Conservative radio and TV personality Sean Hannity spent much of his radio show late last week explaining how he could see himself supporting Rudy Giuliani for President. Mr. Hannity explained that he liked Rudy, and admired him for the way he handled things in New York City following 9-11.

Hannity acknowledged that he didn’t agree with Rudy on things like abortion, gay marriage, homosexual rights, taxes and gun control. Well, we should hope not. But the truly amazing part of Hannity’s national monologue was his rationalization(s) for abandoning his own value system in order to find a comfort level with his friend Rudy.

We won’t go into all of it here. The central anxiety was how easily Hannity dismissed Giuliani’s commitment to abortion rights.

While claiming to be “passionately pro-Life”, Hannity argued that the only thing a president can do in office is make “good” appointments to the Supreme Court. Then he said the amazing: “Let’s face it folks, the abortion debate in this country is over – until the hearts and minds of Americans are changed.”

With all due respect, that is a jaded perspective on our current cultural situation, and it is a simplistic view of the presidency.

Certainly appointments to the high court are essential to the pro-Life movement’s hope of seeing justice restored for our preborn children. But so are the appointments to all levels of the judiciary. Mr. Hannity claims that he has been assured by Rudy that he would appoint folks like Scalia and Thomas to the high court. But the obvious question is why? Why would Giuliani use one of his most important constitutional powers to appoint justices with whom he disagrees on nearly every single domestic issue? This simply makes not a shred of sense; it also contradicts the historical record of every president since the beginning of the Republic. In blindly swallowing such rubbish from his friend, Hannity is failing to force Giuliani into presenting American voters with a coherent and honest agenda.

But a president’s ability to help create and defend a pro-Life culture goes well beyond the judiciary. Legislation presented to Congress can help rebuild the wall – as Bush did in developing health insurance benefits for preborn children.

And defending the nation from the Abortion Lobby through the veto stamp is also an important weapon. We have seen President Bush wield it effectively in battling efforts to turn preborn children into a natural resource.

But probably the single most important thing President Bush has done during his time in office is to address the nation on the pro-Life issue, his televised speech right before the awful events of 9-11.

Leadership necessarily involves teaching and moral persuasion. It is highly likely that President Bush helped save many lives that night – because he used his moral authority to challenge troubled parents into realizing that abortion was not an acceptable “choice”. Abortion obviously involves the destruction of an innocent human life.

We can be certain that no such moment will come with a President Giuliani.

It is a real shame that Mr. Hannity is so comfortable bailing out on his own convictions in order to support virtually anyone wearing the “GOP” jersey, especially this early in the process. It is not like there are no legitimate conservative alternatives. Unfortunately, the pro-Life cause seems to be just another shopping list "issue” for Sean.

He fails to appreciate the fact that abortion is the central battleground for America’s future.

Labels: abortion, Bush, Giuliani, Hannity