April 29, 2013

I'm skeptical that Twitter drives traffic to websites. But if it does, this ought to work...


Via Twitchy, which calls Saletan "soulless."

100 comments:

Robert Zaleski said...

Proud supporter of Live Action.

Why would it be disgusting to ask people their policies? Typical nonsense, it's a right you must have, it's just so unsightly pretend it doesn't exist.

ed said...

So catching an abortion doctor admitting that a botched abortion that ends in a live birth would result in the doctor doing nothing to help the newborn infant is not as bad as hiring actors?

So catching a Planned Parenthood worker with 11+ years of time on the job admitting to murdering newborn infants and giving out advice on how to murder newborns is not as bad as hiring actors?

And I thought my opinion of Hollywood was pretty harsh.

Saletan = imbecile.

Synova said...

If that's more disgusting than late-term abortion... late term abortion is nothing at all.

I mean, OMG, someone found out what planned parenthood employees tell women about abortion.

How. Dare. They.

Totally worse than killing a viable baby. Way. Worse.

ricpic said...

First it was financial sector workers who were exploited and had to be appeased. Now it's abortion workers being exploited. Can they be appeased? by extending legal abortion to the 25th week? the 27th week? the 30th week? Do it America. For the children.

Æthelflæd said...

Saletna likes his infanticide tidy and neat. Don't bother him with what might actually be happening behind the facade. Don't pop his pitiable balloon of self-righteousness by exposing the truth. That is the worst sin of all!

ndspinelli said...

Abortion Annie, the blog hit whore.

edutcher said...

These are the same people that screamed when O'Keefe and Giles exposed ACORN.

PS Dunno if Twitter drives traffic, but I'll bet Twitchy does.

garage mahal said...

Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess.

Humperdink said...

You guess?

Brian Brown said...



What's more disgusting than late-term abortion? This scheme to exploit it by hiring actors & secretly taping doctors


Remember, leftists like this goof want abortions to be "safe"

Really. They do.

Tibore said...

"What's more disgusting than late-term abortion? This scheme to exploit it by hiring actors & secretly taping doctors."

Yes, of course, because uncovering a problem is always more disgusting than the problem itself (*rolls eyes*).

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Undercover sting operations are only appropriate when NBC and other pro-democrat hack news organizations fake them.

Another day, another self-righteous condescending "how dare you! from the progosphere.

and no - there isn't much on planet earth that is worse than killing a baby.

Big Mike said...

I guess it was okay when Sixty Minutes did it.

chuck said...

Great avatar, Saletan farts in your general direction.

I don't see why anyone should complain about that sort of reporting. If is was exposing classified material no doubt it would hailed as heroic.

edutcher said...

AprilApple said...

Undercover sting operations are only appropriate when NBC and other pro-democrat hack news organizations fake them.

Another day, another self-righteous condescending "how dare you! from the progosphere.


Actually, "How dast thou!!", captures the Lefty sense of self-righteousness and entitlement so much better.

David said...

"Exploit?"

A lame and desperate attempt to change the subject.

I wonder if he is past the age when his mother and her doctor can decide to terminate his existence?

He is getting inconvenient, you know.

Tank said...

Big Mike

There was once a time when 60 Minutes would have done this kind of thing.

Those days are over.

Sad really.

But they've opened the door for others to come in. Just like Fox News filled a gap (ie. for about 50% of viewers), here too is a void, investigative journalism that upsets liberals.

Matt Sablan said...

Whoa, wait. I thought secretly taping things was cool. Isn't that what we learned from the whole McConnell thing?

I guess I need to recalibrate on this issue -again.-

test said...

I find it odd anyone with such undisciplined thinking could be hired primarily on for the content of his thoughts. Last week's argument was that late term abortions are illegal and therefore when they occur it says nothing about legal abortion. Now committing that crime is less objectionable than exposing someone committing a crime? Obviously you can only make this assertion if you don't beleive abortion at any time should be a crime, but that is neither reality nor a normative policy argued by Saletan. So it comes off akin to arguing that exposing murder is worse than murder. Bizarre.

