Kermit Gosnell Found Guilty of Murder and Other Charges

A variety of sources are reporting what is emerging from Philadelphia. The first source I saw was this tweet from J.D. Mullane, reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times who is in the court room.

Here is the AP story which provides more details.
According to Mullane, he is guilty of most of the other 200-plus counts against him.

When this story first broke, I posted extensively about it, including some original reporting:
Gruesome abortion/murder case in Philadelphia (1/19/11)
Abortion clinic regulation scandal in PA (1/20/11)
PA Senate to hold hearings on failure of abortion clinic regulation (1/21/11)
PA Abortion clinic inspections stopped to avoid barriers to abortion(1/21/11)
Did the Hyde Amendment keep Kermit Gosnell in business? (1/25/11)
National Abortion Federation quietly removes reference to Gosnell’s Delaware clinic (1/29/11)
National abortion funding network member visited notorious Philadelphia abortion clinic (1/31/11)
National Abortion Federation suspends Delaware abortion clinic(1/31/11)

PA Senate to hold hearings on failure of abortion clinic regulation

I just received this statement from Erik Arneson, Communications and Policy Director for Sen Dominic Pileggi, PA Senate Majority Leader, Speaking about the case of Kermit Gosnell and the grand jury report on the atrocities alleged at the Women’s Medical Society in Philadelphis, Arneson said:

The grand jury report shows a massive systematic failure by the state agencies responsible for overseeing this facility. We intend to hold at least one public hearing to examine the problems in detail.

I hope the hearing will be sufficient to cover the “massive systemic failure” as well as any other factors that led to the scandal in Philadelphia. Given the scope of the situation, I suspect one hearing may not be enough.

Democrats for McCain tour – October 18, Scranton, PA

This announcement comes from the Just Say No Deal website:

NYC Area Democrats For McCain invite you to a canvassing trip to Scranton, Pennsylvania this Saturday, Oct 18. Last weekend was a blast!
Scranton, PA is HILLARY COUNTRY so, as Hillary Supporters & PUMAs, we will pass the torch to McCain by connecting with undecided Democrats in our path and convey our shared principle with johnny mac:
Coach bus leaves on Saturday & Sunday, from New York City, near Penn Station, along West 31st Street, right before the corner with 8th Avenue. We will depart at 9am and arrive in Scranton around 11am. Returning, we will leave Scranton at 6pm and arrive back at Penn Station around 8pm. FREE!
Carol Oleski, a former organizer for Hillary, heads up our Scranton Democrats for McCain office. The address is:
Democrats for McCain Victory Office
420 North Main Avenue
Scranton, PA 18504-1720
Phone: 570-951-9923
We need all the help we can get: Democrats, Independents and Republicans are welcome. We have more in common than you’ll imagine.
NYC Area Democrats For McCain Coordinators: Wayne, [email protected] Harriet, [email protected].

Obama, Clinton spar over bitterness in PA

In last night’s Clinton-Obama debate in Philadelphia, moderator Charlie Gibson asked Obama to clarify his remarks regarding Pennsylvanians bitterness with government and their gravitation toward guns and God. The entire transcript is here. I am reproducing the crux of the answers from Obama and Clinton. I don’t think he appreciably changed the basic meaning of his earlier comments.

Obama said:

And so the point I was making was that when people feel like Washington’s not listening to them, when they’re promised year after year, decade after decade, that their economic situation is going to change, and it doesn’t, then politically they end up focusing on those things that are constant, like religion.

They end up feeling “This is a place where I can find some refuge. This is something that I can count on.” They end up being much more concerned about votes around things like guns, where traditions have been passed on from generation to generation. And those are incredibly important to them.

And yes, what is also true is that wedge issues, hot-button issues, end up taking prominence in our –in our politics. And part of the problem is that when those issues are exploited, we never get to solve the issues that people really have to get some relief on, whether it’s health care or education or jobs.

Is he really saying that people become single issue or ideological voters because they feel government is insensitive to their economic plight? He clearly believes there is some causal relationship – he uses the phrase, “end up” four times in this short narrative to cast interest in religion, guns, social issues as the result of frustration with government. I think this seriously misunderstands those on the other end of the spectrum from him on social issues.

I think Clinton made a pretty accurate statement in response:

I don’t believe that my grandfather or my father, or the many people whom I have had the privilege of knowing and meeting across Pennsylvania over many years, cling to religion when Washington is not listening to them. I think that is a fundamental, sort of, misunderstanding of the role of religion and faith in times that are good and times that are bad.

And I similarly don’t think that people cling to their traditions, like hunting and guns, either when they are frustrated with the government. I just don’t believe that’s how people live their lives.

At any rate, perhaps the most troubling thing I heard in the debate was the promise of both Democratic candidates to bring the troops home from Iraq, no matter what military leaders advised. Even if they advise the country will destabilize and our interests will be harmed, they said they would bring the troops home. They also promised no new taxes on people making 250k or less. Shades of George Bush I…