McCain again has to be led by the base

The Idaho Affiliate of the American Family Association

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Bryan Fischer, Executive Director

MCCAIN: A FOLLOWER, NOT A LEADER

Gratefully, word has come from Republican National Committee (RNC) officials that Sen. McCain is no longer considering a pro-choice running mate.

According to Fox News, McCain advisers told RNC officials that McCain “got the message” that such a choice would be disastrous for his campaign, and of course it would. Were McCain to choose a supporter of abortion rights for VP, he would reverse in one fell swoop all the gains he made among social conservatives at last Saturday’s Saddleback Forum.

Joe Lieberman, the most frequently mentioned flavor of the week, is uber-liberal on abortion, opposing even bans on partial birth abortions, which involve the partial delivery of a baby before a fork is stuck in

his head and his brains sucked out with a vacuum. Plus, last year Lieberman got a rating of 8 percent from the American Conservative Union, one scant point ahead of Obama’s rating. Ridge is pro-abortion as well, although not as extreme as Lieberman.

The decision to abandon a pro-abortion running mate came only after the McCain campaign called key state Republican officials in recent days to road-test the idea, and apparently got an earful.

The huge problem with this is that is just one more instance in which McCain had to be hammered into compliance with conservative values by the GOP base. He only yielded on border security last summer when Americans responded with outrage over his McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill, a bill which left his presidential campaign on life support.

And yet McCain remains committed to introducing amnesty legislation as soon as possible, giving only grudging support for a border fence. He told a business group earlier this year, “I’ll build the g**d*** fence if they want,” which is apparently how he responds when he “gets the message.”

As the old saying goes, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still,” which raises serious questions about how much actual moral leadership on the abortion issue pro-lifers will get from a McCain White House.

NRO: McCain's calls to state GOP officials

RNC: McCain Won’t Choose Abortion-Supporting Running Mate

Washington Times - GOP leaders try to foil Lieberman pick

WHAT DOES OBAMA HAVE TO HIDE?

Gary Bauer reminded readers yesterday of the ongoing mystery surrounding the authenticity of the birth certificate Sen. Obama has posted on his website, an indication that this story, which we first wrote about on June 26, is gaining traction.

On top of that, Obama has refused to release his application for the Illinois state bar, public records from his state legislative office and records relating to his work with convicted criminal Tony Rezko.

Fox News reported yesterday that Obama is refusing researchers access to documents at the University of Illinois at Chicago which pertain to a foundation Obama once chaired, a foundation started by former Weatherman radical Bill Ayers, who said on 9/11/01 that his only regret with regard to bombing U.S. government buildings is that he hadn’t done more.

The Obama campaign is understandably nervous about the release of any more public information which connects him to a domestic terrorist who tried to bomb the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol and the New York Police Department and remains unrepentant about it all.

The university originally said the records were open to inspection, but has since reversed its position. Obama, as alert citizens will remember, pounded Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary campaign for refusing to release presidential papers from the National Archives.

University Won’t Release Obama-Related Records on Group Linked to Ayers - America’s Election HQ

OUR FIRST CLASH WITH ISLAMIC JIHAD

Michael Medved reminds readers that our first encounter with Islamic jihadists wasn’t on 9/11 but goes all the way back to the 18^th century and the famed Barbary pirates, Islamic fundamentalists one and all.

After the treaty with Britain in 1783, American ships were left without the protection of the British crown, and our government cravenly capitulated to Islamic demands for “tribute” – the jizya tax required by Muslims from infidels – and in one year paid a staggering 16% of the total federal budget in protection money to Muslims.

Captives who spoke disrespectfully to a Muslim captor could be roasted alive, crucified or impaled on a stake driven through the arms until it came out at the back of his neck.

It wasn’t until Thomas Jefferson resolved to take a hard line against terrorists that things changed. Said Jefferson, about the Islamic ra

dicals of his day, “I know that nothing will stop the eternal increase of demands from these pirates but the presence of an armed force, and it will be more economical & more honorable to use the same means at once for suppressing their insolencies.”

So he sent the Marines through the straits of Gibraltar to the coast of North Africa, whence the phrase in the Marine Corps hymn, “to the shores of Tripoli.” As Medved observes, there were no American voices shouting, “No blood for shipping!”

The battle with the Barbary pirates is also a reminder that Muslims hate us because of what we believe, not because of where we are.

Tripoli’s ambassador informed Jefferson and John Adams that the reason for their hostility was simple: “It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman (Muslim) who was slain in this warfare was sure to go into paradise.”

Perhaps it’s time to ask our liberal friends to pay attention once again to the wisdom of their icon and allow the wisdom of Jefferson to guide our current policies toward Muslim radicals.

Michael Medved :: Townhall.com :: Foreign Policy Lessons From Fighting Muslim Pirates

A generous donor has offered $5,000 in matching funds for every gift given in the month of August. Here’s a chance to double the value of your contribution! For every August donation of $100 or more, the IVA will send a complimentary copy of a powerful documentary which supports Intelligent Design theory, “Unlocking the Mystery of Life.” Information on how to donate, including online, may be found here. Together we can make Idaho the friendliest place in the world to raise a family! Thank you!

BONUS BYTES

No fault divorce has been a disaster for the American family. One unintended consequence of easy divorce is that it has weakened the institution of marriage itself since it has become increasingly unstable. And it has contributed to an increase in cohabitation, as increasing numbers of couples choose simply to live together rather than get married. Yet even CNN acknowledges that cohabitation is not a guarantee of success. It reports that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, hardly a right-wing think tank, about half of all couples who move in together split up in less than five years. In other words, they experience all the heartache and pain of divorce but such separations don’t show up in the divorce statistics. The Judeo-Christian tradition still has it right: sex is for marriage, and marriage is for life.(Moving in together and avoiding a falling out - CNN.com)

Birth rates among non-Hispanic whites in America have dropped to 1.8 children per woman, to 1.7 among Asians and 2.0 for blacks. This is below the replacement rate of 2.1, which means the population of each of these demographic groups is slowly shrinking. The one population group that is growing is the Hispanic one, with birth rates at 2.3, but they comprise a large enough component of the American population to keep the overall fertility rate right at the replacement level. About one-third of all children born in America are born to immigrants, and more than a third of women with newborns do not have husbands at home.(McClatchy Washington Bureau | Hispanic fertility drives U.S. population growth)

It logically and inevitably had to happen. A man is now suing Columbia University for unconstitutional gender discrimination since it has a women’s studies program but no comparable men’s program. Perhaps we ought to go back to the American value of choice and let universities offer whatever programs – including athletic programs – they want without having these decisions dictated to them by judges.(TBO.com - NYC lawsuit: Women's studies program discriminates)

Add Coke to the list of countries that has gone P.C. The company will decorate cans with the Islamic crescent moon and star for Ramadan, which begins on Sept. 1. To my knowledge, its Christmas can has never featured a cross or the nativity or the Christmas star, reserving the commemoration of Christmas for polar bears and Santa Claus. Coca-Cola has organized special prayer rooms at company facilities for Muslims, and some bottlers have actually funded “employee pilgrimage initiatives” for trips to Mecca. No word on whether they provide special rooms for Christians to pray and study the Bible, and no word on whether they give financial assistance to Jewish or Christian employees heading to the Holy Land.(Coca-Cola celebrates Ramadan)