Links and Original Thoughts

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I know I've again been posting a lot of links to other sites and videos and such. With the frenetic pace of the election at this late hour, it seems like there's so much going on that it's hard to discuss.

After the election, I will most definitely be posting more original thoughts. In fact, I've been thinking about talking about the post-election strategy and work that needs to be done. That is something that is occupying more and more of my mind these days.

Stay tuned!
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Change. Change. Change.

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Obama's definition of rich keeps changing. Who's he going to tax next?

Change. Change. Change. That's Barack.

Click here <--to watch this video.
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McCain is Israel's Friend

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Another great reason to vote for McCain.

Click here <--to watch this confidence-building video.
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Wright's Home

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Yikes! This is pretty tough. But I think it puts together two of the biggest problems people have with Obama:

- His associations and what that says about his character,
- His idea of spreading the wealth around and what that says about his policies and philosophy.

Click here <-- to watch the video.
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A Perfect Storm

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Thomas Sowell on Obama.

Click here <--to read the article.
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Tardy Obama

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This is really funny. It says something, but I'm not sure what. Obama's a really busy guy...?

Click here <--to watch.
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Obama Worried?

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This is so funny! I think Obama just might be a little worried about Tuesday...

Click here <--to watch this very funny and very telling video.
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Obama and Wright

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I'm honestly not sure what I think about this video spot about Obama.

What do you think?

Click here <-- to watch the video.
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The Misery Index

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Started during LBJ's administration and made famous by Carter.

I'm wondering if the misery index will enjoy a resurgence in popularity if Obama is elected?

According to http://www.miseryindex.us/, "The misery index was initiated by economist Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960's. It is simply the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation both create economic and social costs for a country. A combination of rising inflation and more people of[sic] out of work implies a deterioration in economic performance and a rise in the misery index."
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Obama's Tax Plan

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Obama promises not to raise your taxes if you make less than a certain amount per year.

First it was $250,000 (click here).

Then, it fell to $200,000 (click here It's at the 0:30 mark in this commercial.).

After that, Biden indicated that it's at $150,000 (click here It's at the end of this clip.) .

Where will it stop? $100,000? $50,000? Who is "safe" from Obama's tax increases?

And if they finally settle on a number, how can we believe they will actually keep that promise as they've broken this one twice in the space of a week?
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re: Obama a US Citizenship?

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I posted a link the other day concerning Obama's citizenship. That link was, by some, deemed just internet goofiness and mis-information. I really thought about that and was going to post my apologies for jumping the gun in my conservative enthusiasm at thinking Obama might be disqualified to be president. [UPDATE: I've been thinking about this some more. Regardless of whether or not the original link was legit or not, I think I did jump at wanting it to be true. I'm starting to realize how easy it is to simply believe something just because I want to believe it. For that, I am sorry and hope to continue to grow in that area.]

Since then, however, I've seen more noise on other sites that seem to further legitimize the original question. While I don't know what the ultimate answer will turn out to be, I think the question itself is legitimate and needs to be investigated.

You think the New York Times, MSNBC, or CNN will take up the question and doggedly pursue it to the end?

Me neither.

Click here, here, and here. <-- to see what I've found since last week.
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Obama be Thy Name

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-Obama be thy name,
-Thy change shall come,
-Thy will be done,
-As it is in an American dream.

Click here <-- to watch this eerie video.
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Obama and Infanticide

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WARNING: Watching this may tear your heart out.

I just can't understand how people can brush this off and minimize it. I'm sorry, it's just disgusting. At the end is a dramatization that just twists my stomach in knots. This is really awful.

Click here <-- to watch this video.
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McCain on Fire

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I've been posting a lot of negative things about Obama. I must admit that there's a bunch of material to choose from and I've been trying to point out the most relevant things.

But I'm not just voting AGAINST Obama - I'm voting FOR McCain.

This is one of the most inspiring, awesome videos yet. I especially like the background music.

Click here <-- to watch this inspiring video.
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More Obama Redistribution of Wealth/Anti-constitution

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You have to get through the first 45 seconds or so until he starts talking about redistribution of wealth and then complaining that the court didn't "break free" from the contraints placed on it by the constitution. This is some pretty amazing audio.

Please think very carefully before casting your vote next week!

Click here <--to listen to the audio.
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McCain on Biden on Obama

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A good McCain commercial. Biden "guarantees an international crisis" if Obama is elected president. Yikes! Do we really want that?

Click here <-- to see the video.
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Fred Thompson on Obama

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Fred Thompson articulates this country's ideals and values better than most. He also articulate what an Obama presidency would look like. Not a pretty picture.

