Monday, November 3, 2008

Obama Bad for Traditional Marriage

Marriage is a huge issue for me and should be for any God fearing person. I found this link that with legalization of marriage and what's at stake. If you make marriage between a man and a man or a woman, or a woman and a woman or a man, then you have legal precedence to teaching this in schools. When you have it taught you have parents rights trampled on and children can be indoctrinated. Here is one case of where this happened in Massechusets. This is exactly what I am talking about with Obama's solutions of comprehensive sex education (which reducing abortion is supposed to be a side affect, if you believe that).

I also I believe that we need a Marriage Amendment to the Constitution (federal and states), so that judges can't overrule the will of the people. Obama doesn't support this at either level. California can amend their Constitution with this prop 8 that is on their ballot. McCain supports the Defense of Marriage Act which is a good law federally uphold marriage between a man and a woman, and supported by Clinton and an overwhelming majority of congress back in '96. Obama said he would repeal this law.

My views of marriage are from God's Word, the Bible, which shows that marriage was God's intent for most men and women, and only between men and women. It was good and is still good, and it's been part of civilization growth and sustainability since the beginning. My main goal is to live for God and I want to see people and the overall culture more God fearing, for everyone's benefit, personally, nationally, and internationally. Homosexuality has been a sin according to the Bible in ancient Israel, in Jesus's times, and is still a sin today. Why would our states, or government, say that marriage is between a homosexuals? They have political pressure and do not fear God. The will of the people has been to not allow this, but courts overturn the will of the people, even though there is nothing in the Constitution protecting Gay marriage. In our democracy, we should make things better for our children, not worse. We want a better world, and marriage does matter.

FYI: Conclusions from Why Marriage Matters, Second Edition: Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences:

  1. Marriage is an important social good, associated with an impressively broad array of positive outcomes for children and adults alike.
  2. Marriage is an important public good, associated with a range of economic, health, educational, and safety benefits that help local, state, and federal governments serve the common good.
  3. The benefits of marriage extend to poor and minority communities, despite the fact that marriage is particularly fragile in these communities.


5 Reasons Why Barack Obama Shouldn't be President

1. He wants to repeal all abortion laws.
2. He wants to repeal laws protecting marriage between one man and one woman.
3. Parental rights are supplanted by the government. Click on the previous link for an example.
4. Freedom of speech will be reduced. Religious (hate speech laws to speak against homosexuality) and political (reinstatement of the the Fairness Doctrine).
5. "Goodbye, diligence against state sponsored terrorism from rogue governments like Iran, North Korea, and others."

If you are interested in more thoughts...

Economically he very Marxist, he wants to re-form the economy and make it more socialist, to "redistribute wealth" through taxation of the top 5% and apparently sending checks to the lower-income, 40% of Americans. This is not what he says but then he's really bad at math and no one on his campaign dares to correct him? 95% of American's get a tax cut, but 40% of American's pay no Federal Income Tax.

Obama's has a lot of bad characteristics:
1. I believe he has used demagoguery
2. Seeks international consensus... empowers international body, the UN...
3. believes in his own ability to change things to create peace vs. the others
4. provides false hope, we can't continue to increase government spending and programs
5. from my sources, he repeatably uses lies and distortions along with his VP candidate, without any recourse from the main stream media (of course, I can put together something for this if asked)
6. seems to allow himself to be idolized?! ("god for the godless" Rush Limbaugh)
7. associated with a former terrorists, an Anti-American, racist radical pastor, a convicted felon

Monday, October 20, 2008

Obama's Abortion Extremism

Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket. Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in America

read more | digg story

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Sarah Palin for VP

Don't know if you got to see Sarah Palin speak at the Republican National Convention last week but she did impress me and many. She did a lot for people like myself to get excited about the Republican ticket. I've heard a lot of people are excited now because McCain could have picked a pro-choice VP and a much less conservative VP. She's not running for president but she seems to be the future of the party and the Conservative movement (that includes Pro-life as a non-negotiable and the movement, I strongly believe, is the much better way to keep us free and safe than the alternative major candidate, Barack Obama). I know many with the fear of the Lord in the Conservative movement and that encourages and inspires me, as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10)

I thought that this video link (that I was just forwarded by a friend, the video was from the School of Ministry, Master’s Commission Wasilla Alaska from June of this year) was very interesting in regards to her faith...

