Praise for the Obama family amidst profound worries over the President’s stated intentions regarding same-sex marriage, abortion, judicial appointments and higher taxes.
“All the world is a stage,” said Shakespeare. Barrack H. Obama is certainly center stage now (actually far left of center). His rise to the presidency is truly historic. Many emphasize his race and the culmination of Martin Luther King’s, “I Have a Dream” speech. As Senator Diane Feinstein said at the Inauguration, “[It is] a wonderful thought to think that African Americans, as a people, have in a little less than 50 years advanced from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the White House.” I, am also amazed at the meteoric rise of Barrack Obama from Illinois State Senator to U.S. Senator to President of the United States in just 4 years. For me, the contrast is vividly illustrated by two distinctly different moments when the Obama family has gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Three years ago, I was in Washington DC as a delegate from Utah to the National Congressional Conference on Civic and Character Education. After the conference concluded, I walked the length of the National Mall and paused at the many inspiring historical sites to reflect upon our beginnings and progress as a nation. Abraham Lincoln is particularly inspiring to me. I have long been a passionate student of his life, his great faith, his principled leadership and his legacy, which are so appropriately enshrined at the Memorial.
On this occasion, I stood in front of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, his Gettysburg Address and other tributes that are etched in the walls of the Memorial. Standing on the steps of the Memorial and looking back at the Capitol is a stirring and inspiring sight.
That day, I looked up and realized I was side by side with a new and seemingly unknown United States Senator, his wife and their two young children. They were in casual clothes and just enjoying a family moment together. It was newly elected Senator Barrack Obama from Illinois, his wife Michelle and their two daughters. The Senator broke away briefly to use his cell phone but remained close to his family on the steps of the Memorial while Michelle seemed busily engaged with their children. It was obviously an important teaching moment for them. I recognized the Obamas, greeted them and went away thinking that any newly elected Senator or member of Congress in Washington would surely be touched and moved by the public trust that had come to them, our nation’s history and all that preceded them.
Fast forward to January 20, 2009. Hundreds of thousands of people and millions watching by television gathered at the same spot (the steps of the Lincoln Memorial) to participate in the pre- inauguration of Barrack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. I strongly disagree with the President on principle and on policies but, like the rest of America, I wish him and his family the very best. He has an engaging personality and is a very gifted public speaker. That much and more I gladly see and acknowledge. However, his stated objectives frighten me and other “Citizens for Principled Government”.
Obama has stated that he intends to rally the Democrats in the Senate and United States Congress to reverse and set aside all anti-abortion laws, both at the federal and state levels, if possible. When the California Supreme Court issued its radical ruling claiming authority to create and force upon the people of California a new “fundamental right” to same-sex marriage, Obama sent a letter to the San Francisco-based, Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club. It was read at the Club’s June 29th meeting and was reprinted in full in the July 2nd edition of the San Francisco Chronicle under the headline, “Obama Opposes Proposed Ban On Gay Marriage.”
Obama said he opposes all State Constitutional Amendments that limit marriage to a man and a woman. He opposes a Federal Amendment that would prevent states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages and he wants to repeal the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. In his letter to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club, he stated:
“I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.” (See Human Events.com October 22, 2008 and October 24, 2008).”
To make clear that he wants no distinction between traditional married couples and same-sex couples – including laws regarding the adoption of children – Obama sent a second letter on Aug. 1st to the Family Equality Council, a group that says it envisions “a country that celebrates a diversity of family constellations.” “We also have to do more to support and strengthen LGBT families,” Obama told this Council. “And that’s why we have to extend equal treatment in our family and adoption laws,” he explained.
To get elected United States Senator from Illinois, Obama quickly went to the opposite end of the spectrum from his conservative opponent, Alan Keyes. He already had a record of supporting partial term abortion in the State Senate and quickly aligned himself with supporters of same-sex marriage. He knows that the people have never supported such drastic departures from what the Declaration of Independence speaks of as “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”. Instead, as a product of Harvard Law School, he is a champion of what many liberal activist judges like to call the “Living Constitution”. In other words, turning our charter of liberties into a document that can be morphed and twisted at will based on contemporary thinking. He will now appoint those type of Justices to the Supreme Court when an opening arises. He is completely at peace with legislating from the bench and Judge made law.
Obama opposed the nomination of Justices Roberts and Alito. He has said that his criteria for judicial appointments is: “Truly difficult [cases] can only be determined on the basis of one’s deepest values, one’s core concerns, one’s broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one’s empathy.” (Newsweek, February 16, 2009 p. 6). Such subjective and unfettered judicial activism is not good news for America.
We can go on and talk about the economic setbacks that will occur from Obamas reversal of what Democrats like to call the “Bush tax cuts”. This will occur automatically in 2010. And yet, those tax cuts have been the ultimate Reaganesque economic stimulus since 9/11. Now, we are in the midst of a severe economic recession and meltdown that is the result of regulatory chaos and excess (and not insufficient taxation). Obama wants to socially engineer our culture to “redistribute the wealth” according to socialistic ideas of big government as the solution to every problem. This has the ominous potential of turning a recession into a depression rather than pulling us out of the current lull that we are in.
We wish you the very best Mr. President. You and your family have demonstrated many wonderful qualities that have led you to the White House and given you the support of the American people. However, please pause and reconsider those alarming stated positions that represent a fundamental betrayal of our moral and religious heritage as Americans. Please don’t just put your hand on Lincoln’s Bible and take the oath of office. Rather, open that Bible, as Lincoln did, and remain true to it. The Constitution, which you have sworn to uphold (as drafted and originally intended by its Founders) would never lead you to do otherwise.
Posted by: LaVar Christensen