There's always something a little ridiculous about the most intense political debates. This is because as the intensity rises, so too does the self-righteousness, along with booming sermons about Right and Wrong and Good and Bad. But that's not even the ridiculous part.
Where it becomes truly crazy is that more often than not, the people shouting loudest make the least sense, often just outright lying. And really, there's nothing more bizarre than a sermon about moral righteousness from somebody that's not telling the truth.
Is that what's happening with Tim Tebow's controversial Super Bowl ad? Maybe. Courtesy of Radar Online, one lawyer's open letter to CBS makes some interesting points:
The ad features the purported story of Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam Tebow, who was allegedly told by doctors to have an abortion. [...]
As the story is reported, Tim's mother decides to take her pregnancy to term anyway, and give birth to Tim. ... An abortion at the time of Pam's pregnancy was and still is illegal for both doctors and women in the Phillipenes, so here are my questions:
Does this commercial for mandatory motherhood contain corroboration that Pam's doctors suggested she commit the crime of having an illegal abortion?
If the ad omits to state that abortion at that time and place was illegal, isn't the ad in fact misleading?
Also, if the ad omits to state that Pam could have gone to prison for 2-6 years for having an illegal abortion there, isn't that misleading?
If abortions were so illegal in the Philippines, how likely is it that doctors were urging Pam Tebow to get an abortion? Judge for yourself. And also consider that the lawyer writing that is just another person shouting loudest, so who knows? One thing's for certain: if the Tebows were smart, they'd shoot an ad extolling the virtues of life and condemning people like Scott Roeder, who last week was convicted of murdering an abortion doctor in a church vestibule last year.
Not exactly "pro-life." But then with these things, it's always who shouts loudest, right?
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Comments
The real story
As usual, the media have taken bits of information and created a story that fits their view of the world. The real story, as I heard it from Pam Tebow several years ago in a speech, is that when she was in the Philippines doctors found something they thought to be a tumor and suggested that she have it removed. She had a sense that it was not a tumor, but was a baby instead, so she opted not to have it removed. Her instinct was correct, and that baby was Timmy.
Pam’s story has nothing whatsoever to do with the legality of abortion, but is her own personal story, and a very touching one. Pro-abortion groups who claim to be advocates for women are all in an uproar over a frenzy that was fabricated by media outlets who were over-eager to create buzz and controversy. What are these groups so afraid of, that some young woman with an unplanned pregnancy will hear Pam’s story and decide not to have an abortion? Their outcry over this issue reveals that these groups are less advocates for women than they are for abortionists.
Just calm down, people, and hear the ad before you judge it.
by gatorlynn on Feb 1, 2010 9:38 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
complete grasp of argument here fail
by Freneau on Feb 1, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions
FFFFFAIL
by Fire Machine on Feb 4, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions
I just want to know this:
WHY ARE ABORTION JOKES SO DAMN FUNNY?
by f o u r on Feb 1, 2010 9:56 AM EST reply actions
Tragedy as humor.
Because the funniest things are most often the most hurtful. I don’t like them all, & have changed the race in some, & told them myself, but aren’t the racist jokes also funny? The gay jokes? The molestation jokes? “What does caviar & Micheal Jackson have in common? They both come on little crackers!” See? Very crass, out of line, sadistic, whatever. But the joke makes you say,“Damn!”; and then you repeat it somewhere. Tragedy is comic in America, it’s our cynical nature we won’t reject!
"You never stand so tall as to when you reach down to pick someone up."
by Chise67 on Feb 2, 2010 7:35 AM EST up reply actions
Why can't people just leave the Tebow's alone?
If you don’t like them, don’t watch Tim’s games. A Super Bowl ad is not forcing you to see things their way. Why is it ok to have hundreds of beer commercials during the Super Bowl, when millions of kids are watching, but it’s not ok to have something with a good message? My children will be watching with me, and I am thrilled about the Tebow’s ad. I want my kids to see something better than hot girls trying to get you to drink beer. I admit I love everything about Tim Tebow, but the message our children should get should be positive no matter who is delivering it.
Oh one more thing, I'm coming BACK!!
by jagerjenn_19 on Feb 1, 2010 10:53 AM EST reply actions
Because they clearly don't want to be left alone...
And Tim Tebow is a public figure, and thus he is not afforded the same level of privacy as a private citizen would be. Being in a politically charged Super Bowl ad is asking to be seen as a polarizing figure and it opens you up to criticism and scrutiny, which is why posts like Andrew’s are relevant.
by Dan Bohm on Feb 1, 2010 3:26 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
What's to criticise?
"Ignorance, I can fix, stupidity, well that's another matter!"-82nd Airborne NCO
by ro307805 on Feb 2, 2010 3:25 PM EST up reply actions
+1
Banned from BN and proud of it
by WE ARE SC on Feb 6, 2010 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
CBS refused
Also, because cbs refused to show a political ad a couple of years ago that was critical of the Bush Administration because of the downturn in the economy. So why is it okay for focus on the family…a large right wing lobbying machine, to buy a political ad on the same network during the same event? Either allow all speech that can be paid for or be consistent and no sell any. The day of the superbowl is the day when more domestic violence reports are made than any other. Maybe there should be ads showing that women should control their bodies and not legislatures made up predominately of men. I love sports and football, but wouldn’t it be nice if the game and the Tebows and all the other “pro-family” people, made an ad about domestic violence. “The best thing you can do for your children, is be good to their mother” – John Wooden I like that ad better. Unfortunately, I’m not a multi-million dollar lobbying firm, so I’ll just have to blog about it.