"SARA PALIN VIDEO: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1766638341"

It's also on You Tube as well without the intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG1vPYbRB7k

Sarah was introduced by a leader from the Wasilla Assembly of God church:

  • Sarah Palin loves Jesus and puts Jesus Christ before her job as governor
  • Grew up in an Assembly of God Church where the pastor lead her to Christ where she was baptized when she was young (had a Christian family)
  • She loves her Husband and Children

She spoke as a Christian woman and said:

  • that what she can do for Alaska with helping providing funds for policemen, and some other government programs and services she mentioned, and said they don't do much good unless people hearts are right with God.
  • asked for prayers for the government work to be done (including coordinating the installation of a pipeline and the military efforts)
  • shared "a word" given to her for the students at the Masters "Ephesians 1:17". "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better."

I found a link from the church that she was a member since 2002 but no longer is a member and Wikipedia (click here for that Wikipedia link) says "Her current home church in Wasilla is The Wasilla Bible Church, an independent congregation" and "When she is in the capital, she attends Juneau Christian Center,[120] another Assemblies of God church." This Bible church believes in the "inspired, inerrant word of God." according to this Newsweek article.

There will no doubt be fall out over this video and her evangelical Christianity views (as we have seen before), she'll be questioned by the liberal media sources about her beliefs, where she may be tempted to say something to compromise her faith but she, as my sister in the faith, is in my prayers and has my support and I hope you will pray and support her too.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Ice Age Now!?

Wow, I just heard on the radio that we may be entering an ice age. In the last year we have seen 100 years of global warming wiped out according to the data from "All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) ". There is another article linked that says that global cooling is much worse than global warming. I wonder if Al Gore and the environmentalists will change their focus now and back off of carbon emission regulation. There is probably little we can do to protect ourselves by regulating industrialization to stop global cooling. The money used to heat the colder parts of the earth will no doubt require lots of money that could have been used to fight the supposed man-made global warming pollutant, CO2 (taxed and used for alternative energy subsidation development and transition from carbon based fuels).

Some points:

See this link.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

I just saw "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West", a documentary that shows evidence, expert opinions and many examples of the nature and the breeding of the incensed, hate-filled and murderous, false-religion inspired radicals. It tells why we have to take this threat most seriously (and most of our media is not at all, if you aren't yet aware). Our civilization (with all nations included, especially the Western nations) need to be prepared to fight this as it seems we are in some deep trouble considering the numbers that support militant Islam (up to 180 million people, note: 1.2 billion million are in Islam with 10 to 15% as an estimate). Note: there are many more than 180 million that are anti-American and anti-Israel. We could easily be facing something worse that Nazi Germany, a potentially greater threat than anything we have faced before.

Please check out this documentary if you haven't seen it yet. Interesting that it is posted on You Tube: Check it out on You Tube. You can check it the movie at this site (streaming to your PC for $5 or can be ordered) Link to the Obsession Web page with a trailer.


"Obsession is without exaggeration one of the most important films of our time. " Glenn Beck, CNN Headline News

Joel Surnow Executive Producer, 24
"Obsession is both scary and riveting! Each and every one of us should feel obligated to show Obsession to as many people as we can. Obsession should serve as a wake-up call to the free world to confront the threat now, before it is too late."

"Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2006 documentary movie about Islamist teachings and goals which uses extensive Arab and Iranian television footage. Obsession compares the threat of radical Islamism with that of Nazism before World War II, and observes the parallels between radical Islamists and the Nazi Party during the War, specifically Adolf Hitler's relationship with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as an inspiration for radical Islamic movements in the Middle East today.

The film features analysis by notable counter-terrorism figures such as Nonie Darwish (the daughter of a Fedayeen soldier), Alan M. Dershowitz, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel, Martin Gilbert, Caroline Glick, Alfons Heck, Glen Jenvey, John Loftus, Salim Mansur, Itamar Marcus, Khaleel Mohammed, Daniel Pipes, Tashbih Sayyed, Walid Shoebat, Khaled Abu Toameh, Robert Wistrich and interviews with Israeli officials and a former PLO operative." From Wikipedia under "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West"

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Relax! There are only 91 million jihadists!

A Jihadwatch take on the new poll released that shares some new and important data on Radical Islam numbers. This quoted media article raises some good points but doesn't take it far enough.

read more | digg story

The U.S. Economy is Unsustainable - Head of the U.S. (GAO)

David Walker is traveling the country to bring the message about the current unsustainable way of life. Called in D.C. "the dirty little secret that everybody knows". So what? We need to realize that we can't keep on spending like we have, personally and nationally. Personal debt is a huge problem but it's not nearly as bad as the government's spending problems. New government expenditure / programs won't solve this problem, or even taking all income and savings from the "rich" won't fix this problem. We have a deficit of immense proportions, and too much promised in social security and Medicare and other medical coverage programs, with the glitch of baby boomers, with rising medical costs, we have no solutions. David Walker said we will be bankrupt soon if we don't take immediate and incremental action over the next 20 years. This is a huge moral issue that will guarantee the destruction of this country as we know it for the next generations if we don't try to solve it soon. None of the political candidates are willing to communicate this. Puts a new light on Barack Obama and Hillary's plans to expand government entitlement programs (universal healthcare, etc.). Also how in the world can we have CO2 cap and regulation (basically forms of taxing and reducing production perhaps) not push us into bankruptcy faster (especially if we have to increase the cost of energy unilaterally).

read more | digg story

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Who Is “Fascist”?

