get lectured on, well, 272 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.599 you pro lifers aren't being pragmatic. Abortion should be left to the states anyway, 273 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:45.759 which infuriates me as if I'm some idiot not to understand that abortion is 274 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:48.559 left to the states when I know more about abortion policy than any of these 275 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:53.160 idiots saying this, and I recognize clearly and understand, No, there is 276 00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.839 a ton of abortion policy that's handled at the federal level. It's handled, 277 00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:02.359 it's completely within the control of the executive How can you ask me to vote 278 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:07.039 for someone who's not committing to all of the traditional things Republican presidents do with 279 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:12.640 regards to the abortion question, and who refuses to engage with stuff that's completely 280 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:17.440 within the president's control, such as, for example, regulating the abortion pill, 281 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:23.279 which I think is the most important social issue facing the country. Since 282 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:27.559 President Biden took office, the total number of abortions in America has jumped by 283 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:34.880 one hundred thousand per year, a hundred thousand per year. Why because of 284 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:41.400 his massive deregulation of the abortion pill. There are one hundred thousand more abortions 285 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:48.359 that happen in America today than were happening in the year twenty twenty. Because 286 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:52.880 President Biden allows the abortion pill through his FDA, allows the abortion pill to 287 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:57.000 be picked up at major pharmacies and shipped to people's houses through the mail. 288 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:07.200 So I'm standing here as a pro lifer wondering why President Trump is in the 289 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.079 debate saying he's not going to do anything about the abortion pill. Why JD 290 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:15.839 Vance, who's a very likely vice presidential pick, is out there saying he 291 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:22.599 supports access to the abortion pill, probably because they have some pollings saying that 292 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:30.759 it would be an unpopular position to want to restrict it. So with the 293 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:37.599 platform, so that let me get to my let me have this be uh 294 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:48.440 focused on me. This turn by the Republican Party on IVF and on abortion 295 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:56.519 has made me question more than anything else, whether I should still be a 296 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:02.680 Republican. It honestly has, and I feel absurd. I feel like Republicans 297 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.400 right now are for the most part exultant because it looks like they might have 298 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:14.720 a cake walk to the twenty twenty four residency. That there's pulling out there 299 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:18.680 indicating that if Biden continues to look this bad, and Biden is adamant that 300 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:22.559 he's staying in this race, if things continue to look this bad, Republicans 301 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:26.200 could pick up twenty seats in the House, they could take back the Senate, 302 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.799 they could have the White I mean, if you're a Republican right now, 303 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:37.039 this should be a time of exultation and giddy excitement. And I think 304 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:42.960 it's pro lifers who are the only ones who are like despondent right now, 305 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:48.720 because I just think the Trump team is so hyper fixated on this idea that 306 00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:53.759 abortion is unpopular, that they're abortion policies, that conservative abortion policies are unpopular, 307 00:29:55.400 --> 00:30:00.119 that they're just abandoning the field. And I to hear people say things 308 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:03.759 like, well, you got to win first in order to do these things, 309 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:10.759 but they're committing to not doing the end things that I care about, 310 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:15.960 or they're not committing to anything. I have heard no commitment from Trump yet 311 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.599 about well, what kind of Supreme Court justices are you going to pick this 312 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:23.960 time around? In twenty sixteen through twenty twenty, he had an ongoing list 313 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:27.960 of judges that he would have picked. It was a great thing. It 314 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:32.720 was a really innovative thing for a presidential candidate to do. Here's my actual 315 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:37.200 list. This is my short list of people I'd pick for the Supreme Court. 316 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:41.160 We haven't seen that the Republican platform has nothing about the character of the 317 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:45.640 judges that the Republican Party is going to try to pick, other than people 318 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:51.200 who quote support the rule of law, which is as laughably vague and generic 319 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:56.160 as you could possibly ask for. And I have no commitments for any of 320 00:30:56.160 --> 00:31:02.759 the executive policies on abortion any I've none of that. And I recognize two 321 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:07.000 schools of thought with regards to the platform, because this platform debate has really 322 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:11.599 crystallized a lot of my fears and anger and concern and it's really leading me 323 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:19.799 to ask the question should I still be a Republican anymore? The platform. 324 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:27.119 One school of thought is having a long platform as was done in twenty sixteen 325 00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:33.480 and in every Republican you know, presidential election cycle going back to time immemorial. 