President’s Shut Up/Drop Dead Rebuke of Christian Conservatives on Abortion Issue Demonstrates He Is Not Pro-Life
By John Lofton The Covenant News ~ July 12, 2005
Despite the impression he leaves sometimes because he doesn’t speak all that precisely, President Bush DOES have a litmus test for his judicial nominees. He just doesn’t care enough about the murder of innocent, unborn babies to include the abortion issue in his litmus test.
For example, in a press conference recently in Denmark, Mr. Bush said he will pick people to be judges who, among other things, “can do the job” and who are “honest” and “bright.” He also said he would look at the “interests” of any of his potential judicial nominees.
This kind of talk is mush. In this same vacuous vein, the President might also have said that anyone he names to the judicial bench must also eat all of his or her vegetables and brush after every meal.
However, in this same news conference, Mr. Bush said, when asked if, in picking judges, he would have a litmus test on abortion or homosexual “marriage,” no way. He said that on these issues “there will be no litmus test.”
But, why no litmus test on abortion which is, literally, a life-and-death issue? I mean, since 1973, more than 40 million innocent, unborn babies have been slaughtered by abortion because various judges have “legalized” this mass murder.
What’s wrong with asking a possible judicial nominee, BEFORE he is nominated, such questions as: (1) Under what circumstances do you think judges can order the taking of human life? (2) Do you think unborn babies are innocent human beings? (3) Do you think Roe v. Wade and other court rulings upholding abortion were and are valid?
And what’s wrong with asking a possible judicial nominee, BEFORE he is nominated, where he stands on homosexual “marriage?” God-ordained and Biblically-defined marriage --- the only kind of marriage there is --- is a key part of the basic foundation of a society. So, why not ask a person being considered for a judgeship: (1) Do you believe homosexuals have a “right” to marry? (2) How do YOU define marriage?
Are the views of a potential judicial nominee on abortion and homosexual “marriage” really LESS important than whether that person “can do the job” (whatever that means), or whether that individual is “honest” and “bright?” I think not. In fact, to believe that the former issues are LESS important than the latter issues is absurd. It is sheer moral idiocy.
Indeed, it is IMPOSSIBLE to separate abortion and homosexual “marriage” from what Mr. Bush has already said are his qualifications for being a judge. For example, he has promised repeatedly that he will name judges who “strictly interpret the Constitution and [will] not use the bench to legislate from.”
Terrific. So, why not ask potential judicial nominees: (1) Do you think the various court rulings that made abortion “legal” were strictly interpreting the Constitution? (2) Or do you think such rulings were legislating from the bench? Ditto, the same questions regarding various court rulings that have said homosexuals have a “right” to be “married.”
But, Mr. Bush has made it crystal clear that he will NOT have such a “litmus test” on abortion or homosexual “marriage.” Why not? I believe the answer is obvious: Because the President does not care about these issues. Period. It’s as simple as that. I can think of no other reason.
And Mr. Bush does not care about those who DO care about the judicial activists who gave us “legal” abortion and “legal” homosexual “marriage.” In recent days, Christian conservatives have criticized the President’s pro-abortion Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who said in his confirmation hearing that Supreme Court rulings making abortion “legal” are now the law and he would enforce them. To those Christian conservatives who oppose the naming of Gonzales to the Supreme Court, the President has said, in so many words: Shut up and drop dead! Stop criticizing Gonzales because he is a friend of mine who has been loyal!
In this same Denmark press conference, clearly referring, in part, to the Christian conservative critics of Gonzales, Mr. Bush said he hoped Senators “don’t listen to the special interest groups” that are “outside the process,” groups that are (gasp!) “money-raising groups” --- a strange and hypocritical cheap-shot since Mr. Bush has spoken to scores of fund-raising events raising tens million of dollars for his own campaigns and for the Republican Party.
And I wonder how those Christians conservatives feel who were suckered into voting for Mr. Bush because they thought he was truly pro-life? Before his re-election, these Christian conservatives were a key part of his base which he pandered to unceasingly and vigorously courted. They were, supposedly, his fellow-laborers in the effort to create “a culture of life.” Also, since Mr. Bush claims to be a Christian, the millions of Christian conservatives who voted for him are his brothers and sisters in Christ.
But, that was then and now is now. Now, Mr. Bush has been re-elected. Now, these Christian conservative “values voters” --- many of whom held their noses and voted for him, “the lesser of the two evils’ --- are scorned as “special interest groups.” Now, these Christian conservatives are said to be “outside the process” --- a bizarre characterization since individuals and groups simply speaking out about potential Supreme Court nominees is an important PART of the “process” that helps to determine who becomes a judge on the high court.
If President Bush really wanted to create “a culture of life” --- as he has said many times he does --- the number one issue on his litmus test list for judicial nominees would be that they must oppose abortions, ALL abortions. But, his potential nominees are NOT asked about the abortion issue --- a shameful silence that speaks louder than any pro-life campaign promise he ever made.
John Lofton, a “recovering Republican,” is, with Michael Anthony Peroutka, the 2004 Presidential candidate of the Constitution Party, co-host of “The American View,” a new, weekly radio show syndicated by “Radio America.” You can e-amil Mr. Lofton here: JLof@aol.com