The abuse and proper use of a political label. By Thomas Sowell in National Review Online where he shares about "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. Very important to understand how the liberals (or progressives) would "change" the country considering the roots of fascism which they largely come from. "Liberal Fascism" sounds like a timely and excellent book, written for the progressives. I have been learning about it from the author from my favorite sources, Glenn Beck, Medved, and Hewitt shows. Obama and Hillary would move us towards a system that is more socialist and in fact more like a fascist nation. Frightening to me. This movement must be exposed, based on history, and the book does this. Action, "door-to-door", is needed to share this information and open people's eyes before it's too late.

read more | digg story

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Global Warming - Revisited

If you have been following my blogging sites you will see that I am very concerned about global warming, most specifically related to the burning of burning fossil fuels (creating CO2). CO2 is now considered a pollutant by the supreme court and politicians are working on the regulation. It's now assumed that we can must control this gas and it's directly linked to the catastrophic warming of the earth. No doubt there are other things that would be regulated after CO2, if we still have the money, but this is the first. I have been very concerned that people are being misled by Al Gore and the rhetoric of other politicians, problematic or corrupt scientists, the left leaning main-stream media, the UN scientific body, and the nativity and ignorance of the uninformed.

Recently even I heard a Vineyard pastor teach that it's real and there is no debate, and we must be involve. I've heard in the last week or so that Al Gore was in a Baptist church teaching his Inconvenient Truth message with Bible verses included. Not only Al Gore and the radical environmentalists are moralizing and stirring up fear on this but recently President Bush and the Presidential candidates are making this a front and center issue, including leading Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain. President George W. Bush has reinforced the belief that man is behind climate change is trying to solve the problem and has a comprehensive plan in that I added up lots of money and boasted to spend at least $11.3 billion per year on it. Some of this was already is in place, but it's seems to go beyond what I would want my government and tax dollars to go for.

Note: President Bush's plan assumes we have to reduce CO2 by 18% within 10 years, keeping in step with the guidance from the Kyoto Protocol. There is a lot of research involved, funding committees and data gathering, asking (not forcing) businesses to participate, has a carbon credit system with trading, all while trying maintaining a growth economy. Glad he's trying to look out for our economy at least.

Do I agree with all this concern and special effort? No, it's not encouraging but is motivating for me to learn more and share what I know. What do I know that most people don't? I have a scientific background and have done research from various sources on the matter. I also have a concern for economic stewardship as well environmental stewardship, both as important before the creator and God. What if we are wrong, and we don't do anything to fix a problem that isn't real, and put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage in a global economy? We have huge economic problems with our national debt, national deficit, and the bankrupting of our government with our entitlement programs.

Note: however, I support a plan to get us off of foreign oil and I agree with energy independence for economic and national security reasons.

Here are some of my sources, that I would like to share:

Doesn't everyone say the debate is over? The debate is not over. It's just that one side says it is and refuses to debate. You want to get in on the other side (man-made CO2 isn't to blame) from degreed climate experts? Check out the You Tube post on "The Great Global Warming Swindle" documentary from the UK (this link is just the beginning of it). The documentary web site gives more information as well. It has scientists that present a contrary view based on climate science than the "accepted scientific truth" (or "scientific consensus"). In Australia on TV there was a debate over this film, and it shows more about the film from a critical perspective, and shows that there are scientists and researchers still willing to debate, contrary what you won't get from US TV or cable (other than from Glenn Beck). Here is a link to the debate.

Glenn Beck has been providing me lot's of my sources to understand this from the other side of the debate. I searched You Tube and founds some good ones:

1. "Exposed Climate of Fear" special by Glenn Beck.*
2. "Exposed Climate of Fear" conclusion in his special by Glenn Beck.
3. John Coleman, famous meatorologist, founder of the Weather Channel, on Glenn Beck tells how global warming is a scam. He says that is created by the scientists to make a living on pop science but they can't come to non-PC conclusion and hope for funding. The money is there if you supporting the party line. John did the research and found it's Bogus science. 19,000 signed a petition against Global Warming. In John Coleman's rant on the scam of it all he said: "The sky is not falling. And, natural cycles and drifts in climate are as much if not more responsible for any climate changes underway. I strongly believe that the next twenty years are equally as likely to see a cooling trend as they are to see a warming trend."

