Election 2008

One-Issue Politics, One-Issue Marriage, and the Humane Society

By John Piper

Investigating dog life in Minnesota has solidified my decision to vote against those who endorse the right to abortion. So then what is my response to the charge of being a one-issue voter?

No endorsement of any single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor, or president. But there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, no matter what his party or platform was. Or a person who endorsed corporate fraud (say under $50 million) would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said that no black people could hold office—on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said that rape is only a misdemeanor—that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.

It's the same with marriage. No one quality makes a good wife or husband, but some qualities would make a person unacceptable. For example, back when I was thinking about getting married, not liking cats would not have disqualified a woman as my wife, but not liking people would. Drinking coffee would not, but drinking whiskey would. Kissing dogs wouldn't, but kissing the mailman would. And so on. Being a single-issue fiancé does not mean that only one issue matters. It means that some issues may matter enough to break off the relationship.

So it is with politics. You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from holding public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those.

When we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, "No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal." Subdivision 7 says, "No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal." The penalty: "A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that "no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law." Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to "maim, mutilate and kill" a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil—even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.

* * * This article is from A Godward Life, Book I: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life by John Piper (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1997), pp. 279-280. Used with permission.

You know how Obama is already being announced as winning the election?

The guy that writes the Doonesbury comic strip has.

There are some newspapers that already have the headlines ready and waiting for Wednesday morning.

I saw this and it cracked me up...

Don't Waste Your Vote

What does Obama consider wealthy?

In the debates, he said $250,000...

In this campaign ad, he says $200,000...


And here is good ole Biden saying $150,000...

Is Obama a Socialist? You decide...

Read more about it here.

When is it Acceptable for a ''Pro-Life'' Voter to Vote for a ''Pro-Choice'' Candidate?

by Gerard V. Bradley

You can read the article here.

Let me add the disclaimer here that I don't think that it is every acceptable to vote for someone who is pro-abortion.

Mohler responds to the Robert George article

The Abortion Question and the Future

Obama's Abortion Extremism

I urge you to read this article. It is unfathomable the amount of influence Obama will have over the unborn if he is elected. It is amazing to me how many Christians and young evangelicals can simply overlook the facts when it comes to Obama's feelings toward the unborn. Why are people willing to say that the abortion issue is just a side issue in this election?

Obama's Abortion Extremism by Robert George

The Obama Hymn

Is it any wonder he is almost considered the next messiah?

They are calling themselves a church...

17 and pregnant...

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Bristol Palin is 5 months pregnant. It is something that the McCain campaign already knew before deciding on choosing her mother as the VP candidate.

The problem I have is that the media wants this to be a black mark against the McCain/Palin ticket.

I see it differently.

I remember hearing Obama say something that was startling:

“Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby."

I guess it comes down to the Republican ticket choosing life vs the Democratic ticket that feels like a baby is a punishment. In 8 years, we won't be hearing about Obama's oldest daughter being 5 months pregnant...because that child would have been aborted before we ever knew of his or her existence.

Should the unmarried get pregnant? No. But when they make mistakes...like we ALL do...should they get looked down on because they aren't choosing the easy way out?

I'm happy that their daughter is keeping her child. She has a tough road ahead of her, and with her mom being in the public eye and is being scrutinized more than ever, Bristol will definitely feel the effects.

I will continue to pray for our country, the election, the candidates, and a 17 year old girl who has been blessed with a child. All children are a gift from God...regardless of the circumstances. Let's try to remember that.

Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin

by Al Mohler
Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008

A little boy with an extra chromosome was born on April 18. His name is Trig Paxson Van Palin and his new home is the Alaska Governor's Mansion in Juneau. His mom is Governor Sarah Palin, who along with her husband Todd, has welcomed Trig as their second son and fifth child.

Governor Palin has already made a mark on the political scene. A high school basketball star and beauty queen, she was elected Alaska's governor in 2006. She is often mentioned as a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain. The Palins' other children include Track, their oldest son, who now serves in the U.S. Army. They also have three daughters, Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

Trig made news long before he was born, as Alaska's citizens learned that their governor was pregnant. Then, for the Palins, the story got more complicated.

This past December, Sarah Palin was told that her baby was likely to have Down syndrome -- just one extra chromosome.

As the Associated Press reports:

The doctor's announcement in December, when Palin was four months pregnant, presented her with a possible life- and career-changing development.

"I've never had problems with my other pregnancies, so I was shocked," said Palin.

"It took a while to open up the book that the doctor gave me about children with Down syndrome, and a while to log on to the Web site and start reading facts about the situation."

When he was told, Todd Palin quickly said, "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

The Palins never considered aborting the baby. That means that Trig Palin is now is a very rare group of very special children, because it is now believed that the vast majority of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are being aborted.

