by Gary Varvel...

by Bob Gorrell...

Back in the day pregnant mothers wore tents with neck bows after they began showing.

The following photos, courtesy of x17online, are of "mega-pregnant" actress Minnie Driver at a Malibu beach on August 24.

I'm all for modesty but have a hard time disapproving of today's moms showing off their baby bumps. Do you consider baring one's prenatal baby risque or a proud and natural advertisement for motherhood?

Here's a time lapse video by Jason T. of American Right to Life pro-lifers unfurling the gigantic Sheets of Shame protest sign on a mountainside overlooking the Democrat National Convention in Denver on August 26:

Here was the most objective news coverage, from Denver's NBC affiliate, 9News...

On August 28 Fox's Neil Cavuto interviewed Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver at the Democrat National Convention about Nancy Pelosi's misrepresentation of Catholic teaching on abortion, Joe Biden's reception of Communion, and historical Catholic alignment with Democrats:

Wall Street Journal, August 29:

... Others on the right say it's sexist to suggest a woman can't raise a family and work - or seek high political office, or serve as commander in chief, if the need arises. "She's more the example of the modern woman than the Gloria Steinems of days past," said Jill Stanek, a conservative blogger popular with the pro-life community. "She can handle it."

I'm so proud of all the pro-life activists from around the country who sacrificed to protest and pray at the Democrat National Convention!

An editorial in the CO Springs Gazette, August 28:

Regardless of where one stands on the issue of abortion rights, one thing became perfectly clear in Denver this week: The election of Barack Obama stands to energize anti-abortion activists more than anything since Roe v. Wade, the 1972 Supreme Court decision that forced all states to legalize abortion.

Activists throughout the city characterized Obama as the most pro-choice member of the Senate, because he voted against a bill that would require medical treatment for babies that survive late term abortions. Hillary Clinton voted for the bill.

Far left activists who promised convention mayhem mostly made fools of themselves. They had no coherent message and couldn't even seem to organize chants and clever signs. When riot cops stared them down with rifles at the ready and "bring it on" body language, most of their gatherings had less energy than the average cemetery internment....

UPDATE, 4:10p: According to LifeNews.com, Palin is a member of Feminists for Life.

UPDATE, 1:40p: Americans United for Life has posted several of Palin's pro-life statements.
_______________

John McCain just hit a grand slam.

With McCain's announcement today that AK Gov. Sarah Palin will be his running mate, Barack Obama's abortion problem just got a whole lot bigger.

The McCain/Palin ticket offers a complete contrast to the Obama/Biden ticket on the pro-life issue.

Palin is a pro-lifer who not only talks the talk but walks the walk. Palin and her husband chose to deliver her fifth child, Trigg, earlier this year even though he was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome. Her doctor recommended abortion but Palin and her family refused. Indeed, 90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted in the U.S. today.

But Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in April, "We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

Meanwhile, Barack Obama, actively opposed legislation as IL state senator to protect little babies with Down syndrome who had survived their abortions but were being shelved in a hospital soiled utility room to die....

According to the Associated Press:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain decided on a running mate early Thursday, and one top prospect, MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty, abruptly canceled numerous public appearances.

The AZ senator will appear with his No. 2 at an OH rally on Friday, aides said, though they provided no details on who McCain had picked.

This would be good, very good.

As an IN delegate to the Republican National Platform Committee, Jim Bopp, self-credentialed "counsel for the National Right to Life Committee," unsuccessfully fought a one-man show yesterday to weaken proposed language calling for an outright ban on human embryo and cloning experimentation.

In the process Bopp endorsed "therapeutic" embryo research:

The problem is, is that there is ethical human life affirming reseach on human embryos. That's called "therapeutic" research....

[I]t may very well be in our future that there is therapeutic research that can be done on human embryos, and there is nothing unethical immoral, improper or... that disregards the sanctity of life if we are involved in therapeutic research.

Placing the "or" here however, means that all "experimentation" on human embryos for research purposes should be banned, including therapeutic research, and that is wrong. So I oppose the amendment.

See for yourself:

Numerous sources tell me Bopp did not confer with any pro-life groups or platform delegates before dropping his verbal bomb (except NRLC's Co-Executive Director Darla St. Martin, with whom Bopp was seen). National Review Online's Steve Spruiell reported what Bopp was thinking...

Tonight, just as radical pro-abortion Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama begins his acceptance speech at Denver's Invesco Field, American Right To Life will display for the second and last time the world's largest protest sign.

The location for the final unfurling of the 353,000 square-foot sign (530x666 feet) is still secret but will maximize the likelihood Obama and thousands of delegates will see the sign with their own eyes.

On August 26 ARTL spread this sign on a grassy mountainside public knoll:

Destroys
uNborn
Children

Beginning tonight the sign will read:

Destroys
borN
Children

... to expose Obama's repeated opposition as state senator to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, a bill to protect abortion survivors from being relegated to death. In fact, Obama took a leadership role in defeating the bill, the identical version of which passed overwhelmingly on the national level and was deemed not threatening to abortion by NARAL....

Hey, I only got condoms. From Politicker.com, today...

NY Senator Chuck Schumer was just in the house. I went to get a photo of him and found myself sitting in on his conversation with the Daily Kos bloggers.

A few points.

At the Pepsi Center yesterday, I heard chatter is growing louder that McCain will pick Lieberman as his running mate. I just checked with a couple of DailyKos bloggers and they agreed the rumor "is getting serious".

The Committee for Justice blog reported this morning:

Amid press reports of John McCain notifying his running mate and Joe Lieberman rebuffing a request by Karl Rove to withdraw his name from VP consideration, RealClearPolitics concludes that "a lot of Republicans are nervous" that Lieberman is McCain's pick. Republicans are concerned about Lieberman's pro-choice stance and his weak record on judges. Since the abortion issue is almost entirely in the hands of the courts, Sen. Lieberman, if selected, could likely deflect much of the inevitable conservative criticism by making the following three pledges regarding judicial appointments...