Matt Sablan said...

Really, first lesson in working anywhere controversial or somewhere like that: Assume people making outrageous requests/demands might not be who they say they are, verify it, and then ask them to come back later when you've had time to think over their question.

Otherwise, you make your organization look really bad.

Matt Sablan said...

Frankly, I would be ashamed if my front office people kept stepping into these traps as frequently as we see here. Learn some skepticism office people!

Dustin said...

It is really hard to understand what was wrong with the expose.

This is a matter of public debate. My tax dollars actually fund planned parenthood. A journalist is showing the truth about planned parenthood. Why is this evil?

Saletan's claim must be that planned parenthood wouldn't tell us these policies truthfully unless we tricked them. Doesn't that make them worse?

mark said...

garage mahal said...
Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess.

Complaining about people protecting children is better than shooting them in the head. I guess.

Lauderdale Vet said...

I'm constantly reading stuff in the nooks and crannies of my workday. I land on many pages, if not most, thanks to Twitter links or links from my favorite blogs, of which this is one.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

garage mahal said...

Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess.

What's more disgusting than blowing up an abortion clinic? A scheme to secretly videotape the anti-abortion activist doing the bombing.

*facepalm*

Robert Zaleski said...

So true. I listened to a talk by the founder of this group a month or two ago. She said her picture used to be on the walls until they started hiring and training doctors.

They've had years to try to adapt. To pretend these are off cases when they've been caught before is naive and self-deceiving.

Bender said...

What's more disgusting than killing babies?

Exposing the people who kill babies??? That's more disgusting?

Spoken like a true pro-abort, who feigns discomfort at the inhuman butchery, but does not want it to ever stop.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Is there anything more predictable than an opinion from the writers at Slate and at The National Journal?

tim said...

Matthew, it couldn't possibly be that what seems outrageous to you or I, the killing of born, living babies, is just everyday talk to the people at planned parenthood? Maybe they get these questions quite frequently, with millions of abortions a year that explanation may be plausible.

Lyssa said...

I cannot even wrap my head around this. How do these people live with themselves, both morally and just plain dealing with the cognitive dissidence?



Remember, these people think that they are intellectuals.

JAL said...

Otherwise, you make your organization look really bad.

Telling the truth (full disclosure?) is an "otherwise?"

How can the public be fully informed if there isn't full dislcosure.

If everything is OK -- then put it all out on the table so we can all sort through it.

Can't do that?

Then guess what?

Something. Is. Wrong.

damikesc said...

Slate --- hitting that "journalism" button HARD!

Ann, you earlier asked if people want to know if Gosnell was the norm. I think your question was answered.

Matt Sablan said...

I'm talking about how you handle adversarial people in a situation like this. Even good organizations get roped into playing the fool; you'd think if you were the face for a controversial one, you'd have media training to spot this sort of stuff.

jacksonjay said...


This kinda shit only counts if David Corn and the renowned Washington Post are involved!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

...an undercover operative

They are like the Russians typing us off on jihadists.

'We all know' these 'operatives' have an agenda, so, who cares about what they could possibly have to show?

They are not real, they are wannabes... knock-off abortionists, knock-off jihadis, knock-off journalism?

William said...

I really dont think that Saletan's complaints are worse than snipping the spinal column of a newborn. Still they're pretty bad.

Methadras said...

There really is nothing more to be said. Roe v. Wade is a farce and always was. It needs to be stricken as federal law. At least let the individual states craft their own legislation. Oh wait...

KCFleming said...

"I'm talking about how you handle adversarial people in a situation like this. Even good organizations get roped into playing the fool;"

Bad organizations, too.

I get your point, but it veers a little into 'The Manson Family would have done a lot better with our PR people' territory.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

tipping not 'typing'...

