I was fortunate enough to meet and interview Judge Bell while working on an essay about his tenure on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which you can read here. I cannot even begin to describe what a generous and warm person he was during our brief time together. Indeed, one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received about my writing was from Judge Bell, who loved the essay I had written about him.

The United States has lost a great patriot, and the South has lost one of her modern-day heroes. 

Please take a moment today to say a prayer for Judge Bell’s family and friends. 

God Bless you Judge Bell. Requiescat in pace.

Let me make something clear to Frum and his D.C./NYC Rockefeller Republican wine-sipping elitist buddies: The GOP is doomed without social conservatives. We didn’t lose this election because the GOP is too socially conservative. We lost it because, inter alia, we selected a wishy-washy moderate Republican to be our standard bearer.

I can count the number of times John McCain spoke about abortion in this election on one hand. It is simply ridiculous for Frum or anyone else to suggest that voters rejected McCain or our party because of abortion or other social issues.

It could be, David, that voters rejected McCain and the GOP this election cycle because we’ve been spending like Democrats for the past eight years. It might also be that we have failed as a party to articulate a vision for the country in the same way that President-elect Obama has done. These seem to me to be the most likely reasons, but Frum is apparently convinced that the SoCon wing of the GOP is what prevents the party from future electoral success. And I know he is not alone in thinking this.

Well, to Frum and his ilk all I can say is “have at it.” I hope y’all enjoy being in the permanent minority. Because if you think for one moment that people like me will remain in the GOP if the party abandons its prolife principles, you’re sadly mistaken. I will gladly take my leave, and watch Rome burn from the sidelines.

(LvJay)

What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama’s America is one in which being human just isn’t enough to warrant care and protection. It is an America where the unborn may legitimately be killed without legal restriction, even by the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion. It is an America where a baby who survives abortion is not even entitled to comfort care as she dies on a stainless steel table or in a soiled linen bin. It is a nation in which some members of the human family are regarded as inferior and others superior in fundamental dignity and rights. In Obama’s America, public policy would make a mockery of the great constitutional principle of the equal protection of the law. In perhaps the most telling comment made by any candidate in either party in this election year, Senator Obama, when asked by Rick Warren when a baby gets human rights, replied: ”that question is above my pay grade.” It was a profoundly disingenuous answer: For even at a state senator’s pay grade, Obama presumed to answer that question with blind certainty. His unspoken answer then, as now, is chilling: human beings have no rights until infancy – and if they are unwanted survivors of attempted abortions, not even then.

Read the entire piece, and email it to everyone you know (especially those who claim to be pro-life and currently support Obama). Voters need to know just how extreme Obama is when it comes to abortion and other “culture of life” issues.

Any conservative who was white-knuckled going into this is relaxing by now. There were some points where she was a bit more platitudinous than one would ideally want, but overall–she’s cleaning up. Biden is sighing more as the night goes on, and I can see why.

I could not agree more. Well done, Governor Palin! You did us proud.

Update: Heh. Ramesh just sent me this gem: “Biden thinks Cheney is the most dangerous vice president we’ve ever had? What about Burr?”

Well, let’s start with the obvious: Governor Palin is simply not familiar with many of the national issues being debated in this presidential campaign. She’s not a foreign-policy expert, and it is unfair to expect her to speak with any degree of expertise on Iraq, Afghanistan, or Darfur (I know no one cares about Darfur, but one can dream, right?). It’s also foolish to expect Palin to speak with any authority about the current financial crisis. These are complicated issues, and it’s going to take time for her to get up to speed on them. She is, after all, the governor of Alaska. Her experience is going to be with the issues facing her state (e.g., those concerning natural resources).

But here’s the deal, folks: We’re not electing a quiz bowl champion or voting for best orator/debater. We’re electing a president and a vice president. There are plenty of Americans who can speak with far greater eloquence/intelligence on the issues of the day than any of the candidates on the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets. What matters to me is not whether a given candidate has memorized talking points from various and sundry special-interest groups or their respective campaign advisers, but whether any of them possess the character to lead this country.

