Posted on 08/28/2008 8:56:59 AM PDT by IrishMike
Obama never shrank from making policy or pronouncements regarding abortion, nor did he take the logical, compassionate and humane default position, which is to say that since I dont know whether this being is human, Ill err on the side of caution.
Its interesting to hear the euphemisms bandied about in campaigns. After Barack Obamas and John McCains appearance a week ago at Saddleback Church, for instance, the formers ardent supporters were as effusive in their praise as ever. His stammering and copious uhs werent signs of a befuddled and muddled mind, but of thoughtfulness and nuanced thinking.
Yeah, sure, and when President Bush occasionally invents a new word, we can chalk it up to creativity.
The truth is that, sans teleprompter and prepared speech and contrary to myth, Obama is at best a mediocre speaker. (If you say that were electing a president and not a professional orator, fair enough. But given that Bushs wanting speaking skills have made him the butt of jokes and have been used to paint him as an idiot, I think it bears mention.) Yet neither this nor thoughtfulness explains his fumbling tongue. After all, politicians are people who are supposed to live and breathe issues and policy, so there should be few things they havent been asked about or at least pondered before. Thus, they should have oft-rendered, memorized, standard responses at the ready. For sure, John McCain did, despite his supposed status as a septuagenarian with senior moments. And if politicians dont have them neither sublime answers nor slick dodges what does it tell us? Well, perhaps it means they havent put much thought into things at all. For if a person makes it a practice to think deeply about issues, he doesnt have to think about them on stage. Its the difference between preparation and improvisation.
Speaking of which, we might want to take note of how the Senators thoughtfulness and nuanced thinking were on full display at the Saddleback forum. I refer to his answer to event moderator Rick Warrens question about when a developing being (dare I call him a child?) inside the womb becomes human. Obamas response was:
Whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is, you know, above my pay grade.
While this dodge was delivered artfully, its conception cannot be thus characterized (perhaps it should have been aborted). For starters, a thoughtful person might understand that science and theology are simply different methods for uncovering Truth, the former using the scientific method and the latter reason and divine revelation. Thus, if each one is applied correctly using adequate data, they will arrive at the same answer to a given question.
As to theology, there is an incongruence between the supposed seriousness with which Obama takes his faith and the ignorance he pled in his answer. While Im not sure what the black liberation theology that influenced the Senator teaches on Warrens question (unless its that whites become human when they assent to reparations), traditional Christianity holds that life begins at conception. Moreover, correct me if Im wrong, I dont know this to be some esoteric point such as the law of double effect. Its Sunday school 101.
Transitioning from the theological to purely logical, when would human life begin if not at conception? If, like Obama, you cannot provide specificity, it doesnt matter. Just pick a month any one you wish my follow-up will always be the same. Ill ask, what week of that month would it be? Then, what day of that week? What hour of that day? What minute of that hour, second of that minute and nanosecond of that second?
This places the matter in perspective. Is it really tenable to claim that one moment the baby isnt human but the next he is so, unless the moment is that seminal one called conception? There is a reason why conception has a definition of origination or beginning, for it is the nascence of new life, human life. And if some say this life only becomes human at some later point, we need to ask not only when that critical juncture might be, but what definition of human would be congruent with such an assertion. After all, if certain physical qualities are necessary to attain such status, can it be lost if those qualities are lost? If your heart stops beating and you receive a mechanical one or head trauma causes a cessation of brain waves, do you cease to be human? To think so is to cease to be humane.
In a way, it is much like fire. Once you have the necessary elements flammable materials and a spark and there is ignition, a fire is born. It then will exist until it burns itself out and its life ends . . . or until it is snuffed out.
Whether or not you accept that reasoning, there is no denying that there are only two possible answers to Warrens question: A, human life begins ____ , or, B, I dont know. Obamas answer was a more stylish version of the latter, and, generally speaking, a man deserves credit for admitting ignorance. Commentator Alan Colmes would certainly agree, as he recently said on Hannity & Colmes (Im paraphrasing):
Obama may simply be saying that this is something for God to decide, not him.
While this at least shows that, unlike true Obamaniacs, Colmes hasnt confused his political messiah with a divine one, he omits an important point.
God doesnt make policy.
People such as Obama do.
