In the information age, misinformation is too often traded as a counterfeit currency in our marketplace of ideas.
The recent Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh non-scandelettes have proven this in spades. But disingenuous attacks on individual public figures are hardly the only kind of falsehood you'll find in the partisan press. Today's merchants of disinformation also trade frequently in false stereotypes of large groups of Americans, especially those who even slightly oppose abortion.
Those of you who are pro-life may not know this but despite whatever you may think, all of you are actually overweight, hyper-religious, uneducated, spouse-beating, rural, white males. Or at least that's what you are in the minds of the fanatically pro-choice left.
That false stereotype died a terrible death in at least one person's mind recently when pro-choice activist Eleanor Bader "infiltrated" the National Right to Life Committee's annual convention. Much to her surprise, the media's reportage on the pro-life movement was simply incorrect. Luckily for the public discourse, pro-life writer Samantha Singson managed to attend and report Bader's shocked findings:
A petite, animated, engaging, articulate woman in her late 40s, Bader's opening salvo to the crowd was, "People! This is not a marginal group of crazies!"Do read the rest. It's nice seeing once again that liberals are hardly exempt from the Oliver Wendell Holmes quote they love applying to conservatives: Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.
Describing her "infiltration" of the NRLC meetings, Bader sounded like a mischievous school girl relishing her latest uncaught misdeed. Bader spoke of how she had registered for the convention under a false name to observe the proceedings, almost as if the NRLC convention was a National Geographic episode and the pro-life participants in attendance were some new and exotic species whose habits and interactions had to be studied and picked apart. [...]
Believing in the stereotype of a movement dominated by old white men and subscribed to by marginalized, zealous, religiously motivated, uneducated "church ladies," Bader couldn't quite keep the surprise out of her voice when she reported that those at the NRLC Convention were "smart, educated, beautiful and articulate."
In Bader's own words, "This just isn't what you always heard the 'anti-choicers' were like."
Bader also expressed amazement at the level of organization and professionalism exhibited by the NRLC convention hosts, its speakers and its participants. Passing around the 100-page convention program for the audience to look at, Bader pointed out the number of sponsors, as well as the quality and the variety of topics that were being addressed.
—Matthew Sheffield is Editor of NewsBusters.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Falsity of media reporting
October 3, 2007 - 07:55 ET by DontabGee it kind of seems like all the rest of their rantings, par for the course.
phony media, phony soldiers,
October 3, 2007 - 11:20 ET by TruthMongerphony media, phony soldiers, phony pro-choice propaganda, phony, phony, phony, phony leftoids
Good article Matthew, good
October 3, 2007 - 08:13 ET by Ruths husband BenGood article Matthew, good link too. Unfortunately, I am the stereotype, I even beat my wife (at Pinochle....once).
"We just can't trust the American people to make those types of choices.... Government has to make those choices for people" -HRC
Sounds a lot like when NOW
October 3, 2007 - 08:22 ET by lostoneSounds a lot like when NOW or the feminists infiltrated a Promise Keepers rally/convention. The Promise Keepers there did not fit the mold the feminists kept presenting to the media.
Lostone
TRUE LIES:)
October 3, 2007 - 11:22 ET by TruthMongerI've infiltrated the left pretty good at this point in my fundie espionage travels...
and they REALLY ARE BITTER, EVIL, CONFUSED, LYING BASTARDS
just like we say they are:)
Excellent Lede
October 3, 2007 - 08:25 ET by NoMoreClintonsIn the information age, misinformation is too often traded as a counterfeit currency in our marketplace of ideas.
Great writing, Matt! And so true . . .
Fascinating!
October 3, 2007 - 08:29 ET by c5thenI can't get over the ending rally cry for the abortionists:
It's abortion and it's good!
Amazing that any group of educated people can actually believe that killing babies is good, either socially or personally.
Oh gosh, I guess they have
October 3, 2007 - 08:42 ET by msh1973Oh gosh, I guess they have never met me...tall, thin, middle age woman with husband and two kids.
Has anyone done the opposite?
October 3, 2007 - 08:51 ET by rbchaffeHas anyone infiltrated pro-choice meetings to confirm or debunk the stereotypes we pro-lifers have about those who devalue the life of unborn children? Are abortion rights activists "smart, educated, beautiful and articulate"?
Pro Choice????
October 3, 2007 - 09:36 ET by kdoliverThis is another great example of the left co-opting the meanings of words. PRO CHOICE means I am for a choice--to have or not to have an abortion. What the left has turned these words into is PRO ABORTION. I consider myself pro choice, based on the standard definitions of Pro and Choice. By saying that I mean this: I am for the gov't staying out of the abortion business, but at the same time a woman AND her partner can make the decision to have the abortion, have the child, put the child up for adoption, etc. There should also be education about the cost of your choices, mentally, emotionally, physically, etc.
The left's version of pro choice is abortion on demand and as a type of birth control to be used over and over. Thats wrong.
I know there are people out there don't agree with my stance and that is ok. But understand, I don't agree with abortion and would never advocate for it. I just don't want the government making the rules. It is between myself (or the woman) and God.
ttp://thelazytriathlete.blogspot.com/
Please don't consider this
October 3, 2007 - 09:44 ET by motherbeltPlease don't consider this a challenge, I just want to point out that overturning Roe v Wade would not outlaw abortion. It would throw that decision back to individual states...some would allow it; others would not.
