July 28, 2008

Jane Jimenez

It is a saying most people smile at, “All roads lead to Rome.”  It resonates with the national American desire to affirm diversity, the modern whatever culture, building the future for our children on a tolerance accepting any and all roads leading to any human desire.  If we can dream it, we can do it.

In this climate, it is easy to understand why Obama quickly captivates the hearts of people.  He smiles, and he points down the path.  “All you need,” Obama promises, “is hope…and change…and me.”  Eagar to “catch the wave,” many people are standing on the platform ready to buy a ticket on the Obama Express.

While all roads may lead to Rome, Obama is beckoning for us to follow him down a singular road with few sign markers.  Focused almost entirely on the journey, we have lost sight of where we are headed.  The road is only the first part of the trip.  But where are we going?  Destination matters.

How can I agree to follow a leader to the place of “his heart” when out of the overflow of his heart he believes that babies are punishment?  What kind of hope will Obama fulfill based on the fact that every vote of his career has supported, without compromise, death to babies in the womb?

Traveling companions on this Obama Express to Rome also matter.  What kind of unity will Obama build across America, fueled as he is by Planned Parenthood and their allies, organizations that fight against common sense legislation to inform women about stages of life in the womb, to halt the barbarism of partial-birth abortion and that repeals legal cover for rape, incest and pedophilia?

Just eight years ago, five Supreme Court justices in a 5-4 decision in Stenberg v. Carhart [1] (2000) were unable to defend the life of a baby in the womb, giving legal permission to a brutal “procedure” of dismemberment and death.  In his dissenting opinion, Justice Kennedy outlines the gruesome details of this procedure, concluding with his assessment of the Court’s decision:

The State [of Nebraska] chose to forbid a procedure many decent and civilized people find so abhorrent as to be among the most serious of crimes against human life, while the State still protected the woman’s autonomous right of choice as reaffirmed in Casey. The Court closes its eyes to these profound concerns.

After more than thirty-five years of abortion on demand, finally in 2007, by upholding the right of Nebraska citizens to protect the unborn, the U.S. Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart [2] has concluded that the brutal assault on life must end.  Is this the change that Obama speaks about…a change he and his supporters intend to upend and undo?

Once again in its opinion, the Supreme Court decision fully outlines the brutality of the abortion procedure.  It is a must-read for every person who considers life worth defending.

For over eight years, using a pro-abortion litmus test, Obama and his Democratic party have blocked hundreds of appointments of federal judges.  Why?  They await an opportunity to fill courts across the nation with judges immune to the horror of dismemberment of a living baby.  The next President, in concert with the Democratic Congress, will determine the fate of the unborn for the next century.

Poet Robert Frost says it all.  The road Obama takes…and the road untaken…like paths in the forest, diverge.  There is a difference…and, oh, the difference.

In the world of Obama, what matters most is that we feel good.  He promises to unify us all in a grand group hug.  Destinations don’t matter, thus roads don’t matter.  After all, they do all lead to Rome.  Get there…and you will love it, they will love you, and…according to Obama…we will all melt into global peace.  Don’t you believe it.

Obama…his destination…his traveling companions…in the dark of the forest…will necessarily diverge, Obama leading down a path most in our nation do not wish to travel. The scenery along the road may be pretty.  And we can enjoy the companionship of fellow travelers.  But, at end of the road, destination is everything.

Knowing how way leads on to way, this is something I cannot vote for.  Somewhere ages and ages hence…our children will be telling this with a sigh…two paths diverged in a wood.  And that makes all the difference.

[1] http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-830.ZS.html

[2] http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-380.pdf