It is into the wee hours of Day 4 actually, and I'm only now able to recap yesterday. It has taken awhile to edit and upload the video at the end of this post.

First, some popular booths spotted, including the Goodnight Bush booth, selling a parody of the classic Goodnight Moon (click to enlarge)...

Here's an excerpt (yes, I bought the book; it's really pretty funny):

Goodnight ballot box
Goodnight FOX
Goodnight towers
And goodnight balance of powers
Goodnight Constitution
And goodnight evolution...

You get the drift.

I attended a standing room only Democrats for Life press conference this afternoon. PA Senator Bob Casey, who gave a speech at last night's convention, was on hand, as was Congressman Heath Shuler of NC...

Factcheck.org has confirmed Barack Obama voted against the identical version of Born Alive as IL state senator, as was passed overwhelmingly on the federal level and then misrepresented his vote:

Obama opposed the 2001 and 2002 "born alive" bills as backdoor attacks on a woman's legal right to abortion, but he says he would have been "fully in support" of a similar federal bill that President Bush had signed in 2002, because it contained protections for Roe v. Wade.

We find that, as the [National RIght to Life Committee] said in a recent statement, Obama voted in committee against the 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal act he says he would have supported. Both contained identical clauses saying that nothing in the bills could be construed to affect legal rights of an unborn fetus, according to an undisputed summary written immediately after the committee's 2003 mark-up session....

Here's another political cartoon that can't wait until Sunday to post, by Eric Allie, courtesy of Townhall.com:

[HT: reader S. O'Brien]

Here's an creative new way to get our message out, animation. The words to the song could have been tightened a tad, but the concept is good. It was the Speed Raceresque animation that grabbed me, particularly toward the end:

This afternoon, I attended the pro-abortion PAC EMILY's List so called "gala reception", with special guests Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Nancy Pelosi.

I purchased my ticket online weeks ago yet had concerns of being turned away at the door or having my video equipment and computer confiscated.

Neither happened. I picked up my ticket with no interrogations and aced security.

But, surprises were still in store....

Free beer? Massages? Where have I been? No wonder I'm the first one to arrive every morning. From the Mercury News, today:

Think of it as Animal House, but with a corporate sponsor. The free beer starts at 1:p.m. The couches are comfy. And the words flow from the Big Tent day and night.

Some 500 bloggers from Berkeley's Daily Kos to Susan "the Neon Nurse" from Lamar, CO (pop. 9,062), are crammed into what, it turns out, is a not-quite-big-enough tent to meet the crush of bloggers descending on Denver this week.

The two-story, 8,000-square-foot tent, a few blocks from the convention center where traditional media types are holed up, is advertised as new media central for the convention.

With sponsors including Google, YouTube and Digg, the Big Tent also underscores how the blogging community is going mainstream....

While the tent has become a handy marketing tool for hot-tech companies, it also is providing an outlet for diverse blogging voices.

Jill Stanek is a conservative, anti-abortion blogger from Chicago. The Democratic convention organizers had turned down her credential request, but "I'm being treated cordially here," she said...

I told you I was an anomaly. But you already knew that.

To the right, an interesting t-shirt I spotted on the way to The Big Tent this morning.

I cannot fathom why girls would knowingly hook up with boys who, they know ahead of time, would encourage them to abort their child after an oopsie. Pro-life boys, at least, would accept responsibility.

And what difference does it ultimately make? Fathers have no say in the life or death of their preborn children anyway. Pro-life boys will lament the death of unique human offspring created together; pro-choice boys will not only celebrate finding perpetual free sex, but also excapism from fatherhood.

Seems to me this girl is a walking advertisement for a good time at the DNC....

UPDATE, 12:15p: Here's coverage by Fox News CO:

A column by David Reinhard, associate editor of the liberal Oregonian:

It's often said that it's not the crime, it's the coverup. Here, it's the crime and the coverup. Misrepresenting the reasons for a key vote is the coverup. Opposing efforts to help babies born alive in botched abortions is the crime - enabling infanticide....

At the risk of committing blasphemy, you have to ask: What's with this guy?...

A column by Joan Vennochi of the liberal Boston Globe...

The Black Republican PAC has a new ad running in OH, taking Barack Obama on for raising taxes, for his willingness to sit down with terrorist leaders - and because he would be "the first president to support infanticide for babies who survive late term abortions." Fabulous.

[HT: readers Neetul and Moving Sale Johnson]

UPDATE, 12:30p: Bobby Clark, the man in charge of The Big Tent, just searched me out and gave me his card if I need anything. Very nice. He said they encouraged other conservative bloggers to attend but there may be only 1 other.

Meanwhile, a Planned Parenthood rep gave me my own "Protect Yourself from John McCain" condom, 1 of 10 varieties listing the "10 things everyone should know about John McCain" (click to enlarge, pardon the pun):

Pro-life activists from everywhere have descended upon Denver to remind Democrats what their party stands for.

I've never seen so many activist groups in one place. It's wild. Truth trucks everywhere. Aborted baby signs everywhere, some in stationary groups along streets, some on small banners carried by 2 people along sidewalks. Lots of young people.

See more photos and news on page 2....

I showed this one earlier in the week but have to repost. It's another classic by my favorite political cartoonist, Glenn McCoy:

Here are a couple other good ones....

UDPATE, 6:50p: Here is the mp3 audio of the address.
_______________

I said the next time you'd hear from me would be from Denver, but a reader just sent this and I had to post it - John McCain's weekly radio address today, a large portion of which was spent spotlighting Obama's Born Alive vote and cover-up as well as other life issues.

From Time/CNN, August 23:

Good morning, this is John McCain, speaking to you at the end of an eventful week in the presidential campaign....