Sen Inhofe, former chair of the Congressional environmental committee, speaks this is very straight forward way, the politics about it and how it's the sun that's causing global warming. Also talked about him changing his mind from belief in man made global warming to not, when he understood the enormous tax burden on the American people, and he looked at the others side of the debate. See Sen. Inhofe talk about what he calls junk science and a religion (on You Tube).

More from John Coleman: "Is Global Warming Melting the Arctic Icecap?"
"The Arctic Ice melt media blitz in the late Summer of 2007 was a classic example of how the media and environmentalists are virtually promoting Global Warming with religious zealotry. When the predicted Global Warming enhanced hurricane season failed to materialize, they turned their attention to the North Pole. "

Huge Ross, the Christian physicist, saying slow down: "Global Warming -- How concerned do we really need to be?"

In conclusion, there is good reason to be skeptical of the man made CO2 global warming scare. I'm not into big government or global governance, which this belief would move us toward. I believe I shouldn't jump on potentially economically destructive and futile regulation bandwagon to "save the planet", and nor should you. Please spread the word, and encourage the debate, because our economy that we hand off to our children is at stake (not to mention the fate of popular science, accountability, and the truth). This is a moral issue considering how the economy is liked to our well being, freedom, and our children's welfare in the world. Poverty and debt, caused by the corrupt or ignorant, based on junk science.... that's just wrong.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Dangerous Demagoguery of Obama

Thomas Sowell draws parallels between Obama, Hitler, Lenin and Mao, pointing out that his mantra of "change" does not indicate what Obama plans for the US and the world. Is Obama asking for a "blank check in exchange for rhetoric"?

read more | digg story

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Selling Arm to Saudi - Must be Stopped Now

"Last month, the president announced his intention to sell Saudi Arabia some of our most sophisticated weapons. This is a bad idea, and you should let your representative know it right away... Congress has until this Thursday, February 14, to disapprove the sale."

read more | digg story

Thursday, February 7, 2008

AP: Evangelical leader endorses Huckabee

James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee's presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.

read more | digg story

Mike Huckabee "Responds" to Dobson: I Would Vote for McCain

Pro-lifer Mike Huckabee responds to Dr. James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh and others saying he would vote for possible Republican nominee John McCain over pro-abortion Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. "There's no way that a true conservative would vote for Hillary Clinton."

read more | digg story

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Hillary in ’08 -- Counting on the Catholic Vote

Hillary's biggest issue securing the Catholic Vote is her view of abortion according to Paul Kengor who wrote a spiritual biographies of Bush, Reagan and recently on Hillary called "God and Hillary Clinton". This article describes Hillary's views on abortion in a very eye-opening way including her encounter with Mother Teresa in 1994.

read more | digg story

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Barack Obama, More Concerns: Faith and Social Issues

Barack Obama comes across as being a moral and decent, even a spiritual, candidate (see my previous post). He uses his beliefs to motivate people, as talks about issues in terms of morality and rights, then how we should vote and empowering him to take action through the state. He uses terms like "hope" and "change" regularly with the understanding that he brings these things in the best possible form, among the lesser choices. Even though he no doubt brings hope to some, I have some sharps concerns concerning him, with his past and his affiliations. I believe that character is important and I am not aware of how this information is being openly discussed, so here are some points I want to address:

1. The Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act
2. His church
3. His pastor and spiritual advisor

1. An article by Jill Stenek on the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act showed how "Obama had been the sole senator speaking against Born Alive on the Senate floor in 2001 and 2002 and had single-handedly killed it in a committee he chaired in 2003". "In fact, Obama's position against Born Alive was what persuaded Keyes to run against him in the first place. It was also why Keyes famously alleged during their campaign that Jesus Christ would not vote for Barack Obama, a comment that apparently haunts Obama since he continues to write and speak about it."

He voted against this very basic bill with protects infants born alive. Now that this bill passes in 2005, infants are legally protected as living human beings and will be treated as such receiving medical care vs. being shelved to die, which has been happening apparently. Here is a list of 10 things he said about why he didn't support this bill at various time. This is very indicting of his character in my book. I want to protect human life and human rights of infants, and I see this candidate is as bad as you can get.

