THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2022  

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
The Grio's Sophia Nelson
& CNN's Alice Stewart

TheGrio contributing editor Sophia Nelson argued against overturning Roe v. Wade with fellow conservative and CNN contributor Alice Stewart using a variety of points.

On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day, anchor Brianna Keilar hosted the two conservative women — both of whom describe themselves as “pro-life” — to debate the draft Supreme Court opinion on Roe v Wade.

It was a polite and measured conversation, notably so given the context.

Stewart founded her argument on making it a "state-level" issue, and argued that overturning Roe is not the same thing as an abortion ban.

Nelson's argument was that a person can be "pro-life and pro-liberty" and still oppose overturning such an important, precedent-setting decision. She also called out "some hypocrisy going on" when it comes to the right and bodily autonomy, citing mask debates.

Both arguments, however, rested on the question of the constitutional law, and Nelson rebutted Stewart's praise for originalism with a powerful historical argument.

"There’s a whole lot of words that aren’t in the Constitution. If I were back 200 plus years ago, I’d be 3/5 of a person. Thank God the Constitution lives, breathes and expands, and grows with the times," she said.

It was an illuminating discussion and nothing like the "rage and interrupt" format for which cable news is often criticized and lampooned.

In fact, it was great TV. The credit goes to the two conservatives for their thoughtful debate, and also to Brianna Keilar, for an excellent and well-handled segment on such a polarizing topic.

MEDIA LOSER:
Breitbart's Rebecca Mansour

Breitbart senior editor-at-large Rebecca Mansour was deluged with ridicule and outrage for tweeting that the pro-life movement wasn’t violent when Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court.

The leaked draft has been the subject of enormous and often incredibly contentious debate, but Mansour's thread stood out for the scorn it produced. She wrote:

The freakout you are witnessing from the left is very instructive. When Roe was handed down 49 years ago, pro-lifers didn’t riot, didn’t call for SCOTUS to be burned down, didn’t threaten the lives of justices, didn’t try to stack the Court.
Pro-lifers (mostly Catholics at first) organized at the grassroots level. They planned an annual peaceful march on Washington. They created crisis pregnancy centers. The got involved in electing politicians.
They passed pro-life legislation. They WORKED WITHIN THE SYSTEM of our Constitutional republic to enact change at the ballot box and in the hearts and minds of their fellow Americans.

She added "no amount of rioting, violence, fear-mongering, or any other left-wing intimidation," will change the outcome.

It should go without saying this historical, uh — interpretation — didn't go over well. At all.

"The ignorance of history on display here is breathtaking," read one tweet. Noam Chomsky said, "They blew up abortion clinics with nail bombs and shot doctors dead in the sanctuaries of their churches."

Mansour later replied to the blowback, writing she's "well aware" of "violent fringe extremists," but it never changed the decision.

In a day of high-temperature takes, Mansour's downplaying decades of reality stood out.

The A-Block

Vance v. Vance

Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance may have won the Republican nomination for the Ohio Senate race after a bitter campaign battle, but the Donald Trump-endorsed conservative is still plenty controversial among Republicans.

Only hours after the race was called in Vance’s favor, National Review published a column asking, “Will the real J.D. Vance Please Stand Up?” The Jim Geraghty-written piece accuses Vance of being a flip-flopper, which is nothing new for the man who once said he was a “never Trump guy,” but the outlet also published stories previously written for them by Vance, asking if the “new” Vance proves he has some kind of split-personality disorder.

“How well do you know the Ohio Republican Party’s new Senate candidate, J. D. Vance? I suppose I should specify whether I mean the old J. D. Vance or the new J. D. Vance, because they seem like two drastically different guys. Maybe he has a split personality,” Geraghty asks.

There are six excerpts from past Vance pieces with very different rhetoric than today's JD.


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In Other News...

Biden Blasts 'MAGA Crowd' as the 'Most Extreme Political Organization That's Existed in Recent American History'

Elon Musk Cracks Up at Parody Video Mocking Trauma of Twitter Employees

RUMPF: Taxpayers Sue DeSantis to Block Repeal of Reedy Creek that Would Stick Counties With $1 Billion Bond Debt; More Lawsuits Expected Soon


Industry News...

RATINGS: May 2 - Gutfeld! Tops CNN and MSNBC Prime Time Despite SCOTUS News

Must See Clip

No, It May Not

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested in a recent interview that Covid vaccines “may” give people AIDS, but that more research on the matter is necessary.

Johnson sat down with Todd Callender, whom the Wisconsin Examiner described as an anti-vaccine attorney, for an "interview' 

Callender shared a wild theory with the senator: Covid shots are intentionally spreading HIV/AIDS to people who receive them. 

That's really what he said: "They purposefully gave people AIDS. Right, they knew this."

Johnson began his response promisingly with the words, "Let me challenge you there."

But then: "Everything you say may be true."

No. No it may not. Permission denied.

Links We Like

The Shocking Supreme Court Leak: And Our Race To The Bottom
- Bari Weiss, Substack
Who Leaked?
-  Allahpundit, Hot Air
Why Is the Danish Far Right Vandalizing Left-Wing Artwork?
- Lukas Slothuus, Jacobin
Sheryl Crow’s Music Has Been Pretty Laid Back. Her Life Hasn’t Always Been.
- David Browne, Rolling Stone
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