The week began with a debate of sorts between Senator Obama and me at Saddleback Church....

In case you missed it, the discussion yielded the line of the week, and maybe even of the campaign, when Pastor Rick Warren asked my opponent a very serious question. He wanted to know at what point, in my opponent's view, does a baby have human rights? Senator Obama thought about it for a moment, and came back with the reply that the question was, quote, "above my pay grade."

Here was a candidate for the presidency of the United States, asked for his position on one of the central moral and legal questions of our time, and this was the best he could offer: It's above his pay grade. He went on to assure his interviewer that there is a, quote, "moral and ethical element to this issue." Americans expect more of their leaders....

UPDATE, 6:40p: Am at the airport...delayed flight. I parked behind a car with 2 Obama stickers. Now here I sit facing 2 ladies with red (how appropriate) Obama shirts and buttons galore. I find myself aggravated. What have I gotten myself into? I'm reminded of the time earlier this summer I just couldn't walk by the lady collecting Obama signatures on a petition outside Joann Fabrics. Just couldn't. Had to debate her - on my way in the store and on my way out. I'll have to get over that part of myself this week or I'll be stoned by a mob.
_______________

I mentioned awhile back I had been rejected to attend the Democrat National Convention as a blogger.

Rejected bloggers were encouraged to apply to cover the convention from The Big Tent a few blocks from the convention, sponsored by Daily Kos and Progress Now. I figured why not and did.

I was surprised I was accepted(!), along with a couple hundred or so other bloggers. Sponsors said although thousands applied, they chose applicants based on geographical and ideological diversity. I may be the token pro-lifer, not sure.

But I'm happy to be going and have been treated well so far. With all the media attention on Obama/Born Alive this week, I'm not sure what to expect when I arrive, but people who know me know I like this kind of intrigue and opportunity to debate and discuss.

SO! I will be live blogging from the DNC next week! If all goes well, I'll not only provide commentary and news but also video and photos. I have even registered to attend the pro-abortion group EMILY's List now-sold-out gala with guest speakers Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. Now that should be interesting. I plan also to cover pro-life events and pickets.

So when next I write it will be from the Mile High City!

Last Saturday night Barack Obama told Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Showdown it was "above his pay grade" to answer when "a baby get[s] human rights."

Both friend and foe thought Obama's response was lacking.

In an attempt to recover the fumble, Obama told ABC News on August 21:

I don't think this issue has to be resolved in terms of when life begins. That is a theological question or scientific question. I as a Christian have a belief that the potential for life is sacred at the moment of conception, but I also believe that it is not decisive in determining who makes the decision that difficult in questions like abortion.

Is it true the issue of abortion does not hinge on when life begins? Can one believe human beings are "sacred" at conception but expendable based on subjective opinion? What was Obama trying to say?

Yesterday Obama also announced he had picked DE Senator Joe Biden as his running mate, about whom AOL News wrote:

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

In 2007, NARAL gave Biden a 75% rating and National Right to Life gave him a zero.

Do you think Biden will help or hurt the Democrat ticket?

[Photo courtesy of Reuters]

Barack Obama announced yesterday his VP pick was Joe Biden. This week's poll question asks:

Who should John McCain pick as his running mate?

I held the previous poll over an extra week because it caught fire with liberals. I figured I'd let it run with the hope they'd learn a thing or 2 by coming to the site. When I closed the poll this morning there were 9,513 responses!...

by JivinJ

Sean Hannity has done a fabulous job covering the Barack Obama/Born Alive scandal.

For the past 2 nights his liberal counterpart, Alan Colmes, has proposed rationale far and away from Obama's original reason for opposing the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which he stated on the IL State Senate floor in 2001, at the genesis of this debate:

I just want to suggest ... that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny....

I mean, it - it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute. For that purpose, I think it would probably be found unconstitutional.

Colmes has maintained, quoting from last night's show, "there was already a law in place that said that in the unlikely case that an abortion would be - cause a live birth, a doctor should provide immediate medical care for any child born alive."

Here are Hannity and Colmes segments from August 20 and August 21, debating Obama's opposition to Born Alive:

Was there a law in place? As National Review Online's Ramesh Ponnuru explained in a column August 20...

The folks at RH (i.e., Reproductive Health) Reality Check need to stop wasting Ted Turner's money by hiring morons. Yesterday one of its finest, Scott Swenson, posted this:

Spare the respect, Scott. It's not mutual and you'll soon be taking it back, although maybe not since your Pulitzer Prize nominee, Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune emailed me yesterday, "He not only misunderstood what I wrote in the first place, but he misunderstood my confirmation to him." So Swenson's denseness apparently knows no bounds. To his credit, Zorn attempted to correct Swenson's gross misrepresentation of my comment....

The Oakland Co., MI, Prosecutor's Office has issued a 12-count warrant against our favorite dumpster abortionist, Alberto Hodari, for "improperly disposing of medical records," according to Freep.com, which adds...

The IL General Assembly destroys audiotapes of its floor debates after transcripts have been written. That is why there is precious little audio, if any, of Barack Obama as state senator making any speeches.

But a pro-life sleuth has found a short audio clip on the Chicago Tribune website of Obama arguing on the IL Senate floor on April 4, 2002, against Senate Bill B1663, a companion bill to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act that would have required an abortionist to call a second physician to assess a baby aborted alive.

Here is the Senate transcript to ensure the comment is heard in context....

Last night Sean Hannity interviewed me about my experience at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL, holding a baby who had been aborted alive for 45 minutes until he died.

The interview extended to Barack Obama's leadership role in opposing the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act, to give abortion survivors legal rights.

One other point clarified during the interview: Obama denied for 4 years he voted for the identical language in IL that was passed overwhelmingly on the federal level, including a unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate. NARAL went neutral on the bill as well.

Here's the transcript.

