Pro-life Romney advisor turned Obama fan gets an audience with the Messiah
posted at 8:28 pm on June 16, 2008 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
I know, the Doug Kmiec posts are getting redundant, but he fascinates me as the clearest example among the Obamicans of someone who’s personally captivated by Obama (“Lightworker!”) but intellectually unable to justify voting for him on that basis. The solution: Self-persuasion through argumentation that the most liberal member of the senate is somehow the more responsible choice this year for a conscientious pro-life voter. Read his latest essay and tell me if you don’t have the distinct sense that he’s trying to convince himself of what he’s saying more so than the reader. Here’s my favorite part, which builds on a point he made last month about how Obama and McCain really aren’t all that different on abortion since neither one wants to amend the Constitution to ban it:
Senator Obama’s position accepts the existing legal regime which leaves the abortion decision with the mother — which is all right so long as the mother is persuaded to choose life. Senator McCain’s position would leave the decision with the individual states — which is all right so long as the individual states prohibit abortion.
Since we are assured of neither, neither position is fully pro-life.
In truth, both positions are pro-choice, with the former focused on the individual and the latter focused on the state. Senator McCain’s position is sometimes described as pro-life, but it is more pro-federalism (states being free under the McCain position to decide to permit or disallow abortion as they see fit).
From a standpoint of subsidiarity and prudence, one can make an argument that the Obama position is preferable since it does not arrogate to a higher level that which can be done more effectively below in direct relationship with the mother.
See what he’s doing here? The only way he can justify his vote for Obama on this point is to set up a false dichotomy: With Obama you get legal abortion but determined efforts to talk women out of it and with McCain you get abortion banned in some states … and no effort whatsoever to talk women out of it. It all nets out! Except of course it doesn’t: He has no reason to think McCain would be any less diligent than Obama would in setting up outreach programs to discourage pregnant women from aborting. On the contrary, given how passionate Obama’s base is about this subject, he has every reason to believe he’s blowing smoke. I’m mighty curious to hear the specifics of what Senator Hopenchange has in mind by way of getting women to carry to term, just like I’m curious to hear how McCain’s continuation of “an unjustified war” to try to keep the peace in Iraq would be worse for the culture of life than a pullout that might lead to ethnic cleansing. Which reminds me: Has Kmiec heard yet about the “tactical readjustments”?
Exit comparison. From the essay:
Those who are pro-abortion, as I see it, are those who advocate the practice as a matter of fundamental right or as part of a radical, often feminist, agenda that takes no account of the moral weight or significance of unborn life.
And from the NARAL website:
Sen. Obama is fully pro-choice. In his own words:
“A woman’s ability to decide how many children to have and when, without interference from the government, is one of the most fundamental rights we possess. It is not just an issue of choice, but equality and opportunity for all women.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages:
I just read that Indy conservative got banned. Thank you, Allah.
Buford Gooch on June 16, 2008 at 8:34 PM
This just shows how powerful the media effect is. They’ve changed a far left wing neophyte into a post-partisan everything for everyone Messiah.
18-1 on June 16, 2008 at 8:35 PM
Killing babies, born or unborn, just seems like a really bad idea. Puppies maybe, but not babies.
Buford Gooch on June 16, 2008 at 8:37 PM
This guy is the prototype useful idiot.
Obama is to the LEFT of NARAL, given his Live Birth Abortion record.
jp on June 16, 2008 at 8:37 PM
OK, the “Messiah” thing is officially played out.
ChenZhen on June 16, 2008 at 8:38 PM
Obama is out of his mind when he says crazy things like this:
You have to seriously be out of your mind to claim that’s one of our most fundamental rights. A woman can choose to murder her yet born child…that is, folks, one of the most basic prized rights afforded us by the founders! (totally insane)
TheBlueSite on June 16, 2008 at 8:39 PM
Single-issue voters run into a quandry when their party tramples all over them hoping to get them to leave the party all together. McCain and his ilk have made it clear that pro-lifers are unwelcome since that would preclude serious pandering and sucking up for the coveted pissed-off feminist vote.