Barack Obama has demonstrated that you can have the finest education in the world, but still be callous and uncaring toward the most vulnerable members of society. Joseph Biden has shown that you can spend a lifetime in the most prestigious and important legislative body in the United States, and still utter some really unbelievable statements. He has also abandoned and blatantly misrepresented the teachings of his own Church for political advancement. If Biden is willing to sell out his own Church, why would anyone believe that he won’t sell out his country for personal gain.

My point is this: Character matters. It matters so much more than clever answers or slick marketing. Which leads me back to Palin. Weak interview skills aside, I still love this woman. The problem, I think, is that the McCain handlers aren’t letting Sarah be Sarah. They’re cramming talking points down Palin’s throat on subjects she is entirely unfamiliar with, and, in turn, she is coming off poorly.

So, what to do? First, she needs to prepare like crazy for her debate with Biden. Expectations for Palin will be next to nothing, so a credible performance will go along way toward restoring her image with the public. Second, in Palin’s next interview she needs to say something along these lines:

It’s been quite the whirlwind for me, and the truth is that I have much to learn about many of the national issues facing our country. Being in the national spotlight has been difficult, and I’ve made matters worse by trying to be something that I am not. I am obviously not a foreign-policy expert, and instead of attempting to answer questions on issues that I am unfamiliar with, I should have just admitted that I am still in the process of being briefed on these matters. I also did this in response to questions about the current economic crisis, and for that I am truly sorry. My intent wasn’t to fool anyone into thinking I was an expert in these areas. I just didn’t want to disappoint Senator McCain or our many supporters, who have so much invested in this campaign.

That having been said, I am not running to be the next Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or Secretary of the Treasury. I am seeking to be elected as the next vice president of the United States. And here is what I can offer the country in that capacity.

First, I do understand energy policy, and any objective political analyst will admit that developing a sustainable energy policy is one of the greatest challenges we face as a country. I am confident I can help our country attain energy independence.

Second, I am proven reformer. I took on the special-interest groups, corruption, and my own party in Alaska; and in doing so, restored confidence in our state’s government. In this respect, John McCain and I have much in common. We’re both willing to take on our own party and reach across the partisan divide to implement public policies that will benefit all Americans.

Third, I believe it is important for the most vulnerable members of our society to have a champion at the highest level of government. For far too long, families raising special-needs children have been ignored, and their children treated as burdens on society, rather than the miracles and gifts from God they truly are. As I stated at the GOP Convention, I will be their national voice. A society that fails to recognize the inherent dignity of every human being from conception until natural death is not one that is worthy of being referred to as “civilized.”

Finally, I have a great deal of executive experience. I know how to assemble and manage an administration that can work together for the common good of those we represent.

I think all of these attributes will serve the American people well, and I look forward to working on their behalf as the next vice president.

In short, play to Palin’s strengths, not her weaknesses. When Palin is speaking about matters she is passionate about/familiar with, she is a compelling public figure. Let her do just that. Stop trying to establish Palin’s bona fides in foreign policy and national economics. She doesn’t have them. And the truth is, she doesn’t need them. Palin is what she is. She is a remarkable woman of many talents. She is charming, smart, beautiful, and passionate about the issues of greatest concern to her. Let her speak to those issues, and admit that she still has much to learn in other areas. Most fair-minded Americans will appreciate her humility, and understand that a president isn’t going to be an expert in every facet of public life.

Ultimately, what most Americans look for in a president or vice president is character. The problem right now isn’t that Palin doesn’t know the answers to many of the questions being posed, but that she’s trying to act as if she does. That’s what people find so troubling. So, let’s stop the charade and let Palin be Palin. Lord knows things certainly can’t get any worse.

God Bless you, Gianna, for your beautiful witness to a culture of life.

Fidelis announces the launch of a new website – CatholicVote.com – to educate and inspire Catholic voters this fall and beyond. The site includes a powerful video designed to encourage viewers to prioritize the issues of life, faith, and family. In addition to the video, the site contains resources on how to register to vote, research on candidate positions, documents from the Bishops and an invitation to join in prayer.