UPDATE, 8/22, 4a: One of Hannity's producers emailed me yesterday: "Just so you know we got a jump of 100,000 people in demo (ppl btw 25-45) during your segment, which is fantastic."

Sorry, unknown artist. Posted by PatrickMoberg.com...

[HT: Troy Newman of Operation Rescue]

Still trying to spotlight all the major news articles published today on the new revelation that Barack Obama voted against identical Born Alive legislation as IL state senator that passed on the federal level overwhelmingly.

Washington Post, today, front page:

The narrative of the presidential campaign appeared to be set on the issue of abortion: Sen. Barack Obama was the abortion-rights candidate who was reaching out to foes, seeking common ground and making inroads. Sen. John McCain was the abortion opponent....

But both those impressions have been altered since the Rev. Rick Warren's Saddleback Civil Forum in CA ....

Obama's hesitant statement at the forum that defining the beginning of life is "above my pay grade" took even some supporters by surprise. Since then, the National Right to Life Committee has challenged him on an obscure law that protects babies born alive after failed abortions, saying that his opposition to the measure in the IL state legislature proves he is an extremist....

On August 19, Hannity, Colmes, and Beckel got into a shouting match over Barack Obama's opposition as IL state senator to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

At issue was whether it was worded identically as the federal bill, which Obama has denied for 4 years.

It was. Obama was lying.

Beckel did not like that Obama was standing accused of supporting infanticide.

Which he does.

Colmes, sarcastically: "Barack Obama wants to kill Jill Stanek's baby."

David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network helped launch a firestorm of controversy on August 16 when asking Barack Obama in an interview after the Saddleback Showdown about the accusation he had misrepresented his opposition to IL's Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

National Right to Life had just announced the discovery of documentation that Obama opposed identical verbiage as the federal Born Alive bill, contrary to multiple statements otherwise.

This interview provides a great synopsis and update of the controversy so far.

Barack Obama has painted himself into a corner by his vote against the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

He made this evident at Pastor Rick Warren's Aug. 17 Saddleback Showdown.

Warren asked both presidential candidates the same questions separately. Here was his best one: "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Very simple. But Obama wouldn't answer it. His now infamous response: "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

The most adamant pro-abort will at least agree babies acquire human rights when they have completely delivered.

But Barack Obama couldn't bring himself to say, "At birth." He wouldn't confer human rights to newborns....

Continue reading, "Why Obama couldn't answer Warren's baby question," on WorldNetDaily.com.

Last night I taped a segment for Hannity's America that is going to air TONIGHT during Hannity and Colmes.

The spot was originally scheduled to run this coming Sunday, but the Democrat National Convention got in the way.

I'm glad. More viewers during the week than on weekends.

I'm told The O'Reilly Factor is going to cover the Obama/Born Alive scandal tonight as well.

Also, fyi, I'll be on Michael Reagan's radio show tonight at 7:30p EST.

Finally, a little scoop. An insider tells me Obama's camp is going "ape sh**" over all this.

Read entire article on page 2. Note again, as I noted on the Associated Press article and in my talking points post, Obama surrogates are attempting to mash reasons - particularly Born Alive's companion bills - into his new excuse for not voting for Born Alive. But these were always separate bills with separate bill numbers and separate votes. One did not hinge upon the other's passage.

New York Times, today:

Abortion, a familiar issue in elections past, has again emerged in recent days as a focus of controversy. Senator Barack Obama is coming under intense fire from anti-abortion groups because of the position he took as an IL state senator on legislation regarding the status of fetuses that survive abortion procedures....

From the Associated Press, today:

... "For people to suggest that I and the IL Medical Society, so IL's doctors, were somehow in favor of withholding lifesaving support from an infant born alive is ridiculous," he recently told the Christian Broadcasting Network. "It defies common sense and it defies imagination."

But as a state senator, Obama repeatedly voted against that requirement and other restrictions on what opponents label "born alive" abortions. Obama says he opposed it only because of technical language that might have interfered with a woman's right to choose....

Abortion opponents say Obama's position amounts to an endorsement of killing babies, and that he has lied about it....

I spent a great deal of time on the phone with 3 reporters from major news organizations the last 2 days, and each one became frustrated with me because I wouldn't allow them to take me down rabbit trails when discussing Barack Obama's opposition to the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

All 3 times, I was the call they made...after the call they made to the Obama campaign, to Planned Parenthood or to the ACLU, so I was handed their talking points to rebut.

The other side is trying to obfuscate Obama's opposition to Born Alive by saying: 1) it was part of a package of 3 bills with intolerable ramifications to abortion; and 2) although the verbiage of the federal and state bills was identical, the consequences to state law was not.

But I refused to deviate from these 2 points:

1. We now know Barack Obama as state senator voted against identical Born Alive Infants Protection Act legislation that was passed overwhelmingly on the federal level and accepted by even NARAL.

2. For 4 years Barack Obama has misrepresented his vote and must answer for that.

The exasperated New York Times reporter finally complained, "They're trying to broaden the discussion but you're trying to narrow it," as if I were the one to blame for that. I said of course they're trying to move eyes off the ball, and of course I'm trying to stay focused.

Anyway, it wasn't we who narrowed the discussion. It was Barack Obama himself, who has repeatedly stated he would have voted for Born Alive in IL had it been the same as the federal bill. He focused on one point - one bill - and so are we.

On August 14 the Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn published a refutation from the Obama campaign to the charge he did indeed oppose identical legislation as state senator to legislation passed overwhelmingly on the national level and deemed unobstrusive on abortion by NARAL.

The Obama team's protest including a chart it stated showed the "FACT: There are MAJOR differences in state and federal bills, including the fact that the federal bill included a 'Neutrality Clause'":

Yesterday the Obama campaign released a new "fact sheet" with a critical change in the chart, and an admission Obama opposed the amended Born Alive bill, which was now identical to the federal version.

One added point. Note the heading, "Language Clearly Threatening Roe."

