[Guest post by Dana]

Planned Parenthood Federation of America released a video today of President Cecile Richards apologizing – not for trafficking in fetal baby parts, of course, but for the “tone” that Dr. Nucatola used while casually discussing the demand for baby livers between sips of wine:

“Our top priority is the compassionate care that we provide. In the video one of our staff members speaks in a way that does not reflect that compassion, this is unacceptable and I personally apologize for the staff member’s tone and statements,” Richards said.

Further:

Richards also doubles down on her defense of selling parts of aborted babies for medical research — calling the body arts “tissue” that contributes to “life-saving research.” She claims the sales are never done for profit and that the consent of the women who agree to sell their aborted baby is contained.

“I want to be really clear. The allegation that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true,” Richards adds.

Richards condemns the “secretly-recorded, heavily edited video,” but never admits that the full unedited two-hour long video footage has been released.

Note: Richards apologizes for the staff member’s “tone” and “statements”, but doesn’t specify exactly which statements those might be. Ed.

In a follow-up to the release of the Planned Parenthood video, a few Democrats are defending the organization and claiming they are not trafficking in fetal baby parts – in spite of Dr. Nucatola clearly discussing which fetal parts are most in demand and going over specific purchase price. They are also denouncing the video as nothing more than a heavily edited sting operation. This in spite of admitting they haven’t even watched the video. Other higher-profile Democrats are keeping quiet, hoping no one asks them about it.

Also, some in the MSM have manipulatively framed the subject as nothing more than a clinical “disposition of fetal remains”. And, without notifying readers, others in the MSM have sneakily rewritten their troubling headlines to instead read as something altruistic and benefiting mankind.

None of this is surprising. Not the video content, not the doctor’s casualness toward the subject matter, and certainly not the defense mounted by Democrats and the MSM. If you are surprised, if you think we have not yet morally deteriorated to the point where things like selling fetal baby parts (or worse) happens, think again. Never sell short the rationalizing powers of man and the exetent of his belief that the ends justifies the means. Because frankly, the possibilities are limitless:

Since far more women have legal abortions each year in the United States than would be required to clear organ wait-lists, if only a small percentage of those women could be persuaded to carry their fetuses to the necessary point of development for transplantation, society might realize significant public health benefits. The government could even step into the marketplace itself to purchase fetal organs for patients on Medicare and Medicaid, ensuring that low-income individuals had equal access to such organs while keeping the “asking price” elevated…

Someday, if we are fortunate, scientific research may make possible farms of artificial “wombs” breeding fetuses for their organs — or even the “miracle” of men raising fetuses in their abdomens. That day remains far off. However, the prospect of fetal-adult organ transplantation is a much more realistic near-term possibility. A market in such organs might benefit both society and the women who choose to take advantage of it.

Thank God Cecile Richards took Dr. Nucatola to task. It would be awful if anyone got the idea that these people are anything but compassionate. Especially when it comes to matters of life. And death.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Four Marines have been killed in an attack on two separate military facilities in Tennessee. A Marine recruiter and police officer were also injured in the attack. The gunman was killed.

The shooting incident began on the U.S. Naval Recruiting on Lee Highway in Chattanooga ended at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center on Amincola Highway Thursday morning about 11am.

The gunman’s name was not immediately released, and authorities offered no immediate information on a motive. Bill Killian, the top federal prosecutor for eastern Tennessee, said the attack was being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism.

The shootings happened about 40 minutes and six miles apart, first at a military recruitment station and then at a Navy and Marines reserve center. A defense official said the gunman used an automatic weapon.

…

Authorities said they had no reason to believe anyone else was involved in the shooting. They also said there was no intelligence indicating the attack ahead of time. Several defense officials said there was still change in alert status for U.S. military installations.

Per CBS News’ Twitter feed:

CBS News ‏@CBSNews 31m31 minutes ago

NEW: #Chattanooga shooting suspect ID’d as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, law enforcement sources tell CBS News http://cbsn.ws/1K9FseQ

Added: According to NBC News, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kuwait.

Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch is reporting that ISIS tweeted, “O American dogs soon YOU will see the wonders,” and used #Chattanooga, at 10:34 a.m., which is around the same time police claim the attack began.

–Dana

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: The 10:34 a.m. time stamp was from a screenshot taken in a different time zone. The actual tweet came hours after the attack.

Workplace violence!

ADDED: President Obama described the Marines’ deaths as a “heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals who have served our country with great valor.”

Michelle Malkin fixes it for him: Lightning strikes are “heartbreaking circumstances.” Systemic assassinations of our troops is an act of war, fool==>

There’s a reason I have called the John Doe raids state-sponsored SWATtings.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ended the partisan investigation of Republicans for exercising their First Amendment rights. Fascistic aspects of the investigations included targeting political opponents, telling them they must be silent about the investigations, and search warrant service — with battering rams but without probable cause — to investigate political speech.

Let me present two quotes from today’s decision (courtesy of Gabriel Malor) that demonstrates just how meritless the investigations were:

The special prosecutor has disregarded the vital principle that in our nation and our state political speech is a fundamental right and is afforded the highest level of protection. The special prosecutor’s theories, rather than “assur[ing] [the] unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people,” Roth, 354 U.S. at 484, instead would assure that such political speech will be investigated with paramilitary-style home invasions conducted in the pre-dawn hours and then prosecuted and punished. In short, the special prosecutor completely ignores the command that, when seeking to regulate issue advocacy groups, such regulation must be done with “narrow specificity.” Barland II, 751 F.3d at 811 (quotations omitted).

And:

Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a few simple, but important, points. It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a “perfect storm” of wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who dared to associate with them. It is fortunate, indeed, for every other citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution. Further, these brave individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution. Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.

The nightmare is over, but the precedent for Putin-like “investigations” of political opponents has been set.