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8 p.m. EST January 22, 2015

Abortion(Photo: Getty Images/Hemera)

WASHINGTON There they go again. Given control of Congress and the chance to frame an economic agenda for the middle class, the first thing Republicans do is tie themselves in knots over ... abortion and rape.

Im not kidding. In a week when President Obama used his State of the Union address to issue a progressive manifesto of bread-and-butter policy proposals, GOP leaders responded by taking up the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But a vote on the legislation had to be canceled after female GOP House members reportedly balked over the way an exception for pregnancies resulting from rape was limited.

The whole thing was, in sum, your basic 360-degree fiasco.

At least there are some in the party who recognize how much trouble Republicans make for themselves by breaking the armistice in the culture wars and launching battles that cannot be won. It looks as if the nation will have to stand by until GOP realists and ideologues reach some sort of understanding, which may take some time.

Its important to understand that the Pain-Capable bill was never anything more than an act of political fantasy. The only purpose of the planned vote was to create an event that the annual anti-abortion March for Life, held Thursday in Washington, could celebrate.

You might think the demonstrators already had reason to cheer. The abortion rate is at historic lows, having dropped by 13 percent in the decade between 2002 and 2011, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The main reason is that there are fewer unwanted pregnancies, which suggests logically that if Republicans really want to reduce abortion, what they should do is work to increase access to birth control.

More to the point, according to the CDC, only 1.4 percent of abortions take place after 20 weeks. This means the bill, if it somehow became law, would have minimal impact.

But it wont become law, as everyone in Congress well knows. The White House has announced that Obama would veto the measure, if it ever reached his desk. To get that far, the bill would have to pass the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would have to win over enough Democrats to cross the 60-vote threshold, which is highly unlikely.

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ROBINSON: GOP still fighting waron abortion

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Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle, a real-life war hero, in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper.

Everyone involved with this week's most popular movie claims it has nothing to do with politics.

Really, star actor Bradley Cooper stressed over and again in interviews, it doesn't. Director Clint Eastwood's American Sniper simply explains the "plight" of the soldier, he told the Daily Beast, providing a "character study".

But this was no ordinary soldier. This was the late Chris Kyle, the much-mythologised "deadliest sniper" in American history. And regardless of what Cooper wants, his movie has become political.

ALSO READ: Review: American Sniper

Before he was shot to death at a Texas gun range, Kyle, who claimed he killed 150 people while working as a sniper in Iraq, oozed conviction and charisma. He wore big boots. He spoke with a languid Texas drawl. He wrote a best-selling memoir. He made millions. And he stirred controversy just about everywhere he went.

The conversation that now shadows the release of American Sniper, which collected a record $105 million over the holiday weekend, has been no different. After days of nationwide screenings, which the Associated Press called an "unprecedented success", the film was subject to widespread praise among conservatives for depicting an American soldier at his best and condemnation among some liberals who question the admitted pleasure Kyle took in killing and dehumanising Iraqis.

And then there were the tales Kyle told about himself, which came under increasing suspicion after numerous journalists tried - and failed - to corroborate them. Among them: Kyle once said he shot dead two armed Texas thugs who wanted to steal his truck. He said he travelled down to New Orleans and killed 30 bad guys in the chaos following Hurricane Katrina. And he also falsely claimed he punched out former Minnesota governor Jesse "the Body" Ventura after Ventura, a former special forces operative himself, disparaged the US Navy Seals.

"There were a lot of things he told people that are really unverifiable," journalist Michael J. Mooney, who wrote a book on Kyle, told The Washington Post in July.

Read more here:
How American Sniper stoked the American culture wars

The box office smash American Sniper is opening a new front in the culture wars by reigniting debate over the Iraq War.

Clint Eastwoods film, which garnered six Oscar nominations, has quickly turned into the most politically charged movie of the year as pundits and opinion-makers weigh in on its portrayal of Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL credited with the most kills in U.S. history, as well as the war he fought in.

To supporters of the film, including GOP figures like Sarah Palin, the controversy illustrates a shameful lack of support for the military and the Iraq War among Hollywood leftists.

The film is striking a chord at a fragile time, just weeks after terrorist attacks in Paris and a slew of new executions by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria raised questions about the threat from radical Islam.

And the controversy is promising to spill over into the wider political debate not to mention the looming Oscar fight by renewing old rifts between left and right, coasts and heartland.

Actor Seth Rogen made waves when he said American Sniper reminded him of a Nazi propaganda film depicted in the 2009 World War II film Inglourious Basterds. He walked back the comments after they prompted a backlash from country music star Craig Morgan, actor Dean Cain and others.

Moores tweet that snipers arent heroes brought Republican leaders into the fray, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and several lawmakers who called Moore a coward.

The petulant, knee-jerk backlash vs American Sniper is driven by fear of facing the idea that maybe our soldiers fought for a just cause, tweeted Dan McLaughlin, a contributor at RedState.

The controversy over what the film stands for appears to be growing as attention rises from publications and major TV networks, all of which are carrying stories about celebrities debate over American Sniper. There is precedent to suggest that President Obama could eventually face questions about the film.

Aspects of the movie seem tailored to appeal to conservatives.

Read more from the original source:
Success of American Sniper rekindles culture war over Iraq

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