EXPOSING "PRO-LIFE, INC." (Plus Palin & Giuliani News)

"It's better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness." (Father Keller of The Christophers, many years ago)

"When all is said and done, a lot more is said . . . than is done."-- Lou Holtz, football coach, who was head coach at Wm. & Mary when I was there in 1968 (really!)

Note: In the efforts of dozens of bloggers and others to help ensure that the first female President of the United States is NOT named Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, but rather Gov. Sarah Heath Palin, we've approached supporters of every leading presidential candidate, including Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and John McCain. This week it's the turn of Rudy Giuliani's supporters. In today's column you will read about Mayor Giuliani's appearance in western Pennsylvania. Earlier, on September 9, 2007, there's a column ("Rudy Giuliani Among the Evangelicals") from about Rudy's unusual, but intriguing, strategy to win the nomination.

Note: Sarah Palin is NOT a candidate for President in 2008, but she is a leading candidate for the vice-presidential nod. She will be a candidate for President, and she will win, in a future election. I'm concentrating on Mrs. Palin's participation in the elections of 2012 and 2016. For the campaign for the vice-presidency next year, visit Adam's site at: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/


On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I'm going to have numerous short pieces about: (1) my eminently workable constitutional amendment to sharply reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.; (2) the tendency of some elements in the pro-life movement to take positions that almost ensure that the number of abortions will continue at the present levels (in excess of 800,000 per year; (3) the irresponsible comments by Pastor Laurence White and others that result in the pro-life movement being easily caricatured as a bunch of self-serving extremists.

Dr. Laurence White: The Rhetoric of Pro-Life Extremism:

f you'd like to see clearly what I'll be talking about I urge you to read two pieces by Lutheran Pastor Laurence White: (1) an essay called "God and Caesar" available at: http://mtio.com/articles/bissar55.htm;
(2) a letter to Mike Huckabee called "This Election Cannot be About Electability," available at: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=350

In my view, both these pieces are exercises in extremism. They make statements about the United States -- comparing it to the Weimar Republic and Nazi German -- that are totally irresponsible. They are condemnations of the culture of the abortion that offer no practical solutions to the problem.

They offer justifiable praise of many Christian heroes of the Nazi era: Dietrich Bonhoffer, Martin Niemoller, and Paul Schneider, among them. However, they absolutely fail to explore in any detail why so many Christians failed to stand up to the Nazis. They fail to distinguish between Naziism and the pluralism that is an essential part of the American system of government and society.

My Human Life Amendment: In several previous columns, I've offered a Human Life Amendment -- one that would results in hundreds of thousands fewer abortions that will occur if we settle for the status quo. I urge people like Laurence White, Larry Perrault, and Mike Huckabee to embrace my proposal. I fear they will not. Why?

Because much of the pro-life movement has become an enterprise unto itself. Preventing even one unnecessary abortion is a triumph. Preventing hundreds of thousands -- and millions over time -- is a great victory. However, people like Dr. White reject this approach. They say it doesn't matter if a pro-choice politician like Hillary Clinton gets elected.

Look very carefully at what they're proposing: they are basically advocating the election of people whose policies will increase the number of abortions. With that approach, they're saying essentially that abortion doesn't matter. Seemingly, all that does matter is their continued ability to express their enduring moral superiority to people like me, proponents of practical steps that will dramatically reduce the incidence of abortion.

At their worst, people like Dr. White are members of "Pro-Life, Inc.," an enterprise that defines itself not by how many abortions it can stop -- and how many adoptions it can encourage -- but by how many speeches it can make condemning their fellow Americans. It's time, frankly, to put "Pro-Life, Inc." out of business.

Stephen R. Maloney

Bulletin from Pennsylvania: As usual, PA (color us VERY Lite Blue) is shaping up as a critical state in the general election for President of the U.S. From time to time, I'll offer updates about the candidates who visit the state. Today (Thursday), there's an excellent story by Dan Majors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Rudy Giuliani's vist yesterday to Canonsburg, which is 20-some miles from where I live in Ambridge.

Here's what Rudy said: "Pennsylvania is a very important state. We want to win the primary [a late one], and we want to . . . win the general election here and return it to the Republican column, where it belongs, and I believe I'm the Republican who can do that. I think I have the best chance of winning Pennsylvania."

Dan Majors adds: "[Giuliani] said the difference is that other Republican candidates poll well in certain parts of the country, while his support is strong nationwide."

Giuliani added: "I'm the only Republican candidate that can carry on a 50-state campaign . . . . If I get nominated by the Republican Party a year from now, I'll be back here in Pennsylvania campaigning, because I can win Pennsylvania."

Steve adds: Frankly, some of my political allies in Pennsylvania, including individuals who are devoted pro-life evangelical Christians, are raising money for Rudy Giuliani, partly because of the tireless support he offered in 2006 for conservative Republican candidates. (They also believe that the election of Mrs. Clinton would set the pro-life movement back 20 years -- a view with which I concur.)

There's growing support in PA for a Giuliani-Palin ticket and even some emerging support for a Huckabee-Palin ticket.

I expect the GOP primary battle in PA will be between Mayor Giuliani and Governor Huckabee. Since they're my two favorite candidates, that will be just fine with me. (I believe most of the support that now goes to Fred Thompson nationwide eventually will start streaming toward Mike Huckabee, who's currently "everybody's number two" in PA and elsewhere.)