Posted by
Dennis Pemberton on Thursday, October 08, 2009 10:37:55 AM
At the end of the horrid movie "Tora, Tora, Tora" (or, as one of my high school teachers called it, "Bora, Bora, Bora"), Admiral Yamamoto stands on the deck of the Yamato as these words come onto the screen: ""I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Now the good Admiral may or may not have said that, but I think it is an apt description of what is happening now. The incrementalism of post-LBJ liberalism caused us to doze through the past 30 years; even as Reagan and 1994-2000 Bill Clinton reformed the government, it grew bit by bit, nibbling away at our freedoms on the margins- regulation, taxes, indoctrination in the schools, deterioration of the journalistic ethic, etc. But the election of President Obama was the alarm clock which starts off with soothing beeps only to mature into a persistent, shrieking tone that could not be ignored. We can't roll over any more, and even liberals have to face the personification of their ideals: the shrill tones of the entitlement culture, the monster from the liberal Id, one hand pointing proudly to self, the other pointing accusingly at us. Now, the most selfish aspect of a selfish culture is being reappraised by Americans.
Support for abortion has fallen below a majority. Opposition is ascendant.
We can attribute this to President Obama, but that's giving him more credit than he deserves. One might say that Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol (sans the increasingly repellant Levi Johnston) highlighted a principled stand on life. But I think that is giving her too much credit. No, if this is a continuing trend, I believe the falling support for abortion would be emblematic of God working in us all. Not directing us, but opening our hearts and minds to the decent, the proper, the unselfish, to what is right. The fact that we are open to His call bodes well for our country, even as government threatens to overshadow liberty.