Modern diagnostic tests are driving a "search and destroy mission" to eliminate babies judged to be inferior, disabled, or deformed. Some experts now believe that up to 90 percent of all pregnancies diagnosed as having a likelihood of Down syndrome end in abortion.

Back in 2005, ethicist George Neumayr commented: "Each year in America fewer and fewer disabled infants are born. The reason is eugenic abortion. Doctors and their patients use prenatal technology to screen unborn children for disabilities, then they use that information to abort a high percentage of them. Without much scrutiny or debate, a eugenics designed to weed out the disabled has become commonplace."

The Palins would not even consider aborting their baby. "We've both been very vocal about being pro-life," Governor Palin said. "We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential."

She loves her baby boy and is proud of him. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin told the Associated Press. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"

Some ethicists now go so far as to argue for a "duty" to abort a baby with a Down diagnosis. This is an assault upon the dignity of every human being. The fact that so few Down syndrome babies now make it to birth is a sign that America is making its own pact with the Culture of Death.

Trig Paxson Van Palin has an extra chromosome, two proud and loving parents, four very happy siblings, and he will bring his own joy to untold numbers of lives.

He will face some unique challenges, but he has a loving family who will face those with him. They will learn together the wonder and beauty of a Down syndrome child and will learn to see the glory of God in his trusting face.

Mothers Day 2008 is certain to be a special day in the Alaska Governor's Mansion. What an unspeakable tragedy that so many other homes will have aborted that joy.

Welcome to the world, Trig Paxson Van Palin. Your very existence defies the Culture of Death and gives us all hope.

I guess I'm not a cool, young evangelical either....

I came upon this blog post the other day that had me nodding my head. Take a look...it really puts into words the way I feel about the whole Obama craze....especially among the young evangelical audience.

Man, I wish I could be cool. I try hard. I've done all the "cool" and "hip" stuff, that you're "supposed" to do to be "in", like playing the slide-whistle, collecting stamp mint sets, going for the "slam" a lot during ping-pong -- all that stuff.

But I'm not cool. Like, ever.

Further evidence: As much as I want to be one of these hip evangelicals I keep reading about, I won't be voting for Barack Obama.

Believe me, I'd like to. A) He's a black guy -- did you know that?, and B) He's from Illinois, like I am, and C) I don't like anyone else running, and then there's D) If the evangelical culture tells me to zig, well, I'd rather zag, thanks.

I won't be zagging here. You see, Obama's arguments on abortion are patently illogical, anti-science, morally reprehensible, and there you have it.

The cool thing to do here is say, "Well, that's simplistic. There are so many other issues!" -- as though the acknowledgment of a hierarchy of issues is simplism.

He denies human rights to millions of vulnerable children -- wups, let's use the Latin for child here to maintain the veneer -- fetuses, and so I won't press the Obama button.

(Wish I were Warren: "Yes, we can know when life begins, Mr. Obama. That argument's ended quite awhile ago. And yes, even if you're still unsure -- Is that a human in the bushes, or an animal? I'll shoot first! -- we still might summon the will to protect those born alive. Too bad you didn't, and you remain one of the very, very few, even among pro-choicers, who won't.")

No offense, Obama-supporters. I know the compelling arguments (But...Iraq, But...Bush sucks, But...presidents don't really matter on this issue, But...Sojourners says what about global warming, But...it's just so complicated, etc.) and I might agree with you on many things. But this is a non-starter.

I lose cool points...again. I know, I know: Me and Pat Robertson, in lock-step, and so on, and it's time we matured past this issue, and so forth, and me and James Dobson, and religious right doesn't speak for eveyrone, and what about social justice and etc. I know. I hear you. Again. Loud and clear.

And you're right -- it's not the only issue, not even close.

It's just the most basic one.

Letters from Kamp Krusty

Life with Obama

Abortion champion.

By David Freddoso

The tiny newborn baby made very little noise as he struggled to breathe. He lacked the strength to cry. He had been born four months premature.

“At that age,” says nurse Jill Stanek, “their lungs haven’t matured.”

Stanek is the nurse who found herself cradling this baby in her hands for all of his 45-minute lifetime. He was close to ten inches long and weighed perhaps half a pound. It’s just a guess — no one had weighed or measured him at birth. No happy family had been there to welcome him into the world. No one was trying to save his life now, putting him into an incubator, giving him oxygen or nourishment. He had just been left to die.

Stanek had seen it all happen. That family had wanted a baby, but when they learned that theirs would be born with Down syndrome, they wanted an abortion. For that, they went to Christ Hospital in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

In “induced labor” or “prostaglandin” abortion — a common procedure at the hospital — the doctor administers drugs that dilate the mother’s cervix and induce contractions, forcing a small baby out of the mother’s uterus. Most of the time, the baby dies in utero, killed by the force of the violent contractions. But it does not always work. Such abortions sometimes result in a premature baby being born alive. Sometimes the survivors live for just a few minutes, but sometimes for several hours. No one tried to save or treat them — it is hard to save someone you just mauled trying to kill. But something had to be done with them for the minutes and hours during which they struggled for air.