For that reason, delusion isn’t surprising. McCain and the GOP left pro-lifers. They have to look elsewhere and this year that is Obama. Anyone doesn’t like it, perhaps they should have thought about that before giving the middle finger salute to the Republican base who got GWB into office the past two elections. McCain’s statements and the huge “shut the f**k up and vote McCain” contingent has driven a rift in the GOP which, IMO, will not be healed by November. McCain sure had better deliver on all those irate Democrat moderate votes because he’s killed his chances with the social conservatives and “Jesus freaks” he and his supporters so clearly loathe.
highhopes on June 16, 2008 at 8:39 PM
Now if only Obama can let women have choice without interference from men. Even the Messiah can’t do that. Oh yeah and about that counting the body parts thing, that one is a tough thing to wish away. BTW- Watch the movie BELLA! It’s the movie that pro aborts don’t want you to see.
bloggless on June 16, 2008 at 8:40 PM
by the way- what the F does that mean anyhow, “equality and opportunity for all women”?? How does allowing murder to take place while turning your head a million times a year get you to equality and opportunity? What does he mean by “opportunity”??
It’s almost scary to hear people who seem to have control of their mental faculties say stuff like that.
TheBlueSite on June 16, 2008 at 8:40 PM
benrand on June 16, 2008 at 8:44 PM
Is it just me or does anyone else get the heebee-jeebees over this? Smacks of ‘you will contribute to the State’ to me.
Limerick on June 16, 2008 at 8:44 PM
“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 don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”
–Barack Obama
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/30/sunday-meditation-obama-and-the-punishment-of-unborn-life/
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 8:46 PM
Well, here’s a socially conservative Jesus Freak who will happily vote for McCain. He was not my first choice (that was FDT), nor my second, nor even my third. However, the thought of “President Obama” is just too much for me to stand on some kind of self-destructive principle.
Buford Gooch on June 16, 2008 at 8:46 PM
Just skimmed through the article- 3 pages long, and hardly a coherent point in it. He “prays every day” that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, but it doesn’t really matter if it is? Huh?
Hollowpoint on June 16, 2008 at 8:47 PM
self-persuation = self-delusion
It is amazing to watch the mental gymnastics some are employing in order to justify jumping onto the Obama bandwagon.
hillbillyjim on June 16, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Obama believe that babies are a punishment?
So killing babies is ok, if you make a mistake?
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 8:50 PM
hmmmm, but yesterday Obama said a fathers responsibility began at conception. How does that work?
ctmom on June 16, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Okay, so this Kmiec character loves Obama despite the fact that he can’t really square Obama’s positions with his own deeply held views, and resorts to strange rationalizations and circumlocutions. Isn’t this almost literally the definition of a cult of personality?
Travis Bickle on June 16, 2008 at 8:53 PM
You missed a key ingredient I mentioned- single issue voters.
I am sure there are many social conservatives and evangelicals that will indeed hold there nose and vote for the least objectionable candidate while lamenting that both are bad choices for America. But what does an individual who votes solely on the basis of abortion or gender or race do when their values get bumped out of any consideration. The GOP snubbed pro-life voters by forcing through a socially liberal candidate who clearly loathes the coalition that got GWB elected. Democrats single issue voters are in much the same situation with feminist voters losers over black voters.
This is the first election I can recall where virtually nobody is happy with the choice of candidates.
highhopes on June 16, 2008 at 8:55 PM
Guys’s got a full-on man crush.
Rhinoboy on June 16, 2008 at 8:58 PM
This is what scares me so much…intellectually a lot of people I know who support him cannot, even remotely, justify voting for him based on anything but emotion…so they will rationalize it away and vote for him all the same. I’m seeing way too much of it and it’s giving me a bit ‘ole sinking feeling. And yes, I know these people will feel a lot of buyer’s remorse if he get’s into office, but they don’t understand (or care) that the damage will be done by then. Way too many people in this country either cannot think critically or if, even if they can, are emotionally incapable of acting on those thoughts. It’s sad that so many people want a ‘Dear Leader’, no matter what the price.
AUINSC on June 16, 2008 at 8:59 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbZJYWjkAPo
Obama – I don’t want my daughters “punished with a baby”
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 9:01 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrsDXwQpbY
Barack Obama at Planned Parenthood 2007
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 9:04 PM
If you don’t mind me asking, what thread was the banning carried out in?
amerpundit on June 16, 2008 at 9:05 PM
And you will serve it.
easy on June 16, 2008 at 9:05 PM
Really? What got him banned?
ThePrez on June 16, 2008 at 9:08 PM
I know I’ve said this before and apparently someone was “offended” by it, but I’ll say it again. Anybody who has any respect for life (and it isn’t a religious thing, it’s a basic respect for a common right we all have simply because we’re human) and STILL votes for Obama will have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS. You will be responsible for every dead baby that will come from an Obama Presidency, Doug. If one pro-abortion justice is put on the SCOTUS…you will be responsible, Doug. If one pro-death piece of legislation is passed…you will be responsible, Doug. If one pro-life piece of legislation is vetoed…you will be responsible, Doug. People that are too ignorant, uninformed, or lack the mental capacity to understand what they’re voting for (most of Obama’s voters) can be forgiven eventually. But you know better. You know the consequences. And you will be responsible for those consequences. I don’t want to single you out, as there are other normally intelligent people who know better and are still voting for Obama, but you seem to be a smart guy with common sense. You know better.
