By Emily Geiger

Gossip Corner

As I was watching TV last night, a “breaking news” flash came up announcing that 18-year-old Bristol Palin has broken up with her boyfriend and baby-daddy, Levi Johnston.

The print version ^[1] of the article I found on this topic doesn’t cite a specific reason for the break-up, but the TV news report I saw on the issue said that Johnston got upset and broke off the relationship when he found out that Bristol had referred to his family as “white trash.”

First of all, when your mom gets busted as a drug dealer ^[2], that does kinda make you white trash. Of course, some might argue that getting knocked up in high school also classifies you as white trash, but I digress.

Medical Corner

Apparently, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller ^[3] underwent surgery for prostate cancer yesterday. Obviously, that is not something to joke about or make light of. It’s also not something that you use as a political ploy. Apparently someone forgot to tell that to Chester, who also has a hard time with logic, because somehow tried to tie Miller’s cancer to the workers’ compensation bill. It didn’t really work for me. And I hope Miller and the two other “friends” (i.e. donors) Chester mentioned are also OK with being used as public political tools.

So, is the governor listing off his hospitalized friends for all the world to know a HIPPA violation?

Political Corner

So, I was pretty excited to see Iowa Family Policy Center bigwig Chuck Hurley get a shout out ^[4] in a national news article. The article was about how various state GOP activists are reacting to the new RNC chairman, Michael Steele. There has been some hesitation about Steele from the socially conservative wing of the party due to Steele’s co-founding the pro-choice Republican Leadership Council ^[5] with RINO Christy Todd Whitman. But, Hurley was very diplomatic.

“[T]here’s probably a mix of hope and optimism that a fresh face and somebody of African-American descent will be a good thing,” said Chuck Hurley, head of the Iowa Family Policy Center and a delegate to the Republican presidential nominating convention last year. ^[4]

Still, he added: “It’s kind of a wait-and-see attitude with most people.”

That was yesterday morning.

Then Steele opened his mouth again yesterday afternoon.

Q: How much of your pro-life stance, for you, is informed not just by your Catholic faith but by the fact that you were adopted? ^[6]

Steele: Oh, a lot. Absolutely. I see the power of life in that—I mean, and the power of choice! The thing to keep in mind about it… Uh, you know, I think as a country we get off on these misguided conversations that throw around terms that really misrepresent truth. ^[6]

Q: Explain that. ^[6]

Steele: The choice issue cuts two ways. You can choose life, or you can choose abortion. You know, my mother chose life. So, you know, I think the power of the argument of choice boils down to stating a case for one or the other. ^[6]

Q: Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion? ^[6]

Steele: Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice. ^[6]

Q: You do? ^[6]

Steele: Yeah. Absolutely. ^[6]

Q: Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade? ^[6]

Steele: I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter. ^[6]

Q: Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have? ^[6]

Steele: The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide. ^[6]

Oh, and on homosexuality, Steele said:

“I don’t think I’ve ever really subscribed to that view [that homosexuality is a choice], that you can turn it on and off like a water tap. Um, you know, I think that there’s a whole lot that goes into the makeup of an individual that, uh, you just can’t simply say, oh, like, ‘Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being gay.’ It’s like saying, ‘Tomorrow morning I’m gonna stop being black.’” ^[6]

I’m guessing that’s not what Hurley was waiting for.

Update

See the Iowa Family Policy Center’s side of the story here ^[7].