Never Interrupt Your Enemy When He Is Stepping on His Own Penis

It's a loose translation of Napoleon Bonaparte from the original French. 

I am referring, of course, to Lindsey Graham's proposed bill Graham instituting a ban on abortions at 15 weeks.

This is tremendously stupid, and it makes me happy when someone does something so stupid: 

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced legislation on Tuesday that would institute a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, reigniting debate on an issue that Republicans have worked to confront before midterm elections in which abortion rights have become a potent issue.

There is no chance that Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, would allow such a bill to receive a vote in the Senate, where his party has been focused on preserving abortion access after the Supreme Court’s ruling in June ending the constitutional right to abortion.

And the proposal quickly divided Republicans, splitting their leaders and reflecting the difficult politics of abortion for the party in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.

………

Mr. Graham’s proposal appeared to be an effort to find a politically palatable position for Republicans after the court’s decision that could insulate them from a voter backlash, even as G.O.P.-led states enact bans on nearly all abortions.

………

The measure would leave in place state laws with stricter restrictions but supersede those that allow the procedure after 15 weeks, outlawing many abortions that are currently legal.

So, in many states, a 10 year old would still have to carry her rapists child to term, and other women would have to carry their dead babies, and women will die.

It does not seem to me to be something that will generate a single vote for Republicans, and I am good with that.

Keep stepping on your own dick.

The reality is that there is no politically palatable solution that will work for Republicans.

As I have noted over a decade ago, the whole abortion debate is a proxy for racism, driven by bigot's desire to recreate the right of private people to discriminate in public accommodation, and eventually return to the private segregation academies.

They don't want compromise.  They want a return to segregation and a return to the Lochner Era, where all regulation, whether it be safety, minimum wage, child labor, or civil rights, was considered to be a violation of the (completely made up) Constitutional right to contract.