A fictional pro-life democratic congresswoman from New Jersey stands her ground in the face of intra-party adversaries. CNF and Yankee Stadium.
CNF MORNING SHOW, Wednesday, September 15, 2018
JOSH TANNER, HOST (JT): I love this clip, and we are starting our morning show with it… here we go… thank you to ESPX for allowing everyone to use it.
SHOW CLIP (Sunday, September 12, 2018 Yankee Stadium)
ANNOUNCER ONE (BB): This is Bill Bonnet of ESPX Baseball Sunday and we’re here at Yankee Stadium for another epic battle between the Bronx Bombers and the visiting Boston Red Sox. And the Red Sox are crushing the division and the American League and they are on their way to a record season.
ANNOUNCER TWO (DD): And this is Don Dribble providing play by play on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, perfect baseball weather here in the Bronx!
BB: We have a special treat today for the National Anthem. Congresswoman Honoria Torres and her family will be singing the Anthem…
DD: Well, Bill, it looks like it’s just the congresswoman singing, but what a beautiful family. Her husband, John, is a combat veteran with two tours of Iraq under his belt as a Marine.
BB: I understand that he was wounded in the second tour and decorated for bravery.
DD: Yes, he was, and we are most grateful for his service.
BB: Looks like he has his hands full with those three boys!
DD: He certainly does… the triplets are Carlos, Bill, and Mickey. The eldest daughter by quite a few years is Jane, and she looks terrified!
BB: But what a smile! I think the boys are going to bolt at the first opportunity…
DD: Haha, yes, what a lovely family. Oh, let’s listen in as we start, with Congresswoman Honoria Torres of the 16th district of New Jersey.
TORRES (T): Sings the anthem.
SOUNDS OF CHEERING
DD: Good Lord, that was terrific!
BB: You would have thought the Yankees won the game already, the place is going nuts!
DD: Look, the players are cheering and rushing to the Congresswoman, and the boys started running the bases! … the ground crew won’t like it…
BB: And look at the liplock Sergeant Torres puts on the Congresswoman. Wow.
DD: That rendition was very emotional, and the crowd is still cheering! Are they asking for an encore? hahaha
BB: Wait, the congresswoman is back at the mic…
T: Thank you! Who’s from New Jersey?
BB & DD: (Laughter loud and long)
END CLIP BACK TO CNF MORNING SHOW Wednesday, September 15, 2018
JT: Wow, that was great. I still get chills and a good laugh seeing this clip… and as a special treat, we have the congresswoman, democrat from New Jersey’s 16th, Honoria Torres on our show today! Welcome, congresswoman.
CUT SCREEN TORRES IS REMOTE, BOTH FACES SHOWING
T: Thanks, Josh… much appreciated.
JT: (Smiling) How many times have you seen the clip, congresswoman?
T: Call me, Honoria, please. About a dozen times.
JT: That’s all?
T: Well, I watched my family about a thousand times with the sound off. (laughing) It was hard to appreciate the event, as nervous as I was… and it was deafening, disorienting, and echoing. The cheers were amazing, the players were even more so… Did you see a couple of them run and follow my sons around the bases? At first I was mortified, but then John grabbed me, Jane grabbed me; funny and emotional at the same time. Did you see the players?
JT: (Laughing) Did we see it? The whole world saw it, Honoria! What a beautiful family, too. I know you must be very proud.
T: Oh, gosh, you know I am. I am so proud that they looked happy, too, you know? Not just being the center of attention but having the courage to sing with me, and everyone! When we’ve been to ballgames in the past, my husband John always insisted we all stand at attention with hand on heart and sing with gusto! It is a perfect song for an amateur to shout out, hahaha.
JT: Honoria, and I think it is easier to say Congresswoman Torres, sorry; you were pitch perfect! Did you have any training as a singer? Did you prep for Sunday at all?