"Clearly threatening Roe"? Then explain this, Senator Obama. Even before the hyped "neutrality clause" was added, the U.S. House voted 380-15 in September 2000 for this version, you know, the one "clearly threatening Roe." Leading pro-abort Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) stated at the time, according to World magazine:

The purpose of this bill is only to get the pro-choice members to vote against it so they can slander us and say we are for infanticide. That's why I voted for it in committee, and that's why we will vote for it on the floor.

Obama just wasn't so smart.

On August 18, the exchange between sides became heated on Hannity and Colmes on the topic of Barack Obama's opposition as state senator to the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

The argument centered on whether Obama opposed the identical language that 98 of his U.S. Senate colleagues supported and that even NARAL went neutral on.

Colmes continued to assert the answer was no, even though there is proof the answer is yes. I had it confirmed last night that Colmes' people have been given the documentation. Let's see what he does with it.

Ann Coulter was fabulous...

This one can't wait until Sunday, by my favorite political cartoonist Glenn McCoy:

[HT: Troy Newman of Operation Rescue]

From National Review Online, August 20:

Bereft of an argument, the Obama campaign is pounding the table.

The recent attacks on Senator Obama that allege he would allow babies born alive to die are outrageous lies. The suggestion that Obama - the proud father of two little girls - and others who opposed these bills supported infanticide is deeply offensive and insulting.* There is no room for these kinds of distortions and lies in this campaign.

Note, first, that Obama's comment about lies over the weekend referred to the National Right to Life Committee. Yet the campaign has not made a single specific allegation that any of the NRLC's statements are inaccurate, let alone dishonest. The campaign claims only that the NRLC has left out some context that exonerates Obama....

This is a story almost too hard to believe, from the Jerusalem Post, yesterday:

A premature baby who was pronounced dead "came back to life" Sunday after five hours in Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel.

The baby girl, who was in a cooler at the hospital, suddenly showed signs of life and was being treated in the premature baby unit.

Doctors estimated that the cooler brought the fetus "back to life."...

UPDATE, 7:15a:While trying to figure out the problems on the site yesterday, I removed this post in case it contained html language or something else that was upsetting the system. So sorry, the three comments made before I took the post down are also gone. Am reposting now....

On August 17, Hannity's America ran an expose segment on Planned Parenthood's sexually explicit and downright creepy Take Care Down There internet site.

Hannity wondered if Barack Obama really wants to brag about his association with PP...

FYI, I'll be a guest on the Laura Ingraham Show this morning at 9:35a EST.

The issue will be Barack Obama's opposition to IL's Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

We're undergoing site problems. Can't post.

UPDATE, 4:30p: Problem solved, which was that my site was out of disc space. Thanks for your patience.

From the New York Sun, dated August 18:

Indeed, Mr. Obama appeared to misstate his position in the CBN interview on Saturday when he said the federal version he supported "was not the bill that was presented at the state level."

His campaign yesterday acknowledged that he had voted against an identical bill in the state Senate, and a spokesman, Hari Sevugan, said the senator and other lawmakers had concerns that even as worded, the legislation could have undermined existing Illinois abortion law. Those concerns did not exist for the federal bill, because there is no federal abortion law....

The following statement was just issued by National Right to Life Committee Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, in response to the David Brody interview with Barack Obama last night:

Since 2004, Obama has been betting that the mainstream news media will lack the interest and attention span required to get a clear picture of his actual record regarding infants who are born alive during abortions, and so far that mostly has worked for him....

I have to hand it to Rick Warren. Many of his questions last night to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain were very good. This one was the best:

"At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Very simple. But Obama wouldn't answer it. He wouldn't even confer human rights to newborns. He couldn't even say, "at birth," which should be the pro-abortion position of all but the Peter Singers in the world.

Obama responded...

No Sunday funny today. There's nothing funny about Barack Obama's bold-faced lie to CBN's David Brody last night after the Saddleback Showdown, when he continued to maintain he did not vote against an identical bill as IL state senator to the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act:

Obama was obviously aware of the evidence provided last week by National Right to Life when making the statement. He not only continued to deny his vote in the face of 2 pieces of documentation showing otherwise but called the messenger a liar.

Again, here is Obama's March 13, 2003, vote in the IL State Senate Health & Human Services Committee, which anyone could obtain from the IL General Assembly archive (click to enlarge):

"DP#1" means "Do Pass Amendment #1." "DPA" means "Do Pass as Amended."

Here is the original bill. Here is Amendment #1. Here is the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act.

Obama first voted in favor of Amendment #1 and then voted against the Born Alive bill as amended. It couldn't be more clear. Furthermore, here is the Republican Senate Staff Analysis from that day, expressing the same understanding of the chain of events:

Senator Obama needs to show his own evidence that none of this is true.

[HT: moderators Jasper and Carder and pro-lifewitness.com]

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will be asked a range of questions tonight by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in CA at what is being called the Saddleback Showdown.

What question would you ask either or both of the candidates?

P.S.: There has been a run of people, mostly Obamamaniacs, responding to this week's poll question - over 2,000 now - so I'm going to leave it up a couple more days. One can always hope they'll inadvertently learn a thing or 2 about their infanticidal rock star when visiting here.

UPDATED QUESTION, 5:40a: What did you think of the Saddleback Showdown?

This afternoon I'll be discussing Barack Obama's opposition to the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act on Sean Hannity's radio show at 4:05p EST. You can listen live online.

Last night Hannity announced on the Hannity and Colmes Fox cable news show I would appear on Hannity's America next Sunday night. Be warned, however, that no concrete plans have been set for the interview.

Hannity made the announcement during a panel discussion on Obama's opposition to Born Alive. At least 2 panelists were previously unaware, and their response was interesting. Watch through to the end. The abortion/Born Alive issue keeps popping up.

Here's a good one.

