Round Two

Once again, work prevented me from seeing all of the debate (Theology on Tap, this time). However, I was able to watch the last 30-35 minutes, and Bush definitely did better than last time. Based on substance, I thought Bush won, of course. Based on style, they were close (I'd have to see the whole thing to give a better take on that). So, Bush wins!

Now, I do have to say, Kerry invoking his Catholicism ("I was an altar boy") is deeply unfortunate, because he simply doesn't understand his Church's position on the issue in question (abortion). Like tonight, he continuously refers to the pro-life position as an article of his faith, which thus makes it impossible for him to "impose" on others. But the fact is, the pro-life position is a human rights position, just as much as slavery was (I wish the President would have drawn the Dred Scott-Roe v. Wade connection when he referred to the former). You don't need to be Catholic to be pro-life: you simply have to recognize the biological, scientific fact that the human being comes to exist at the moment of conception. And in our nation, we (supposedly) respect the rights of every human being, especially the most innocent and most helpless.

Another point: Kerry said that he has to govern the entire country, not just those opposed to abortion. But Senator, if you continue your stance of supporting the strongest abortion rights [sic] policies, how are you respecting the views of pro-lifers? I'm sure he'll run to the, "Well, it's the law of the land" defense, but that goes nowhere: slavery was also the Supreme Court-confirmed law of the land; would he have supported slave owners' rights because of that?

Let's face it: radical feminism (and its $$) has the Democratic Party wrapped around its little finger, and until that changes, Democratic presidential nominees will be forced to offer this same, convoluted, tortured logic in defense of an indefensible position.