Convention intentions

By Lisa Fabrizio

What to say about the Democratic Party's convention problems? Specifically their infamous decision to remove the word God from their official party platform? It's hard to say which is more risible; their sloughing the whole thing off by calling it an oversight, or the raucous floor vote to correct the supposed faux pas, which proved to anyone with eyes and ears that it was no such thing.

Of course we've been told by countless liberal flacks that party platforms aren't really important and certainly not binding on those at the top of the ticket; quite a difference from the brouhaha over the pro-life language in the plank put forth by the GOP, for which Mitt Romney was held eminently accountable by the mainstream media. No, the Dems will have a hard time covering up this instance of being caught with their pants down.

To no one's surprise, the two conventions were vastly different in both scope and content. The Republicans in Tampa conducted what you would expect: a thorough, though maybe a tad uninspiring litany of the failings of the incumbent president and the plans to rectify same. But in Charlotte, lacking any successful Obama accomplishments on which to hang their hats, Democrats resorted instead to a celebration of what they feel are their finest attributes; a compilation of their greatest hits, so to speak, which consisted mainly of these: diversity, inordinate love for government, support for homosexual marriage and their overwhelming desire that all women should have paid coverage to escape the consequences of whatever sexual escapades in which they care to indulge.

Yes, the Democratic convention was chock full of heartwarming testimonies; from a supposedly impoverished college woman who needs our dough to pay for her contraception, to the president of Planned Parenthood, an organization that needs our dough to murder children in the womb. How wonderful it was to hear these paeans to the culture of death from the mouths of wives, mothers and grandmothers!

But the image that will last is the video of the floor vote to restore to the party platform a mention of God and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This demonstration of Democrat values, complete with its angry gestures and booing, was on display for all to see as even most of the networks could not avoid showing the obvious disdain emanating from many of the delegates.

What all broadcast and cable networks, save Fox News, did not show of course, was the closing benediction from Timothy Cardinal Dolan who, to the initial dismay of many faithful Catholics, myself included, waded into the belly of the beast in Charlotte to deliver this prayer to God in the midst of the party of abortion: "Thus do we praise you for the gift of life. Grant us the courage to defend it, life, without which no other rights are secure. We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected."

But sheer audacity ruled the day in Charlotte, as the powers that be saw fit to parade a plethora of Catholics — forbidden by the Church to support abortion — to give tacit and not-so-tacit approval of their most cherished desire to rid the nation of unwanted children. Caroline Kennedy, who quizzically said, "As a Catholic woman, I take reproductive health seriously," is the latest poster child for Catholics who put party first and God second. But couple the onerous HHS contraception mandate with the incessant abortion drumbeating, and you find Obama losing support among Catholics and women, two of his most crucial voting blocs.

If you think these are merely the wishful ravings of a committed right-winger, consider the following: Cokie Roberts on ABC's This Week opined: "I think this Democratic Convention was really over the top in terms of abortion. Every single speaker talked about abortion. And you know at some point you start to alienate people." And then there was longtime lefty Margaret Carlson weighing in with:

Last week, Democrats feasted on the extreme positions of Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri during the Republican National Convention. Yet Democrats have gone too far in the other direction, threatening their hold on the great American middle. Abortion is a more delicate subject than our fierce, partisan arguments would have it...Abortion won't be a defining issue for Democrats this election, but the party's more militant posture guarantees that bipartisanship is still a long way off. On this issue, we can't get along. But it wouldn't hurt to put the word "rare" back in the platform.

If even diehard Democrat women like Carlson and Roberts agree that there was too much emphasis on abortion, you know that this is undeniably true. Add to this the palpable aversion to the God of creation and the glorification of the gods of government and you get an idea of the priorities of the Democrat Party. Yet it appears that the liberal plan to win the hearts and minds of Americans, particularly American women, is to ignore their economic woes and fiscal fears, and to concentrate on what they believe is vitally important: killing unborn children and ensuring that their fellow gals be compensated for their sex lives. Brilliant.

© Lisa Fabrizio