And here’s the accompanying video, which is the centerpiece of this worthy project:

You stay classy, Senator Obama.

Well, sportsfans, I don’t know what the McCain folks have planned for tonight, but it’s going to be difficult to top Governor Palin’s speech, which electrified the crowd last night. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it was to be on the floor as a delegate from Georgia.

So, what are we to make of last night and the impact of Governor Palin’s speech? Well, in my humble opinion, I truly believe that Palin will end up being a huge asset for John McCain and the Republican Party. She energizes the base in a way that I haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan (and I am barely old enough to remember or appreciate what that must have been like). We love her. Governor Palin is one of us, and there is no doubt in my mind that she is absolutely committed to fostering a culture of life in the United States. I know that some people wish that she had said more about the issue of abortion (and other life issues), and I would have liked that as well. But I can certainly understand why Governor Palin didn’t directly address the issue of abortion in this particular speech. This was her “coming out” moment, and she had a great deal of ground to cover. That having been said, there was a part of Governor Palin’s speech that dealt with the sanctity of life, and demonstrated her commitment to a culture of life in this country:

Our family has the same ups and downs as any other … the same challenges and the same joys.

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.

And children with special needs inspire a special love.

To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.

Now, is that as specific as I and many other prolifers would like? Of course not. But Governor Palin’s prolife views are well known (as is her amazing life story), and there will be plenty of time for her to express them as the campaign moves forward. What I am curious about is whether the same people who are criticizing Governor Palin for her lack of specificity on life issues last night will condemn Senator Obama for immediately attacking her prolife record as a means of galvinizing his proabort base.

(cue chirping crickets)

The bottom line is this: For all of Senator McCain’s faults (e.g., his support for federal funding of ESCR), his prolife record is light years ahead of Senator Obama. More importantly, Senator McCain has chosen a true-blue prolife conservative as his running mate, and in doing so has positioned her for a White House run of her own in the future. That alone ought to seal the deal with any prolife Catholics and Evangelicals who are on the fence about supporting Senator McCain. The maverick may not have given us everything that we wanted, but by choosing Palin he has signaled to the social-conservative base that our voice has been heard loud and clear and that we will have a place at the table in a McCain administration.

And consider the alternative, folks: Senator Obama, a man who has pledged that his first act as president will be to sign the “Freedom of Choice Act” into law–which will remove any and all restrictions on abortion at the state level, and roll back years of progress made by the prolife movement. Is that something you can live with my fellow Christians? And don’t even get me started on the looming Supreme Court vacancies.

In sum, I honestly do not see how a faithful Christian, Catholic or Protestant, can–given the addition of Palin to the ticket–justify voting for a man like Barack Obama, a third party, or sitting this election out. The stakes are simply too high. It is time for Christians of all stripes to get on board and help elect Senator John S. McCain as the next president of these United States.

What is at stake in the abortion debate — and, as someone who has known and admired Doug Kmiec for years, I am sorry that he seems to be forgetting this — is not only reducing the number of abortions and helping women considering abortion to find their way to a different choice (though, of course, such reductions and help are important, and one wishes that Democrats for Life had more influence); it as about repairing the damage done to our political community, and to our constitutional order, by a decision that declared that the Constitution itself disables citizens from protecting in law the most vulnerable among us.

(LvJJ)

Oh really?

Needless to say, Catholics across the United States were horrified by Pelosi’s patently-false statements, and the USCCB, at least three bishops, and one cardinal have taken madam speaker to the woodshed for blatantly misrepresenting the Church’s clear and unequivocal teaching on abortion. My favorite rebuke, by far, is this one by Cardinal Egan of New York:

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.

Wow. Now, that’ll leave a mark.

Pelosi, of course, continues to dig herself into an even deeper hole.

But hey, no need to worry dems. It’s not like abortion is going to be a big issue this fall.

(LvChristopher)