Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) stated on the Senate floor that abortion represented “well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does” (CNN). This seems like a harmless statement by a senator who wants to rally his constituents against Planned Parenthood. Of course, there is one problem; the real figure is only 3 percent (CNN). He only missed the real percentage by about 87 percent. Fair enough, a politician lied for his own personal benefit. What else is new? His office released a statement that claimed that Kyl’s statement was “not intended to be a factual statement” (CNN). Wait…. What?
A United States Senator took to the floor and entered into the public record a lie. It was a statement he knew was, at best, embellished or, worse, completely made up. This simple fact illustrates the political environment that is currently present in the US. Senators can outright lie. If we can’t trust what he hear on the Senate floor, what can we trust? Planned Parenthood has become a new rallying point for the Tea Party. The saddest part in the whole ordeal is that some people probably still believe Jon Kyl. These people want it to be true, so to them, it is true.
I am very glad that President Obama made sure that Planned Parenthood did not get defunded as a result of the compromise that resulted in no government shutdown. It was the one thing that I did not want to be included in the deal. During his presidency, Obama has not pursued too liberal of an agenda. For instance, environmental reform has been completely absent and the financial reform bill is largely toothless. Obama has governed much more to the center than I, and many other liberals, hoped and expected. If he had sold out Planned Parenthood, he would have lost even more support from the liberals that he will need in 2012.
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