She will not want my sympathies, but I do feel sorry for Sandra Fluke. I’d like to ask her this time next year if she realizes yet she was exploited for political purposes by Barack Obama and feminists.

Then again, she did this to herself. From RGJ.com:

Sandra Fluke, the woman at the center of a media firestorm earlier this year after Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut,” spoke Saturday in front of about 10 people at the Sak ‘N Save in north Reno.

The speech was part of a daylong effort by Democrats to get Northern Nevadans to the polls on the first day of early voting.

See video here.

[HT: Drudge; top photo via sodahead.com; 2nd photo via conservativehideout.com]

Drudge has highlighted this story since Saturday.

I’ll just say the number has to be much larger because I surely am not the only one who did not confirm on the Facebook page I was making a call.

From EWTN, October 20:

Nearly 2,000 pro-lifers called local Planned Parenthood clinics Oct. 18 to schedule mammograms, after President Obama implied the organization offers the service.

“When Gov. Romney says that we should eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, there are millions of women all across the country who rely on Planned Parenthood for not just contraceptive care, they rely on it for mammograms,” said Obama Oct. 16 during the second presidential debate.

Planned Parenthood does not actually provide women with mammograms, but refers patients out to other facilities for the exam….

In response to the implication that the organization provides mammograms, the pro-life groups And Then There Were None and Live Action organized “Call Planned Parenthood to Schedule Your Imaginary Mammogram Day.”…

Participants called the organization’s national toll-free number to be connected to their local center, and were instructed to “tell Planned Parenthood you would like to schedule a mammogram,” according to Live Action’s website….

It also showed that 1,975 persons confirmed that they were participating in the event to “call out” Planned Parenthood, a turnout that Bryan deemed “a great success.”

by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• This is maybe the weirdest story ever regarding an attempt to raise funds for pro-life commercials. Michael Gardner was sentenced to 13 years in Australia after authorities found that he was using acres of land to grow marijuana. According to Gardner (who thinks he should have been sentenced to 20 years and appealed for a longer sentence), he was hoping to use the profits for “a national anti-abortion campaign. The crop of cannabis was worth nearly $70 million dollars.
• I don’t believe I’ve ever read a stupider argument for why abortion is moral than this:
  

  What struck me most was the simple and direct statement made by Dr. Nozer Sheriar, an obstetrician-gynecologist from India, who explained why he supports women who have abortions: “anything 46 million women do every year can’t be immoral.”So lying is moral? Surely, 46 million women a year lie. Ergo, it can’t be immoral. Pro-abortion logic fail.

• Pro-abortion philosopher Peter Singer doesn’t have an issue with killing infants but he dislikes Roe v. Wade:
  

  Singer further surprised me—and showed his meta-commitment to democracy and reason – when he said that he, like Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan, disliked Roe v. Wade. That 1973 Supreme Court decision, Singer felt, provides a flimsy rationale for abortion and has corrupted the process whereby Supreme Court Justices are chosen.

Ideally, Singer said, voters rather than unelected judges should determine the legal status of abortion. Singer nonetheless acknowledged that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, some states might outlaw or severely restrict abortion. “I’m torn,” he admitted.

by LauraLoo

I’m sure undies were in a bundle with the majority of co-hosts of The View as Ann Romney deftly explained her pro-life stance:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM-ePengazk[/youtube]

Ann is such a classy woman. Praying to God she will be our FLOTUS elect in two weeks, two days!

JLS Update, 3:50p: If Mitt Romney is elected president, Ann Romney will be the first pro-life First Lady since Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in 1973.

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

On October 19 the Obama campaign announced via video by Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards that she was taking a leave of absence from her “day job” to campaign full-time for Barack Obama in the waning days leading up to the presidential election….

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlFnfwWqPXA[/youtube]

As I tweeted, this is because Planned Parenthood knows its goose is flambéed a thousand different ways if Obama is defeated.

Obama is Planned Parenthood’s firewall. He has ensured a new windfall money stream by way of free contraceptive coverage in Obamacare that will be lost if Mitt Romney becomes president, and he has stopped both state and federal defunding efforts that will also be lost if Romney replaces him. There are also those ongoing state and federal investigations that Obama will not be able to meddle in if gone.

So the stakes are huge for Planned Parenthood in this election. It is no wonder Richards has panicked. This also explains why Planned Parenthood has spent a record $12 million to retain Obama.