Click here <-- to watch the 12 minute video. It's definitely worth your time!
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"I'm Joe the Plumber"

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I know, I know, I'm going nuts with these videos. There's just so much good stuff out there.

If you're trying to grow your business, I hope for your sake that Obama does not get elected and pass his tax hikes.

Click here <-- to watch the video.
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Just Look and Tell Me What You See

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Do we purposefully shield our eyes from what God says is plain to us? (Romans 1:19)

Why are so many people so dead-set (pun intended) on making this a matter of choice? Would you choose to end what you see here?

Click here <-- to look.
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Exterminate 25 Million U.S. Capitalists?

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Here's a pretty shocking video.

There's a direct line from this to Obama:

Weather Underground --> Bill Ayers --> Barack Obama

I used to think that Obama is just basically mis-informed. I gotta tell ya, I'm not so sure anymore. Everything this man touches and associates himself with is worse than I imagine.

Click here <-- to watch this video. But I've got to warn you: it may send chills down your spine.
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McCain Gets My Vote

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Here's an excellent, succinct article on why to vote for McCain

Click here <-- to read the article.
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Welfare and Church

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One of the themes that I have touched on a few times is the idea of encouraging less dependence on governement for meeting our needs. I have heard of and (I think) spoken about a "culture of dependency" that encourages and perpetuates a welfare, nanny state and how we should try to change that. As a firm conservative, I totally believe that government should play a minimal role in our lives and be constrained to basically providing social order and protection to allow the individuals within that society the freedom to pursue their dreams in a free market society. That's all well and good.

I've also said that the church is the one who rightfully ought to be the leader in looking after the poor, the church is the one who ought to provide most of the social needs of society. The church OUGHT to be doing these things. That's all well and good also.

But I've been challenged by some wonderful people lately. I've been asked, "But what if the Church falls down on the job? What if they don't come through?" I've heard heart-breaking stories of Christians who have reached out to the church in their time of need, only to hear a deafening silence. What then?

Frankly, I'm starting to think that if the Church is not performing the functions as it should, it's only natural that the government would step in and fill that role. My view of government would definitely support that, as I believe government bureaurcracy has a natural tendency to expand it's scope and powers. If the church is falling down on the job, I can no longer just completely blame the government for providing all these social services. It seems to me that the church must accept at least part of the responsibility for this as well.

As such, I am examining myself along these lines and I want to call all Christians to do the same. Are we stepping out to help those who are in need? What might God be calling you and your church to be doing in this area?

If needy people get re-buffed by the church, what are they to do? At that point, I really don't blame them for turning to the government to help them in their time of need.
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Is Obama an American Citizen?

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You decide.

Click here <-- to read the charge.
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Is the Obama Campaign Deliberately Accepting Bad Donations?

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This is a very eye-opening article. You be the judge - is Obama doing this on purpose?

Click here <-- to read the article.
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Presidential Election Process

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Ok, I must admit that I've always been a little confused on how a president is actually elected. I knew there was something about the electoral college, but it's always been a little fuzzy to me.

This is the best explanation of the process I've seen so far. It's really clear and makes sense.

Enjoy!

Click Here <-- to watch the video.
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Obama and Palin

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This is 3 short interviews with Obama supporters who also seem to support Sarah Palin as his vice-president. Make you wonder if people support Obama for rational, reasonable reasons or if it's just because he's Obama.

Click here <-- to listen to the audio.
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Obama and Rocky IV

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As a huge Rocky fan and also a conservative opposed to Obama, I just had to post this! :-)

It seems pretty light-hearted, but also pointed in what is said.

Click here <-- to watch the video.
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Obama and Marx

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"I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." - Barack Obama

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." - Karl Marx
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Capitalism vs. Socialism

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When I say "Capitalism," what do you think of?

Do you think of negative things? Do you think of greedy CEOs? Low-wage workers with no rights or benefits? Wal-Mart? Big Oil? Other?

Or do you think of positive things? Do you think of free markets, opportunity, the American Dream, the ability to move up the socio-economic ladder? Other?

What about when I say "Socialism?" What do you think of?

Do you think of negative things? Do you think of Communism, Hitler, Stalin, re-distribution of wealth, economic slow-downs? Other?

Or do you think of positive things? Do you think of caring for the little guy, fairness, equality? Other?

I'm wondering if a lot of our disagreements comes from a focus on the negative aspects of one and the positive aspects of another or vice-versa?

I'm one who tends to see the positive aspects of Capitalism, to see it's potential and one who tends to see the negative aspects of Socialism, to see other examples where it was really destructive.