I’m sure the moderates, arch-liberals/socialists, and the dumbest group of voters (I’m not going on another rant on them like I did yesterday), “independents”, are plenty happy.
malan89 on June 16, 2008 at 9:08 PM
A better example of casuistry on Kmiec’s part will be difficult to find.
Although the intended audience, as AP point outs, appears to be Kmiec himself.
SteveMG on June 16, 2008 at 9:08 PM
They wouldn’t dare.
I obviously concur.
easy on June 16, 2008 at 9:09 PM
I hereby declare all unborn babies as terrorists so they’ll get full rights as a citizen of The United States of America.
SouthernGent on June 16, 2008 at 9:09 PM
Do you believe that Obama will make better SCOTUS nominations as per abortion than would McCain?
Even if you totally ignore the political realities and base your vote solely on the abortion issue, common sense should tell you that an Obama vote or no vote is not in your own (narrow-minded) self-interest.
hillbillyjim on June 16, 2008 at 9:09 PM
Here. He was basically just being the jackass he normally is, but this time he took it too far. Started in with that “Hussein Obama” crap and then said something about Obama winning and the White House being the “black house”. It was really just juvenile. I’m glad he was banned. Somebody mentioned he may be a troll that posts outrageous stuff just to make HA readers look bad. I doubt it, but based on those comments, it makes sense.
malan89 on June 16, 2008 at 9:12 PM
Watch that Obama at Planned Parenthood about 1/2 way in..
And I say, “Hey Obama IF ‘Choice’ more about how we lead our lives HOW about letting people choose what school that they put their kids into? Isn’t that a Choice that the Parents should be able to make for our families? Why should they be stuck in failing Public schools? Is it because you have the support of all the Teachers Unions on your side and all their lobbyists? School Choice to me seems to be the more important issue, IF the children were properly educated in the first place maybe we would have less ‘unwanted pregnancies’ in the first place?”
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 9:12 PM
COMMENT OF THE YEAR
Of course not! Puppies are cute. Fetuses/unborn babies…eh, not so much.
malan89 on June 16, 2008 at 9:13 PM
Kmiec is one of those soft-headed types who would have been praising the virtues of Stalin in the ’30s, or Mao in the ’50s. There’s something going on there that’s all personal psychodrama, not politics.
Cicero43 on June 16, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Thank you.
amerpundit on June 16, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Bye bye Indy!
ThePrez on June 16, 2008 at 9:17 PM
This guy isn’t an idiot. He’s just not pro-life. He’s a liar.
He might not even realize it himself anymore, but he is just not pro-life. He is fooling himself by claiming he is. But not pro-lifer, not one, would ever argue for, let along vote for, a politician that refused to uphold protections for already born babies in the fear that it would undercut abortion.
Sydney Carton on June 16, 2008 at 9:25 PM
repeated F-bomb’s and racist BS..
All chronicled in one post
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/16/video-jindal-supports-teaching-of-intelligent-design/comment-page-5/#comment-1188006
Chakra Hammer on June 16, 2008 at 9:26 PM
I’m not a single issue voter and if I were, it probably would have to do with a national security issue before a social issue that is essentially dead at this point.
I disagree with the prevailing myth that we KNOW John McCain would make better SCOTUS picks. His part in the Junta of 14 means that he would find somebody acceptable to Democrats and that isn’t going to be any jurist that I read about and get excited that the court is going to undergo real ideological change.
highhopes on June 16, 2008 at 9:26 PM
I’m curious. When did Indy get banned?
terryannonline on June 16, 2008 at 9:27 PM
For those who haven’t read the article, Andrew McCarthy at NR highlighted this quote- it pretty much sums up the entire tone of Kmiec’s piece:
Uhh… what?
