Ron Paul and Conservative Talk Radio

I am not surprised that the arrogant, Washington-centered establishment (Republicans and Democrats) dismiss or ignore Ron Paul but what’s up with conservative talk radio?

When it comes to giving Paul’s message a fair hearing, the best and brightest on the radio airwaves are no better than partisan hacks like Rove, Morris, Wasserman-Schultz and Axelrod. From Rush to Hannity; Ingraham to Levin; Beck to Jason Lewis, all of them have either dismissed Ron Paul as a kook (Beck and Levine), ignored him completely (Rush) or given him lip-service, “he has some great ideas about the economy and spending but HIS FOREIGN POLICY IS OFF THE CHARTS! (Hannity, Ingraham and Lewis).

In all fairness, last week Laura Ingraham actually acknowledged Paul’s viability in a short blog post that she made the cornerstone of her broadcast week. In the blog post, she suggested that Republicans (i.e. Romney) take note of Paul and figure out a way to appease his supporters.

I am not one to disavow a talk show host because he or she does not preach to my beliefs. I like having my viewpoint challenged. The problem I have with this crew is the fact that they have all preached to their audiences that, “There is no perfect candidate!”, “Don’t let one issue (i.e. social issues) skew your support for a candidate”.

                  

I believe it is time for my friends on the radio to practice what they preach. All of these hosts disagree with Paul’s stance against our activist foreign policy and, therefore, they discount his candidacy. I guess that makes Limbaugh-Levine-Beck-Ingraham-Lewis single-issue voters? 

My question to these warriors of the air waves is: 

What don’t you like about his stance on restoring our constitutional government, balancing the budget, only going to war after it is officially declared, discontinuing foreign aid, auditing The Fed, cutting taxes, restoring a sane fiscal and monetary policy, true entitlement reform and closing government agencies? What about the fact that you can’t find a single flip-flop in his record like every other candidate?   

If you want to elect another “establishment candidate”, continue down the road of bashing-and-ignoring. If you want to restore America to a modicum of what the founders envisioned, then listen to and engage Paul.

No other candidate for President has ever garnered support from such a wide assortment of constituents - disenchanted establishment voters from both Parties, Libertarians and Independents. His most ardent support comes from the young voters? You don’t see anything remarkable in the fact that the 20-something voters are enthralled with a 76-year old candidate?

There is something here folks! Pay attention and stop being hypocritical.

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be Pro-Choice

I write this as an aid to Pro-Life advocates who are afraid to voice their opinion when face-to-face with proponents of abortion.

The easiest way to show even the staunchest pro-abortion advocate the errors of their way is to ask lots of questions.

Below are a few examples:

#1 - Do you agree with the following phrase from The Declaration of Independence: "we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"?  

• Key points: When does life begin? Who protects the baby? If you can get them to define that, then we should protect the baby's right to liberty, freedom and pursuit of happiness from that point forward. The reason we have laws against murder is because, as a society, we believe life has innate (intrinsic) value and, therefore, must be protected. How does the mere consent of the mother change the innate (intrinsic) value of the little human being inside her?  .     

#2 - Do you believe a mother should be granted "the choice" to kill their 3-year old child? 2-year old? 1-year old? Six-month-old? One-day old? One-minute old? 

• Key point: Of course they will answer "No" to all choices. After all that would be murder! 

#3 - At what point does the mother have "the choice" to kill a fetus?

1. Any time before live birth?
2. Up until the heart beat is present?
3. The 1st trimester?
4. 2nd trimester?
5. Up until it can survive outside the womb? 

• Key point: Wherever they draw the line, ask them to explain how they arrived at that response. Keep in mind that it is arbitrary. 

#4 - Ask them if they support partial birth abortion, a procedure where the fetus is pulled feet first by the abortionist until the back of the head is visible at which point the abortionists jams a pair of scissors into the baby's skull, the scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole while a suction catheter is inserted into the hole and the child's brains are sucked out causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed. 

• Key point: Anyone who supports this procedure is sick. If that isn't murder, nothing is.

#5 - Ask them to explain why they responded the way they did to that question to #4.

• Key point: It is important for pro-abortionists to articulate their stances. Most have never been challenged. The intellectual exercise of defending their position is often enough to get them to think twice. 

#6 – Ask them if they believe water-boarding should be banned as an interrogation technique for terrorist suspects. Ask them to explain their answer.

• Key point: For those who answer "Yes" to the question, if they are intellectually honest, they will begin to see the arbitrary lines they have been drawing to support their political and ethical positions. 

#7 – Ask them if they are opposed to a state or federal law that requires all women seeking an abortion to receive a sonogram examination or a mandatory waiting period prior to the abortion procedure. Ask them to explain why or why not.

• Key point: Here we get to the heart of the issue. If they answer "No", you are dealing with someone unwilling to even consider protecting life. All you can hope for is that they realize how zealous their support for abortion is given that they will not even give the mother a chance to reconsider. 

#8 - Ask them if your tax dollars should be used to perform abortions? If they answer "Yes", ask them if we can use half of those dollars or get matching funds to educate the woman about their options (adoption or keep the baby).

• Key point: See #7. 

In the end, you will find that the intellectual gymnastics required to be a proponent of abortion are quite extraordinary. The arbitrary lines in the sand, the numerous definitions of when life begins, the emotional "rights-of-the-mother" and "the-government-has-no-right-to-tell-a-woman-what-to-do-with-their-body" arguments all serve to muck up the argument. They conveniently forget the rights of the baby. 

Finally, if given the opportunity to express why you are Pro-Life, I would like to offer a couple of simple responses. 

#1 - I believe life begins at conception and, therefore, it should be protected like any other life. The reason I believe life begins at conception is because, at the moment of conception, something was created where nothing was before. That something is a human life. Human life should be valued above all else and we should do everything we can to protect it. 

#2 -  “If it is acceptable to take the life of an innocent human being on one side of the birth canal, why forbid it on the other? A 7-inch journey cannot miraculously transform a ‘nonhuman tissue mass’ into a valuable human being.” Gregory Koukl 

Do not get sucked into an argument about government involvement or the woman's right to their own body. This is not of legislative argument but one of the heart. Your goal is to simply make them explain their positions and, hopefully, stir something in their heart to reconsider their position.

Good luck.