You said I just don't want the government making the rules.
That's exactly what government has done with Roe v. Wade. Government has RULED that no state may outlaw abortion.
My comment has nothing to
October 3, 2007 - 09:57 ET by kdoliverMy comment has nothing to do with Roe v Wade directly. I was making a point that I don't want the government to legistate my morality (or lack there of). At the same time, I don't want the government to subsidize my morality (or lack there of).
Not all good ideas should be mandated by law and neither should bad ideas be banned.
Make sense?
http://thelazytriathlete.blogspot.com/
It's a start kdoliver
October 3, 2007 - 10:07 ET by Cool ArrowI recognize a significant portion of the population has won the consent of SCOTUS to engage in baby killing. I can't stop that right now.
I seethe with anger that my taxes pay for their sacrilege.
If Dems want to engage in the genocide of a race or sacrifice their own to Molech, I can't legally stop them.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Not all good ideas should
October 3, 2007 - 10:11 ET by motherbeltNot all good ideas should be mandated by law and neither should bad ideas be banned.
Make sense?
I see your point. And that's exactly why arguments about things like this take place. They are about which good ideas should be mandated by law, and which bad ideas banned. A never-ending discussion.
One idea to limit the HUGE number of laws we currently endure...
October 3, 2007 - 10:17 ET by sarcasmoWould be to have more laws feature sunsets. I don't fear the results of any of my ideas. I think that if voters experienced actually-smaller government for a while, they'd have no problem voting to continue the party. Others, for some reason, don't seem to have the same kind of faith in their ideas, and want to enact laws permanently.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Pro-Choice - consider the wisdom of others...
October 3, 2007 - 10:23 ET by vrwc13"The best option planned parenthood has to offer a woman in crisis is the death of her child". unknown pro-lifer
My personal awakening to the sadness that is abortion came when I answered the question, "Who were you the day before you were born?" My answer forever changed me. -Just Jason
the day before you were born or perhaps even earlier...
Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened. -Winston Churchill.
What a shock that must have
October 3, 2007 - 09:40 ET by motherbeltWhat a shock that must have been to Ms. Bader. She must have been expecting a bunch of barefoot & pregnant illiterates.
The ego and condescension of liberals know no bounds. They always think "ignorance of the facts" is why people oppose them. It's simply inconceivable to them that someone could be well-educated and informed, and still not agree with them.
}}---> Pro abortion loons
October 3, 2007 - 09:45 ET by Cool ArrowYou gotta love those wacky killers.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Those of you who are
October 3, 2007 - 10:11 ET by drillanwrThose of you who are pro-life may not know this but despite whatever you may think, all of you are actually overweight, hyper-religious, spouse-beating rural white males.
Given the video one of us posted a week or so ago of the "Boobs, Not Bombs" antiwar rally in D.C., pro-abortion supporters are ... well, we are all still trying to get that image out of our heads ...
Tammy Bruce used to be president of the L.A. chapter of NOW. A couple years ago I watched a taped speech on C-SPAN of she gave at a university. She explained (and I'm not going to do Tammy justice here because it was waaay late the night I watched it ...) that when she proposed NOW reduce its championing of abortion, and step up promoting birth control, safe sex, and sex education ... well, you would have thought she had gone into the Catholic Church and told them to stop serving Communion. Soon after, Bruce and NOW "parted ways".
Here is somebody who was not only on the inside, but one of its leaders. Bruce admits she saw just how unreasonably far the left was heading and decided to re-evaluate not only some of her political values, but her beliefs on things she thought she had all figured out.
"...all of you are actually
October 3, 2007 - 11:23 ET by Lord Elicani"...all of you are actually overweight, hyper-religious, spouse-beating rural white males."
Let's see: overweight - check, hyper-religious - check, spouse-beating - don't have one, rural - check, white - check, male - check. 5 for 6 ain't bad in my opinion.
If she thinks the stereotype is wrong, maybe there's hope for her.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet?
Ah, but the pro-aborts live up to their stereotype
October 3, 2007 - 14:27 ET by greenfairieAging baby boomer/'60s wimmin? Check.
Harboring ignorant stereotypes of pro-lifers? Check.
Bowing to the blood god of abortion? Hells yeah.
You will never again snow everyone with the idea that abortion is a good thing.
Yes! Our stereotypes are
October 4, 2007 - 09:35 ET by rwestYes! Our stereotypes are right and theirs are wrong! If only liberals would have the courage to admit that they're ugly, stupid hypocrites. That would be the first step toward stemming their insatiable hunger for aborted fetuses that they use for their sacrifices to the Blood God of Abortion. But as they know from their Fetusholics Anonymous sessions that denial is the first step.
I live in a liberal swamp. I
October 3, 2007 - 18:28 ET by Chris NormanI live in a liberal swamp. I know a lot of liberals and I can report that they are just about what our stereotype of them is. Intellectually pretentious. Snobbish. Condescending. They have deluded themselves into thinking they are superior - intellectually, socially, and morally - none of which is true. They are actually cartoons of themselves. They comfort themselves thinking that conservatives are all fat, chainsmoking, murderous hillbillies. They do few of the things they prescribe that society should do, but feel by voting liberal, it makes up for it. It'd be comical if they didn't do so much damage.