326 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:37.640 It's not a necessary thing to keep doing nowadays. It's an unnecessary exercise 327 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.400 to have a big, long platform that goes on and on and on and 328 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:45.640 on. You know, these things can be political liabilities. Nobody really reads 329 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:51.640 them anymore. It's not really that important that the only people who really care 330 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:59.279 about the platform are eggheads. It's just not I'm making a mount Gerardi, 331 00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:01.480 You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. Is kind of the sentiment 332 00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:09.279 I'm getting, And I guess I have a very hard time accepting that any 333 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:16.160 organization has to, at least every couple of years take a step back and 334 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:21.519 look at the big picture and kind of define again who are we and what 335 00:32:21.559 --> 00:32:29.000 are we doing and what is our purpose? The platform has always been it's 336 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:30.680 the occasion for doing that for the Democrats. Is the occasion for doing that 337 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:35.000 for the Republicans? What does it mean to be a Republican? What does 338 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:44.000 the Republican Party actually believe? I've advocated at times for the position that I 339 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:52.640 think it's im almost impossible to be a Democrat and to be a faithful Christian 340 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:58.440 who believes in the right to life. And how how have I been able 341 00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.079 to argue that in the past. Well, I mean, unless you're just 342 00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:05.960 going to accept that you are a very much a heretical democrat, you have 343 00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:10.319 to be either a massively heretical Democrat or a massively heretical Christian. There's no 344 00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:17.000 other way. You can't be an Orthodox Christian and an small letter o Orthodox. 345 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:22.000 You can't be an Orthodox Christian and an Orthodox Democrat because there and the 346 00:33:22.039 --> 00:33:27.960 thing I would look at was the platform. What does the platform say? 347 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:31.720 You define what a party believes by its platform. It's not just a totally 348 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:37.319 useless exercise for eggheads. It is a genuine point of reference for what it 349 00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:44.960 means to say I am a Republican. And the pro life plank was always 350 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:50.119 the thing that would allow me to say with any level of confidence that I 351 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:55.960 am a Republican. And if that's not there, and if I don't have 352 00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:00.759 a clear commitment from this party that I've been a member of my whole voting 353 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:07.400 life, if I don't have a clear commitment from this party that that's what 354 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:16.800 they stand for, this issue that I think is so singularly important, then 355 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:22.519 what am I doing as a Republican When we return, I want to talk 356 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:28.760 about compromise and end goals in politics and how I think these things are getting 357 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:35.960 inverted. Next on the John Jerrardy Show. You pro lifers just don't understand 358 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:42.400 politics, You pro lifers, You just refuse to compromise. You have to 359 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:45.199 sort of sacrifice some things in order to win. You have to win first. 360 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:51.199 This is what I keep hearing from people when I'm critical of President Trump 361 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:58.599 conceding so much ground on the abortion issue, the Republican Party eliminating the pro 362 00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:02.920 life planks from its platform, et cetera, et cetera, that this is 363 00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:07.039 a You know, politics is the art of the possible, which is such 364 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:12.679 a short sighted view. No one thought overturning Robe Wade was possible for ages, 365 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.480 Should we have just abandoned our party planks all those years saying that we 366 00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:22.719 want Rob Wade to be overturned. Nobody thought overturning Rovy Wade was possible until 367 00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:29.599 it happened, So spare me. This politics is the art of the possible. 368 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:36.920 No higher level politics means understanding that politics can radically change and being willing 369 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:40.400 to aggressively pursue something as a committed, organized minority to get stuff done. 370 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:46.199 Because committed organized minorities always get stuff done. They often get stuff done in 371 00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:52.639 improbably hugely improbable ways. Democrats never concede on their outlandish things they believe to 372 00:35:52.679 --> 00:35:58.039 be ideals, because they know if you shoot for the stars, if you 373 00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:00.760 shoot for the moon, maybe a land among the stars. You shoot for 374 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:06.920 a universal single payer healthcare, and you get Obamacare, an enormous victory, 375 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:09.480 an enormous ratchet that only goes one way, that will never be undone. 376 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:21.679 Now I am met with this critique that, no, we gotta win first, 377 00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:29.280 we gotta win first. I am okay with conceding things I care less 378 00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:37.039 about in order to get the things that I care about the most. That's 379 00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:42.480 how I would view politics. I'm willing to concede on certain kinds of things 380 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:49.119 in order to attain certain other kinds of long term goals. But if you 381 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:54.119 are telling me, as a voter, we're gonna concede all of the issues 382 00:36:54.199 --> 00:37:05.519 you care about now in election time in order to not accomplish the things you 383 00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:10.440 care about, then why should I keep voting for you? Okay, if 384 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:15.639 the Republic if people are gonna tell me no, we need to concede the 385 00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:21.800 pro life stuff in order to save the country. Abortion is the thing that's 386 00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:24.320 destroying the country in my view. In my view, maybe not for yours, 387 00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:30.519 but it's in mine. Do I care about other issues, Yes, 388 00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:32.519 I care about immigration, I care about this, I care about that, 389 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:39.199 But fundamentally I care about all of it far less than I do the question 390 00:37:39.239 --> 00:37:43.079 of life. And I think there are millions of Christian voters like me, 391 00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:51.360 and I guess Trump needs to be very careful about alienating these people who are 392 00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:54.519 part of his base. He needs every vote he can get, including mine, 393 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:00.840 and I feel like he could solve it with just a few commitments that 394 00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:05.000 wouldn't be that politically damaging to them. So don't ask me to compromise when 395 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:07.840 you're also taking away the end goals that I really care about. That'll do 396 00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:10.000 it for John Garrotiy show. See you next time on Power Talk.