A good editorial for contemplation. You do need to read it though.
Well, as a getting older guy I’d never report her. If she was homely I might joke about her with my friends - but never report her.
but the moral authority -- the unspoken influence of leadership -- is not to be trifled with.
If you apply the same argument to marital fidelity, you not only get a despicable demeaning of the office, you get a whole lot of bad politics and policy with it -- the kind that can ruin a generation the world over, and perhaps have even more momentous consequences. Here I'm speaking of the preventability of 911 and the loosing of terror on the world that followed it, and Bill Clinton's jerking around in the highest office in the land.
No, in a strictly secular sense, it doesn't matter what the president believes about such things. But in a moral sense -- and leadership is a moral proposition -- it just might be the most important factor.
A president without a conscience is a scourge to the world.
The points in this article are hard to argue against. No matter WHO is elected president in 2008, it is somewhat unlikely that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, it is a near impossibility that abortion will be outlawed in California (the state under consideration in this article). And the reasoning Will applies to California will be applicable in many, possibly a majority, of states. Maybe even a large majority.
I’m not saying abortion isn’t an important issue. It is. But I agree with Will that it is an issue that is, to a very large extent, out of the hands of the President.
But regarding abortion itself, what a candidate thinks about abortion rights is not especially important.
And so is your STOO-PID™ blather mr Will.
A POTUS's thnking on a subject affects..
California is not a good example of will’s theory because it will NEVER again vote Republican, even if clinton ran as a Republican. The very people who would consider voting GOP move out everyday. The state is now all but a part of Mexico and abortion is not an issue. More children mean more welfare so “We don’t need no stinking abortions, gingo.”
Open borders George Will... has been paid for by the left wing media over the years...
I don't believe whoever the next president is and whoever he nominates to the S.C. will make any difference to Roe v. Wade. The only significance of what the "candidate thinks about abortion rights" will be whether the Republican party lives or dies. It cannot exist with any hope of winning elections as the 2nd "pro-choice" party, but then that's probably fine with the Geo. Will types.
It seems George Will, a tool of the establishment, is in the tank for Rudy.
Will tries to minimize the argument that only Rudi can win Blue states pretty well.
I think Will still favors Rudi overall but not on the winning-Blue-states argument.
Will also doesn’t like the Religious Right much. But he dislikes even more that issues like abortion dictate the votes of so many folks. So sending it back to the states would clear the decks for Congress, the White House and the Court so that so many votes and so many choices are not dictated by a party’s stand on abortion or a candidate’s stand on abortion.
It does make a lot of sense.
(Do We Barf George Will?)
Whether or not we should “barf” George should rightly be left to the individual states, not left to national “ukases”.
The pro-Will camp reminds us how George used to commit his talent in pursuit of conservative aims and ambitions, and, as conservatives, we should honor that (lost) tradition.
The anti-Will folks note that, whatever skills Will had as a writer have been lost in a miasma of mixed messages that only casually embrace conservatism.
In the end, we are left with another George Will Ricecake - colorless, flavorless, and ultimately unsatisfying. He posits that politicians, being politicians after all, might not fulfill a promise (nominate pro-life judicial candidates) and render the question of what said candidate would do as a SCOTUS moot. Wow! I think I’ll stay home and not waste my time voting at all!
Ultimately whether to barf Will must remain a personal choice. We must place some faith in human conscience and reason to do the right thing!
It's hard to say who I dislike more on "This Week", Step-on-all-of-us for enabling the Clinton administration, or Will for going turncoat on us.
:’) self-ping. If California allocates its votes among candidates, rather than sticking with winner take all, not sure Will’s point holds. self-ping.
A president makes a big difference in national policies and funding.
Aside from that, George Will is clueless, because the whole point is to return the issue to the states. I would be perfectly happy to see it outlawed nationally, as any form of murder of the innocent should be outlawed, but even murder is actually outlawed at the state level.
Most anti-abortion workers feel they could convince on a state level (even in California!), but the Court has effectively prevented them from doing so. Since the President appoints the Justices, then he also has an impact on abortion from that side. So the President really does matter, and we need to know his opinion on this issue.
“Do We Barf George Will?”
Only if he deserves it.
This says more about American society than it does about Giuliani or any other one politician.
This is patent nonsense. Presidents wield the veto, the bully pulpit and foreign policy. All three of which can have profound effects on the direction of the abortion debate.
So yeah, a barf alert may well have been in order.
Core Conservative Beliefs
American Thinker | October 27, 2007 | Bookworm
Posted on 10/28/2007 3:02:02 PM EDT by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1917605/posts
Rudy, the Values Slayer
(A Barf But He Has A Point And A Question For Social Conservatives)
New York Times | 28 October 2007 | Frank Rich
Posted on 10/28/2007 8:57:38 AM EDT by shrinkermd
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917511/posts
For the GOP, a New Breed of Governor (Bobby Jindal, A Conservative Who Can Win)
Washington Post | 28 October 2007 | David S. Broder
Posted on 10/28/2007 10:25:18 AM EDT by shrinkermd
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917539/posts
vote for rudy, vote for rudy...
relax your principles, vote for rudy...