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

This scheme to exploit it . . .

Unjustly profit from it?

Me no get.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess.

Allah be praised.

Brian Brown said...

Story: She is told that if the baby is delivered alive, there are jars and there is toxic solution, the baby won’t live long

Saletan: Look ma, Squirrel!!!

These people are pathetic

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

What's more disgusting than late-term abortion? This scheme to exploit it by hiring actors & secretly taping doctors

Unpack this. Who's "exploiting" late-term abortion here? Mightn't it be the people performing it, for money? And I don't think that calling people out when they say that letting a live baby born in the course of an abortion die without medical care is their normal way of doing things is more "disgusting" than trying to stop the practice.

KCFleming said...

First off, stop calling it abortion.
Too controversial, too much baggage.

How about 'defenestration', or
Shubh raatri (hindi for 'good night')

Much calmer and friendlier.

KCFleming said...

Maybe pre-composting?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Ann, you earlier asked if people want to know if Gosnell was the norm...

Sadly, everybody knew Norm.

But Gosnell?

n.n said...

It's a gas chamber. I would politely ask that you refrain from asking its purpose and respect the privacy of its occupants. They were told that it was for their welfare. It was their choice.

What is Saletan hiding?

Beorn said...

@Matthew Sablan

PP is operating under the complacency that 40+ years without scrutiny/accountability brings.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I think you are onto something there Pogo..

Abort is like NASA lingo.

We need something more down to earth.

Like fertilizer.

Meade said...

garage mahal said...
"Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess."

Hoaxing Gov. Walker on the phone is better than assassinating him, I guess.

KCFleming said...

Exactly, Lem.

Something warm and fuzzy.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Hoaxing Gov. Walker on the phone is better than assassinating him, I guess.

Traffic be praised.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Something warm and fuzzy.

Environmentally friendly... green.

Tank said...

What's more disgusting than breaking into Democratic Headquarters? A scheme to exploit it by publishing "deep throat" revelations.

Jim S. said...

Was he that offended when 60 Minutes and similar programs did the same thing?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Second thought green could be interpreted as alien... and aliens are good, aliens are our friends... so green is no good.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I like this idea that conservatives are counselors, helping liberals feel better about having to live with the consequences of their choices.

Isn't that something?

Pogo is adjusting particularly well.

dc said...

Snip,the late term abortionist,thinks the Live Action people are terrorists.

Tim said...

CDC estimates 50 million killed by abortion since 1973.

Obviously, for the Democrat Left, this number of killed is insufficient, so every effort to expose the killing fields must be disclaimed, even if it is as innocuous as taping doctors freely admitting they kill babies.

As if no one knew abortion doctors kill babies...

Anonymous said...

As IF Tim really cared about the babies, as if.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Lem said...

Environmentally friendly... green.

I'm picturing Kermit (Gosnell) singing It's Not Easy Being Green.

tim in vermont said...

Wow Inga, that Kool-Aide you are drinking must be awfully strong.

Anonymous said...

Lmao.

Babykillers, embarrassed that their babykiling has been exposed as too gruesome to explain away, complain about investigations trying to expose more gruesome babykilling.

May every pro-choicer be aborted. After all, they aren't really alive.

Enjoy the decline, child-murderers!

garage mahal said...

Hoaxing Gov. Walker on the phone is better than assassinating him, I guess.

Thinking about planting troublemakers into crowds is better than actually planting them, I guess.

Smilin' Jack said...

I'm skeptical that Twitter drives traffic to websites. But if it does, this ought to work...

...because nobody ever gets tired of bozos yammering about abortion.

Anonymous said...

Saletan's not soulless-- just not smart enough to think of saying "Halappanavar" over and over again.

Kirk Parker said...

Lyssa,

"cognitive dissidence"

Awesome typo!

Unknown said...

