OBAMA’S “PAY GRADE”

Mark Hemingway of National Review has a great take on Sen. Obama’s non-response last night to a simple abortion question at Saddleback:

When asked “At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?,” McCain answered “At the moment of conception.” Obama’s answer here was flaming-dirigible bad:
“Whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity is, you know, above my pay grade.”
That spectacularly inept metaphor is going to haunt Obama throughout the rest of the campaign. News flash: There’s not a job on the planet above the pay grade of the President of the United States. If you can’t solve every problem and are humble about it, that’s fine — but you can’t get away with being unsure about the most defining moral issue in politics.

For a man who was a state legislator four years ago and who says he has campaigned in all “57 states,” one begins to wonder which issues likely to confront a president are NOT above his pay grade.

5 Comments

  1. Obama’s campaign has apparently admitted that he lied about his vote on the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
    Get ready to see a campaign crumble.
    Perhaps Hillary will now get the nod.

  2. I suppose the question caught him off guard, however his immediate answer demonstrates trully what his content is all about…
    ‘Prepared’ speaches…with no intent to follow through or in other words..’substenance’.

  3. I guess it is above the Pope’s paygrade as well.
    According to the Pope:”The Magisterium has not expressly committed itself to an affirmation of a philosophical nature [as to the time of ensoulment], but it constantly affirms the moral condemnation of any kind of procured abortion.”

  4. To the contrary, mp85266. Just a few weeks ago during the World Youth Day festivities in Sydney, Australia Pope Benedict XVI stated, “The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God Himself and thus inviolable.” Moreover, the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that life begins at conception: “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.” (Part Three “Life in Christ”, 2270)
    Stating that the Magesterium has made no formal pronouncement as to when the live fetus receives its soul is very different from stating that one does not know when life begins. Pope Benedict XVI, to the dismay of some Europeans, has steadfastly maintained that life begins at conception.

  5. I’m British and all we ever hear on the news is Obama this, Obama that and I for one am sick of it.
    Sure he is photogenic and has a great speaking voice, but the moment he answers any serious questions his empty head shows up.
    That clanger only illustrates his shallowness and lack of principles. Typical bloody lawyer in fact.