Hollowpoint on June 16, 2008 at 9:31 PM
Pack the courts with socialist moonbat judge and it doesn’t matter how many laws those social conservatives and Jesus freaks make in Congress.
highhopes on June 16, 2008 at 9:35 PM
I want to be sure I understand you. Do you believe that there would likely be any difference between a McCain nominee and and an Obama pick?
hillbillyjim on June 16, 2008 at 9:36 PM
Half past six. Here’s AP’s final ruling.
malan89 on June 16, 2008 at 9:42 PM
But I think I had answered that already with some personal analysis.
malan89 on June 16, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Question for Team Barry: If it’s OK to suck the brains out of infant so an individual does not get “punished”, is it OK if I suck Grandpa’s brains so I an not punished by being forced to care for a geriatric invalid? Just curious.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on June 16, 2008 at 9:43 PM
No SANE pro-lifer supports Obama.
Doug Kmiec is clearly not sane and these posts are in very poor taste. He is obviously mentally ill.
EJDolbow on June 16, 2008 at 9:45 PM
In two words: Very little. Neither Obama nor McCain is going to tinker with this situation where everything comes down as a 5-4 split. Even if Ginsberg isn’t replaced with another radical, her voting pattern will be maintained by whomever either one puts up.
McCain isn’t going to change the court because, frankly, he probably won’t have the opportunity to mess with the reliable conservatives and he agrees with much of what the liberals have done- after all they were the ones who signed on to outlawing our First Amendment freedoms per McCain’s legislation, they were the ones who handed terrorists the US judicial system per McCain’s demands about GITMO, etc. John McCain would give us a Souter not a Scalia and I’m disappointed with that.
Obama, at least initially, isn’t going to put up a nominee overly controversial because that would be a huge political nightmare (as in “see what happens when you put a black in office” or “see what happens when you put an inexperienced moron in office.”) He will play it safe.
highhopes on June 16, 2008 at 9:52 PM
Thank you for the clarification.
I disagree in part. I am not overly enthusiastic about McCain’s picks, but I fear Obama’s. I believe he would go as far to the left as he possibly could.
hillbillyjim on June 16, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Change “persuasion” to “delusion” and you’d be more accurate. These paragraphs are the tell:
…snip…
Kmiec demands that a pro-life candidate not only support overturning Roe v Wade, but he/she must also commit to a constitutional amendment banning abortion — and he bases this on his Catholicism, earlier quoting the Catholic Bishops and papal encyclical. There is no such directive or requirement, regarding amending of the constitution, in either of those documents. This is strictly Kmiec’s personal interpretation.
He then goes on to laud Obama, who has voted consistently in favor of abortion rights, and against banning partial-birth abortion, because of a private conversation in which Obama says he will “discourage” abortion, and will prohibit “late term abortion.” Aside from the fact that the POTUS has no such authority, the line that “Such requirements usually entail an exception for the health and life of the mother” is absolutely ignorant. In all the debate about the barbaric practice of late term abortion, there has never been a case where the life of the mother has been a consideration, due to the simple fact that the fetus is viable and can be delivered safely in late term pregnancies without jeopardizing the mother, as we’ve seen time and time again in accident victims.
The final kicker — and probably the key to Kmiec’s disordered thinking is that McCain “seeks to justify an unjustified war and ignores other matters of social teaching such as pursuit of a family wage and responsible assistance to the poor, that does far too little…” So it’s not really about abortion, in spite of the all the verbiage. Kmiec has fallen into the social justice trap that far too many Catholics use to rationalize voting for Democrats — and Obama’s his man.
Nichevo on June 16, 2008 at 10:22 PM
I call them NooNuts, after Peggy Noonan who seems to slide into different register when she talks Obama up.
I can’t get the sticky stuff off me when reading Noony gush over Obama. The first article I find in web search
Yuck
The gush attack starts every time Noonan shifts into Obama
I must have been out of town the day Obama hypnotized these people.
entagor on June 16, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Dear Kmiec:
Obama opposed the Infants Born Alive Act in the Illinois Senate.
This means Obama thinks that every abortion started should be finished, even if it means leaving an “accidentely birthed” baby to die on a cold, sterile table.
Obama is THE most pro-abortion candidate EVER. If you can’t vote against him based on the reality that he thinks infanticide is legitimate, vote against him for many of the other myriad reasons he would be a fatal disaster, such as economics, foreign policy, domestic issues, national security, or high scores in bowling.
BKennedy on June 16, 2008 at 10:53 PM
I can’t believe it was on a “bong hits for Obama” thread.
Oh well…
I always pictured him as Dwight Schrute, FWIW.
Back on topic, this article clearly meant to take the abortion issue off the table. “See, they’re both the same!” Clearly disturbed.
Rhinoboy on June 17, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Actually, this is kinda cool. They have someone’s picture to go next to the word “frigtard” in the dictionary.