T: (Laughing) Training? Oh, no, just the shower. But we did sing the Anthem together in the car on the way to Yankee Stadium. Three times. John wanted to get it right.
JT: I would say you did get it right. How did this come about?
T: It’s campaign season, Josh. My New Jersey advisor, Lou Picone, has a friend who knows a guy… and they suggested it, and well, John and I were apprehensive, to say the least. But we thought, oh, what the heck. I am in an uphill fight for reelection and exposure is exposure.
JT: Why uphill? And what if it went badly?
T: Josh, I am currently serving in my second term, running for a third. I was primaried by my own party back in the Spring… winning by a couple thousand votes with a good turnout.
JT: Two thousand, eight hundred, twenty three, actually.
T: Yeah, that’s right. A decent candidate, a good democrat, but primary opponent didn’t live in the district, and she had outside money, much more than mine, by a factor of 8 to 1… and it looked it.
JT: Why were you primaried by your own party?
T: A couple crucial reasons. I am one of three or four openly pro-life democrats in the House, and somewhat of a pariah, unfortunately. There are more pro-life democrats out there than many will admit, and to throw a good democrat like myself out the door on one issue is just wrong. I have also questioned former speaker Pelosi’s ability to lead in the future, when it looks like the House will flip back to our party. Those are the two main reasons.
JT: But can you be a good democrat and anti-women’s choice?
T: Well, Josh, I think abortion is anti-women, period. It reduces the strength of womanhood, bringing life into the world, as a commodity that can be cut out on a whim for $400. Abortion doesn’t help women. It marginalizes them. And I am on record, as you know, as stating that a co-equal culprit in the scourge of abortion is a weak, cowardly male.
JT: Many don’t think a man who supports choice is a coward….
T: He is if he doesn’t act like a man, to protect and provide and live up to an obligation. To be strong in the face of difficult decisions. To not take the easy way out.
JT: But a coward?
T: I stand by my statements given the circumstances many women find themselves in. Alone, afraid, angry, and anguished. A real partner would not abandon someone he loves, or loved, in her hour of need.
JT: But what about the exceptions?
T: I do not believe that exceptions are valid. The child is always innocent, regardless of the circumstances. But the law and our nation will never force a woman to remain pregnant against her will. I do believe, though, that a woman’s strength is her heart, under tremendous stress and terrible circumstances, and that most women would choose life. That is what freedom is about. Responsible choices, thoughtful choices, sometimes difficult choices, but the right choice, and not the convenient one.
JT: Many, many people disagree with you.
T: And many, many people agree with life. Look, we will not always agree with all things all the time within a political party. Americans of different parties have a lot in common within a whole truckload of issues. But these things should not divide us. Remember, out of many, one. One nation. Not one idea, one opinion or even one culture. At the end of the day abortion is a personal choice. It’s a most difficult and terrible one, and one I pray women and men turn their hearts away from, but rather toward life, first. I will not waiver in that.
JT: We are almost out of time, congresswoman. One last question: will you and the family sing again in public?
T: (Laughing) See you at St. Peter’s Christmas Mass! But one more thing if I may… this election will be close, but I believe the constituents of the 16th know me, trust my judgment, and I hope they return me to office. I will always work hard for them, and they know it.
JT: Thank you, Congresswoman Honoria Torres, democrat, House of Representatives from the 16th district of the great state of New Jersey.
T: And thank you, Josh. Always a pleasure.
CLOSE SCREEN OF JT AND COHOST ONLY.
COHOST PAM (CP): Honoria Torres is in a pitched battle for that seat, Josh. Primaried and now a republican with presidential support and lots of cash is outspending her almost 3 to 1 in the major TV and radio market … and democrats might not want to come out to vote for someone with extreme views like hers…
JT: Her views are not so extreme to many, Pam. Many would say…thoughtful. Heartfelt. And civil.
CP: Humph. We’ll see. After a short break, our next guest will be a man who trained an ostrich to play the piano…