Is Juno Pro-Life?

Many dissents from Ross. Matt Zeitlin:

The reason Juno is able to go through with the pregnancy is the same reason she is able to openly contemplate abortion. It’s because everyone close to her is incredibly supportive of whatever choices  she makes.

Oliver Willis concurs. Publius makes a point I’ve long tried to emphasize:

If progressives were convinced that individuals would retain the freedom to make such complex and personal decisions themselves, they would be more open to the arguments of the ‘lonely vigil.’ Once progressives are convinced that teenagers will not be coerced by threat of prosecution to give birth against their will, I think pro-life advocates would be surprised how dramatically progressive attitudes would shift.

Meanwhile, the movie is thriving and expanding to 2000 screens nationwide. I haven’t yet seen it, but hope to soon.

Clinton On Pakistan

D’oh!

In two confident television appearances, on CNN and ABC, Clinton made an elementary error about Pakistani politics: She described President Pervez Musharraf as a "candidate" who would be "on the ballot."

In fact, Musharraf was re-elected to the presidency in October. The upcoming elections are for parliament, and while Musharraf’s party will be facing off against opposition parties, the president himself is not a candidate.

Ready on Day Two, maybe.

Family Reunification – For Some

How US immigration law targets gay couples for discrimination:

On a Sunday morning in early December, 41-year-old Abbie Green stands next to Sandra Veronica Campuzano Trevizo, her partner of eight years, in their one-bedroom rental in Chihuahua, Mexico, saying can-do things in the face of a policy that has sent them from Phoenix to Vancouver, British Columbia, to Chihuahua in order to make a life together, legally, somewhere. Then she cries.

In Glasgow, Scotland, David Black — stopped, detained, turned back at New York’s JFK airport in August — conducts his uprooted life, his strained relationship and much of his Denver real estate business from Glasgow coffee shops that have Wi-Fi service. Back in Denver, his partner, a U.S. citizen, keeps the business they have together running as he begins contemplating options that would mean leaving the U.S.

And in southwestern London, Gordon Stewart stands amid the dust and torn-down drywall of his new flat. After 4 1/2 years of fighting, then lobbying, then accepting that he wouldn’t be returning to the U.S. with his mate anytime soon, the pharmaceutical executive bought this new home.

The important thing, it seems, is to attack our relationships and our families. It makes others feel better about themselves.

Obama Breaks Out In Iowa

Obamasignsjeffhaynesafpgetty

At least that’s what it looks like in the latest DMR poll: Obama 32, Clinton 25, Edwards 24:

In an indication of the Obama’s appeal in Iowa, Democratic caucusgoers say they prefer change and unity over other leadership characteristics. Selecting a candidate who represents a sharp departure from the status quo is 56-year-old Lansing Democrat John Rethwisch’s priority, and his main reason for backing Obama.

"I have been seeing more and more something Kennedy-esque coming from Obama," said Rethwisch, Lansing’s water and sewer administrator. "But it’s always a gamble when you get somebody in there who hasn’t got a proven track record."

More important is how Obama is winning – by appealing beyond core Democrats:

Clinton remains the favorite of the party faithful, with support from a third of self-described Democrats. However, Obama is the clear choice of caucusgoers who affiliate with neither the Democrat or Republican parties, with roughly 40 percent of them backing him in the survey.

The support from non-Democrats is significant because a whopping 40 percent of those planning to attend described themselves as independent and another 5 percent as Republican.

Obama wins the base and the center and right. If he can do that in a primary, think about what he could do in the general. Or New Hampshire. For the GOP, Huckabee also has a bigger lead in the poll than he has recently. Romney is still sweating, despite his barrage of ads. And McCain is coming up fast at 14. And Ron Paul is in fourth place! If Paul gets in the top four in Iowa, how will Fox keep him out of the New Hampshire debate?

Know hope.

(Photo: Jeff Haynes/Getty.)

Why I’m Wrong About Obama

Reza Aslan vents:

As someone who once was that young Muslim boy everyone seems to be imagining (albeit in Iran rather than Egypt), I’ll let you in on a secret: He could not care less who the president of the United States is. He is totally unconcerned with whatever barriers a black (or female, for that matter) president would be breaking. He couldn’t name three U.S. presidents if he tried. He cares only about one thing: what the United States will do.

I should point out that I did not argue that Obama’s face was sufficient for re-tooling America’s image in the Middle East. I said it was a huge advantage worth pondering in this election. I still think it is. There’s also a swipe that supporting Obama somehow absolves those of us who placed our trust in Bush at the beginning of this conflict. I don’t believe that. The fact that I admired a president who bungled a war, added $32 trillion to the next generation’s debt and made America a torturing nation is a matter of record – and some shame. This is not about me or anyone else in the pundit class. It is simply about what’s best for the US and the world. If Aslan has a candidate more suited to that task, he could always name him or her.

Marc Emails

Ambinder reports from the trail:

The drive time host of WHO was an introducer at the Huckabee event I’m at … He said "when the guy in a suit and the guy in the dress are against you, then you know you’ve got something. And then he said: "When Rush Limbaugh and Andrew Sullivan are against you …"

Well, it’s not verbatim. But I think accusing Rush Limbaugh of secretly wearing dresses is really beyond the pale.