I don't doubt that both Capitalism and Socialism are imperfect. They are both human institutions run by fallen human beings, so will by definition be imperfect. The question, then, is which one is better? I tend to think that Capitalism is 90% good while Socialism is 10% good (if that). To me, it's not even close.

Is there an objective way to measure these two systems on their rightness or goodness? How does one determine that?

If anyone has any information on that type of thing, I would love to see it!
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An Extensive Argument Against Obama

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This is a pretty big article with lots of video footage. They are up front in that they say that they are coming from the conservative point of view, which I thought was good of them to do. They then go through and list several areas and give reasons for doubt about Obama and have lots of video to go with it. Pretty effective, I thought (but I would, wouldn't I? :-))

Click here <--to go to the article
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Debating Politics with Christians

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As I mentioned earlier, I have been engaged in conversations about politics with others who hold a different perspective than I do. Most (if not all) of those people were also Christians. I must say that through it all, I have been very impressed. In the back and forth, a very unique thing has bubbled up to the surface – Christian charity to one another. I have said some ignorant things, made assumptions about others, put them into pigeon holes, etc. Others have said things that I strongly disagree with. In the midst of all of that, though, I have had the pleasure to be witness to encouragement, building up, gentle rebukes (much less harsh than deserved), and an underlying unity that belies the vigorous debate at the political level. I have seen an amazing compassion expressed, love for one another, God, and our neighbor, and an incredible concern for others. I have seen an openness and willingness to struggle and strain toward a greater understanding of the truth.

I think that we all bring God’s spirit into the discussion that helps to infuse the conversation with grace, graciousness, and mercy. It has been an honor and a privilege to do so and I hope to continue to do so. It has been a witness to me and an encouragement to me.

Sometimes, I’m afraid that our political differences will become the most important thing and there will be no fellowship after the debate. However, I have seen a much deeper and stronger force beneath the debate – Christ Himself coming through. I am greatly heartened by that.

Of course, I still feel that I am absolutely correct on every single issue (tongue firmly in check)! :-) Seriously, I do still feel strongly about my opinions and I think it’s natural to some extent for people to think that the opinions they hold are the correct ones. From that, I will, of course, want to continue to debate and try to convince people to be come to what I believe are the right ideas on things. However, I pray that I will also be open and willing to honestly examine areas where other people also challenge me. And I will do my best to do so in a gracious and generous manner, not being judgmental or condescending.

I must confess that an honest gut-level assessment of how I generally feel about others who don’t agree with me is that they are either deceived or just missing some facts. To me, my opinions and beliefs are very consistent, make sense, and seem to agree with biblical principals. So, my first reaction when others don’t agree is to be astonished – “How can they possibly think that?” I’m beginning to see how judgmental and condescending that can be.

But I struggle as well. Being firmly convinced that 1) there is an absolute truth and 2) that truth can be applied to every area of life (including politics), it’s very difficult to simply be content with others just having a different perspective and let that be. My instinct is to want to convince them that I am right. In our post-modern culture where everyone has their own truth, it’s especially hazardous to work under these assumptions. But I am becoming more aware of these assumptions and wrestling with how to deal with them. I am definitely still on a journey with all of this and I beg your patience as I struggle with how to hold in one hand my strong opinions that I believe are right, with a respect and openness to what others say in the other hand. I’m pretty sure that in my humanness, I will drop one or the other of these many times to come. If I focus too strongly on banging away on getting my point made, I may fall into the trap of being judgmental, harsh, condescending, etc. If I focus too strongly on being respectful and listening to others, I may fail to challenge or make any sort of difference. I don’t want either one of those. I DO want to make a difference and challenge others. But I also want to do it in a gracious, open way, knowing that for every finger pointed outward, there are four fingers pointed at myself.

Given this context and feeling a stronger trust in God’s Spirit of unity among believers, I say, “Let the debate commence!”
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Re: My Attempt to Get into the Mind...

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To all impacted readers,

First of all, I want to thank everyone who responded to this post. I've definitely learned a lot and I hope that I can add more productively to the conversation in the future.


Before I do that, however, I must first apologize. In my haste and enthusiasm, I made two critical errors: 1) How I said what I said could have been a lot more sensitive. I was not thinking through how it would come across - I was just intensely focused on WHAT I was trying to say, and HOW I said things was secondary. That was not right and I'm sorry to anyone who was hurt by that. Like I said up above, I'm learning and I hope to constructively add to the conversation in the future. 2) How I distributed the blog to others was inappropriate and hurtful as well. Again, I just didn't think through the implications and how it might feel to others. For anyone who was offended by that, I apologize. It was rash, ignorant, and insenstive.