The abortionist calls the people who filmed him terrorists. Can the T word attack be carried off as far from its origins as this? The word is not likely viable any longer anyway but if it got help in time it might survive.

furious_a said...

As IF Tim really cared about the babies, as if.

As IF Inga were really world's greatest vicarious internet telepath. As if.

furious_a said...

Yes, of course, because uncovering a problem is always more disgusting than the problem itself.

Serious you guys...who is more detested, the drunk who abuses his family or the child who speaks up, exposing both the abuse and the enablers?

Tim said...

Inga said...

"As IF Tim really cared about the babies, as if."

Right.

Because, we all know, the best way to care for babies is to kill them.

50 million and counting, babies "cared for" by killing.

Tim said...

tim in vermont said...

"Wow Inga, that Kool-Aide you are drinking must be awfully strong."

Hater-Ade.

The drink of idiot trolls nationwide.

furious_a said...

The abortionist and Saletan confuse "expose" with "exploit".

As Marion Barry once famously slurred: "Bitch set me up."

Shanna said...

Because, we all know, the best way to care for babies is to kill them.

I'm sure Inga thinks it's all about keeping women down or something. Not legitimate horror at the murder of life born children (as in the Gosnell case) or babies with little fingers and toes (as with a hell of a lot of the abortions performed).

Have you seen the 3D ultrasounds? The science on this one is beyond settled.

Carl said...

Meh. There are two ways a journalist can get eyeballs and attention: be The Voice Of Reason, or be a bomb-throwing loon.

Saletan has never quite had the cognitive chops to be The Voice Of Reason.

Michael K said...

"Blogger garage mahal said...

Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess."

You aren't sure ?

How about CBS doing undercover video to expose meat markets using old meat ? Should they blow up the market ?

You really are amazing.

Read the comments at that WaPo article. I like the one explaining that the black women's abortions have cut the crime rate. Way to go leties !

dc said...

Inga needs some backup help.Where is the psycho?

Tim said...

"Have you seen the 3D ultrasounds? The science on this one is beyond settled."

I saw the ultrasounds of my daughters - very impressive technology (and yes, I take your point) - but I knew they were human, and fully deserving of life, long (well, not that long - 8+ months or so) before they were born. I didn't need to see face, toes, fingers, shoulders, arms or legs to be convinced of that.

As for the CDC's estimate of 50 million babies killed by abortion since 1973, there is no disputing the fact most all of them were killed simply for expediency.

Abortion advocates argue "health of the mother," "rape," and "incest," although everyone knows these reasons comprise a very small fraction of the abortions performed.

Tim said...

dc said...

"Inga needs some backup help.Where is the psycho?"

Tempting trolls is dangerous stuff.

Ain't nobody got time for that!

Æthelflæd said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/babblecom/my-wife-is-expecting-twins_b_3141819.html?icid=hp_search_art

An excerpt: "As horrible as this might sound, we found ourselves wishing these twins away.

We considered a reduction for about 30 seconds. (That's essentially an abortion of one twin, not both.) If you thought that IVF involved playing God, a reduction felt beyond brazen -- Machiavellian, even. Give us a reason, we thought, as we had the twins tested for genetic anomalies. None came.

Two blessings, two bundles of joy. How could you not be happy, you ask? Of course I'm sympathetic to people who can't get pregnant, or who spend a couple of years trying IVF after IVF. But having kids is a selfish endeavor, and in these cases it's all very relative and highly personal. In our case, my wife and I know better than to think that life with three children is going to be perfect."

All our princes and princesses have to have perfect lives. Don't the babies know that?

Anonymous said...

Inga, you've said you're against late term and partial birth abortions, but you seem to spend more time here attacking pro-life conservatives you don't like than you do decrying these abortionists.

That makes me wonder if you really are that disturbed by the practice.

I realize, of course, that all the "wrong" people are disgusted by this. Icky Waukesha County conservatives and the like.

Æthelflæd said...

