Comments Elsewhere

Look, Harel said, quote, “Political discourse in this nation centers on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage, and there is a real paucity of debate on matters that actually impact the daily lives of Americans, such as the stunning loss of manufacturing jobs.” This clearly hints, if not outright states, that abortion is not one of the “matters that actually impact the daily lives of Americans.”

You yourself glossed Harel by saying that he was encouraging us to “focus on real politics.” This clearly hints, if not outright states, that abortion is not part of the “real politics” we should be focusing on.

My point is that neither of these claims make sense if you include the daily lives of women or the political issues that affect women’s daily lives when you talk about “matters that actually impact the daily lives of Americans” or “real politics.”

I agree with you that it’s ridiculou that we should have to spend time debating abortion; I also think it’s ridiculous that we should have to spend time debating unionism. The answers are obvious and the opponents illogical. But the fact of the matter is that we do have to debate these things, because both the availability of abortion and organized labor are under a systematic politicized assault from all three branches of government at the federal, state, and local levels. Such is life.

As for your “commenting on [my] disregard for the American worker,” you need to think harder about this. Or simply read more: I have posted repeatedly about labor issues on my website; in fact a few paragraphs down in the exact post you’re complaining about I offer some kind words for Harel’s defense of unionism as a serious issue for the Left. You may not realize this, but I do work for a living and I happen to be a dues-paying, card-carrying member of the labor movement.

Disregarding my fellow workers has nothing to do with it. The point that I was raising is that it is neither necessary nor acceptable to dismiss the importance of other people’s struggles (e.g. the struggle of women to defend their access to safe and legal abortions) in order to purchase credibility for your own.