In the end, I think that I should have titled that blog something more like, "A look into my heart" because it showed much more about myself than any "liberal Christian."


If anyone needs a more personal discussion about this, please feel free to e-mail me at the address in my profile.

I've got a lot of thinking and reading to do, so I may not post again for several days.

Sincerely,
Stew
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My Attempt to Get into the Mind of the Liberal Christian

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I must give a disclaimer up front: The following post is an honest attempt to analyze why my beliefs are different than others. I've tried not to be explosive, but the topic itself may end up stirring up very strong reactions. I welcome your comments and e-mails on this. Please point out where I've made errors. I'm honestly just trying to understand.

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I've had a really interesting experience these last few weeks.

As I've become more active and outspoken in my political stances, I've run into and had several conversations with people who hold a different opinion than me on politics. The interesting thing is, is that most of those people were also committed Christians. Some I know personally, some I do not know personally. But I'm pretty sure that most of them are sincere, committed Christians who love the Lord and really want to live a good life.

On the surface, you might think that our opinions of politics would be similar. Politics touches on many things moral, so wouldn't you expect that people of the same faith would also hold similar stances politically? And yet, in debating politics with other Christians, I'm finding some of us at totally different ends of the spectrum and very passionate about our stances. Why is that?

As I mentioned earlier, I don't believe that politics is morally neutral. It's not like Christians who disagree on the color of lenoleum tile or something. To my way of thinking, there must be something deeper going on that's different. We're seeing the same news stories, the same debates, the same events and yet coming to completely different conclusions. It's like we have different colored glasses that we're looking through and everything we see is through those glasses. And of course, I believe that my viewpoint is the correct way to see things and they believe there's is correct also.

What is that lense that we're looking through? What kind of assumptions, presuppositions, and foundational beliefs do we hold that are different that cause us to lean one way or another?

It seems to me that until we can see that there are radical differences, even among the body of Christ, on these foundational issues, we will continue to see the increasing divide in our country that we are witnessing. And arguing the issues doesn't seem to do anything to bridge that divide.

I submit to you that one group of people are falling prey to some very unbiblical lies and those lies are informing their political beliefs and decisions.

One such lie is liberalism.

I'm not an expert, but let me see if I can trace this out. From what I've read, liberalism began back in the nineteenth century. It was then that the influences of humanism in the form of the Enlightenment and rationalistic thinking really began to influence the church.

Francis Schaeffer says this in How Should We Then Live?: "As the Renaissance had tried to synthesize Aristotle and Christianity and then Plato and Christianity these men [theologians] were attempting to synthesize the rationalism of the Enlightenment and Christianity. This attempt has often been called religious liberalism. The rationalistic theological liberalism of the nineteeth century was embarrassed by and denied the supernatural."

R.C. Sproul Jr, in Dollar Signs of the Times picks up the theme. He says that "nineteeth-century liberalism provoked a crisis by opting for materialism. If, as the liberals supposed, there was no historical resurrection, no virgin birth, no atoning death, no miracles, then what was the abiding significance of Christianity in a modern world? What was the church's mission?" He goes on to describe two options for the liberal church. One was the total rejection of Christianity altogether. Or, "the liberal church's second option was to focus attention on the relevant, abiding virture of Christianity - it's ethical system. After all, the church was a powerful human institution in a position to influence millions of people in the area of social concern....What emerged was a social gospel reducing Christianity to a concern for man's present suffering in this space/time world. Now the agenda was to carry out Jesus' mandate of feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless and clothes to the naked, and caring for the prisoner, the widow, the orphan, and all who were poor and oppressed. Christianity was now seen as an ethical force with a social action agenda."

I'm not saying that liberal Christians today would deny the supernatural or miracles. However, I believe that they have been influenced by the thinking that produced an over-emphasis on a social agenda.

I'm not exactly sure how this works it's way in, but I believe that another outgrowth of humanism in the church is the idea that man, not God, is the ultimate answer to problems. Somehow, government became a substitute for the Church in implementing this social agenda. I'm sure there's dynamics here I'm not aware of, but what I'm now seeing are liberal Christians with a strong emphasis on social concerns believing that the government is ultimately the source and vehicle to solve these problems.

Naturally then, which party and which system of thought would these liberal Christians believe to be the best? The party that has the most aggressive programs to fight the "war on poverty", the party that purports to look out for the little guy: the Democrat Party.

