I’ve been reading the distressed meepings of people like Maggie Gallagher, Ross Douthat and Rod Dreher lately because I am mean-spirited enough to relish the schadenfreude as gay rights opponents are swept to sea by a turning tide.
There’s plenty of that at Rod Dreher’s joint, but today he highlights something Hillary Clinton said last week at the Women in The World Summit:
“Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth. All the laws we’ve passed don’t count for much if they’re not enforced,” Clinton said.
“Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” Clinton argued. “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will.”
“And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed,” Clinton added.
That’s true in the same way Obama’s “bitter clinger” remarks were true back in aught-eight. I’m surprised Clinton’s statement isn’t being shouted from the rooftops by every English-speaking wingnut blog; maybe it’s still being processed in the pipes of the mighty Wurlitzer.
If so, it will be framed as a “gaffe” in the same sense “bitter clingers” was a gaffe, i.e., a truth that is politically inconvenient. Because it is true: Rights that people can’t practice are worthless. And despite Dreher & Co.’s indignant sputtering about the immutable nature of their religious beliefs, those evolve to conform to changing social mores too, as Dreher’s embarrassed grandchildren will one day attest.
Hillary Clinton’s “Bitter Clinger” MomentPost + Comments (145)