2. His church is Trinity United Church of Christ (UCC). The UCC is perhaps the most liberal of all the Christian denominations. They seem to take liberal stances on social issues which in fact contradict what the Bible has to say. How is this church liberal?
  • Proudly shares how it was the first church to ordain a openly gay minister in 1972.
  • Supports same sex marriage: "In July 2005, the 1.2-million-member UCC became the largest Christian denomination to support marriage equality, when the UCC's General Synod, meeting in Atlanta, endorsed a resolution calling for full equal marriage rights for same-gender couples. "
  • Their ONA movement encourages gay, lesbians, bi-sexuals as members, leaders, employees, etc.
  • Stands for partial birth abortion recently and stands for abortion right for 35 years.
  • I haven't done much more research because their Web site doesn't have things in black and white, there are lengthy articles or very little stated at all, leaves me to see them as a fluid movement, not wanting to be bound to the Bible as a fixed document, that can be clearly interpreted.

My view of scripture would not allow me to partner with this church in issues of reaching the lost, reforming the church, and greater culture. Does Barack believe all these things? I don't know, he seems to say or imply "no" personally, in some cases, but I doubt his genuineness beased on other things he has done or said. He maybe trying to play both sides, clearly. For example, Barack said he doesn't support gay marriage (but does support civil unions). Perhaps his local church isn't as liberal as others? So what about his local church?

Trinity's UCC is a different church that emphasizes the black people and African continent. It's rooted in it's Black liberation theology. Check out the About Us link to see it for yourself. The main pastor, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., was on Hannity and Colmes was questioned if his church is part of a black separatist movement. Wow, this is a revealing interview. Check out how he responds to the questioning. He was definitely angry and defensive. This pastor definitely has some "issues". Not saying he's a racist neccessarily, not sure, you be the judge, perhaps related to his liberation theology and political beliefs.

BTW: I agree with Hannity that we should be united in Christ and not having a singular race perspective. If you replace all the words "black or African" with "white" in the church Web site, you would have a serious, and rightly, an outcry of racism that is inherently not Christian.

Wikipedia talks about Black theology "As with all liberation theologies, black theology focuses on those who are perceived as oppressed and/or poor. Through its intentionally particular lens, black theology seeks to contribute to the liberation of black peoples.". So the question for Barack Obama should be, how does your church theology and teachings affect your understanding of leading various Americans? Black, White, Hispanic, etc., will you favor policies and legislation specially for the black Americans? How would this affect your relations with the African continent and African people? Perhaps there would be some positive impact with his concern for Africa, however, there are those in Africa that do hate America (Muslim Jihadists for example). Also the issue related to black sepratism should be asked, considering how Christianity is not so much focused on race, as his church is. Jesus wasn't such a political figure, as the Pope John Paul II said, however there may be nothing wrong with liberation theology if it's not taken too far.

3. His pastor - more on Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

The Washington Post reported that Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Obama's spiritual advisor, was involved with Trumpter Magazines award to the controversial, Farrakhan: "Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness.". The article goes on to say "For most Americans, though, Farrakhan epitomizes racism, particularly in the form of anti-Semitism. ", and "Over the years, he has compiled an awesome record of offensive statements, even denigrating the Holocaust by falsely attributing it to Jewish cooperation with Hitler -- "They helped him get the Third Reich on the road." His history is a rancid stew of lies.".

This article goes on about with the Rev. praise for Farrakhan: ""depth of analysis when it comes to the racial ills of this nation." He praised "his integrity and honesty." He called him "an unforgettable force, a catalyst for change and a religious leader who is sincere about his faith and his purpose."" This shows how this particular man has a large lack of discernment at best and at worse is really poor example of Christian leader, when it comes to racial reconciliation.

To Obama's credit he distanced himself from his pastor in regards to Farrakham, according to this post. So this issue is one that shows Obama can act independantly of his pastor but it still shows how Obama's relationship complicates Obama's candadacy for the president.




Monday, January 14, 2008

McCain for the Republican Nominee? Please No...

McCain seems to be the front runner now in the Republican race for the 2008 presidential candidate. While McCain has a good record on the war in Iraq, and may come across as good potential commander and chief, and even my he comes across as a great man, he seems to lacks the foundational guidance that would make him good on many other issues. I heard Michael Medved agree that he doesn't seem to have core values that other candidates have (conservatism, Judeo-Christian framework, etc.) and seems to be all over the place on things. Not everything McCain has done has been good but he's getting a lot of press, so what would give me pause voting for him in a primary?