The 1,710 word book-column at FindLaw.com looks impressive on the surface, written by Sherry Colb, "a Professor of Law and Charles Evans Hughes Scholar at Cornell Law School."

Cornell, my.

The only problem with Colb's attempt to clear Obama of his pro-infanticide position is she referenced the wrong bill. I couldn't believe it....

From the Associated Press, August 14:

A pregnant New York City traffic agent was struck by a van, run over by a bus and killed on Thursday, but doctors were able to save her baby.

Police said Donnette Sanz, 33, was 7 months pregnant when she was struck by a van in the Bronx and pushed in front of a bus, which ran her over.

Witnesses said onlookers lifted the bus and pulled Sanz from under it...

This morning Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune posted a response from the Obama campaign to this week's revelation that Obama actually did vote against an identical version of the federal Born Alive while state senator, contrary to his repeated statements over the years otherwise.

Here's what Zorn said the Obama campaign sent him:

Well, if that doesn't beat all. They're continuing to lie despite documentation. I expected many responses, but not that one.

Below is the vote tally, from the IL General Assembly archives. Anyone can get this vote tally by contacting the ILGA. Click to enlarge....

Jerome Corsi, author of the book, The Obama Nation, was a guest on Hannity and Colmes August 12.

Both Hannity and Colmes spent time with Corsi discussing Obama's opposition to IL's Born Alive Infants Protection Act while state senator, legislation that would give newborn babies equal protection under the law even if aborted.

Frustratingly, none of the 3 were aware of the latest development, revealed by National Right to Life August 11: While Obama has repeatedly said he would have voted for the state Born Alive had it been an exact duplicate of the federally passed bill, the fact is he did vote AGAINST an identical version on March 13, 2003.

Note Colmes called aborted alive babies "fetuses born alive after botched abortions." These are not fetuses.

Also note the name of a nurse you know popping up a couple times.

Erick Erickson at RedState.com has subsequently challenged Colmes to stop "parrot[ing] the Obama talking points on this issue, because those talking points are dead wrong".

The John Edwards affair with Rielle Hunter grows ever more sordid.

On Hannity and Colmes last week a National Enquirer spokesperson said his understanding is Hunter still loves Edwards and is waiting in the background for Elizabeth, who has terminal cancer, to die.

This shocked me. But it grows worse. There is Elizabeth's perspective as the one with the terminal cancer. From this week's issue of People...

I've read of similar study results before. This is not new news, just more corroboration.

These studies indicate the birth control pill interferes with a woman's pheromonal sense of scent, attracting her to the wrong guy, in terms of both long-term compatibility as well as the stock of children they'll produce.

From The Times, August 13:

A study by British scientists suggests that taking the Pill can change a woman's taste in men - to those who are genetically less compatible.

The research found that the Pill can alter the type of male scent that women find most attractive, which may in turn affect the kind of men they choose as partners. It suggests that the popular form of contraception... could have implications for fertility and relationship breakdowns....

The Pill is thought to disrupt an instinctive mechanism that brings together people with complementary genes and immune systems. Such a couple, by passing on a wide-ranging set of immune system genes, increase their chances of having a healthy child that is not vulnerable to infection....

Conservative and new media are all over National Right to Life's August 11 revelation that, contrary to multiple statements otherwise, Barack Obama as state senator did indeed vote against identical legislation as the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act, putting him to the left of NARAL and every other US senator.

But as Warner Todd Huston writes today on NewsBusters.org, MSM has gone "mum".

I happen to know one of the big 3 network news organizations has been sitting on this since last Thursday, going so far as to pass up the chance to break the story.

Meanwhile, The Weekly Standard has a piece on this today.

And look for something by Wall Street Journal's John Fund tomorrow....

The good news is in the headline. The bad news is the mainstream media continues to obfuscate the fact that successes in the field of stem cell research are with ADULT stem cells, not EMBRYONIC.

Note the missing word in the headline and elsewhere in the piece. The writer clearly knows when to add the word "embryonic" when wanting to promote those stem cells, just not "adult"? Come on.

From the Associated Press via Live Science, August 8:

This is a wonderful breakthrough....

by JivinJ

This is very generous, a way to ensure non-profit pro-life groups have the wherewithal to publish voter guides and then make them available to churches. Both are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.

From Americans United for Life, today:

Americans United for Life today announces the availability of $500,000 for 501(c)(3) organizations who wish to create and distribute non-partisan educational voter guides for the upcoming elections....

UPDATE, 1:30p: Reader Charles wanted to learn how to pronounce the word "infanticide" on the web, and he was surprised to see the word's sponsor (click to enlarge):

UPDATE, 12:10p: Reader HisMan just forwarded this (click to enlarge)...

I smelled a rat when I read Matthew Balan's NewsBusters.com story....

That "ad" was aired in the recently released movie Swing Vote, about "lovable loser" Bud Johnson, i.e., Kevin Costner, whose vote in the presidential election will determine the winner. Don't ask me how; I didn't see it. But that's the set-up....

Do her people really want to go there? If so they'll incite comments like mine: It appears Hillary is repeatedly doomed by men who can't keep their pants zipped.

From ABC News, today:

Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama....

Here's the shocking opening line in this August 9 Crain's New York Business article:

In most of the United States, 24 abortions are carried out for every 100 live births. In New York, 72 abortions occur for every 100 live births.

This is the same New York that rejected federal abstinence funding last year as well as conducted a campaign to distribute 26 million condoms FREE. Workers even handed them out at subway stations.

This is the same New York that offers free taxpayer-funded abortions to poor women and boasts 56 taxpayer-funded programs to distribute contraceptives free or cheap, according to the Crain's piece.

NY touts everything liberals say must be done to curb abortion. The answer to the increasing problem, according to the article?...

UPDATE, 4:30p: Ben Smith of The Politico has linked to this post.

UPDATE, 4p: Concerned Women for America has audio of an interview with me on this here.

