Ballad of the Unborn - Abortions, we should have fewer

The Ballad of the Unborn

The View from the Middle

Have you ever mindlessly sang along with a song for years without paying attention to the words, lost in the melody or the rhythm and flow of the lyrics?  But then there is that moment when the words become clear.  You either hear the correct words or you grasp their meaning for the first time. 

It truly is like a light bulb turning on in your mind.  This happened to me recently with the song “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion.  Since 1996 I have listened to this ballad and have been mesmerized by its melody, the poetry of the lyrics and, of course, Celine’s voice.

Then, yesterday I heard this song as for the first time and had an epiphany.  Ms. Dion originally wrote this song about her father, but for me these lyrics are a conversation between an unborn child and its God.  Just read the words of the chorus:

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me.

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘cause you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me.

Even if you don’t believe in God, the voice coming from the womb is still undeniable.  If you eliminate the existence of God, these words default to the voice of the unborn to its mother.  Here is a link that will allow you to listen to this song, maybe for the first time like me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY9YyuXF1VE

If you have followed my commentary, you know that I do not blame women who have to make these very difficult decisions.  I’ve called abortion “The Choice No Woman Wants to Make”.  But, if these words tear at your heart as they did mine, you’ll agree with my stance on abortion – We should have fewer!

Trump and more on immigration

Trump Plus on Immigration

The View from the Middle

Why has immigration become such a huge issue?  It is the sixth most important concern among the American People.  Even among Hispanic Americans it is only the fourth most important issue behind Education, the Economy and Health Care.  So why is it such a hot topic today?  First, there is Donald Trump.  Second, it has been a festering wound in this country for decades as Congresses and Presidents of both parties ignored it.

So thank you Mr. Trump for starting the conversation and allowing me to chip in with my thoughts.  As you can imagine, The View From the Middle agrees with some of Mr. Trump’s positions, but disagrees with others.  Let’s start with what I agree with.

Any serious attempt to address the immigration issue must start with border security.  Yes, I am for a fence, wall, whatever, a physical barrier to make it difficult for people to illegally enter this country.  I’m also in favor of having Mexico pay for it.  Mr. Trump is a little blurry on how he would do this, but for me, the answer is simple.  First, we eliminate or severely reduce the amount of aid we give them.  Second, if a tariff is needed, let’s do it.  If it starts a trade war with Mexico, I can tell who will lose that war.

Next, I agree that we need to take a hard look at the 14^th amendment.  Actually, if we secure the border and properly manage the current illegals, this will become less important.  The 14^th amendment, however, was not intended to allow people who are here illegally to have babies and have those babies become US citizens.  Whether the concept of “anchor babies” is challenged in court or the 14^th amendment is revised by the federal and state legislatures is irrelevant to me, but the original intent needs to be reinforced.

So, where do I disagree with Mr. Trump?  I am more a less a “Dream Act” guy, and would probably be even more generous than the original provisions of that proposed legislation.  Let’s say, for example, that we had a young man or woman who spoke English, graduated from High School or served in our military and had no criminal record.  Would you want that person to be allowed to become a citizen of The United States?  I know I would.  We can’t continue to ignore these people, we can’t round 10 million of them up and ship them back to Mexico or Guatemala or wherever, and they are not going to self deport.  So, secure the border, fix the 14^th amendment and selectively allow some existing illegals a path to citizenship!!

King Obama's One Man Show

Obama – How to Turn a Democracy Into a Dictatorship in Three Easy Lessons

The View from the Middle

Back in 2009 when President Obama and the Democrats controlled both houses of congress and the executive branch, he had a couple of choices on how to govern.  He could embrace his own words, “there’s no blue America and no red America” and reach across the aisle to pass legislation with bi-partisan support.  But, he chose to tell the minority party to go to hell, by passing the most pervasive legislation since Social Security (ObamaCare) without a single Republican vote.

But it gets even worse.  When Scott Brown was elected to take Ted Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts, it broke the Democrats filibuster proof majority in the Senate.  Instead of collaborating to get just one Republican vote, Harry Reid (I’m sure with the President’s blessing) changed the intent of the reconciliation process and passed ObamaCare in the Senate with a simple majority vote.  Lesson one, abuse your opponents when you have the chance.

Then, when he and the Democrats lost the majority in the House of Representatives, Mr. Obama declared, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone”, implying that he would basically bypass Congress altogether and run the country through executive orders.  This was a slap in the face of every American who had just voted to put Republicans in control of the House and to bring some balance to our government.

