As the old saying goes, one shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But Obama’s recent selection of Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., the darling Delaware liberal, as his vice presidential running mate begs examination. A quick review of what Biden believes and how he has voted, from OnTheIssues.org, reveals a wealth of information about the man himself as well as the decision-making ability of the man who selected him.

First, what does Joe Biden believe about abortion? According to his voting record he has said “no” to all of the following: prohibiting minors from crossing state lines for abortions, notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions, and on imposing a criminal penalty for harming an unborn child during the commission of another crime. In other words, parents should not be allowed to be parents. Besides, young teenagers know more than their parents, don’t they? And a woman who has had her purse stolen from her may, in the process of the theft, have her child stolen as well. This is a crime, whether Biden understands so or not.

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) rates Biden at 0%. Still, to his credit, he is at least not as monstrously inhumane as Obama; he did vote “yes” to ban partial birth abortions. But this overall view of abortion is nothing new. After all, most other Democrats also fail to recognize the preciousness of human life.

What is so disturbing about Biden, a Catholic, is that he claims to believe that life begins at conception. He is not, therefore, someone who denies the fact of when life begins and claims a human baby is just a lump of cells. He is not someone who argues that abortions are okay because what is growing inside the womb is not yet life. He believes that life begins at conception but doesn’t care. Biden, essentially, says the unborn are alive but if they are inconvenient to you then just kill them. Even Hitler relegated the Jews to a subhuman status to justify his holocaust. To justify the American holocaust, Biden simply regards it as a matter of choice — the choice that one life’s mere convenience takes precedence over the very existence of another’s.

What about gas prices? Does Biden understand how a family is squeezed by high costs at the pump? As a senator, Biden’s annual salary is $169,300. Granted, he’s not worth as much as Obama (whose net worth is estimated at somewhere from $1 to $2.5 million) but he’s not among the middle-class or poor, either, and his voting record reflects that. In ongoing efforts to force working Americans to pay the price for delusions of human-caused global warming, Biden has consistently voted to keep sending money overseas to the Middle East. He voted “no” at every opportunity to drill in ANWR, even on the grounds of national security. Biden doesn’t care how much you have to pay for gas or how much American money makes it into the hands of terrorists or other potential enemies.

Where does Biden stand on the individual liberties of Americans? He’s “pro-choice” when it comes to slaughtering unborn children, but what about other choices? He voted “no” to allow Americans to have personal Social Security accounts that would belong to them and could be passed on to their families. He’s called this plan a “scheme.” Imagine! To Biden, it’s a scheme when you want to take responsibility for yourself and want to take action to provide for your family. But this is just a snapshot of what Biden thinks ought to be done with your money. He is ranked at 100% by the misnamed Citizens for Tax Justice, indicating he believes in taxing anything that moves or doesn’t move. Put simply, if it belongs to you, Biden wants a piece of it.

Does Biden grasp the importance of national security? In a brief burst of insight he voted to support the removal of Saddam and putting an end to torture chambers, rape rooms and the mass graves of Iraq. But this moment of clarity of thought has since dimmed. He has now become a critic of the war and called to remove troops from Iraq, to set a timetable (a euphemism for “surrender date” to the terrorists there). He voted “no” on extending wire-tapping, voted “yes” on habeas corpus rights for terrorists, and considers waterboarding torture and therefore unacceptable to use in interrogating people that will kill us at any available opportunity.

But as left-wing, anti-liberty, irresponsible and misguided as Joe Biden is there is a bright side: he is nowhere near as bad as the man who would be president.

Obama supports not only partial-birth abortion but infanticide, allowing a baby born after a botched abortion to die. Beyond this, no other words can be added to further impress upon thinking, feeling, normal human beings the ghastliness of what this means.

As to our energy needs, speaking about energy consumption Obama once said that “this is an example of where ordinary citizens have to make a change.” By “ordinary” he doesn’t include himself. While criticizing the companies that make gas-guzzling vehicles and the expecting “ordinary” people to change their lifestyles, Obama lives in a home worth more than $1 million and drives a V-8 hemi-powered Chrysler 300. Hypocrisy is a vile exhaust emission blowing out of the mouth of Obama.

As to our liberties, Obama supports every form of government intervention imaginable. Higher taxes, more regulations, reverse discrimination — if there is a problem, government is the solution.

As to national security, from the beginning Obama voted to do nothing about the torture chambers, rape rooms and mass graves of Saddam’s Iraq and refuses even to recognize that the surge has worked. Ignorant of history, Obama also believes he can accomplish something by sitting down with tyrants and fanatics without any preconditions. If elected, he will prove as naive as Neville Chamberlain (who actually believed Hitler would not perpetrate further aggression) and as foolish as the French king Charles the Bald who, in the 9th Century, only assured further and more aggressive Viking raids by presenting them with almost six tons of gold and silver in hopes such a self-inflicted humiliation would get them to leave and never return.

Obama has said “yes, we can.” Before you cast your vote this November, be sure that you know the “what” that follows this statement if he and Biden make it to the White House. Catchy but meaningless slogans and empty but soaring oratory do not a successful presidency make. And that “what”, despite whatever one may be hoping for out of White House controlled by Democrats, are “gifts” that will make us all look like donkeys.

Jeff O’Bryant is an amateur historian and holds two degrees, a bachelor’s in education and a bachelor’s with honors in history. He can be contacted at jeffobryant@catt.com or through his blog at rightnewsandviews.com.