UPDATE, 10:22a:Michelle Malkin has linked to this post.

UPDATE, 9:50a: Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online is covering the story.

Last week Doug Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee drew my attention to a previously unnoticed January 2008 article by Terence Jeffrey stating Barack Obama actually did vote against a version of the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act that was identical to the federal version, contrary to multiple public statements Obama or his surrogates have made to rationalize his opposition to the IL bill for the past 4 years.

Since then we have found 2 separate documents proving Barack Obama has been misrepresenting facts.

In fact, Barack Obama is more liberal than any U.S. senator, voting against identical language of a bill that body passed unanimously, 98-0. In fact, Barack Obama condones infanticide if it would otherwise interfere with abortion.

Here is the statement with documentation released by NRLC this morning...

Here's an example of a political cartoonist either ignoring or being ignorant of the human rights elephant in the room, China's forced one-child-per-couple policy, which includes forced abortions.

By Clay Jones...

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reportedly sold the first photos of their 3-week-old twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Léon for $14 million to People and Hello! magazines in a joint venture.

According to several news reports, the couple will donate their earnings to the nonprofit Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which has previously provided financial aid to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children.

Do you think it is a good or bad idea to sell photos of one's children, even if the money goes to charity?

[HT: proofreader Laura Loo]

Last week we graded John McCain on how well he is conducting his campaign.

This week it's Barack Obama's turn. Here's the new poll question:

Grade Barack Obama on his presidential campaign so far.

[HT: Bill O'Reilly]

Here are the answers to last week's poll. Neither Americans nor our International friends gave McCain high marks by and large, but those on the other side of the pond were harder graders...

The Barack Obama/Born Alive issue made the UK's The Guardian today, called "smear." Oh brother on the title.

The Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn also tried in vain to bat the issue away once again today. Oh brother on the title of his piece, too....

From the Associated Press, this afternoon:

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday admitted to an extramarital affair while his wife was battling cancer. He denied fathering the woman's daughter.

Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about the affair with a 42-year-old woman but said that he didn't love her. He said he has not taken a paternity test but knows he isn't the father because of the timing of the affair and the birth....

Democrat strategist Bob Beckel duked it out with The Obama Nation author Dr. Jerome Corsi on Fox & Friends August 5.

The spar is posted on YouTube. Scroll to 5:15 on the video and you'll see the conversation turned to Barack Obama's opposition to Born Alive. And "the nurse who is very famous out in Illinois" would be me....

God bless Dr. Corsi. The left wing Media Matters has tracked at least three times Corsi has stated during interviews exactly how far Obama will go in his radical support of abortion: "even late term, induced abortions where the baby lives. Obama's on record as let's kill the baby if that's what the mother wants."...

First, I'm sad (for us) to announce this will be intern Colleen W.'s last (Prolifer)ations post.

Colleen is a graduate student and is heading back to school after a summer immersed in pro-life work in DC at Students for Life of America and Feminists for Life, among others. We'll sure miss her. She found great posts to spotlight. Thanks for your work here, Colleen!

If you - as a reader or a college student wanting an internship - are interesting in writing (Prolifer)ations - please contact me for more information. The task requires 4-6 hours a week.

And now, from the world of pro-life blogs...

by JivinJ

JivinJ wrote on July 30 about Planned Parenthood of Columbia Williamette's sexually explicit website, takecaredownthere.org.

Students for Life of America has confirmed that this PP is taxpayer funded.

So you and I are paying for this website that features two men having unprotected oral sex with the punch line, "I didn't spew," and a girl telling friends she's choosing masturbation over partying with them that night. And that's just the start.

SFL released a video today wherein a PP rep confirmed the location sponsoring the site receives Title X funds.

SFL also shows a clip of the oral sex couple asking in its release, "[since] the teen servicing his partner is African-American and the teen being serviced is white... [i]s this one more example of PP's tendencies towards racism?

One chapter in Iain Murray's recently released book, The really inconvenient truths: seven environmental catastrophes Liberals don't want you to know about - because they helped cause them, is "The pill as pollutant: and other environmental menaces the Left ignores."

I've written several times (here, here, and here) on the topic of estrogen waste from the birth control pill causing gender-bending fish in our waterways.

Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote a great piece on all this August 1:

... Murray writes: "Why don't we have more outcries about hormones, and campaigns to save the fish populations? Why aren't environmentalists lobbying on Capitol Hill to keep these chemicals from being dumped into our rivers?...

I wrote in May of the tragic death of Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter Maria. Compounding the pain, it was her teenage brother who ran over Maria in the family driveway.

The Chapmans, including brother Will Franklin, spoke publicly of their pain for the first time today on Good Morning America. Larry King will interview Chapman tonight Thursday night on his CNN show as well.

Here's this morning's GMA interview:

[HT: friend Holly Jo]

On Nov. 8, 1994, Pastor Scott Willis and his wife, Janet, started the day by voting in Illinois' general election. One vote they cast was to re-elect Secretary of State George Ryan.

They then commenced a road trip to Milwaukee with the youngest six of their nine children, ranging in age from 6 weeks to 13 years.

On Interstate 94 a truck in front of them suddenly dropped what was later determined to be a 6-by-30 inch metal brace weighing 30 pounds.

Having no time to swerve or stop, Scott ran over the brace, which hit the gas tank.

The van instantly exploded into an inferno. Scott recalled:

It was just roaring flames coming up on both sides. I was yelling to get out of the car. Janet and I had to consciously put our hands into the flames to unbuckle the seat belts and reach for the door handles.

Janet fell out the door while the car was still moving. Benny was in the midst of the burning; his clothes were mostly burned off by the time he got out. The five youngest children, who had been asleep, died instantly.

Only they didn't die instantly....

Continue reading "Cold and calculating - that's Obama" at WorldNetDaily.com.

At times like this my tribe will recite this reminder:

God is good all the time; all the time God is good.

