The McCain campaign is reportedly all a-dither over Senator Obama's selection of Joseph Biden as his running mate, according to the Yahoo! news service yesterday morning. ("Biden is Wrench in McCain's VP Choice" Yahoo! news, 08/27/08) As one McCain supporter put it, " 'McCain knows Biden well. He knows how good he is as a knife fighter. He'll take McCain apart,' said one Republican operative."
This hardly sounds like positive reinforcement on the part of McCain supporters. It sounds, in fact, very much like defeatism. It might be useful to point out a few things that the major media — no surprise — seem to have missed, and which indicate that McCain's position might not be quite as hopeless as some people wish. (In a sense, I could wish that both McCain's and Obama's positions were utterly hopeless. They might then be tempted to read this blog and perhaps pick up a few interesting bits of information.)
Admittedly, McCain might want to look out for Biden's knife . . . in the back. Biden is a self-described "pro choice Catholic." As far as I'm concerned, he might as well be a "Jew for Hitler," or an "African-American for Slavery."
Senator Biden might very well honestly believe he is a Catholic, and I assume he is sincere in his support for "choice." Unfortunately for this compartmentalization of himself (all too prevalent in our relativistic culture), by his support for abortion and active participation in helping people procure abortions through legislation, he incurs automatic excommunication. This means that the Catholic Church tosses him out on his ear until he repents.
On the other hand, if Senator Biden believes in and adheres to all the teachings of the Catholic Church (as every Catholic swears he or she does when confirmed and renews every Easter) the pro choice movement has no use for him. He is necessarily opposed to the killing of an innocent human being: "murder." It is not acceptable to take the position that a single innocent life be sacrificed, even if the desired end is to save an entire people from annihilation. (John, 18:14)
The bottom line is that Senator Biden (in common with all pro choice "Catholics") has put himself between a rock and a hard place, completely of his own volition and of his own free will. If he follows the teachings of the Catholic Church to the best of his ability, he betrays his pro choice comrades. If he promotes the pro choice cause, he betrays his God.
Both pro choice and pro life advocates have to look at someone like that with more than a little suspicion. Either side might find him useful in the short run to achieve some transitory end, but sooner or later he has to make a choice and stop straddling the fence. When that time comes, he will necessarily betray one side or the other. This is not an issue in which it is possible to find some via media.
Let's be blunt. The one thing that both McCain and Obama have to look out for is themselves. Neither has advanced a viable platform that addresses the issues, whether it be the war in Iraq, the housing crisis, health care, the looming Social Security meltdown, or the economy as a whole. If McCain wants to counter Obama's selection of Biden as running mate, he should adopt the platform of the American Revolutionary Party.
On the other hand, if Obama is serious about wanting to do the best he can for this country, he should jettison Biden, and (you guessed it) adopt the platform of the American Revolutionary Party. It's about time we had an election campaign about the issues, and which candidate could best deliver on what will restore the economic, political, and, yes, spiritual health of this country.
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