Thus, no separation-of-church-and-state argument will fly here. Obama wasnt being asked about his position on the Trinity or transubstantiation, but on a hot-button issue existing within a continual maelstrom of legislative battles. So if it is above his pay grade, I suggest that the presidency if not politics itself is also so.
Strangely, though, while Obama claimed that the question was above his pay grade, legislating in areas in which it must be answered never seemed to be. Why, he never shrank from making policy or pronouncements regarding abortion. He never said, Im, uh, sorry, but this issue is, uh, above my pay grade; Ill have to withhold judgment and, uh, recuse myself from votes. Nor did he take the logical, compassionate and humane default position, which is to say that since I dont know whether this being is human, Ill err on the side of caution. I wont allow him to be killed. Instead, whenever Obama was called to weigh in, there was never any question as to where he stood: Shoulder to shoulder with the most radical elements of the pro-abortion lobby. And, as with them, we have to wonder not about when Obama believes human life begins, but whether he believes in the human right to life at all.
After all, in 1997 Obama voted present on two bills that would have prohibited partial-birth abortion (in the Illinois legislature, such a vote counts as a no). In the same vein, while a member of that body, he effectively blocked his states version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA). This bill was proposed because some babies in Illinois who were meant to be aborted were born alive and then, unbelievably, were left to die in soiled store rooms. Now, to understand just how far off the rails Obama was on this issue, know that Senators Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy all supported the federal BAIPA, and even the radical NARAL Pro-Choice America went neutral on it.
So what are we to conclude from this? Is it that Obama isnt sure if human life begins after birth, either? Perhaps, just as he once over-estimated the size of the U.S. and spoke of our 57 states, he is under the impression there is a 4th trimester.
Yet, at the end of the day, a truly thoughtful voter will have no trouble interpreting Obamas actions. Its simple really: The Senator may not know when human life begins, but he sure knows that political life for a leftist Chicago politician ends when he fails to accede to blood sacrifice at the altar of the pro-abortion Baal. So I suspect that Obama has never actually put much thought into the nascence of human life for a simple reason.
He doesnt really care.
To him, life human or otherwise, born or unborn all melts into political calculation. This is why he could render the poorly conceived pay grade answer. It bespoke of a complete lack of seriousness and understanding of the gravity of the issue. It was immature, flippant and disrespectful to the voter, the I tried it but I didnt inhale response of the abortion debate.
Speaking of inhaling, before casting a vote for Obama, a deep breath and a 10 count may be in order. Because whatever his pay grade is, Im quite sure that we cannot afford to have him in the White House.
Mark
“Is the Presidency above Obamas Pay Grade?”
YES! And WAY above his abilities. In fact, County Board of Supervisors member is above HIS abilities.
Oh, and if THAT man is a Constitutional Scholar then I’m the F’in King of England.
“pool boy” is above his pay grade.
Obama made a freudian slip. He was obviously referring to the 57 Islamic States.
Did O.B. actually say fourth trimester among his verbal diarrhea???? LOL!
This article is right on the money.
“YES! And WAY above his abilities. In fact, County Board of Supervisors member is above HIS abilities.”
I would recommend revising downward your estimate. More like dog catcher would be more in line with his pay grade.
57 States???
...lessee...
the 50 we now have....plus Puerto Rico...plus DC...plus Guam....plus....errr lets see then their are the Mexican States....1. Aguascalientes 2. Baja California 3. Baja California Sur 4. Campeche 5. Chiapas 6. Chihuahua 7. Coahuila 8. Colima 9. Durango 10. Guanajuato 11. Guerrero 12. Hidalgo 13. Jalisco 14. Mexico State 15. Michoacán 16. Morelos 17. Nayarit 18. Nuevo León 19. Oaxaca 20. Puebla 21. Querétaro 22. Quintana Roo 23. San Luis Potosí 24. Sinaloa 25. Sonora 26. Tabasco 27. Tamaulipas 28. Tlaxcala 29. Veracruz 30. Yucatán 31. Zacatecas
Well yeah...he’s wrong...there are 84 States what was OBAMARAMA thinking?????
We need someone to come up with an “Above His Pay Grade” bumper sticker.
Harry Truman: The Buck Stops Here. Barack Obama: Sorry, That’s Above My Pay Grade.
4th trimester = retro-active abortion
You forgot Kenya.
How in the world did Nobama pass his prep (high) school and college tests???
Did he have someone else taking his tests??
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