I don't fully understand this ad. Obama didn't become President because he wasn't aborted (he is only a breathing organism because he wasn't aborted), he became President because his mother did an honorable thing (with the help of her parents) in having and raising him. The ad could've replaced Barack Obama with Lee Harvey Oswald and it'd still be just as legitimate in the view of the Catholic vote, but still just as fallacious. This made me think of Lincoln-Douglas debating, either way you have to go through middle ground in order to make your point (Obama wasn't aborted, thus he was alive, thus he became President). And that's three logical fallacies rolled into one (doubtful cause/single cause, hasty generalization, and it implies a slippery slope).
It's official: we've lost wonder. We break down so much here like we're proving up legal arguments in court or running theories through the scientific method. The view from 30,000 feet sums it up. Life offers hope and possibility. It's a perspective. You don't have to share it.
I think the point of the ad is to counter a defeatism a mother might feel -- "this baby won't have a daddy and will grow up poor, so he's doomed to be a victim his whole life."
In addition to the other issues pointed out by several in the thread, the power of the ad, placing it squarely in the realm of propaganda, is that it co-opts the immense popularity of a president by implicitly suggesting he supports the view being expressed. Check the ad structure and timing regarding the placement of Obama's picture. The beauty of well done propaganda, and this is a good piece of propaganda, is presenting a position in such a way that any disagreement immediately allows the believers to demonize non-believers (no pun intended). Here's another hint; the audience for ads like this are not the pro-choice crowd. The cool thing about well done propaganda is how well it works with the believers. In this case, they have pulled off a double-plus good. By purposefully submitting the ad, knowing full well it would be denied, they have successfully garnered more attention to it than it would have received had it been allowed. While I would find it out of place during a Super Bowl broadcast, I have no problem with ads like this airing.
ANY kid can grow up to be anything. Some have better odds than others, absolutely, but if we cannot use "odds" like some sort of betting game to decide if it's worth killing someone. I am not very informed on the topic of adoption. How difficult is it to find someone who will take your child and find him/her a home? (Think internationally, not just in the U.S.)
Totally disingenuous. Certainly takes liberties with his story. The parents were married, they got divorced and he moved back to his homeland. The thing that annoys me the most is the "his mother will struggle to raise him" part. Tell me twhy77, how did Obama's mom struggle to raise him? Was she poor, was she on food stamps? As I recall, she was college educated. She married a man from Indonesia, they moved the family there where Obama attended a private school. Then Obama went back to Hawaii to attend a private college prep school. It's hard being a single mom, but maybe you should go walk around some of the more miserable parts of Houston or wherever you live to get an idea of what "struggling" is.
Was abortion illegal in Hawaii when obama was born? If it was not, his life would not seem as a testament to pro-lifers since his mother was presented with that option and choose to keep him because she thought she could carry him.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6It6HtpTPTA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6It6HtpTPTA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
That is all it takes......it is lying about that point.....so, it doesn't pass the truth requirment. DD
The difference is that Obama's mother and family loved him, wanted him, and sacrificed for him. You can't say that for most people who choose to abort their fetuses. No one is advocating aborting every fetus that could potentially have a difficult life. Do you really want to force people to have children they don't want and as most anti-abortion rights advocates think, are willing to murder?
I'm glad they denied the ad. I don't like when the Superbowl is used as a pulpit. I like for the commercials to be light, fluffy, funny, and entertaining. Commercials like that are buzkill.
Do you think that people are that out of touch to really think that sonogram was Obama's, especially considering that sort of technology didn't exist when he was in utero? Did those insects really move that Coke bottle? Did that guy really get hit by a bus? Did that girl slurping on a straw really cause Justin Timberlake to come to her house?
From Obama's accounts, he did grow up poor. I don't know if they used food stamps. He did go to private schools, but that doesn't indicate he wasn't poor. He likely got scholarships. My wife grew up poor and attended some of the best private schools in the country. Again, I don't think the point is that Obama's mother was faced with the same choice others may face (everyone's is different, after all). It's just a reminder that kids can grow up facing adversity and still achieve. They are not doomed.
