I’ve criticized the title of Ramesh Ponnuru’s new book, "The Party of Death" as being too overtly partisan, bringing political rhetoric on difficult moral questions down to Coulteresque levels. Ponnuru insists that he is being bipartisan in the book. Here’s an extract from an interview on NRO:
Lopez: You make clear in the book that the "party of death" in the title is not the Democratic party. Plenty of Republicans are members. But the Dems have embraced it with open arms, so aren’t they kinda sorta the party of death, or its main political manifestation?
Ponnuru: One of the stories the book tells is how abortion transformed the Democratic party from a party primarily concerned about protecting the weak to one that is more avid about defending the alleged rights of the strong. Pro-life Democrats have resisted this transformation, but it is certainly true that the Democratic party has become the party of unrestricted abortion, lethal research on human embryos, and euthanasia. The way I put it is that the party of death has largely taken over the Democratic party and has an outpost in the Republican party too.
Here’s what the inside flap of the book says:
Is the Democratic Party the "Party of Death"?
If you look at their agenda they are.
IT‚ÄôS NOT JUST abortion-on-demand. It’s euthanasia, embryo destruction, even infanticide‚Äîand a potentially deadly concern with "the quality of life" of disabled people. If you think these issues don‚Äôt concern you ‚Äî guess again. The Party of Death could be roaring into the White House, as National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru shows, in the person of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In The Party of Death, Ponnuru details how left-wing radicals, using abortion as their lever, took over the Democratic Party — and how they have used their power to corrupt our law and politics, abolish our fundamental right to life, and push the envelope in ever more dangerous directions. In The Party of Death, Ponnuru reveals:
* How Hillary Clinton could use the abortion issue (but not in the way you think) to become president * Why the conventional wisdom about Roe v.Wade is a lie * How the party of death ‚Äî a coalition of special interests ranging from Planned Parenthood to Hollywood ‚Äî came to own the Democratic Party * How the mainstream media promotes the party of death * Why Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, and other leading liberals gave up being pro-life * How liberals use animal rights to displace human rights * The Democratic presidential candidate who said that infanticide is a mother’s "choice" * How doctors‚Äîand other health care professionals‚Äîare being coerced, by law, into violating their consciences * The ultrasound revolution: why there’s hope to stop the party of death.
Hmmm. No mention of the Republican party at all. Complete identification of the "party of death" with one party. Ponnuru gets a veto on the dust-jacket. His attempt to have it both ways is, at the very least, disingenuous.
The Dish 