Sep 17 2008
Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name is Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion. I’m a survivor, as are many others…but if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn’t be here.
Check the link.
Aug 21 2008
Much has been made of Obama’s response to Rick Warren’s question on abortion, in which Obama said that deciding when a baby gets human rights either theologically or scientifically is “above his pay grade”.
Of course, this was not a particularly smooth evasion. The question was obviously about how Obama would govern, not so much about what was in his inner soul, interesting though that may be. And we know the answer to that question: Obama will govern as if a baby has no human rights until it is born to a mother that wants to give birth.
So even though the answer is “above his pay grade”, he will govern as if it is not. That is, he will not be able to avoid making a decision about it, even if he thinks he isn’t really able to do so (if you buy his presentation of being in great personal doubt about it).
There is a lesson here, a very important one, on the limits of agnosticism on any topic. There are decisions a person must and will make, and that society must and will make. It will almost always be a sham to take refuge in claiming not to know enough, and employing some rhetorical slight of hand to pretend not to be making a decision. It is not “deep”, or “nuanced”, or “thoughtful” to pretend to be so mired in uncertainty that no decision can be made, when in fact you’re making one. It’s simply dishonest.
Agnostics about theism make a decision about whether or not God exists by how they choose to live, whatever their self-talk.
Similarly, Obama has made the decision about when a baby should have human rights, and knows he has, regardless of his “nuanced thoughtfulness”. He has decided that no baby has human rights of any kind until it is born to a mother who wants to give birth (i.e., not an accidental survivor of an abortion, whom Obama believes has no rights, based on his voting record). He will govern that way. How much does his inner dialog on the topic matter?
Methinks he doth protest too much.
Aug 16 2008
This is an election in which the “values voters” of yore are mostly being ignored.
In recent presidential elections hot-button social issues like abortion and marriage played a prominent role. In 2000 the candidates hotly debated the impact of the next president’s Supreme Court picks on abortion rights as pro-choice activists attempted to galvanize voters with the prospect that George W. Bush’s election would result in limits on or even outlawing of abortion. In 2004 an Ohio state referendum on gay marriage helped turn out religious conservatives who may have put George W. Bush over the top in the decisive state. After the 2004 election, pundits and activists debated the role of “values” voters and Democrats committed to reaching out to these voters in the future.
But this year, the most remarkable thing about the two most prominent social issues,abortion and gay marriage– is how little we have heard about them.
There are several reasons for this, but the main one is John McCain. McCain, for good or ill, has positioned himself as more “moderate” than “conservative”. Compared to Obama, he is quite conservative, of course, but he is significantly to the left of, say, Ronald Reagan. He signals that “moderation” in several ways. He makes noises about maybe selecting a pro-choice running mate. He takes the occasional, obligatory swipe at big oil. He talks about “corruption in both parties”. And he avoids talking much about hot button issues for conservatives, like abortion and gay marriage, because he thinks anything he might say will either offend conservatives, or “moderates”. Since he believes he can’t please both, he says little.
Continue reading “Signals, hopefully not smoke, on judges and other matters”
Aug 08 2008
Signs on the back of a compact car in Riverside, California, Aug 7, 2008.
No War For Oil
War Is Not The Answer
Imagine World Peace
Bring Our Troops Home!
Proud Member ACLU
War Is Terrorism
Abolish The Death Penalty
There were more, but these are all I could remember. And the last one (appropiately on the far left of the trunk lid as seen from behind the car):
Keep Abortion Legal
The Left is simply incoherent. The lives of terrorists and assorted murderers matter more to the Left than the lives of the most innocent and powerless among us. The level of moral confusion this represents is simply beyond belief, as is the inability of the bumper sticker driver to see the irony of having put Abolish The Death Penalty immediately adjacent to Keep Abortion Legal.
Jan 06 2008
I’ve already recommended Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg, for many excellent reasons. Now, you can read a provocative excerpt here.
All you pro-choice folk need to learn just exactly who your intellectual progenitors are. Aren’t you proud of your heritage?