In 2014, the country voted to not only increase Republican control in the House, but also to give them the majority in the Senate.  You would think that the President would take this shellacking as a hint that the country wanted him to work with conservatives and create legislation that both parties could support.  Silly you!  This just forced him to create a new strategy to elevate his wishes above Congress and the American people.

His new strategy is called “The Veto Threat”, and the Iran deal is a prime example.  Both houses of Congress will almost certainly reject the deal, but the President has promised to veto their bill.  This means that the President can effectively tell Congress and the American people, who also oppose this deal, to drop dead by cobbling together 34 votes in the Senate from his most rabid (or frightened) followers.   

I’m sure this “one man show” was not the intent of our Founders, but Mr. Obama has decided that he is smarter and more important than the American people.  It will take Democrats in the Senate to reel this dictator in and bring order back to Washington.

Fox commits journalistic malfeasance

The Late Night Debate, Fox IS the News

The View from the Middle

The sign of a good moderator in a political debate is that they have the quality of being invisible.  The focus is on the candidates and the issues.  After the debate, if you can’t remember who the moderators were…they were great!  This was not the case for the great debate last night.  In their attempt to be cute and clever and manipulative, the moderators became the story, the sign of a really bad job.

I’m not a huge fan of Donald Trump (I’m not a Trump hater either), but I thought the opening question of the night was so inappropriate that it bordered on journalistic malfeasance.  It wasn’t a question, really.  It was an ambush designed to put Mr. Trump on the spot and to rattle him before the debate even started, and I think it did just that. 

I understand that this was a legitimate question for The Donald, but it was “how” they asked it that was so deplorable.  They could have probed him on that issue later in the debate as a question just to him.  But, to force him to stand up in the front of the class, so to speak, and pull his political pants down was an intentional effort to unsettle him.  This is a Presidential debate.  All the candidates had to be nervous.  Why did Mr. Trump deserve an extra dose of anxiety?  The answer is, he didn’t.

Megyn Kelly followed that question by accusing Donald of calling women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals”.  I hope she’s right or she might find her butt in a lawsuit.  She could have cleaned it up a little.  She could have said, “You’ve called women some very nasty names”.  If he asked for examples, she could have provided them.

The moderators also tried to manufacture arguments.  They pit Rubio against Bush on common core, Christie vs. Paul on the NSA and Kasich vs. Trump on immigration.  They were trying to ignite a controversy, and that is not their job.  When the debate is over, we should remember the candidates and the moderators should fade from memory.  But just as Candy Crowley will forever be remembered for her overactive role in 2012, I will always remember that Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace were the stars last night.

The bottom line is that all candidates should receive equal scrutiny.  Hillary Clinton will certainly not get the assault that these candidates received last night as she ascends to her throne and through her obligatory appearances in the Democrat debate process.  The CNN moderator may dare to ask her what her favorite color is.

Fiorina, the Next Reagan

Carly Fiorina, the Next Ronald Reagan

The View from the Middle

I do think that Carly Fiorina won the early debate last night, but probably not for the reasons that most of the Pundits are talking about this morning.  Her answers on the Iran deal and Planned Parenthood and how to handle ISIS were all fine, but it was her clear definition of the difference between liberals and conservatives that caught my attention.  Here’s what she said at two different spots in the debate:

“We have been debating right here the core difference between conservatism and progressivism.  I am a conservative because I believe no one of us is any better than any other one of us. Every one of us is gifted by God, whether it is those poor babies being picked over (Planned Parenthood reference) or it’s someone whose life is tangle up in a web of dependence.

Progressives don’t believe that.  They believe some are smarter than others, some are better than others, so some are going to need to take care of the others.  That is the fight we have to have, and we need to undo a whole set of things that President Obama has done to get at the heart of his disrespect and disregard for too many Americans.”

Later, she added this:

“We have arrived at a point in our nation’s history where the potential of this nation and too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, the power, the cost, the complexity, the ineptitude and the corruption of the federal government.  Only someone who will challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C. can lead the resurgence of this great nation.”

Wow!  I can even hear Ronald Reagan saying those words.  They are totally consistent with his approach to government.  We’ve been talking about searching for someone who can clearly outline the conservative approach to government and compare it to the liberal approach, and now we have found her!!  Go Carly!  You the woman!!