There is a bright side to everything, or, if we must sink even deeper into cliche, a silver lining on every cloud. Donald Trump may or may not be an existential threat (who really knows what he would do if elected?), but he has proven useful in some ways.
When asked if he would punish women for getting abortions, the Donald allowed that he would. The other Republican candidates have been distancing themselves from his statement (without, of course, actually disagreeing with him in any meaningful way ), even though, at least in the case of Cruz, their stance on abortion is worse (no rape or incest exclusion for Cruz) than Donald’s. And, of course, their opposition to abortion is probably more intense, because it’s even odds the Donald wouldn’t lift a finger to stop abortion if he were elected.
This is yet another example of a salutary service the Donald is doing for the nation. He is saying out loud what Republicans have been telegraphing to their supporters for years. In the case of the abortion punishment question, Donald was just following the logic of his new found opposition to abortion. Of course if it is against the law to have an abortion, those that participate in an abortion must be punished. It logically follows. It especially follows if abortion is classified as murder, which is precisely the way they categorize it. How can you, at one and the same time assert that a woman who has an abortion is murdering an innocent life and, as Cruz is asking us to believe, that rather than punish we should instead “affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world”, whatever that phrase may mean in this context. It is to be hoped, though it is by no means certain, given the current state of our media, that it will, in future, be far more difficult for Republicans to use dogwhistles, now that Trump has made their meaning clear.
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