bumper sticker shock

BUMPER STICKER SHOCK

by Stuart Shepard, director of digital media
Citizen Link www.citizenlink.org


The couple in the drive-thru apparently were oblivious to the story told by the stickers on their vehicle.

Usually, minivans don't trouble me.

But there it was, right in front of me in the drive-thru — a sad story told entirely in bumper stickers.

The first I noticed on the back glass was "Yes We Did!" Rows of silhouetted men and women stood with outstretched arms on an adaptation of Barack Obama's official campaign logo.
But, I've gotten used to the endless stream of always-new Obama merchandise, so that's not what troubled me.

Through the tinted window, I could make out a larger half-moon shape stuck to the inside of the glass with Obama and Joe Biden smiling at me. That didn't trouble me, either.

But then I saw the specialty license plate: "Respect Life." And next to that an ichthus — the ubiquitous Christian fish symbol.

And that is what troubled me.

There on the back of their modest minivan, the couple ahead of me offered expressions of what they hold dear: Their faith. Their issue. And their politician.

Now, I do not question their faith. Not in the least. I regard them as a Christian brother and sister.

And I'm glad they value the life issue so much they would purchase a license plate that shares that opinion with other motorists.

But here's what troubled me long after I finished my fast-food lunch:

As a candidate in July 2007, Obama pledged allegiance to Planned Parenthood's agenda. He promised significant changes in the White House, on the Supreme Court and in America that drew loud applause from the nation's largest abortion provider.

About abortion, Obama said firmly, "On this fundamental issue I will not yield, and Planned Parenthood will not yield."

And he has not.

As president, he quickly killed the pro-life policy that prevented our tax dollars from going to groups that promote or provide abortions overseas.

He re-established a flood of our tax dollars to the United Nations Population Fund. Some of that will pay for abortions in other countries. Some of it will pay for abortions that are not wanted by the mothers.

He chose Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. She voted against a federal ban on partial-birth abortions. Her abortion support is exceeded only by his [Obama's] own.

His choice to head up the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is Kathleen Sebelius. The Kansas governor has vetoed a long string of efforts by the Legislature to place commonsense restrictions on abortion. She's pals with notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller.

Obama chose Dawn Johnsen for a high position in the Justice Department. She was once the legal director for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

On top of all that, Obama lifted President Bush's restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. That opens the door for more of our tax dollars to be spent on embryonic stem-cell research. In the process of harvesting their stem cells, those tiny humans will be destroyed. Every one.

I could go on, but that should be enough to help you understand why the minivan troubled me.

Over the next four years of the Obama presidency, there are little boys and girls around the world who will not get to walk on the Earth, to breathe the air, to grow up to marry and drive minivans and put stickers on the back — all because of Barack Obama's pro-abortion choices.

So, where the minivan people saw rows of happy people on their "Yes We Did!" sticker — it looked to me like rows of crosses for all the boys and girls who won't be with us in 2012.

What troubles me most is that the pro-life minivan couple were fooled by a crafty marketing scheme into voting for persona over policy. They helped elect a pro-abortion president. And they apparently don't realize what they've done.

But here's my hope: That drivers of minivans and compact cars and pickup trucks and luxury cars all across America will soberly consider whether the stickers on their vehicles are so wincingly self-contradictory.

And that they vow not to be fooled again.

FOR MORE INFORMATION--see video: President Obama has said he "wrestles" with life issues, but his recent statements to the media contradict what he has said to Planned Parenthood.


***SEE BUMPER STICKER HERE***