And what about conservatives and Republicans? With the class warfare line of thinking constantly touted, Republicans and conservatives are seen as people who really do hate the poor, the down-trodden and just want to give tax breaks to the rich. They just want to pollute the Earth, surpress the poor, discriminate. They are the ultimate enemies of the compassionate liberals and their social agenda.

But it's all predicated on very unbiblical thinking. The tricky thing is that this thinking is perpetuated over generations so that those today are merely influenced vaguely by those ideas without the ideas ever really being expressed out in the open. I don't doubt that many sincere, ardent liberal Christians would of course give ascent to miracles, the supernatural, etc. They would undoubtedly say that humanism in its purest form is wrong and unbiblical. But the very beliefs of humanism and materialism is what has influenced the modern liberal thinking. It's just that these things are buried too deeply to be noticed and all that is left is a compassion for the poor and social justice.

To me, conservatism is a return to the way things ought to be. When you reject materialism, you believe in miracles. When you reject humanism, you believe that God, not man, is the center of the universe. What you have, then, is a belief that God is the ultimate source of all our solutions and that He is able to work miraculously to accomplish that.

How do those beliefs translate into politics? For one, you don't believe the government to be the one responsible for or able to solve our problems. God, through His church, becomes the primary vehicle by which our society's problems are solved. Second, you have a healthy balance of spiritual and material emphasis. Our highest aim is NOT, in fact, to end poverty in the world. Our aim is to reflect God's Kingdom here. That is done through an emphasis on human dignity, freedom, and life. To conservatives, welfare strips man of his dignity, government impositions strips man of his freedoms, and tyranny strips man of his very life. To conservatives, government has a necessary, but limited role to play. And that role is NOT to end poverty or clean up the environment. The government is to provide order and protection to society and then get out of the way to let society proceed to work on solving these problems.

Why are liberals so threatened by conservatives? Because conservatives want to limit and shrink the influence of the ultimate source of salvation for liberals: the government.

Liberalism basically denies God and liberal Christians are influenced by that denial. It follows, then, that liberal Christians, if they are sincere in their faith in God, must seriously and soberly consider their fundamental beliefs and see if there is that denial of God in their pattern of thinking.
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Candidate Calculator

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A friend let me know about this. It's pretty cool, especially if you're not sure on where you stand on some issues.

Candidate Calculator <--click here

h/t: On This Road Called Life
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Something on the Lighter Side

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I've been personally feeling pretty strung out emotionally about this campaign. I've found these types of funny breaks to be really helpful to me. Hope you enjoy it!

Click here <-- Very funny video
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Value Voter Guide

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This link is a PDF that describes how each voter stands on the key issues of values. Please take a few minutes to look at this and then vote your conscience.

Click Here <-- to download the Value Voter Guide.
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McCain is One Funny Guy!

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If McCain would just give this speech everywhere he goes, he might have a chance!

McCain Speech <--click here to watch the video. It's in two parts, and it's definitely worth seeing the second part as well.
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Power Lunch and Politics

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So, I was at work and had to go to sort of an impromtu lunch with a bunch of Senior Management folks. Although the lunch as a whole was pretty good, there was one part that really made me laugh. It reminded me pretty strongly of my thoughts on Politics and Religion (here).

There were 8 of us all sitting around a round table that was meant for six, so we were all very close to one another. All these people have known each other for quite some time. They were in a pretty spunky mood and the cuts and jabs were flying fast and furious. It was one of those conversations where I personally had a hard time following all the inside jokes that were going on. There was a lot of jabs, parries, back and forth, etc.

Then the really interesting part came when one Sr. Manager said: "Ok, next topic. What do you think about Obama and McCain. George, we'll start with you."

What was interesting about this was that in the midst of this conversation, that question wasn't even meant to be answered. It was strictly used to make George feel awkward and put him in a position and watch him squirm.

I just find it incredibly interesting that Politics has become so awkward and so taboo to talk about seriously in public, that the topic itself is used as a tool for social shame. I'm sure all these people think about it and have an opinion, but it's just not something that is discussed seriously.

Is it just me, or is that not a good thing? Why is it that Politics has become so taboo that it absolutely cannot be talked about, except in special circumstances?

I think that's just a shame. And if it's so taboo, doesn't it feed into people's desire to just totally dis-engage with politics? Wouldn't our country be a better place if more people engaged with politics? If we seriously cared enough about it to be able to talk about it, wouldn't that raise the general level of awareness and informness of people? That can only be a good thing.

It's just so sad to me that politics is so divisive and so taboo. I think it just plays into the hands of those who want to manipulate the system and hope nobody notices.

