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发帖数: 29846 | 1 by David N. Bass
The consensus among media types this morning appears to be that Joe Biden
trounced Paul Ryan on the abortion question in last night’s debate. In
reality, it was the exact opposite.
I have seldom heard a politician give a more moving, convicting, personal,
emotional, and truthful answer on the sanctity of human life than did Ryan
last night. At the same time, he did so in a way that won’t alienate
moderates on the abortion issue. He threaded the needle beautiful, taking an
unabashed pro-life stand in a winsome way:
You want to ask basically why I’m pro-life? It’s not simply because of
my Catholic faith. That’s a factor, of course, but it’s also because of
reason and science. You know, I think about 10 and ½ years ago, my wife
Janna and I went to Mercy Hospital in Jamesville where I was born for our 7
-week ultrasound for our first-born child. We saw that heartbeat. Our little
baby was in the shape of a bean. And to this day, we have nicknamed our
first-born child, Liza, “Bean.” Now I believe that life begins at
conception. Those are the reasons why I’m pro-life …
… What troubles me more is how this administration has handled all of
these issues. Look at what they’re doing through Obamacare with respect to
assaulting the religious liberties of this country. They’re infringing upon
our first freedom — the freedom of religion — by infringing on Catholic
charities, Catholic churches, Catholic hospitals. Our church should not have
to sue the federal government to maintain our religious liberties.
Biden’s answer on the abortion question was the same line that most
Democrats give. He claimed to have accepted the Catholic’s teaching on
abortion “in his personal life.” The logical conclusion, then, is that our
vice president believes that life begins at conception, and thus abortion
is the taking of a human life and tantamount to murder. But then he said
that, as a matter of policy, he can’t enforce his personal views on others.
To sum up: Biden admitted that abortion is murder while also admitting that
he doesn’t possess the courage requisite to do anything about it. From a
moral standpoint, that’s a far more dubious position than pro-choicers who
believe that an unborn child isn’t human. At least they have an ethical leg
to stand on. What is incomprehensible is a man who admits that an unborn
child is human, yet won’t raise a finger to stop the willful destruction of
that life.
My overall sense of the debate is that Biden over-corrected for the
president’s passive performance in last week’s debate. Had he not acted so
rudely, the general consensus very well might have been that he won. As it
stands, the general feeling is a draw, trending toward a win for Ryan.
Peggy Noonan put it just about right in her column this morning: “Last week
Mr. Obama was weirdly passive. Last night Mr. Biden was weirdly aggressive,
if that is the right word for someone who grimaces, laughs derisively,
interrupts, hectors, rolls his eyes, browbeats and attempts to bully.”
Moderator Martha Raddatz did her best to play interference for the Obama
administration. There were several instances when Ryan was just beginning to
make an excellent point when Raddatz would interrupt and steer the
conversation down a path far more favorable to team Obama. A prime example
is, again, on the abortion question. When Ryan began to make the point about
Catholic hospitals suing the Obama administration, Raddatz quickly switched
gears by asking whether pro-choice Americans should fear a Romney
presidency – a question that had to have pleasured Biden immensely, since
it took the heat off him. |
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