From the Top, from President Obama: "no matter how much we want to fudge it . . . the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable."
From the Top 10 blogs & sites on Obama at Notre Dame on Abortion. Two camps:
bibliobloggers (and all men):
1. Dr. Jim West - "There’s nothing fair minded or open minded or open hearted or loving or compassionate or Christian about murder [i.e., abortion]. . . . That’s not being closed minded or demonizing others [i.e., not demonizing Obama] . . . ."
2. Ben Witherington - [silence, so far]
3. Joel L. Watts - "This is why we must continue to pray for our leaders and turn away from an out right hatred of President Obama. . . . [H]e speaks about the pro-life movement, and understanding that the debate is more than just words. Further, he has moved the Freedom of Choice Act to a lower priority list."
4. James McGrath - [silence, so far]
5. Airton José da Silva - [silence, so far]
6. Michael S. Heiser - [silence, so far]
7. Scott Bailey - [silence, so far]
8. Mark Goodacre - [silence, so far]
9. John Hobbins - "It is too early, of course, to formulate a judgment about POTUS Obama. But . . . [i]t is a mixture of boilerplate liberal rhetoric and 'genuine co-optation' of centrist and conservative themes. . . . I intend to extend to Obama the presumption of good faith of which he speaks. . . for him to deliver from his end, on the issue of abortion . . . because I will judge the extent of his fair-mindedness based not on the rhetoric of his speeches, but on the content of the legislation he seeks to pass."
10. Thomas Verenna - [silence, so far]
Feminist sites and blogs (including collaborations of women and some men):
1. Feministing.com's Ann Friedman - "I'll be joining three other bloggers for a discussion of Obama's remarks about abortion at Notre Dame this weekend. . . . [from video:] One of the things I agree with President Obama on strongly, that all of us can agree on I think, is that abortion 'is not something any woman takes lightly'"
2. Shakespeare's Sister's contributor Deeky - "Liss hasn't read [Obama's speech transcript] yet and I am not even remotely interested. If anyone has any insight, leave your witty repartee in comments." [70 comments so far].
3. Feministe's Jill - "the controversy about Obama's Notre Dame appearance is less about him than about divisions within the American Catholic community. . . . Despite how Notre Dame protestors are framing it, it’s not actually about Catholics vs. non-Catholics; it’s about social conservatives vs. social liberals."
4. Bitch Ph.D. bloggers - [silent, so far]
5. Alas! a Blog bloggers - [silent, so far]
6. David Weigel - "The biggest problem for conservative Catholics has not been getting the Obama speech portrayed in the press as a scandal, but in distancing from some of the people trying to take ownership of the outrage."
7. Echnidne of the Snakes blogger - [silent, so far]
8. now.org - [silent, so far]
9. plannedparenthood.org - [silent, so far]
10. community.livejournal.com's Trianna Maxwell - "The bestest paper evah (or just my personal fav) ["Conciliatory Fighting Words" By E. J. Dionne ejdionne@washpost.com] Guess I'm making myself the de facto 'Obama and the pro-life/pro-choice folks in the news' poster. Oops, and I like staying hidden on the internet. But oh man do I love this president. As a discussion starter, I am not sure I see this speech as all that conservative. Y/N, Why/why not?"
2 comments:
Thank you for the mention, Dr. Gayle. I may be out of place here, but I find real hope in our President, if nothing else, then for his ability to see both sides of the issue, not in hatred, but in respect. That is lacking in many types of discussions today, political or religious.
I appreciate your post and your comment here, Mr. Watts. Our President sees sides because he listens, I think, to what the world is like for his daughters, his wife, his grandmother, and his mother. He profoundly experienced an upbringing without his own father. He's grown up an outsider and an insider, a person in the minority and the marginalized minority while having some personal background in education privilege as well. So, yes, the politics and the religion intersect in this person too, in refreshing respectful ways. (Nonetheless, some of the rhetoricians I respect are taking him to task for this speech at ND. Maybe we should also blog on that.)
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