Yesterday Phill Kline lost his primary bid to become the Republican nominee for Johnson County District Attorney.

I was around when Phill was making his decision whether or not to run in an election where it was obvious pro-abort, liberal, and media long-knives would be out to get him.

Phill ultimately decided to run because it was the right thing to do, the right example to set. It was to run the entire course of this race in his life, philosophically speaking.

The Bible clearly teaches God controls world events. God either allows or causes the rise and fall of every kingdom and ruler, large and small, for His purposes. Sometimes we don't understand. But it's all for good.

In one sense I feel relief for Phill. The pressure upon him has been greater than most could bear. Now it is off. Now God has authorized him to move on. One of my favorite verses is John 17:4. In fact, I'd like it on my tombstone should I finish my long race in good standing:

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Phill has done that.

Also read Kathryn Jean Lopez's column today.

I'm not sure what happened, but it's all good. I reported last week, based on several Indian news stories like this, that the Bombay High Court had agreed to let a couple abort their 26-week old baby with a heart blockage, repairable with a pacemaker (or "peacemaker," according to the Indian story).

The bottom line must have gotten lost in translation, because the front page story yesterday in The Hindu, India's national newspaper:

The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected the petition filed by Niketa and her husband Haresh Mehta... seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy, now in the 26th week.

The foetus was diagnosed with a complete heart blockage when she was in the 24th week of pregnancy. The couple wanted to abort the child for fear it would suffer for life....

Well, this one certainly puts U.S. Senator Sam Brownback in a tight spot. Recall Brownback threw Phill Kline under that bus headed to Politicalexpediencyville to endorse Steve Howe in tomorrow's Republican primary for Johnson County, KS, state attorney.

KS Pro-life leaders attempted to talk sense into Brownback - encouraging him to remain non-commital in the primary if he was afraid to stand with Phill - but no. Word is Brownback wants to inhabit the KS governor's mansion in 2010 and chose politics over principle.

So be it. Now Brownback may have to decide between the company he keeps. On one side is his new friend Howe and his baggage and on the other side is his close DC ally Family Research Council and its head, Tony Perkins.

The socially liberal group KS Traditional Republican Majority issued this press release August 1:

Read entire press release here and Perkins' refutation here.

If Howe were truly conservative, he would never associate with a group that would sink so low as to disparage FRC and Perkins.

Meanwhile, there was a great op ed in yesterday's Washington Times:

Which election this year is most important to the pro-life cause?...

Here's how the Baltimore Sun reported the story on August 2:

Eighteen anti-abortion protesters were arrested yesterday after they marched among cars stopped at red lights in Harford County and refused to disperse, state police said.

And here's how SocietyandReligion.com reported the incident on August 3:

Eighteen pro-lifers participating in the MD Face the Truth Tour were arrested without warning by Hartford County State Troopers in the city of Bel Air, MD on... August 1....

It was during the last tour stop of the week-long event, sponsored by Defend Life when a State Trooper named Bradley approached the group and told them to move and put away their signs or they would be arrested. In an effort to comply, group leader Jack Ames gathered the group and moved down the road, into the city limits of Bel Air....

by Chuck Asay...

by Eric Allie...

Two Catholics with supposedly opposing views on abortion are said to be on Barack Obama's VP short list: KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and VA Gov. Tim Kaine.

Sebelius states she is personally pro-life but in all her actions is a flagrant pro-abort and has even been asked by her bishop to refrain from receiving communion.

Kaine has more fooled. He professes to be pro-life and has many on the other side worried, but he is not pro-life. National Right to Life goes so far as to call Kaine "pro-abortion"....

The new poll question is up:

Grade John McCain on his presidential campaign so far.

Next week I'll ask you to grade Barack Obama.

[HT: Bill O'Reilly]

Here are the answers to last week's poll. Our International friends disagreed with American sentiment on a boycott...

by Colleen W.

From the blogs and elsewhere today...

Denny at VitalSigns posted a speech Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) gave July 30 on the House floor....

What is wrong with the lead sentence in this July 30 Fox5News story:

Now more than ever, women are donating their eggs to make ends meet.

The definition to "donate" is: "To present as a gift to a fund or cause; contribute."

That, of course, is not what is happening. Women are being paid for their eggs, and handsomely. Continued the story...

I just posted on a book about to be released against Obama entitled, The case against Barack Obama.

But another similarly themed book has just come out, The Obama Nation. Its author, Dr. Jerome Corsi, of Swift Boat fame, was on Hannity & Colmes last night.

Go to 1:45 in the video below to see Corsi and Hannity briefly discuss Obama's opposition to Born Alive. The last 20 seconds of the interview is also interesting. Corsi states Obama will lose his bid for the presidency, in part for his position on social issues.

[HT: moderator Carder]

The book, The case against Barack Obama, will be released Monday, August 4, Barack Obama's birthday.

The author, David Freddoso, came to Chicago and interviewed many of us involved in the Born Alive issue as it pertained to Obama. Freddoso dedicated an entire chapter to this. I haven't read it but someone who has proclaimed it "excellent."

As you can see by the promo below, Obama's opposition to Born Alive is one of the major talking points.

Upcoming in the August 4 issue of Newsweek, available online now, an article on the proliferating field of oncofertility, assisted reproduction for women with cancer:

When Annie Dauer's oncologist told her she'd need a [adult!] stem-cell transplant to cure her non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Dauer's first thought wasn't about death but about life.

"I asked what would happen to my fertility," she says. Her oncologist dismissed the question: " 'Honey, you're fighting for your life; forget the fertility at this point,' she told me."

But Dauer, then 30 and newly married, pressed the subject until the oncologist referred her to a fertility specialist. Since Dauer's chemotherapy regimen would most likely destroy her body's egg supply, the specialist, in an experimental procedure, removed one of her ovaries, froze it and reimplanted it when Dauer recovered....