Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Had Enough Yet?


I'm already feeling a tad bit annoyed about the elections.  It's kind of like the feeling I get when I hear Christmas music and see a store putting up decorations, next to the Halloween costumes for a October holiday that hasn't even passed by yet.  I mean, I love hearing Christmas music and seeing the decorations after Thanksgiving, and I can even tolerate the stores pushing it back before the last Thursday in November.  But October?  Really?  Do we really need an entire season (as in 3 months) of Christmas?

Still, even Christmas in October has one redeeming point.  It reminded me to start making my Jesse tree and getting ready for advent.  The intense election coverage doesn't even have that point in it's favor.

For the first five minutes it might have been interesting, if rather disgusting and dishonest, to see liberal media outlets turn their sights on whoever was the man or woman, of the moment in the GOP.  They'd show sound bites of them that taken out of context, which made each in turn look like a blathering idiot, while seeing if there was anything the candidate had done since kindergarten that might be used as ammunition against them.  I mean, at least it demonstrated the complete lack of journalistic ethics in much of our mainstream media.  One by one the leaders would fall off the top and begin to attempt to reclimb the heights from the single digit poll number section.

As a result, I attempt to get my information as to what the candidates believe directly from their own words and from their voting records.  Yet as I listen to the debates, and hear the candidates own beliefs, from their own mouths, I still have a hard time finding much that makes me excited to go to the voting booth anytime soon.

And let's face it, for me to really like a candidate they only really need one thing: to be solidly pro-life.  In other words, they must understand that once a life is formed it is a life and should be protected as such.  How hard should it be to meet that standard in a party that's supposed to be the pro-life party?  Apparently harder than one would imagine.

Let's start with the former front runner, who's seemed to be the most consistently towards the top of the polls.  The media just doesn't understand why pro-lifers are leery of Romney.  After all, they tell us, everyone flip flops on all sorts of issues.  Everyone.  And then they show various other candidates who've flip flopped on taxes and Medicare and social security.  And I sit there thinking, are you really that dense?  Do you really not see what the differences between voting for what's politically expedient when it's an issue of tax cuts and voting for what's expedient when it means the death of thousands of children?  The thing is, we've seen "solidly pro-life candidates" sell out when the stakes were high enough and it meant getting what they wanted.  So the idea that Mitt "I was pro-choice because that's what it took to get elected in Massachusetts, but now I'm pro-life because that's what the majority of Americans are" Romney will fight for the rights of the unborn isn't something that most of us can buy into.  So there's one candidate I can easily check of my list.

Next there's Newt.  I was trying to like him.  I was pretty young when he was the speaker of the house, so my memories of him are rather vague.  And then he came out with his "life begins at implantation" line and I wanted to throw something at the computer screen.  I'd actually never heard that particular argument until a facebook debate the week before, and I have to admit, I find it kind of baffling.  It buys into the pro-death line that whether life exists, is based on the mother's body, not on what's already forming when conception occurred, usually about a week earlier.  By Newt's logic, the abortion pills would all be a-okay.  So my support of Newt went out the window when he said those words.

Now if only we could get Santorum to do a bit better in the debates.  He just doesn't have the slimmy Washington quality that keeps him from losing his cool, maybe because he really cares about the unborn, and that passion can make him seem like a bit of a hot head when he's being questioned (Paul Zummo wrote a great article asking why more Catholic don't vote for him, here).

And, in the end, I'll be voting for him because he's the only candidate who I believe will honestly do his best to protect the unborn.  Isn't it sad that out of a large pool of supposed "pro-lifers" they all seem to hedge their bets in some way by limiting their definitions of life to make themselves more electable?  But I guess that's just politics as usual...  Either way, I'll throw my support entirely behind whoever the GOP choses, when the time comes.  Because no one that comes out of the convention could be more pro-death than our current, if they're born alive let them die in a closet, President.

18 comments:

  1. I think we should just pray that the GOP gets it together and puts out a solid candidate with an equally solid running mate. I'm still convinced that they blew it when they put Palin on the ticket in 2008.

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  2. If it makes you feel better, Newt clarified those remarks and said he does believe it begins at conception.

    I chalked it up to the fact that he's a newb. I bet that upon making the gaffe, some kind, Catholic friend of his (possibly a spiritual director) called him up and re-explained the Church's position and why we hold true that life does, in fact, begin at conception.

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  3. You were up early this morning!

    I have totally tuned out of the elections this year. The GOP is so uninspiring - it's frustrating that it's really the only choice we have because the Dems are borderline evil. I wish that in order to gain the "Catholic vote" politicians would actually have to represent Catholic beliefs across the line - and not just pay lip service to our most important issue.

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  4. Gina, that does make me feel a lot better! It's an argument I just recently heard for the first time and while I can usually see a borderline logic in other arguments for "why life begins" at a certain time, that one I just didn't get at all!

    And Martha! I need to email you! We definitely need to get together for tea!

