"In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts," claimed senior Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter at a pro-choice rally on the National Mall Wednesday. "Now they're here to kill women." Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, went on to compare proposed GOP proposals on abortion, bizarrely, to "show-me-your-papers" policies in the Third Reich.
It's been two days since Slaughter made these incendiary and baseless remarks, yet there has been a virtual media blackout. So once again we have to ask, as did the Washington Examiner's David Freddoso, what if a Tea Partier had said it?
The story was initially reported by NewsBusters sister site CNSNews.com, and aside from the Examiner, no other news organization has reported on Slaughter's absurd statement thus far. It's safe to assume that if a conservative Republican had made similar remarks, coverage would be significantly greater (check out the video of Slaughter's remarks below the break).
CNSNews.com's Dan Joseph reported Thursday:
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress "to kill women." She also likened Republican efforts to prohibit federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered to actions taken by Nazis.
"This is probably one of the worst times we’ve seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus," Slaughter said. "In ’94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women."…
Although the text of the bill makes no reference to people needing a "receipt" to prove their abortion was for one of the excepted categories if they try to deduct the abortion fee they paid from their federal taxes, Slaughter suggested that under the bill, if enacted, people would need receipts for their abortions in such circumstances.
She then equated that perceived need to the sort of requirement that would be imposed by Nazis.
"You are allowed to have an abortion if you have been raped or it’s a matter of incest,” said Slaughter. "However, you have to keep a receipt. Did you know that? It’s sort of like an old German Nazi movie. Show me your papers!"
Interestingly, after January's shooting in Tucson, Slaughter said "she would look at ways to better police language on the airwaves," according to The Hill. The implication was that "language" had something to do with the shooting spree that hospitalized Rep. Gabby Giffords and 12 others, and killed six.
It seems that accusing one's political opponents of wishing death on women generally and comparing their policies to those of the Nazis would fall within the bounds of speech Slaughter apparently felt had somehow led to that shooting.
Neither the absurdity of Slaughter's remarks nor her rank hypocrisy in making them, however, have seemed to satisfy the media's standards for newsworthiness.
*****UPDATE: I'm told that CNN's Howard Kurtz discussed Slaughter's comments on Sunday's "Reliable Sources". It's good to see that some in the media are noticing.