1. Don't believe he is a trustworthy Social Conservative. Rick Sentorum a pro-life Christian Conservative Republican, who I heard on Hugh Hewitt's show recent, was in the Senate with McCain for 12 years and said that McCain behind closed doors argued against every social conservative issue because he wasn't comfortable voting on them. Publicly McCain never championed any social conservative issues. In fact McCain supported the bill (with Hillary and Obama) for Federally Funded Embryonic Stem Cell research that was ultimately vetoed by President Bush (I blogged on this in the past). This is inconsistent with his statements on his Web site. I don't believe his Web site because of that vote. Also of note, he has recently come out and said Row vs. Wade should be overturned. This is new for the 2008 election, can you trust his change in opinion and his ability to fight for the change?

2. McCain-Feingold Act. I am actually a bit outraged by this affront on the freedom of speech and first amendment rights. McCain stood clearly and vocally against the pro-lifers in Wisconsin. Affected not only big business but Right to Life advertisements and other grassroots lobbyists before an election, the making issue advertisements illegal 60 days before an general election and 30 days before a primary. WI Right to Life fought this and they got an exemption for grassroots lobbiest organization via Supreme Court 5-4. Now, despite McCain's work, pro-lifers wanted to be able to advertise on TV before the election about about the stances of a candidate, when it could actually make a difference! Here is a link to learn more: Supreme Court Slaps McCain-Feingold

3. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment twice (2004 and 2006). "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," Dobson said on the Jerry Johnson Live radio program, which is hosted by Criswell College's president. "... He's not in favor of traditional marriage, and I pray that we won't get stuck with him." McCain claims to for the states make the decision.

4. McCain believes in Man Made Global Warming and argues for federal legislation be done ("Cap and Trade" on corporations or consumptions taxation from what I've heard). He emphasis should be on more energy independence and not backing this liberal movement based on brute political force, distortions and fear, with the unproven scientific conjecture. Here is some of what he stands for.

BTW: The founder of the Weather Channel and meterologist, John Coleman has an 8 part set of articles on Man Made Global Warming, Global Warming is a Scam, or you can search my blogs for more on Global Warming, for example: Global Warming -- How concerned do we really need to be?

BTW: McCain also opposes drilled for oil Anwar AK as well and his solution, when I heard him on the radio today, didn't include Nuclear power.

5. His hateful angry outburst show he has some core problems with anger and self-control. Do you think he's the right guy when you read about all the times that he went off, swearing, on blistering personal attacks on other people? Sure, it's fun to watch this guy put people down sometimes but it's wrong, and not right for the president to be one of these people. See this article: McCain's Out-of-Control Anger: Does He Have the Temperament to Be President? by Ronald Kessler. He was really out of control in one of the debates, picking on Romney even... check out You Tube.

I will give him credit for being great on the war:
1. Inspired by him on his stand on the War in Iraq. See my blog.
2. He has some good ideas on his Web site that you can explore if you want (I only look briefly at heathcare and the issues I mentioned above): http://www.johnmccain.com/
3. Not sure how he is with taxes but I know he's good with spending. He fights pork barrel spending (claims to have never taken any pork for his state). He also voted against the presidents tax cuts (claimed that we needed spending cuts with that). I've heard that this is a problem with him but at least he's trying to protect the budget.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Who is Obama? Starting with Faith and Social Issues

I believe that Barack Obama is someone that we must learn about (no matter your political persuasion or affiliation) as he did very well in the IA Caucus and he is expected to do well in other Democrat primaries. If he wins in the primaries he will be the Democrat presidential candidate and he may capture the excitement of the press and people all the way to being the 44th president of the USA. What does he stand for? Here are some things that I found related to my time studying him (watching a remarkable speech on faith, "Call to Renewal", some of the Keyes - Obama debates in the 2004 IL Senate race on You Tube, and using his own Web site).

He is not ashamed to be associated as a progressive (what conservatives often call as liberals). He claims to be a Christian and even has a testimony of his conversion (see that speech on faith linked above) but is not a conservative Christian. He even has put down people like Pat Robertson or Alan Keyes publicly, as ones that misuse their faith to gain political power or points. Clearly he is a committed liberal Christian church-goer that doesn't preach the Gospel that I understand clearly based on his public emphesis, though he did say that Jesus died for our sins in his speech. He has a social justice emphasis, that is common in the African American church and in the Democrat party. He seems to also have a pluralistic view of all faiths as equal that encompasses all faiths in his dialog that makes me uncomfortable. His faith is connected to his lifestyle very much but it's different from mine.