Stanek says her friend had been told to take this baby and leave him in a soiled utility closet. She offered to take him instead. “I couldn’t let him die alone,” she says.

Stanek was horrified by this experience. This was not an abortion — it was something worse. Could it be legal to take a living and breathing person of any size, already born and outside his mother’s womb, and just leave him to die, without any thought of treatment?

Hospital officials dismissed Stanek’s concerns. She then approached the Republican attorney general of Illinois, Jim Ryan, who issued a finding several months later that Christ Hospital was doing nothing illegal under the laws of Illinois. Doctors had no ethical or legal obligation to treat these premature babies. They had passed the bright line of birth that had effectively limited the right to life since the Roe v. Wade decision, but under the law they were non-persons.

Stanek’s effort to right this wrong would lead her to testify before various committees. It would lead her to a state senator, Patrick O’Malley, who would propose a bill to stop what was going on at the hospital.

Her attempt to change a corrupt medical practice and bring hope to defenseless infants would put her on a collision course with a state senator named Barack Obama.

On March 30, 2001, Obama was the only senator to speak in opposition to a bill that would have banned the practice of leaving premature abortion survivors to die. The bill, SB 1095, was carefully limited, its language unambiguous. It applied only to premature babies, already born alive. It stated simply that under Illinois law, “the words ‘person,’ ‘human being,’ ‘child,’ and ‘individual’ include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.”

You can read the whole article here.

It's disturbing that there is a large amount of young evangelicals, willing to look past such things as this, all for the sake of promised change.

"Fatherhood doesn't just end at conception..."

Obamatopia

McCain announces running mate...

Click here for the article and video clip...

Thank You

by Mike and Janet Huckabee

Last night was a tough one for all of us. While Janet and I stood on the stage, we felt as if we were surrounded by a much larger family than our immediate family. We have been surrounded throughout the process by a large and growing family of faithful friends whose efforts in the campaign have humbled and amazed us day after day. I regularly wept or choked back tears just reading comments on the blog when I realized the sacrifices that so many have made for the campaign.

We had held out hope that we would win enough delegates to keep the contest going, but had vowed that if Senator McCain actually got the 1191 delegates, we would accept the will of the voters. In the end, the relentless hammering of the media that we "couldn't win" influenced enough voters and while we campaigned long and hard in the final states, it simply wasn't enough. I congratulate Senator McCain and will do what I can to assist him and influence him to take strong stands for issues that we conservatives cherish.

I don't see the long journey having reached its destination, but merely taking a detour. As my Marine friend Clebe McLary says, "I didn't lose--it's just that the game ended before I got finished playing."

You can read the rest here.

Another reason to NOT vote for Obama

Obama Calls Vote to Help Terri Schiavo Biggest Mistake

'Whether it's abortion or end-of-life issues, he's been consistently anti-life.'

During the 20th Democratic presidential debate Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said the one vote he would take back was his 2005 U.S. Senate vote to help save the life of Terri Schiavo, a brain-injured Florida woman.

"We adjourned with a unanimous agreement that eventually allowed Congress to interject itself into that decision-making process of the families," Obama said. "It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped. And I think that was a mistake."

Schiavo was not dying nor terminally ill; she was not brain-dead nor in a coma. Yet for seven years, her husband, Michael, sought to have her feeding tube removed. Congress intervened toward the end, but it was not enough. Schiavo died March 31, 2005, after 13 days of court-ordered dehydration and starvation.

Jill Stanek, a pro-life speaker and blogger, called Obama "utterly pro-death."

"He lives in 'opposite world,' where he is an environmentalist, to the extreme, and very pro-animal," she said. "But when it comes to the sanctity of human life, he takes every stand against it, up to, and including, babies who have been aborted alive.

"His priorities are completely unintelligible."

When asked Tuesday which vote she would take back, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said she would not vote for the Iraq war again.

Tuesday wasn't the first time Obama talked about his "mistake."

During an April 2007 debate, he said: "I think professionally the biggest mistake that I made was when I first arrived in the Senate. There was a debate about Terri Schiavo, and a lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have.”

Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said Obama has been disingenuous.

"How can Obama reconcile his cavalier dismissal of Terri Schiavo's predicament as a 'family matter,' when he has stated he wants to appoint judges who are 'going to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process, the outsider, the minority, those who are vulnerable, those who don't have a lot of clout'?

"Whether it's abortion or end-of-life issues," Hausknecht said, "he's been consistently anti-life."

Romney drops out

Finally some good news.

You can read the Fox report here.

I hope this means there will be a Huckaboom!