And the libertarians. She likes to blame them too. Anyone but the actual folks responsible.

Anonymous said...

I think partly what's so discomforting for some is the idea that the Church addresses the idea of sexual morality, and conception so clearly.

Sure, I enjoy "Every sperm is sacred" as much as the next guy, and I accept that many will still make unwanted babies, and a few will die horrible, back alley deaths, or end up in orphanages, or with a high likelihood of no education, malnutrition and criminality.

Yes, there is rape, and incest, and very real threats to a woman's health, and something a little ludicrous about a group of older men divining what ought to be done with a woman's body from scripture or tradition and custom....

But like others, I think we should stop and take a look at this. At what was done, and is being done. This is what abortion is, and what we are to some extent, and how we are controlling population, pregnancy, and life and the incentives surrounding it.

Anonymous said...

Nurse Inga's practical knowledge and genuine sacrifice has not convinced me entirely she is willing to look beyond her political views at times, from other points of view.

But that's often the case with Inga.

I live in a city of people looking for the oppressor/oppressed.

They don't create sustainable policies nor logically consistent solutions to shared problems enough for me.

They bully others, and cram human nature into little political boxes, seeking to spread utopianism and idealism far and wide.

And if you disagree, shut up.

Amartel said...

Hmm, things that are worse than baby stabbing ....

Ponder
Ponder
Ponder

Nope, not coming up with anything.

Oooh, oooh, wait I got it: Baby stabbing for profit.

Saint Croix said...

The headline for this story ought to be, "Will Saletan Bites Connie Chung."

Because 20-20 once did an undercover story on the abortion industry...

See Appendix B

jr565 said...

Mathew Sablan wrote:
Really, first lesson in working anywhere controversial or somewhere like that: Assume people making outrageous requests/demands might not be who they say they are, verify it, and then ask them to come back later when you've had time to think over their question.

Otherwise, you make your organization look really bad.

Yeah, but what outrageous requests were the people making? THey were simply asking questions about the procedure being offered by the doctors, as patients are supposed to.
What's outrageous is not the question, but the answer.

Nomadic100 said...

As a doctor, I fully support what Live Action has done.

Anonymous said...

"Hmm, things that are worse than baby stabbing ...."

Opposing gay marriage?

(For the record, I don't oppose it.)

Saint Croix said...

I do think we should credit Saletan (and Slate) for covering the Gosnell case, and doing so early.

His tweets are stupid, and he's not grappling at all with the pro-life charge of infanticide. But nonetheless it shows a lot of integrity to do the basic job of journalism. He's using the "baby" word, he's linking to the grand jury report. And he doesn't have to be shamed into doing his job. He's actually interested in the issue and trying to figure out what he thinks about it.

Contrast this journalism with, say, the New York Times, who forgot to cover the trial for two years. Their first article was a response to criticism, and an incompetent rush job.

The second article is better. The reporter uses the "baby" word, and actually talks to notable pro-lifers.

Of course, since he's a New York Times reporter, he refuses to call them "pro-lifers."

The case became a cause célèbre when anti-abortion activists complained the mainstream news media was ignoring it for ideological reasons. It has since been widely covered.

Yes, thank you for your two articles, NYT.

And this bit drives me up the wall:

Though late-term abortions are central to the Gosnell case, they are extremely rare. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 92 percent of abortions are done before 14 weeks, with 1.3 percent beyond 20 weeks.

1.3 percent of 1.5 million works out to 20,000 a year. But go ahead and tell your readers it's "extremely rare."

It's interesting, though, that the NYT feels obligated to compare Gosnell to other abortion doctors. The implication is that there are other Gosnells out there!

Every pro-choicer on the planet has thrown Gosnell under the bus. "Rogue doctor gone mad!" Yet the NYT--like an old school liberal worry about the rights of the defendant--decides to recognize that Gosnell is an abortion doctor who is charged with killing baby fetuses in his clinic.