Social Issues
He is pro-choice and supports homosexual civil rights (seems to be that homosexuals can have the same legal rights as married people without being married). He would support hate crimes legislation as well (which has been used to control religious free speech in other countries). I've heard him says that he doesn't support abortion and gay marriage based on personal reasons related to his faith, but his personal views do not impact his role of government beliefs. He claims that he won't use his faith to impose on others what to do. He said he wants to use common sense things that have appeal across all faiths, and believes that the Constitution mandates a separation of church and state. With that said, he said he wanted to not have separation when it comes to social issues, and wants to have more faith in the public sphere. He even sites Lincoln, Douglas, and others as examples of how personal faith related to morality should be used in the public sphere. With this point, he wants to get us all to engage in governmental solutions to social issues (like poverty, heathcare, education, family, jobs, etc.). I agree that these issues are important but disagree that creating a larger government bureaucracy that has proven to be infective and inefficient with tax payer money and programs (they can't manage a budget, social security, and even veterans' healthcare). A larger bureaucracy could easily tilt us into a economic downturn (that effects our way of life, children's way of live, and has side effects that affect our ability to be a great nation, including our national defense, and worldwide charity, and positive leadership for freedom).

He does seem to understand the importance of the family and having a mom and a dad in the home but doesn't say that religious faith and values are important to maintaining a family and then therefor solving all these social problems. He implyes that we all have responsibility to empower the government, but that seems dangerous to me. I wonder how much a secular government can help families without defending and supporting the basis of morality which is cultural supported Judeo-Christian ethics, without creating a secular nanny state... perhaps by appealing to the Judeo-Christian heritage of our Founding Fathers is the key (which is a conservative point of view). He seems to use the basis of common sense or is it natural law, which does have appeal to many. There is something that he understands about common sense that I agree Conservatives would work harder to appeal to vs. their religious text, that can divide.

Also of note: I heard him the debates in 2004 and in a speech in 2006 that he judged religious leaders and political figures as being wrong in their usage of faith in politics. These people he picked are conservative Christians (that I am one of) that believe in the Bible (in a non liberal way). I see how he has put down those who see homosexuality as a sin and aren't afraid to share that, as gay bashers or ones that are haters. This rhetoric is divisive, inappropriately spoken, and yes, I will say, morally objectionable, and thus will lead to further division for people of strong conservative faith and the progressives if he would become president.

Perhaps it's because of his world view that Homosexuality is innate (people were born that way) when asked (see Keyes-Obama debate link above), and is not a choice. Where did he learn this? This is a worldly beliefe that has no foundation in a Biblical worldview unless you are engaged in putting your own bias into the Bible or using a very liberal hermeneutic.

Do you see how he is inconsistent? Conservatives Christians exercise their faith in the public sphere with their voices and votes by being for traditional marriage and against special civil rights for something they believe the Bible speaks on as morally wrong, and more importantly are against abortion as a woman's choice (and also harvesting and destroying embryos). They have a high view of human life that comes from faith, with abortion being a subtle but real form of murder, as they believe that human life begins at conception. Barack can use his faith for social change on other issues but didn't respect others when they use there's. I hope he's dynamic enough to change on these things but I haven't found any evidence of that yet. I have real problems supporting Barack Obama based on these problems. I'm afraid that we may have well meaning people that vote based on his charisma vs. the substance of his positions, I hope you don't after learning more about him.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Huckabee Wins IA

It's estimated that Huckabee has won according to Fox News and CNN. He has a 9% edge over Romney with 93% of the precincts reporting. I did ended up caucusing for him but had to really think about it before I wrote the name on the piece of paper. My heart was with my word (online pledge made for Keyes) and wanted Keyes to win but I remembered why I was there that night, to defeat Romney and have Huckabee win (and Keyes had his other chances in the past). My particular precinct (18) had more votes for Romney by about 5 (which was disappointing) but perhaps this was because there was a much better speech for Romney by someone that was involved in the actual organization of the event. Huckabee didn't have anyone to speak for him at first but had a couple people speak up for him at the last minute. It was strange that Alan Keye's was not mentioned as a candidate so I'm not sure my vote would have even counted if I did vote for him, however, there was someone that was allowed to speak for him at the end (as all the other Republican candidates had people speak or could speak on their behalf).

Closing thoughts:

I think Huckabee could make a good president in the mold of Reagan in that he is an attractive and potentially unifying personality. I think he has significant moral fiber and I approve him so much more than any of the Democrat candidates. Just go to his Web and see his stand on the issues.

Obama won on the other side, so what does Huckabee offer over Obama? He's not from the GOP? He's more attractive to young people? The message of change resonates? Who is more for the the little guy? Huckabee said he wants change but change for the better. I agree that Huckebee offers a better plan. I also think Huckabee understands the little guy more so than many Repulican candidates which helps him against the Democrats that claim to be for them.