On October 19 Richards accompanied the president on the campaign trail (see both photos above), introducing him at a Fairfax, Virginia, event…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWctg9v9zm4[/youtube]

At this point it appears Obama’s attempt to define women according to their “lady parts” is falling flat. According to Politico today, Romney has now taken a narrow 49-47% lead in nationwide polling of likely voters, because:

Women propelled Romney’s move into first place in the poll – a majority of which was conducted before the Hofstra debate. Obama’s 11-point advantage a week ago among the crucially important group dwindled to 6 points. The Democratic incumbent still leads 51 to 45 percent with women….

In the important state of Ohio, a new Quinnipiac/CBS News poll shows that while Obama still leads Romney 50-45% among likely voters, he has slipped from a 53-43% edge in September.  About Buckeye State women, according to The Hill…

Obama holds a double-digit lead among women over Romney, with 55% supporting Obama to 40% supporting Romney. But that margin, too, is smaller than in September, when the poll found Obama leading Romney among female voters 60 to 35.

I wonder if Richards’ $400,000+ salary will reflect her leave? I suppose it depends on whether Obama wins or loses.

UPDATE 11:40a: Rasmussen is reporting…

Mitt Romney has now reached the 50% mark for the first time in Colorado and leads President Obama by four in the critical swing state….. the fourth swing state that has moved in Romney’s direction in the past week. Florida, Missouri and North Carolina have now shifted from Toss-Up to Leans Romney….

Two weeks ago, the candidates were basically tied in Colorado, with the president edging his Republican challenger 49% to 48%.

The poll was conducted yesterday, October 21. The reason this is particularly interesting? According to reporterherald.com, also yesterday…

During a recent campaign stop… Cecile Richards asked President Barack Obama what was needed in the short weeks leading up to Election Day. His answer, Richards said, was “go to Colorado,” leading her to take vacation from her day job and board the Women Decide 2012 RV tour….

Richards noted on her Facebook page yesterday she was wrapping up the two day Colorado tour. That sounds like a good thing.

Hand holding can be physically challenging. I have come home with scratches on my hands from fingernails, or swollen fingers that were gripped too tightly for too long….

The more challenging part is finding fresh but neutral points of conversation. I want to keep her distracted and entertained but dodge any potentially emotionally triggering topics…

Hand holding can be emotionally draining. On days where this is my role, I usually will go home, eat junk food, and watch either an Tina Fey [sic] or Amy Poehler sitcom to return me to a reasonable level of my emotional equilibrium. I want to watch something funny and silly, but still with a feminist undertone….

If you have the opportunity to hand hold at your clinic, I recommend attempting it at least once. It is not for everyone, but I have definitely learned more in that position than in my entire career of reproductive justice.

Handholding [sic] is like a good Barbara Walters segment, it’s a soft interview and sometimes, the guest cries.

~ Anonymous guest blogger describing her experience as the un-official hand holder at the abortion facility where she works, Abortion Gang, October 19

Photo via Women’s Health In Women’s Hands

Click to enlarge…

From CNN, October 18:

The most famous and revered pastor in America, Billy Graham, is calling on voters to cast a ballot for their faith in full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other newspapers.

Graham’s picture appears prominently in the ads, next to copy that reads, “As I approach my 94th birthday, I realize this election could be my last.”

It continues, “I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who protect the sanctity of life and support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray with me that America will remain one nation under God.”

The ad hit the prominent papers Wednesday and Thursday, and could hit a dozen more newspapers, a week after the famed evangelist met with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at Graham’s Montreat, North Carolina, home and less than a month after his son Franklin Graham issued a full-throated endorsement of Romney in a USA Today opinion piece….

Shortly after the meeting with the Grahams and Romney, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association scrubbed prior references to Mormonism as a cult from its website because, the association said, “we do not wish to participate in a theological debate about something that has become politicized during this campaign.”…

After the 30-minute sit-down in Montreat… Romney campaign spokesman Rick Gorka told reporters that Billy Graham led a prayer for the Romneys, saying “I’ll do all I can to help you. And you can quote me on that.”

The evangelist, who has been called America’s pastor and has prayed with every American president since Harry Truman, said in a statement following the meeting that “it was a privilege to pray with Gov. Romney, for his family and our country.”

Graham met with President Barack Obama in 2010 and with Sen. John McCain when he was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in 2008….

“The ads intentionally do not mention any candidate, political party, or contest, urging instead for readers to cast votes for candidates, at all levels, based on their support for biblical values,” the group said in a statement….

The campaign also includes bulletin inserts and posters of the ad for churches to download and distribute.

[HT: reader Jim]

Following are my top five favorite political cartoons for the week….

by Chip Bok at Townhall.com…

 by Nate Beeler at Townhall.com…

 by Steve Kelley at Townhall.com…

 by Chip Bok at Townhall.com (about this September 24 comment on The View)…

 by Glenn McCoy at Townhall.com…