I, for one, want to try to change that.
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I Missed the Debate

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I had a church meeting this evening, so I missed the debate.

Anyone want to comment on what they thought? My first source I go to is Nationalreview.com, but they're site is hit pretty hard with traffic during these debates and I currently can't get in.
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The Assumption of Safety and Freedom

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So I went out walking the precinct again for my congressman in the 6th district. As I'm going from house to house and talking to people, I find myself struck with something that's sort of simple, but pretty amazing to me.

It's amazing to me just how many people are NOT aware of what's going on with their elected officials.

I mean, in almost any other situation, don't we care who is our leader?

When you get a new boss at your work, don't you want to know what he's like? Is he mean? Or is he nice? Will I be able to work with him? Or will he be a jerk? What about when you start a new semester at school? Isn't there always an intense chatter before the first day of school about the new professors? What's he like? Will he be easy? Does he assign essays, or just give multiple choice tests? Can I skip class, or will he be tight with the attendance?

We CARE about who's in charge. We want to know what they're like. We deeply and immediately feel the connection with us and how we'll be impacted.

Why, then, do more people not care and are totally uninformed about their elected officials? At some level, I can understand people not knowing who their representative is and what he's about. But shouldn't we care? Shouldn't we stay informed and keep tabs on what's going on? During my walk, there were even some people who were amazingly uninformed about the Presidential race.

What's going on here?

I think I have at least a partial answer. Many of these people were just totally engrossed in their own lives. They were so busy when I talked to them that they barely had time to talk to me. They were on the phone. They were getting their kids ready for a game. They were mowing their lawn or doing laundry. Those are all fine and good. But many of these people were also totally ignorant of the political issues.

Underneath all of these daily goings-on is a fundamental assumption of freedom and safety. I mean, we've always been free. Our neighborhoods have always been basically a safe place to be and we can just live our lives without worrying about anything. Why should we question that?

So, what happens is that our leaders get elected, but nobody pays attention to them. They can then basically get away with anything. Nobody's watching them. Well, there's some clever people out there who realize this and will use that to their advantage. They are not very scrupulous and are without the Moral Restraint and want to get into office for their own power. Okay. But take it a step further.

There's also those who, at heart, hate America. They hate what America stands for and they want to change it. In the past, they have tried to use direct actions (protests, bombings, etc.) to accomplish their goals, but people push back. Now, they are a lot smarter. These anti-American people are running for office as normal, moderate people and getting elected. Once elected, they know that the vast majority of people won't really pay attention and they can then get to work to enact their anti-American agenda. If that goes on long enough, judges will be able to legislate from the bench. (Oh, wait, they already can.) Pretty soon, you'll see unelected officials making bald power grabs (Oh, wait, the Treasury Secretary already did that). Maybe they'll try to socialize our banking systems (Oh, wait...). Maybe they'll try to nationalize our health care system...Maybe they'll try to appease our enemies...Maybe they'll allow a mass amnesty for illegal aliens...Maybe they'll try to...what's next???

People, WE'VE GOT TO WAKE UP! When are we, as a nation, going to wake up and realize that we, the people of the United States of American must each and every one of us do our part to protect our freedoms and our basic safety?!?! The time for assuming that they will always be there is past. We must stand up and take notice and hold our elected officials accountable. Just as a soldier's duty is to protect our nation, so is our duty.

If we fail in this duty, our elected officials will grab so much power our head will swim (if we're even paying attention) and this country will change and we won't even know what hit us.

I don't care (at this level at least) whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent. Get out there. Get involved. Get informed. Make a difference.

If we don't, our freedoms and basic safety we've always taken for granted may not be there anymore. And when that happens, God help us all.
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Blogging Friends

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I just wanted to take a moment to direct you to some excellent information. I obviously am limited by my own resources and experiences, so it's always good to take a look at what others are saying also. I am cross-linked with several of the blogs listed on the left side of this page and I highly recommend you visit those sites as well. I get much of my own information from there; they definitely inform and enlighten. Please take a moment to visit them.

As the old JI Joe cartoon goes, "Knowing is half the battle."
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Obama's Friends

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A friend e-mailed this to me.

Obama's Friends.

Again, I ask, who is this man, Barack Obama? Why should we trust him with the highest office in the country?
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A Voice in the Chatter

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I know I've been doing a lot of posting of links, videos, articles, etc. One might think that it's just a cop-out and I don't have an original thought of my own. Perhaps.

But here's my thinking.