An hour away from the Iowa Caucuses

It's about an hour away from the Iowa Caucuses. I have my voter registration (registered as a Republican) with new IA driver's license. I am anxious and feeling the weight of the moment. It's tough to know what to do as I have recently pledged to endorse Alan Keyes, I have decided I don't want to see Mitt Romney win Iowa, and I have been very interested in Mike Huckabee. Also I consider myself a conservative and so don't want to ignore Hunter and Thompson as well, however, these fellas aren't as inspiring as leaders (so have no shot to win IMO).

Currently I'm leaning on voting against Mitt Romney and for Mike Huckabee because:
1. Mitt Romney has been involved with lying. I have heard this related to the beliefs of Mormonism. Saying that Mormons believe that Jesus will return in Israel when they really believe he will return in Missouri (Way of the Master Radio interviews an ex-Mormon about this). Implying that Mormonism believes in the same things that Christians do in regards to Jesus and salvation, which they do not. They believe that it's faith + obeying the commandments (works) that save a person. Also they do believe that Jesus is not God in the same way as Christians do (and yes, I believe that do believe that Jesus and Satan were brothers). Click here to learn more (see the video): Mormonism - Glenn Beck to what Mormon's believe

2. Mitt Romney has been negative campaigning in desperation against Mike Huckabee after he lost his lead in the poll to him. This negative campaigning has involved distortion of the statements and positions of Mike Huckabee. I agree with Michael Medved on these points and also believe what Mike Huckabee has said.

3. I trust Mike Huckabee even though he has done things that raise questions, I accept his response to them.

4. So what about Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter being more than harsh on Huckabee (not to mention Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, and Hewitt)? I think they want Romney or Thompson, or even Giuliani and Huckabee scares them. They don't think he's conservative enough, fear him being too compassionate perhaps, don't think he can win against Hillary, or something. I personally respect these people a lot but do not see eye-to-eye because my allegiance is not so much with the conservative movement as with the social conservative movement based on Christian values. So they hold him up to a hirer standard that the others, which is not fair and right. They can ensure a democratic win if they don't give up on this negative campaign of distortion against one of the front runners in the race.

5. Why not vote for Alan Keyes? He has let us all down by coming in late to the game and his support is grassroots, apparently it's not really getting into the media well enough. Ron Paul ran a much better grassroots campaign, for example. I'm disappointed that his campaign is so weak, however, I'm glad he is trying and I support most of his stands. He is best on social issues, much stronger, perhaps too strong, as he's a polarizer.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Iowa Caucass in 2 days

Now that we are 2 days from the Iowa Caucus I am ready to share some more of my thoughts on who to support or not to support. While I haven't been keeping up as well as I could have, I have been able to investigate some of the choices.

Mitt Romney, is one who I do not support in the primary. He is misrepresenting his faith (i.e. LYING) publicly claiming that Jesus will return to Israel when he knows that the Mormon church teaches that he'll return in Missouri. Also he is trying to persuade people to believe Mormonism is another conservative domination of Christianity which it is not. They believe that it's faith + works that get you to heaven and yes, they do believe that Jesus and Satan were brothers (so thy don't believe in the divinity of Jesus like Christians). Mitt's has the uncanny ability to turn questions taken out of context, from his rival, into slams of bigotry. He is running a negative campaign with his millions against Huckabee and McCain, and I hope he looses in IA and maybe to McCain in NH because of it.

Mike Huckabee, is showing that he has main stream media appeal and some repectable polling numbers, however, the conservative talk shows and commentators do not have much good to say about him. I don't think most are being fair to him and believing some misrepresentations even, but he does make you wonder if he can muster enough support from the Republican base to win. I don't think he can, but he has elevated the dialog to moral issues again, and for that I'm grateful. Also I have seen him do compromising or stupid things, misrepresenting his faith by claiming that there is more than one way to salvation than through Jesus. To Mike Huckabee's defense, he is better than the others in my opinion. He has the ability to unify the country through his beliefs and ways, has the most executive experience of any of the candidates in either party, and is a compassionate conservative. If it wasn't for another candidate, I might have voted for him.

I think that Alan Keye's is the best on the issues, however, he came so late into the game, and isn't really going to be expected to win, at least by watching the polls and news. He does seem to have the best foreign policy experience of any candidate. Alan has worked for the State department. Even Mitt Romney admitted that someone from the state department might be the best for the job before he went to discounting that idea because he doesn't have that experience. Alan has a great ad that out shows why he is the best of the rest, and I agree that he is better than any of the others on abolishing abortion, judicial tyranny, border security, international policy, and Reagan conservative ideals.