There's no real way for pro-choice people to spin this case. All you can do is ignore it, hide it, and hope it goes away.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I live in Philly. The Phila Inquirer has avoided putting the story on page one.

It sometimes gets on Page 1 [below the fold] lead in the B [Metro/Local] section.

Its very liberal columnists have not written a peep about the case as far as I can tell.

Saint Croix said...

Thanks, AJ. Of course there's been nothing at all in the Charlotte paper. Nor are the networks covering it.

Fox did a poll about the lack of coverage.

11% of those polled are very familiar with the Gosnell case, and 21% are somewhat familiar with it.

Leaving 68% of the population in the dark. Just the way pro-choice people want our people to be.

Ignorance is key. Ignorance and suppression of information. (See "ultrasound is rape" for another example).

Saint Croix said...

Leaving 68% of the population in the dark. Just the way pro-choice people want our people to be.

Althouse, of course, being a notable exception. And really, she's just being principled. If you are truly for choice, then it has to be an informed choice.

Limited Blogger said...

Well then let's drive some traffic to Yale's conference on "Personhood Beyond the Human" -- to be held this December. Here's a titillating snippet:
____________________________________
By the close of the conference, attendees will have gained an enhanced understanding of the neurological, cognitive, and behavioral underpinnings of personhood and those traits required for such consideration; personhood theory; the history of personhood consideration and status (both in terms of philosophical and legal conceptions); and the legal hurdles and requirements for granting personhood status outside of the human species.
________________________

Legal hurdles? Gee, you ain't kiddin'!

Maybe these wicked smart lefties will extend the personhood status they want for apes and elephants to . . . I dunno, "emerging infants"?

Nah. Seating is limited at the animal-rights table.

http://nonhumanrights.net/about/

Revenant said...

Taping a clinic is better than blowing it up I guess.

I'm amused that you're not actually certain about that.

Synova said...

Can you imagine it? Children often fantasize about secret lost siblings... and then they find out that they had a twin but Mom killed it. Total chance which one got chopped up and sucked out, but you won. Way to go, selfish freakizoids, give your kid a life-time of survivor guilt why don't you.

Brent said...

Here's what I want to know? How sure are we that this "medical waste" of human baby parts won't one day be exposed as ending up in dog food in Mexico or somewhere?

I am absolutely serious. If crimes like this are happening everyday and and our government oversight can't find or police it without whistle blowers or activists outside main strem media, how certain are we that disposal is 100% legally performed and above board?

Just a matter of time. Slippery slopes are around you everyday.

Saint Croix said...

Maybe these wicked smart lefties will extend the personhood status they want for apes and elephants to . . . I dunno, "emerging infants"?

Keynote Speaker, Peter Singer. Mr. Fuck a Monkey himself.

And while wanting to humanize animals is weird, it's Singer's capacity to dehumanize that makes him such a Nazi poster boy.

To me the scary thing about Peter Singer is not the appalling things he writes or says. What is truly scary about Peter Singer is that many of our Ivy League elites are applauding him.

I suspect that "Nazi" gets thrown around on the internet so often because for many people, that's the only evil they recognize. Are they waiting for the swastika before they object?

Perhaps image is the only thing they understand, and ideas are beyond them? Apparently they need to see the swastika, the uniforms, and the Hitler salute before they will complain.

Thus trailer park Nazis, who have adopted the symbols, are condemned. But Ivy League intellectuals who adopt the rhetoric and arguments? Let's give him tenure, speaking engagements, and television appearances!

Limited Blogger said...

@SaintCroix,

Agreed.

Singer and his ilk believe apes and elephants are more deserving of legal protections than pre-term, sentient infants. This sort of irony is too rich for me.

Nathan Alexander said...

Brainfertilizer's 2nd Law:
The Progressive Agenda cannot survive if information flows freely.

Put another way: the Progressive Agenda can only survive if they succeed in maintaining and expanding the pool of low-information voters.