Del. Bob Marshall – bigot, misogynist, and general all around creepy guy – made national news yesterday by declaring that disabled children were God’s punishment for the mother having had an abortion. Full quote:
“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.
“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”
Now, I’m not going to pretend to be surprised or outraged about it. It’s totally in character for him, in my view. Â He’s not going to resign, and his district will return him to office (perhaps further inflicting God’s punishment on Virginia?). Â He’s rather proud of his ridiculousness, and he’s rewarded for it. Â It’s Virginia, after all.
What I didn’t expect, however, was for him to out and out lie about what he said. WMAL catches him.
Marshall however today told WMAL he never said any such thing. “One of the reporters said to me, ‘I wondered why AP (Associated Press) and the other guys didn’t cover this. I said, ‘Jonathan, because it didn’t happen,’ ” Marshall told WMAL.
Well, there’s audio. Â Bob Marshall, Liar.
Bruce Roemmelt
You can send a message by donating $13 to the Prince William Democrats in our continuing effort to change our representation in Richmond. We will not give up!
Bob Marshall is an embarrassment to Prince William and Virginia. Please donate $13 to the the PW Dems to help us unseat this anti everything person.
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bruce roemmelt, PWC Dems Vice Chair
Amit
not sure if I’m more disappointed that an educated man would say such a thing or annoyed that we have common friends, although pretty much every conservative blog and Bob McD is condemning him.
what really scares me is when the likes of Marshall or Palin are president and have control over nationalized healthcare!
tx2vadem
Oh, I would point out that Virginia is still quite mild in my opinion. Florida, Louisiana, Texas, we would really have to work to surpass some of the truly crazy states. One Bob Marshall doesn’t put us close. =)
Amit, you are hilarious! Nationalized healthcare, as if. And the Paulistas probably dwarf the tea-partiers and Sara Palin supporters.
Amit
@tx2vadem, I’m sure there are more Palin supporters than Paultards out there and that is what worries me. and why are you not convinced healthcare will eventually pass? Obama seems pretty determined and it is likely they will get their foot in the door with a small bill which they will grow over time.
tx2vadem
Amit, the bill in either house or the compromise that Obama is proposing do not nationalize health care. Government will own only one insurer before and after this bill: AIG. If you want to point to Medicare or the VA, they existed before this bill. So, no nationalization, that was what I found amusing. Will a health care bill pass? Maybe. I’d be unwilling to bet on it though.
Paultards, also funny! I’m really uncertain about that assertion though. Just because the media needs something to hype doesn’t make tea-partiers a big force. The Ron Paul crowd is a known quantity. I’d bet money that he’d get more votes in a Republican primary than Palin assuming Huckabee, Romney and Pawlenty run. I’d also note that book sales mean nothing either. Who can avert their eyes from a train wreck?
Amit
I don’t think healthcare would be nationalized this year but whatever healthcare bill passes would be sort of a “gateway” to nationalization. It may take 10-20 years to do it and if after that someone radical gets into office that thinks abortion is God’s punishment or gays are satan’s children then they will use the govt healthcare system against them. just thinking of possible unintended consequences.
MB
Goodness, and next thing you know, the highway system will be nationalized!
Color me completely unimpressed with the slippery slope argument. If there’s a market solution to the problem, it will present itself. If not? So what? Pop quiz: you get nut cancer. What will you pay to resolve it? 1) $500 2) $50,000 or 3) $500,000.
Wait. You opt for 3? And so would everyone you know?
Gosh. Maybe the make-believe market *doesn’t* solve for everything.
Amit
driven on the interstate highways during rush hour much?
in the make-believe market, curing nut cancer wouldn’t ever cost $500K to begin with because competition would bring the price down over time. and atleast in the market system there’s a chance for a cure, in the govt system you take a number and die. guess that’s one way of *solving* it
MB
That’s just absurd. The problem is that you’ve got an entire national experiences that run completely contrary to your claims. What has competition done for costs over time in the US? And why aren’t the single-payer systems across the world strewn with nothing but dead people?
It seems to be more an article of faith than reality that gov’t is always evil, and markets will always yield the best solutions, but like most religions, it only makes sense to those who are willing to blind themselves to reality.
Amit
I hope you don’t believe that the current healthcare system of employer-based insurance, mandates and restrictions is the Free Market. that would be like saying Tibetans have the right to peacefully assemble. truth is that the US has never had a free market, simply freer than most for most of its history.
Amit
and just for the record, I don’t think the govt is evil but rather a well-intentioned counter-productive agent of change due to its size and complexity
MB
The “Free Market” you’re talking about doesn’t exist. And never will. So the real question, in my mind, is the amount of damage you’re willing to incur in demonstrating that. That free market has as much likelihood of occurring as does the egalitarian society under communism.