I went looking for an old RedState Diary post of mine this morning because I remembered writing the part about the birth of my youngest, a son, covered in the first five paragraphs. I thought it might be interesting to recount that long ago episode today as that then-six-month old is now fifteen and I am spending many hours in the passenger seat as he collects experience behind the wheel. I had forgotten how far beyond that I had wandered in that post. But I’ve come this far…might as well press on.

For context, this was a few days before undefined “Hope and Change” was elected to “fundamentally transform” the Republic. The much younger me knew the importance of the moment…to an extent. Clearly politics and policy direction were shifting across the land…or were being manipulated to appear so. But, looking back, I clearly did not recognize that the widespread normalization of corruption and the wholesale destruction of the Republic as we know it were acceptable outcomes of that “fundamental transformation” just as much as the implementation of Progressive policies. Now, the clarity from the middle of this abyss is unmistakable to all willing to turn back and take an honest look.

In 2008 “we” voluntarily elected a blank slate with a paper thin resume who barely hid his contempt for the country he was about to lead down the very dark path we now travel. Here are my thoughts as a very amateurish blogger from the edge of that abyss:

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Community Organizer Refuted

The Darkest Recesses of One Nominee’s Heart That Should Appall Voters of Both Parties

(Posted to the RedState Diaries Page on November 2, 2008)

Earlier this year, I found myself standing in the delivery room a full three weeks before we expected to be there.  There had been no real emergency but serious concerns during a routine weekly check-up resulted in a rather direct trip to the hospital for induced labor.  For most of the rest of that day, we wavered back and forth between anxious excitement and cautious apprehension.

Shortly after my son’s arrival, I stood alone near the middle of the room with my back slightly turned to my exhausted wife as her doctor was attending to her.  My immediate focus was on the new living soul under the heat lamp who just couldn’t seem to keep breathing on his own.  There was no panic in the room but there was the unmistakable aura that something serious was going on. 

After every exhale, there was what seemed to be a very long, silent pause while everyone waited to see the signs of another breath.  Every time there was none. 

The medical staff remained calm and after each breathless pause they would rub and jostle him and coax him to summon the strength to take that next breath.  They then worked feverishly for several seconds to help clear his lung and then repeated the cycle.  After several minutes, his breathing improved and the danger passed.  After a few days in NICU he emerged to be a happy, healthy baby brother now on the verge of crawling.

This was a very powerful experience at the time but was well on its way to fading into the distance behind months and months of sleep deprivation, diaper changes, and much happier memories. That is until I heard about Mr. Obama, in his former life as a state legislator, not being able to find a reason to support something called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. 

This issue came to my attention through a first-hand account of a nurse who had experienced the very situation that had inspired the legislation (sorry, no link).  Since then, every mention of the subject flashes my mind back to those few uneasy minutes back in the delivery room.  But now I imagine the scene as a weak, beaten, fragile newborn spirit clinging desperately…hopelessly…to its already shattered life.  No doctor. No expert medical staff.  No loving mother or father.  Hell, probably not even the caring warmth of an incubator lamp.  Just the cold cruel world of a somewhat sterile tabletop…maybe even shoved away in a closet…while life slowly drains away. 

(Just ponder for a few moments exactly how that whole deal fits into the utopian liberal world of choice and universal health care.  The “life begins at birth” crowd will surely have its hands full now that the living baby has constitutional rights to both.  However, it’s not hard to imaging a governmental bureaucracy’s dream scenario where the intended abortion will qualify as a pre-existing condition and…well, you get the idea.)

Although the passage of a few seconds or minutes makes any attempted distinction meaningless, this is specifically NOT ABOUT ABORTION.  This is about LIFE.  This is about a man…a father…who can somehow reconcile such a vote during his work day against even attempting to save such a baby with his Christian faith and his comfortable home life that evening with his lovely daughters laughing, playing, hugging, crying…and LIVING.

Whether this was an act based on pure conviction or nothing but a cold, calculated political maneuver, I can only conclude that it points to some very dark places in his heart.

So spare me the overproduced infomercial featuring the financially stressed yet over manicured single mom from a battleground state to show me how much you care about real people.  Don’t tell me that you want the keys to the castle to enact some amazing plan…one that you failed to introduce in any form during your current tenure in the U.S. Senate…that will magically help struggling families buy more milk when you couldn’t care enough to vote in the affirmative on a bill to protect helpless, living children…a vote that should have been as reflexive as a New York City firefighter running into a burning building. 

I’m not naïve enough to think that the United States will not have pro-choice/pro-abortion Presidents in the future but this man is simply too extreme for mainstream American voters to accept…if only issues like this had been given proper exposure during the campaign.  While every recent Presidential election seemed to have focused too much on abortion politics to the detriment of much more important issues, this campaign season seems to have barely touched the issue leaving Mr. Obama’s wicked policy expansion largely hidden from his sycophantic herd.  

I cannot tell you how disgusted I am by any American that would vote for this man while having full knowledge of this issue.  Unfortunately, whether he is successful or not on Tuesday, there is a not-so-insignificant segment of half the American electorate that falls into that category.  (Contemplate those numbers as you are mingling with fellow Americans at your local market or taking a mental accounting of those around you with fading “CHANGE” bumper stickers over the next four years.)

As for me, I am embarrassed for the people of Illinois for electing this man to high office.  I am embarrassed for the Democrat party for nominating him for the highest office and for the American press for providing the cover needed to secure that position.  And finally, I’m truly depressed with the irresponsible direction it seems the people of this country are choosing to head.

I hope you are having a very pleasant Sunday.

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While some of the references may not be spelled out enough and may miss with the modern reader, I hope it is easy to see today how so much of that campaign was driven by Narrative Media Version 1.5. By today’s standard, much of is would appear shallow and transparent…hell, back then they still had to find an attractive, articulate blank slate with an all but invisible resume to mold into their electable figure…today they can “elect” a mostly inert former third rate demagogue without even faking a real campaign (80 million votes my ass!). Their next trick is surely going to be something to see…

As always, 2024 looms large.