"Above my Pay Grade" Washington insider cop out?

In short ..the body politic ..both partys are still looking for such a litmus test to sell the very souls of the American public for votes. This is called in some arenas...whoredom.

It was always amazing to me that the slaughter of the most helpless got you votes,

Originally posted by jam321
Just an answer where he can't be pinned down on what he really believes. Trying to get votes from both sides. There is a video with Hillary (debate maybe) where he danced around the question also.

But how about this

We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.

source


So he believes fatherhood begins at conception, but life of a baby doesn't.

Hey Jam...I read it as it reads. RESPONSIBILITY does not end at conception. Everyone with a moral compass would agree if you get a woman pregnant, there your genuine "responsibility" begins. As opposed to knocking a girl up and running for the hills.

His words..."responsibility begins at conception"
Your words "fatherhood begins at conception"

He was speaking to those who get a woman pregnant and then run. You understand what he is saying. No need to twist or assign theological meaning to it that isn't there.

Originally posted by TheRooster

IMHO, Mr. Obama does not possess the skill set to lead this great country, and his response to a very simple question serves as a demonstration of that.

If by "skill set" you mean someone with the arrogance to believe they perfectly understand God's designs and intent ...then yes you should vote for McCain. He sure was darn sure he knew exactly how God worked.

I can hear it now..."I know God's mind, my friends!"

As for me I have had my fill of mind-numbing arrogance in the white house and am not looking to continue it.

I find it funny,t hat this man KNOWS, he has to , that bortion is a big issue in this election. to say that it is above his paygrade is nothing more than ducking the question and pandering to both sides of the fence by basically sitting right on top of it, and not giving anyone any kind of idea on how he feels about it.

this is yet another example of how Obama is just your typical double talk, and questing dodging politician that we have been dealing with since god knows when. and this is painfully obvious to anyone, who isn't so in love with the man that they have a picture taped to their mirror so they can sit and stare at is every morning while they do their morning routine.

i would rather have someone that answers a question, honestly, and on the spot... rather than someone who beats around the bush and gives a non-answer such as that.

WAKE UP PEOPLE, he may not do horrible as president, but to try and say he is anything but your typical poltician who will offer you gold with one hand, and throw crap at you with the other is plain insane.

I think his "above my pay grade" answer was taking the question as asking him for a fact. I think he was simply saying that he doesn't know. He's not a scientist so he can't presume to know the factual answer to that. If he was asked for his opinion it may have been a different story.

Here's an example from my point of view:

If some one asked me "At what point does a baby get human rights" my answer would be "I don't know" because I don't KNOW.

If some one asked me "At what point do you THINK a baby gets human rights" , I would say that I think it starts when it has consciousness (but then that opens a whole new door because how do you know when it has consciousness?) and that is my belief. Knowing and believing are two different things.

You could say that he should have assumed he was being asked for his opinion, and maybe he should have, but when your on the spot and in a forum in which you know the people to be hostile to your ideas you tend to get a bit frazzled. I think he was frazzled and took the question in the first way he interpreted it.

Disclaimer: I don't support Barrack Obama and I do think the answer was very ridiculous but I think that's why he answered it in the way he did. That's my objective opinion.

www.youtube.com...

well I guess he sleeps well at night.

[edit on 053131p://bTuesday2008 by Stormdancer777]

Will the real Obama step forward?

It's all been smoke and mirrors these past months...Now we are going to see the real obama come out of the closet.

He is going to show us the real far left wing radical he is.

Originally posted by Johnmike
Well...actually it can. Life does technically begin at conception. The question is really threefold. When does consciousness start? When does a human have a "soul" if it exists? And when is a human life given worth?

I would argue that life begins BEFORE the conception. After all, the genetic material that eventually becomes an organism we recognize as human pre-exists and is packaged in a form that has metabolism going on.

Originally posted by RRconservative
blogs.reuters.com...

Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.”

add alot of stammering, add alot of confused facial expressions, and this quote is right on.

This is NOT a thread about abortion! This is a thread about the phrase "Above my Pay Grade".

Right out of High School I landed a job in the Pentagon as a Clerk Typist, I think it was a Pay Grade of GS-2 or GS-4...pretty low on the pay grade scale. I heard the phrase "Above my Pay Grade" endlessly, usually in a joking manner. Usually in response to a hard question.

Here is the current Government Pay Grades, or "General Schedule" to which Obama was referring.

www.opm.gov...

Anyway Obama is running for President of the United States. You would think that a Senator or President would be over any type of GS Scale.

So in short....What the Hell is he talking about? Is he trying to compare himself to a scaled Government employee, or has he been influenced so much by Washington that he is picking up on government speak?

McCain supporter here...

He is, in my opinion, copping out, but not because of that particular answer.
I think he was quite clear on his answer, you have to analyze and interpret what anyone says. As far as I am concerned his answer clarified his position on the issue, and if the election was only about social issues he would have my support (not my vote since I am Canadian).

Where I think he has copped out is in:

- Keeping Religion in the debate. I had some hope that he would just center his campaign around relevant issues, and stop the traditional "church procession" that, eventually, turns me off American Politics.

Are candidates running to become President of the USA, or, are they running to become the "Pope of the religious right"?

I was initially a Rudolph Giuliani volunteer, an supporter, because I thought he would just tell all these ridiculous Ministers, Pastor and Priests, along with their Media clones, to get back to preaching and stop meddling in politics. Although I then turned my support to McCain, I always had the hope that Obama would keep these religious maggots at bay, by ignoring them...
Thus, the Campaign would be about issues and not, as it as become, about who is more religious then who...

In that respect I think he copped out, and that his campaign is being torpedoed by this choice he made.

For someone who's campaign was based on change, he is, more and more, starting to look like the traditional Washington politician...

What a waist!!!

Originally posted by RRconservative

Anyway Obama is running for President of the United States. You would think that a Senator or President would be over any type of GS Scale.

So in short....What the Hell is he talking about?

For the more eschatologically-challenged among us, Sen. Obama was speaking in spiritual terms. Only the most arrogant humans would propose they know the answer to that question. Of course, we all assume that life/human rights are fulfilled at the point of conception. But not being God, we can't testify to that fact.

And for the record, I am a "borne-again" Christian.

reply to post by EastCoastKid


Bingo!!!!!!!!! but we know that behind the abortion religious stance the selfrighteous appointed leaders seems to be the ones in close links with god and the only ones that can impose morality on others.

Still Mc/Bush played the right card for the eyes and ear of the religious right just like a littler good boy to suck up some votes.