I do have a lot of opinions and things to discuss. But when I find someone else expressing those thoughts better than I could, I'm not going to hide it just because it didn't come from me. I'm more interested in the ideas getting communicated than in who is actually doing the communicating. If my role is to pass on what others have said better than I could, so be it. The main thing is that conservative priniciples and ideas are amplified and expressed, not who is doing it.

What's important is WHAT is being said, not WHO says it.
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Don't Give Up on a November Victory

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An encouraging article for conservatives. Don't give up! Keep the faith!
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More on ACORN, CRA, Obama, Fannie/Freddie, Sub-prime, etc...

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Oh, what tangled webs we weave! It's absolutely amazing how all of this ties together with each other.

Click here <-- This video puts more pieces together of all this stuff. And who's right smack dab in the middle of all of this...?

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!
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A Socialist Takeover of America

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Well, the emotions are really starting to heat up out there...

Click here <--to see a sense of how fearful and angry conservatives are when it comes to Obama.
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"Health Insurance is a Right" - Barack H. Obama

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And with that quote, Obama demonstrates one of the many reasons this country is having so many problems.

When you create, foster, and encourage a mentality that says that things are a "right" and the government owes me, you create all sorts of problems. Look at welfare. What you have is a system that was originally intended to be a safety net to help those who are in trouble twisted and manipulated into something that enables people to sponge off of the government for their living. They grow to depend on these monthly checks and lose all incentive to try to find work or gain independence.

If Health Insurance is a right, it will be mandated by the government. If it's mandated by the government, you and I will have to pay taxes into the system to ensure that everyone in the country receives this "right."

Do we really want a country that believes that more and more things are "rights"? People get really demanding when they feel their rights are violated. If more things becomes rights, more people will get more demanding. And Mr. Joe Taxpayer is going to have to foot the bill, as always. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Whatever happened to being thankful for what we have instead of whining and complaining about what we don't have? Whatever happened to turning to our neighbors, our friends, our families, our local network of support to help us achieve our goals? Must the government provide us with everything?

When the country thinks the goverment "owes" us stuff, we are abdicating our responsibility and giving all the power to the government.

Remember, whatever the government has the power to give us, it has the power to take away.
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CNN Report Details the Obama-Ayers Connection

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This is a report completely done by CNN, especially for those of you who may be suspicious of the "conservative media." It talks at depth about who William Ayers is and his connection to Obama.

Keep in mind that Ayers has never - to this very day - said that he was sorry for bombing the Pentagon. In fact, he said that he wishes he did more.

This is the type of people that Obama chooses to associate himself with.

Do you feel safe knowing that he might be our next President? I don't.

CNN Video <-- click here for video.
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Is there a Difference between Republicans and Democrats?

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I was having a really interesting conversation with some friends and we were discussing politics and all the corruption in politics. It came up that there always seems to be plenty of blame to go around and it's always Republicans blaming the Democrats for everything and the Democrats blaming the Republicans for everything. As often happens, the conversation ends up saying that both parties are bad and isn't it a shame. It got me thinking and it actually strikes me as a form of Fashionable Cynicism. It's so easy to just let go of distinctions and say that everyone is bad and why don't we just form a 3rd party where everything will be hunky-dory?

It seems to me that the more difficult work is taking the time to actually determine if there is, in fact, a qualitative difference between the two parties. I'm not an expert or a historian, but it seems to me that there REALLY IS a qualitative difference. From my layman's perspective, it seems that whenever there is a Republican scandal, the person is always impugned by not only the media and Democrats, but his own party talks tough about it and he/she eventually quits/leaves office, whatever. It also seems to me that whenever there is a Democratic scandal, it's covered up or minimized in the press, and their fellow Democrats "circle the wagons" and defend it and try to shift the blame elsewhere. That person fights to stay in power as long as possible. That seems like a qualitative difference to me.

Another qualitative difference in the parties is some of the issues they stand for. It's more often than not the Democrat party that defends the criminal, defends the terrorist, but pushes for a woman's right to choose to kill her baby. It's the Democrat party that declares the Iraq war a defeat, accuses the military of blatanly killing civilians, threatens to withdraw funding for the troops in the middle of war, wants to talk to our enemies on a presidential level, pushes higher taxes and more spending. These are all issues that stem from a fundamental difference in worldview on what is right and what is wrong.

I know that the Republicans are not perfect. There is a distinct segment of the Republican party, of which McCain is a part, that is "moderate" and, frankly, shares many of the values with the Democratic party. That definitely muddies the waters when trying to look at the two parties.

