Obama has one thing going for him. His record on abortion is so extreme that nobody will be able to believe that it’s true of the smiling man who says he cares.
When John McCain, after what seemed like hours hemming and hawing about judges and litmus tests, finally brought up the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, Obama smiled. I couldn’t believe it. He smiled. And it was because he knew something. He knew that he could deflect this issue. He’d prepared for it. He knew his record on abortion was so rotten that people wouldn’t believe it. Here’s how it went down:
McCain: Sen. Obama, as a member of the Illinois State Senate, voted in the Judiciary Committee against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born of a failed abortion. He voted against that.
And then, on the floor of the State Senate, as he did 130 times as a state senator, he voted present.
Then there was another bill before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the state of Illinois not that long ago, where he voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion, one of the late-term abortion, a really — one of the bad procedures, a terrible. And then, on the floor of the Illinois State Senate, he voted present.
I don’t know how you vote “present” on some of that. I don’t know how you align yourself with the extreme aspect of the pro- abortion movement in America. And that’s his record, and that’s a matter of his record.
And he’ll say it has something to do with Roe v. Wade, about the Illinois State Senate. It was clear-cut votes that Sen. Obama voted, I think, in direct contradiction to the feelings and views of mainstream America.
Schieffer: Response?
Obama: Yes, let me respond to this. If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold lifesaving treatment from an infant, that’s because it’s not true. The — here are the facts.
There was a bill that was put forward before the Illinois Senate that said you have to provide lifesaving treatment and that would have helped to undermine Roe v. Wade. The fact is that there was already a law on the books in Illinois that required providing lifesaving treatment, which is why not only myself but pro-choice Republicans and Democrats voted against it.
And the Illinois Medical Society, the organization of doctors in Illinois, voted against it. Their Hippocratic Oath would have required them to provide care, and there was already a law in the books.
With respect to partial-birth abortion, I am completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there’s an exception for the mother’s health and life, and this did not contain that exception.
Now we might know that the “health” exception can be made to include anything including the economic health of the mother but many people don’t.
You see, Barack Obama understands that much of debates are style over substance. The informed rush to their computers to “fact-check” the candidates. Many people don’t. To them, the facts don’t truly matter. Obama smiled when McCain made his allegations. He said they weren’t true. They’ll believe it.
And Obama knows that the media will act as a willing participant in his lies leaving the truth to blogs such as this one and right wing radio shows. This man sickens me. He sickens me because of his complete abandonment of principle. He sickens me because he smiles as he does it. And he knows that will likely be enough.
October 16, 2008 at 4:29 am
Performing an abortion is against the Hippocratic Oath, as well, but I guess Obama didn’t have time to read the original (500 years before Christ).
October 16, 2008 at 4:35 am
Why, again, did McCain say he we shouldn’t fear an Obama presidency?
I’m terrified.
October 16, 2008 at 4:53 am
I’m with you. Obama scares the heck out of me.
October 16, 2008 at 7:07 am
We should be terrified of an Obama presidency…he hasn’t met a baby he doesn’t want dead.
October 16, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Matthew, Patrick — McCain didn’t do it — it is up to us now to expose Obama and the FOCA. Your previous video about Obama and infanticide was perfect. We need a new one now .. one that will expose this man for the lying devil that he is. You guys are creative! Can you do something with this video of Obama at Planned Parenthood? Something we can send out to everyone? There will always be people who will vote for him no matter what. But there are millions of people who still DO NOT KNOW what FOCA is and what it will do to this country and the millions of yet unborn babies that there will be absolutly NO HOPE FOR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8
I believe in you. Thanks.
–Laura
October 16, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Why that vicious scoundrel! I can’t believe Obama uttered such a blatant lie. Clearly, this was intentional!
October 16, 2008 at 12:58 pm
“He said they weren’t true. They’ll believe it.”
Yes they will. And if you and I know that he lied on this issue, and he did, then how many other lies did he tell that they will believe? It is infuriating.
October 16, 2008 at 2:23 pm
“He said they weren’t true. They’ll believe it.”
Yes they will. And if you and I know that he lied on this issue, and he did, then how many other lies did he tell that they will believe? It is infuriating.
Yes, people who lie, liars, generally don’t lie just once.
October 16, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Obama is like every other radical. He doesn’t have to be open and honest because the mindset to which he holds allows him to lie with impunity. Bill Clinton was a master of deception and the same kind of slipperiness. When he was caught in the act, Clinton – ever the wordsmith – used a common tactic: redefine the language to evade responsibility. If you redefine the words used to criticize you and make them appear to mean something benign thereby obscuring the issue, it’s easy to slip away into the fog of vague definitions and the distractions that arise.
No, Obama hides behind flawed logic and guile just as Planned Parenthood does in order to incite people to buy into seemingly quick fix “solutions” that promise freedom but instead rob people of their dignity and result in the deaths of millions of unborn children and the destruction of countless women’s lives.
October 16, 2008 at 5:41 pm
He actually chuckled a lot at John McCain. He’s a condescending, elitist boor, no less than Kerry.
McCain rightly pointed out that “health of the mother” means pretty much whatever anyone says it does, and has little to do with actual health, so points for that.
He was much better for much more of the night last night, though when Obama mentioned who his advisors were, McCain should have replied that he forgot two – the former Fannie Mae president who advises him on economics, and the former Fannie Mae president who helped him pick Joe Biden as VP. He should have turned Obama’s “eight years of failed economic policy” phrase against him by pointing out that the guys most responsible for it have been a key part of his campaign since the start – and that it was his party’s policy, which McCain opposed.
October 16, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Matthew, here is a link to a very important commentary for those pro-lifers who are thinking of voting for Obama. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2008.10.14_George_Robert_Obama%27s%20Abortion%20Extremism_.xml
Clearly this may be the most important election for those who are concerned about life issues.
October 16, 2008 at 6:37 pm
It seems like the Father of Lies (Mr. Scratch) has got some serious competition. No, excuse me, this guy Obama is a disciple.
October 16, 2008 at 6:59 pm
If they didn’t need a Born Alive Protection Act because it is redundant of existing laws, then why do we need a Freedom Of Choice Act that is also redundant of existing laws?
October 16, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is NOT redundant of existing laws. It ABOLISHES limitations states have placed on abortion. In other words — it will OVERTURN all existing abortion laws.
–Laura
October 17, 2008 at 1:39 am
I think daddio was being facetious. The “line” of the FOCA friends (?fiends) is that it just “codifies” Roe.
The USCCB has put up a page opposing FOCA.