"Ayatollah" Cuccinelli: Frank Wolf is an Anti-Choice Extremist

There are a lot of shades of gray in life, but one thing that's black and white is this: you are most definitively NOT a moderate Republican when far-right-wing state Sen. "Ayatollah" Ken Cuccinelli speaks glowingly about you like this (from the May 15 "Cuccinelli Compass"):

Throughout his years in Congress, Congressman Wolf has consistently voted against the federal funding of abortion and for the protection of the rights of the unborn, including his strong support of the "Hyde Amendment." As the ranking member of the House State-Foreign Operations appropriations subcommittee, Congressman Wolf led the successful effort to keep the "Mexico City policy" in place in the final spending bill for FY 2008. It should be noted that this is a very big deal and it will continue to be a challenge in a Democrat-controlled Congress. This is quite an accomplishment while in the minority.

For those of us who've forgotten what the Hyde Amendment is all about, here's the National Organization for Women explaining it:

The Hyde Amendment denies federal funding for abortions that do not fit its narrow criteria, and places the financial burden on already-tight state Medicaid budgets, in effect encouraging states not to expand abortion coverage. Currently, more than half of the states provide no additional funding, according to the National Abortion Federation, which notes that only South Dakota provides less coverage than the Hyde Amendment, even refusing funding for abortion services in cases of incest and rape.

Great stuff, huh? But wait, it gets worse (more from the "Cuccinelli Compass"):

Congressman Wolf has also consistently opposed using federal tax dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research, and he has also opposed weakening the policy of prohibiting abortions at U.S. military facilities, even if privately funded. While I don't think these organizations always get their picks right, in this case, the endorsements of Congressman Wolf by the National Right to Life and the Virginia Society for Life are right on the mark. For what it's worth to any of you, I add my endorsement to theirs. See you on June 12th at the polls.

That's right, Wolf opposes vital stem cell research AND keeping women in the military from exercising their constitutional right to choose what to do with their own bodies! How anyone ever thought this guy was a moderate is utterly incomprehensible.

Oh, and Senator Cooch? The primary's on June 10, not June 12. D'oh!

Completely Outrageous

This is completely outrageous on a number of levels:

Three Republican members of Congress -- Frank Wolf of Virginia and Congressional Pro-Life Caucus co-chairs Chris Smith of New Jersey and Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania -- are in Israel this week lobbying for an abortion ban there.

Israeli press coverage of the visit did not mention Smith's 2004 comparison of abortion to the Holocaust. Instead, it was reported that the congressmen were concerned about Israelis' declining birth rate compared to that of the Palestinians. They are working with Shas, the ultra-orthodox Sephardic party and its rabbinic council, which believes that "abortions are a grave sin which may even delay the coming of the messiah."

But just like here, this is a minority view; according to a recent poll, only 30% of Israelis believe that abortion is murder.

Frank Wolf's out-of-the-mainstream views are bad enough, but now he's meddling in another country's affairs with someone who compares abortion to the Nazi Holocaust? He's messing around with people who believe that abortion may "delay the coming of the messiah?" He's trying to impose his absolutist anti-abortion views on a country where 70% of people disagree with him, and where they've got a lot more pressing problems? Is THIS the kind of representation people want in the 10th district? Right, I didn't think so.