Last week on her Facebook page, as quoted on these pages, Niagara Falls City Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti called me ignorant.
She is not the first woman to call me that, I believe that honor goes to my sainted mother. Fortunately, I was nowhere around, so Grandinetti was unable to follow up on her insult with a slap in the face, as have so many other women.
She was upset about an article I'd written promoting an event she was holding to benefit Planned Parenthood. The article said when the event would take place and where. It gave a brief history of Planned Parenthood and detailed Grandinetti's tireless support of the organization and abortion rights in general. It also noted that some people oppose abortion.
Niagara Falls Reporter correspondent James Hufnagel wrote that the story "touched a raw nerve with the councilwoman and her supporters, to say the least." Grandinetti used the "I" word and one of her supporters chastised me for being a man.
For some reason Grandinetti and her supporters got the impression I am anti-abortion myself. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My position on abortion is that I don't have a position on abortion. I consider it inappropriate that men get involved in the issue at all. I've felt this way for many years and have written about it before. It's no man's business what a woman does with her body.
My story two weeks ago was not about my position on abortion, however. It was about Grandinetti's fundraising event and Planned Parenthood, an often controversial organization that is the largest abortion provider in the United States.
Is it appropriate for Grandinetti to celebrate abortion rights and raise money for Planned Parenthood via a booze-soaked party in a local saloon?
To me it seems kind of bizarre. But that's just me.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up. If someone is going to attack me based on a position I hold, they ought to at least make sure I actually hold the position they're attacking me on, don't you think? |