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  5. I mostly ignore all politics this early. But I don't ignore friends and I have good friends who are heavily pro-Santorum. My husband has a hard time supporting Santorum though. Apparently at some point he could have supported a pro-life democrat in Pennsylvania but he opted to tow the party line and support the incumbent not-so-pro-life Republican.

    I'll wait a while, see which candidates are left and then decide. I can't spend the time or energy getting behind a candidate now who might not even be an option 3 months from now.

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  6. I asked my husband about it again....here is the article he sent me.

    http://spectator.org/archives/2004/04/21/wrong-man-for-the-job

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  7. As another voting Catholic, I wanted to share this link with you: http://www.caaction.com/pdf/Voters-Guide-Catholic-English-1p.pdf

    We have more to worry about than just abortion. There are 5 non-negotiables in Catholic Voting. I enjoy reading your blog, especially because you always bring up important issues like these. Thank you!

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  8. Personally, I don't trust that Gingrich is pro-life. He goes on TV one day and says life begins at implantation, then a few days later, after the pro-life blogoshpere has erupted with criticisms of his stance, he sends a press release to pro-life bloggers that he believes life begins at conception. It seems to me like he wants the general public to believe that he thinks life begins at implantation, but wants the pro-lifers to believe he is in line with Church teaching on this issue.

    I was very impressed with Santorum the first time I heard him defend life after rape/incest. Of course that will most likely mean he won't stand a chance, but I really like him.

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  9. What do you think of Ron Paul? Just curious-I very much doubt he has a snowball's chance in Hades; but I know a lot of Catholics are rooting for him (in spite of a few strange stands on issues), and he has huge support in the military. He does have the virtue of never waffling!

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  10. I don't trust that Gingrich is 100% pro-life either, and I don't buy his "correction" that he does believe life begins at conception. I believe he has also said that he is okay with abortion in the case of rape/incest. That's not pro-life in my book.

    I realize he is a convert, but knowing that life begins at conception is something he should *know* already and not have had to be corrected on.

    I am SO tired of politicians having to publish a “correction” after someone on their staff points out to them, “Hey…you messed up big time…”.

    Gingrich doesn’t appear to have anything of substance about the pro-life movement on his campaign website...nothing about overturning Roe v. Wade, nothing about life beginning at conception, nothing about protecting the unborn. The only pro-life thing I can find on his website is one small sentence about ending taxpayer funding for abortion...woooo. I'm not a Rick Perry supporter, but even Rick Perry has more pro-life statements on his campaign website than Gingrich does. Just sayin'.

    The pro-life movement does not seem important to Gingrich. Bye bye, Gingrich. You won’t see a vote from me.

    Ron Paul is getting my vote in the primary. When it comes down to the actual election, I'll have to see who's left standing.

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  11. Hi Cam,

    I like this entry. It's hard for me too - I will NOT vote for any pro-choice candidates. Unfortunately it seems like there is a real lack of truly pro-life politicians...

    I've often heard that being "Pro Life" doesn't only mean being against abortion, but also against capital punishment and euthanasia, and being in favor of quality-of-life programs for the poor, sick or disabled. For some reason, I feel more passionate about abortion, although maybe that is a mistake on my part. Do you take into considerations a politician's stance on the death penalty and the other issues?

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  12. I have decided not to follow politics in recent years. It just aggravates that side of me that wants to carve out my own kingdom from parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Maybe in Montana as well, highest gun ownership per capita in the States, so a little uprising here, a revolution there...

    Hey, I can dream.

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  13. I find the abortion issue is THE major one for me. The unborn child is innocent and as such, should hold a higher priority than any other group.

    I'm not currently happy with the majority of the candidates but will vote for ANY over the pro-abortion incumbent.

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  14. Kateri--I don't know about Cam, but I very certainly do consider a politician's stance on capital punishment, war, euthanasia (I'm against these), as well as universal health care (I'm in support). It's hard to find a candidate who supports all of these! I wish there were more pro-life Democrats.

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  15. Voting is really hard for me. While I completely am prolife, that is a broader thing to me. I work with people who are severely disabled (as in they can't toilet themselves, bathe themselves, etc.... not looking for a hand out, they really have no choice but to receive govt assistance) so to me pro life applies to them as well- protecting the dignity of human life. We have so many candidates ready to cut out their services. In NC where I live, they just cut vision benefits for my folks. Can you imagine never being able to see or see clearly again? Next on the chopping block is hospice care, which makes me physically sick to think about. I have watched many of my folks die peacefully with dignity after a long, hard life. So while the unborn is sooo important to me, I find it almost impossible to vote because I can't find a candidate who supports both the unborn AND the born. I have always voted in the past and I'm very into taking our responsibility of being a citizen and voting but... I may not be able to from now on because I can't see trading one group for the other. Where is Utopia when we need it!?!? ;)

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  16. @Lorelei, I am a Ron Paul gal. :)

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  17. As a democrat who is pro life I always usually end up voting, but this is one election I will not be voting in because I am not happy with either candidates for each party.

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  18. Great post, Cam! And thanks for the link to the Catholic voter's guide. This is the first election I'll be old enough to vote in. Santorum has my vote.

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