by uclaluv on Feb 2, 2010 1:30 AM EST up reply actions
CBS has the "right" to accept or refuse ANY advertiser
That’s how it works in a FREE country. If you want to choose not to watch the Superbowl because they are running this vast religous ad, that’s the consequence of them taking the $2-3mm. The fact that the pro-“choice” people are having a fit, shows how hypocritical they are. They are pro-abortion, not pro-choice, why would anyone be offended by someone offering a woman an option for keeping a baby she may not have felt she had. I’ll admit that I’m a bit sick of Tebow, because ESPN and CBS Sports have had wood for him for 4 straight years, but this crap is starting to make him a sympathetic charachter for me now. “What an ass I must be. I was born, have done nothing but bust my ass my whole life in ball, helped little kids on MY Sring Break, and now I’m allowing my likeness to be used to show women that there are people who will help them to have a baby when they may have thought I had no options.”
Give 'Em Hell Tech!!!!!
by Plano Jeff on Feb 4, 2010 10:37 AM EST up reply actions
Beer commercials vs. abortion!
No-one screams about beer commercials because beer has an 85 to 99%, “approval”, rating. While abortion has,(in public), a 50% approval rating. In public, people say things they don’t really believe in private. Personal example: A female cousin of mine, when, or if the convo comes up about abortion at Thanksgiving/Christmas table, she is ALL Pro-Life, but when she was 23, a graduate student trying to get into a prestigious law firm, I drove her to a clinic & sat with her through an abortion. Folks don’t want to be ostracized, or hated because of their choices, so sometimes they lie. This brings us full circle on Tebow: If he chooses to put his face/name recognition out there on issues that are sensitive/volatile, then he will certainly be fair game to what all comes with it. I just see him setting the stage for his REAL career, a Evangelical Priest, or Politician. Because even GOD knows he ain’t an NFL QB! LOL!!!!!!!!
"You never stand so tall as to when you reach down to pick someone up."
by Chise67 on Feb 2, 2010 7:27 AM EST up reply actions
I wish she had gotten the abortion
On a lighter note, who wouldn’t enjoy seeing an airplane banner calling Lane Kiffin a drunk liar flying over USC campus? -
by 2minutedrill on Feb 1, 2010 11:57 AM EST reply actions
+1
by uclaluv on Feb 2, 2010 1:34 AM EST up reply actions
To clarify +1 on the banner, -1 on the abortion.
by uclaluv on Feb 2, 2010 1:35 AM EST up reply actions
-1
To clarify -1 on the bRUINS. Talk smack Fuclaluv, but can the teddybears bring it on the field?
You Say Timeout, We Say Touchdown.
28-7
Banned from BN and proud of it
by WE ARE SC on Feb 6, 2010 7:01 PM EST up reply actions
people like you and comments like that make me sick. U sad excuse for a human being.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
by Hook85 on Feb 4, 2010 2:12 AM EST up reply actions
Hitler
How about an ad with Hitler speaking and saying the law wouldn’t allow his mother to have an abortion, so he had to be born into what must have been a very bad situation? And look how well that turned out for many innocent people.
by uclaluv on Feb 2, 2010 1:32 AM EST reply actions
How do you reach that parallell?
"Ignorance, I can fix, stupidity, well that's another matter!"-82nd Airborne NCO
by ro307805 on Feb 2, 2010 3:26 PM EST up reply actions
Wow you do realize you are trying to support murder by saying how bad murder is?
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
by Hook85 on Feb 4, 2010 2:15 AM EST up reply actions
Tim the tumor...lol
GO COLTS!!!!!
by dwdbruin on Feb 2, 2010 3:03 AM EST reply actions
Tim Tebow wears Crocs
I have proof: http://theannexationofpuertorico.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/tebow1.jpg
by GoCougs93 on Feb 4, 2010 3:04 AM EST reply actions
Oh and did i mention he's incredibly gay too
by GoCougs93 on Feb 4, 2010 3:06 AM EST up reply actions
Much of the "tone" of this post is deceptive
“The present Constitution of the Philippines, enacted in 1987, pronounces as among the policies of the State that “[The State] shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.” (sec. 12, Art. II) The provision was crafted by the Constitutional Commission which drafted the charter with the intention of providing for constitutional protection of the abortion ban, although the enactment of a more definitive provision sanctioning the ban was not successful. It is also notable that the provision is enumerated as among several state policies, which are generally regarded in law as unenforceable in the absence of implementing legislation."
So would a doctor in the Philippines when he thought her life was in danger propose something which, in effect, carries no true legal punishment? Hell we hear all the time about American Doctors who had performed ‘back alley abortions’ when it was illegal in the US, why should the Philippines be different? It’s not…
“One study estimated that, despite legal restrictions, in 1994 there were 400,000 abortions performed illegally in the Philippines and 80,000 hospitalizations of women for abortion-related complications.”
by Tim Riordan on Feb 7, 2010 2:08 PM EST reply actions
Um yeah
Probably the most rational response is that the doctors probably knew she was an american and she could have done the procedure there.
So for those who actually thought the ad was misleading, you are stupid.
by meatybob on Feb 16, 2010 6:53 PM EST reply actions
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