Well, last Saturday night Senator Obama had the opportunity to discuss his position on abortion, in front of a rather devout crowd of Christians, and he punted. Big surprise.
Obama, like on most issues, has two positions that he holds simultaneously. He talks about his discomfort and disapproval and dislike of abortion at every opportunity, but when it comes to actually putting action to words, every time he's voted on an abortion-related issue, he's voted in favor of keeping abortion as legal and unrestricted as possible, and opposing any and all infringement or limitation or restraint on abortion.
But what Obama said about the issue was the quintessential definition of a gaffe -- "accidentally speaking the truth." Fortunately, my dear colleague Cassy had the quote which I'm going to steal:
Rick Warren: OK, now, um, let's deal with abortion. 40 million abortions since Roe V. Wade, you know, as a pastor, I have to deal with this all the time. All of the pain, and all of the conflicts. I know this is a very com... complex issue. 40 million... uh, abortions. At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?
Obama: Well, uh, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or, uh, a scientific perspective, uh, answering that question with specificity, uh, you know, is, is, uh, above my pay grade.
Let's take that a bit literally -- Obama's "pay grade" right now is $169,300 as a United States Senator. And as a senator, he's actually required to have an opinion on matters such as abortion -- for example, it was brought up in the confirmation hearings for both Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito, and Obama voted against both justices.
Obama is now seeking a promotion to a whole new "pay grade." of $400,000 per year, as president. And the president is also expected to have an opinion on abortion -- it's often one of the major issues debated when people decide who to vote for.
Whenever I've sought a job or a promotion, or judged others for such, one question that comes up is "is the person qualified for the job?" And some of the soundest advice given to such an applicant is to demonstrate that they are ready for the job -- seek out more responsibilities, prove that you can do the job you are aspiring to, from day one.
Senator Obama, with his "above my pay grade" remarks, shows that he's not ready for the promotion to the next pay grade. Hell, he as much admits that he's not qualified for his current pay grade.
and from the same blog, but a different post, the evidence I presented earlier about Obama's infanticide advocacy:
I know, you're all shocked. It's like the sun actually rises in the East. That's how crazy this revelation is. Well, Don Surber was able to ferret out this little nugget of fantastic-ness from back in 2001:
On the Illinois Senate floor, Obama was the only senator to speak against the baby-protecting bills. He voted "present" on each, effectively the same as a "no."
"Number one," said Obama, explaining his reluctance to protect born infants, "whenever we define a pre-viable fetus as a person that is protected by the Equal Protection Clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a -- a child, a 9-month old -- child that was delivered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. I mean, it -- it would essentially bar abortions, because the Equal Protection Clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute."
If only Obama had the same proficiency at lying as Bill Clinton, he'd be having no problems here. It's a shame for him, isn't it? And let's not even get started on courage. He may be filled with all the hope-changeyness in the universe, but this guy has got about as much spine as a jellyfish.
Hmmm....spineless...enabling him to flip and flop around....Yep, I think that covers it.