However, I DO believe that there is a qualitative difference between the two parties. The Republican party is more on the conservative side of the spectrum and the Democrat party is more on the liberal side of the spectrum. The Republican party tends to favor the free market system; the Democrat party tends to favor more government involvement.

Yes, it takes a little bit of work to not just throw up your hands and declare the whole system corrupt. But I think if you do that work, you will find there is a big difference between the parties.

My biggest plea is to not check out and give up. Stay in there and figure out what you believe and figure out what others believe. Stay involved. If you do, you're choice will become clear.
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A Refreshing Defense of Conservatism

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Check out this video.

I find it a refreshing, encouraging defense of conservatism.

Click here <-- To watch the video
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Obama, Ayers, and Weathermen

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This is an incredible video that gives some background about the Weathermen underground and then Obama's links to people in that group. Again, please, please think very, very carefully before deciding to cast your vote for Obama.

This is about your personal safety and our national security.

Obama, Ayers, and Weatherman <--click link to view video
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Is Obama an Existential Threat to the USA?

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I know that may sound kind of alarminst, but I was thinking about this and just had to verbalize the question:

"Is Obama an existential threat to the USA? If Obama becomes President, will that threaten the existence of America?"

Consider the following:
- Attended the church of Jeremiah Wright for 20 some-odd years. Jeremiah Wright, who made famous the quote "God damn America."
- Friends and co-worker with William Ayers. William Ayers is co-founder of Weathermen, a domestic terrorist organization. Obama calles Ayers "respectable," "mainstream," and "just another guy in the neighborhood."
- Accepted more contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than anyone except for Chris Dodd. Accepted these contributions in little over 3 years, whereas Chris Dodd took 20 years to accept more contributions. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are arguably part of the main reason for our current economic crisis.
- Former CEOs of Fannie Mae, Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines are advisors to Obama.
- Former member of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a law firm that sued banks to pressure them to give sub-prime loans.
- Member of ACORN, a community organizing group that consistently practices voter fraud and "direct action" activities such as storming board meetings of banks to pressure them to give sub-prime loans.
- Received campaign contributions and participated in questionable financing deal with convicted felon, Tony Rezko.
- Voted to cut off funds to troops.
- Voted 4 times to not allow medical help to infants who survice abortions.
- Endorsed by Hamas.
- Willing to sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without pre-conditions, but is unwilling to appear on Fox. (UPDATE: I forgot about the appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show. Thanks Dawn!)

These are just the things that I know of. I'm relatively well informed, but by no means an expert. These are just the things I could think of off the top of my head. I'm guessing there is more out there that I am not aware of.

Obama has demonstrated a willingness to associate himself with people who are clearly enemies of the United States. He demonstrates a threat to America on an economic level, a philosphical level, a military level, a social level, and a cultural level. It seems that in every measure, the man just wants to harm the United States.

Imagine if he gets elected and the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are in charge of congress. With the only opposition from a minority in congress, he will be able to implement much of his radical, left-wing, downright dangerous agenda. That, too me, constitutes an existential threat to America.

One of the coolest things I've seen in a while...

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This is really cool. And inspirational.
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A Very Simple Question

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I've been thinking about a very simple question (again)...

When the chips are down, who do you trust?

This country was founded on the principles of religious freedom, private property, a democratic and free society.

And yet...

In times of crisis we turn to the government to "bail" us out. Every time there is a crisis in this country, we now instinctively turn to the government to rescue us. Does a larger, more powerful federal government represent the principles of the founding fathers? I think not.

For the sake of preventing bad things from happening, we sacrifice the principles on which this country was founded. We sacrifice the democratic process and freedoms in society "for the greater good."

Do we believe in our founding principles or not?

If they are such great principles, shouldn't they be depended on in bad times as well as good? Or are they only worth believing on when things are going well? Those principles that this country was founded upon were a reaction to the results of the very things we are now turning to. There was religious persecution, so we wanted freedom of religion. The king was the law of the land, so we wanted a land ruled by ordinary citizens. There were serfdoms and multitudes in servitude, so we wanted a free land. All these things are good.

But now, we are restraining religion more all the time. We are actually contemplating in our current financial situation to hand the responsibility of "securing the economic security" of our country to one man - the treasury secretary. We are taking the power away from the everyday person and giving more of it to the federal government.

Are we so ignorant to think that we will forever be safe from the abuses that are so clearly on display? Do we really think that government will ever shrink from what it's already taken? Do we think that the abject manipulation of every system in this country will not consolidate power to the point of someday being able to re-organize the very structures of this country?

I, for one, do not want to place my trust in the federal government to take care of us to that extent - government led by corrupt individuals is fundamentally untrustworty.