The biggest irony is that if you look at the demographics of abortion, most of them would grow up to be Democrats. My theory is they’re in love with illegal immigration to make up the difference.
ErikTheRed on June 17, 2008 at 1:19 AM
I’ve heard Obama being called the Messiah and even the second coming of Christ…but, just as a coincidence, I was watching the Omen the other day on TV, and the Reporter told Damien’s father, “You know your son was born on June 6th”…It turns out the next day, I see Obama’s birth certificate online…guess what, he too was born on June 6th. More specifically, he was born on the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th decade of the 20th century…coincidence…I think not.
jnrz on June 17, 2008 at 6:46 AM
Why is it that liberals want government in EVERY aspect of your life EXCEPT abortion? Why is that a choice that liberals say you are qualified to make when they want to make every other choice for you? Why does the socialist democrat party worship at the alter of Baal? Child sacrifice as well as homosexuality is an abominiation to God. So why do the socialists support these two things above all else?
Just asking.
abcurtis on June 17, 2008 at 7:38 AM
So barry is for women viewing sonograms before an abortion is done?
peacenprosperity on June 17, 2008 at 8:25 AM
(my emphasis)
Yes, from the very start of the Obamania it was clear that the Obambi had become a Pied Piper to a host of naive and gullible Americans, from youthful idiots (pardon the lisp!) to “tingle up my leg” media figures. Read Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer. This is a very dangerous phenomenon, one which could literally overwhelm the Republic if we’re not careful.
We may end up being very glad that the Founding Fathers left us the Electoral College.
MrLynn on June 17, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Sorry. He was born August 4, 1961. See here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/obama-birth.html
Fourth day of the eighth month. And 1961 is in the
decade.
You got the century right, though.
MrLynn on June 17, 2008 at 8:51 AM
Peggy Noonan and Doug Kmiec are both baby-boomers and former Reagan Administration workers. I am one of those too, though I never went on to any fame or fortune as they did, but I think I understand what their fascination is with Obama.
Unfortunately, some conservatives have completely misread history and especally the history of Reagan and I think this includes Noonan and Kmiec. They are looking for “another Reagan” and they see Obama as that man, because they really believe that Reagan’s success as president and as founder and leader of the modern conservative movement was somehow based on the sheer force of his personality that inspired millions to follow him.
Many Boomers seem to long for a “movement” to be part of, and a “leader” to follow. Maybe this is a leftover legacy of JFK, that sense that this generation had a leader to follow and behind him they were going to change the world, but it all ended when he was killed. Many of us who served under Reagan felt a sense of great excitement and camaraderie, and exhilaration that we were changing the world. I distinctly remember asking a fellow Reaganite once if he thought these were the best jobs we would ever have in our lives.
Most of us are satisfied having had that experience once and are not really looking for it again. But to some, I guess it is such a powerful thing to experience that they want to experience it again, and they see Barack Obama as that same sort of inspirational leader they can follow again and recapture their youth.
They could not be more wrong.
Reagan’s force was the force of ideas, forged over decades of real-life experience with communists, labor unions, and the heavy hand of government that he saw choking off innovation and freedom. He inspired millions because he stood for and delivered real change, not just rhetoric about change. His personality certainly helped bring some people along so that his ideas could enlighten them and change their vision of what America and the world could be. But it was not the end – it was the means to the end.
A personality cult like that of Barack Obama can only lead to disaster because it is grounded more on the personality of the leader than his ideas. When I see a huge Obama rally, I do not see A Shining City On A Hill, I see The Triumph Of The Will. People who follow such leaders are sheep, and they are lazy sheep at that – they think that the act of supporting and voting for him makes them a change agent. They don’t want to do the hard work of real change. Obama promises them an easy way to make history.
rockmom on June 17, 2008 at 8:56 AM
His live birth abortion record, his partial-birth abortion record, his entire record.
Any person who claims to be pro-life and yet advocates voting for Obama — a man who supports the “right” to stick a pair of scissors into the brain of a fully formed baby on its way out of the womb — is either a liar or a fool, or both.
AZCoyote on June 17, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Nice analysis, rockmom. Thank you.
boko fittleworth on June 17, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Just the fact that Obama stated – I don’t want my daughters “punished with a baby”. When till the time comes, I bet he will sing a different tune when his daughter gets pregnant. Hey O – she can go across state lines without your permission and abort that punishment. What a shameful thing to say, you own grandchild – abort it so you do not have to be burdened. How horrible is that?
txstar on June 17, 2008 at 12:02 PM
A empty head for his empty suit.
oakpack on June 17, 2008 at 3:48 PM
Comment pages: