two kids and some babies

Vanity Fair posts some garbage article taking pot shots at Sarah Palin. (p.s. avoid comments section for safety)

Is this what now passes for journalism in this country? No fact checking? No scrutinizing of news sources? The entire VF article can be summarized as: “I don’t like Sarah Palin. Here’s a bunch of people (I can’t tell you who they are), who knew Sarah Palin (in some unspecified capacity), who told me, at some time, some mean things about her. So you should stop liking her.”

Really? That’s it? No names? Dates? Places? FACTS? We’re just making stuff up now? There are liberal websites who are RUNNING with the quotes from this article like it’s the gospel.

I can understand not liking someone on the other side of the political spectrum, and trying to convince folks on their side to jump ship. But, can we at least pretend to verify our smears before we publish them in a nationally-read magazine? For crying out loud.

I am not a fan of Barack Obama. But I don’t believe, like 20% of America, that he is a “secret muslim.” Why? Because no matter how sensational the claims, the facts are:

1. He maintains that he is a Christian.
2. He did not attend a mosque. He attended a “christian“ church (bolded quotes thanks to you, Rev. Wright).
3. He is probably sympathetic to Islam because that’s what his dad (who refused to raise him) was, which makes him appear to lean (bow?) their direction too often, causing suspicion.
4. He doesn’t have time to pray to Mecca five times per day (too busy playing golf? .

BZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST TO BRING YOU A SPECIAL BULLETIN! One time, I met this one guy who knew a lady who heard from a kid that may have (at some time in his/her life) lived in Chicago that Obama has a secret mosque built underground in his backyard! Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who the kid is, when he told me, or bother to verify whether or not there actually is even room for a mosque in his backyard. But now you know the TRUTH OBAMA IS A SECRET MOOOOOOOSLIM! Vote Republican.

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See, I can be a “journalist,” too.

I have heard questions, since this debate began, paraphrased as, “How could you be against health care for more people?” Or, “How could you be against free health care?”

These people do not (or cannot) understand that the issue at hand for the American to debate is not necessarily, “What more can my government give me?” but rather, “What liberties is my government taking from me?”

First of all, although this bill may be the biggest social entitlement boondoggle in the history of ever, it is NOT free health care. We are not Canada. Not yet. This bill forces everyone in America to purchase government-approved health insurance, and requires every employer in America to provide government-approved health insurance (god have mercy on small business owners). It also mandates that health insurers can no longer turn away customers due to pre-existing conditions.

An analogy for this might be sitting on the roof of your home as it floats down the Mississippi river, whipping out your cell phone, and calling State Farm to ask for flood insurance. Under this new bill, they would be legally obligated to pay for your brand new house-boat.

It is now a misnomer to refer to it as “health care insurance.” It should be more appropriately titled, “paying somebody a fraction of the cost when you get sick so they can get stuck with the bill”. With this business model no longer viable, it is expected that most private insurance companies will go out of business, and private insurance will only be available to the richest of the rich (such as when Newfoundland, Canada Premier Danny Williams chose to come to America to avoid the Canadian health care system’s long waiting lines on heart surgery).

Don’t be fooled by propaganda. No one can legally be denied health care in this nation. That is a fact. As a believer in the personal liberties guaranteed by our constitution, I also know know that there is nothing in this nation that stops a person from acquiring sufficient private health insurance if they so desire it. We have a privilege, and there is sufficient opportunity for all regardless of race or religion. It’s called getting a decent job. This is what our founders promised us. Opportunity, not entitlements. You are free to make a choice concerning whether you pursue it or not.

Or, rather, you had a choice. Until Sunday. The day liberty died.

In answer to the first questions posed above: As a Christian, I’d obviously love to give health care, a house, love, puppies, rainbows, and a Cadillac to every man, woman, and child in America. But I live in the real world. I have a family to feed and bills to pay. Our government can’t afford to do it, either. They live in a real world, too. A world in which they are involved in two wars, are in the midst of the greatest recession we’ve seen in decades, owe China half the country, and already fund three mountainous, bankrupt social entitlement programs. But hey, why not just go ahead and order six more “Bank of China” credit cards just because we’ve maxed out the first twelve?

There is a glimmer of hope in this supposed swamp of apathy; The American people made their voice heard loud and clear throughout this debate, that this was not a change we wanted. We were engaged. We were angry. We were actually paying attention. Our king elected officials in England Washington completely ignored our voices in creating this enormous new tax burden. In the past, this has been referred to as… what was the term? Oh yeah… “Taxation without representation.”

It is not time for a revolution. Not yet. At least not on the scale of what our forefathers engaged in. There is still a realistic political solution to this example of (benevolent) tyranny. If the Republicans pledge to repeal this, take back the House and Senate in 2010, and remove the veto block by taking the White House in 2012 before the bulk of these entitlements go into effect in 2014, we still have a chance. Or, hope and change, if you’d rather.

We have heard over and over again, “Elections have consequences.” Fair enough. But, I present a new idea; “Legislation has consequences.” America, I submit, has never paid more attention to what its government is doing as it is right now. There is a magnifying glass pointed squarely at Capitol Hill. We are keeping tally, and biding our time. If you can’t hear us now, by God, you will come November.

I end with a pair of quotes from two men who helped lay the foundation my country and my faith, respectively:

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin, February 17, 1775

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
Saul of Tarsus
2 Corinthians 3:17

As an American, I am obviously concerned about the health of our President. We disagree politically, but if something happens to him, it would be disruptive upheaval both politically and socially for the country (remember JFK). Let’s not even mention the Biden factor. For his own sake, and to keep his body and mind in top shape for running the country, he should stop. Yesterday.

As a role model for children, some of whom maybe want to grow up to be President of the United States, it doesn’t send a very healthy message. It also doesn’t portend his success in reforming health care, bringing about peace in the middle east, and stopping global warming when he can’t even kick the habit.

I realize that being President is stressful, and it would be very easy to slip back into old routines when the squeeze is on. I can sympathize with that… for the average man. But this is our President. It is at these times that a man of great character, a leader, rises above his own base desires and does what is best for others.

Honestly, I expect more.

I’m sure that when your daughters grow up, Mr. President, they’ll still want daddy around to see his grandchildren. I pray that those thoughts guide you the next time you begin to instinctively reach for your trusty pack of Marlboro’s in a pinch.

CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, is a gathering of like-minded conservatives the nation over once per year. The usual suspects give speeches: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin. They bash liberals and rally ’round the conservative agenda.

But there was a new voice joining the chorus this year. GOProud, a “gay conservative” group, was in attendance. A man opposed to them, named Ryan Sorba, was allowed to speak. He spent the short time given him chastising the conference for allowing the GOProud crowd to attend. He was booed off the stage by the conference attendees, and labeled a crazy homophobe.

You’d think he had been speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

Obviously there are many facets to conservatism: strong national defense, limited government, traditional moral values (social conservatism). If a gay person, who believed in strong national defense and limited government, wanted to attend the conference, I would have no problem with it. Conservatives believe in personal liberty and responsibility, after all. But, when an organized group attends, whose main identity and cause is in direct opposition to one of the basic tenets of conservatism (social conservatism) by supporting gay marriage, then I have an issue. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Either conservatives must reject this group, or abandon their socially conservative principles.

It looks like a tactic to subvert modern American conservatism from within, if you ask me. I consider myself a conservative because it is the closest political affiliation (in spirit) to what I have faith in, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the church I attended began to oppose itself, its founding principles (the scriptures), and ordained gay ministers or performed gay marriages, I would find myself a new church.

As a Christian, social conservatism is at the top of my priorities list. What good is working on fiscal and foreign policy issues to save a nation that has abandoned is moral traditions, corrupted socially within?

If this is the future of modern American conservatism, then there is no room for Christians in American politics anymore. Perhaps it would be for the best. Instead of looking for an answer from the political system, we’d be more interested in the solution found in Revelation 22:20:

“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

A republican beat a democrat! In Massachusetts! The bluest of the blue states! Ted “Chapaquitic” Kennedy’s senate seat! After we were told that the republicans were done! Finished! A regional, southern, white relic of the past!

With an upcoming 2010 congressional election, democrats are running like Forrest Gump away from unpopular legislation as the blast wave from this political bomb rocks the blue dogs and the hardened liberals alike. No seat is “safe.”

But… what of the Obama agenda? Of health care destruction reform? Of cap-and-trade environmental boondoggle legislation? Of immigration shamnesty?

I think this video sums it up for we conservatives:

A Nobel Peace Prize? The Nobel Peace Prize? For reals?

… can I have one, too? It’d make a nice paperweight next to my ceramic Scooby-doo, and all of my middle-school “star student” awards.

Maybe they should start awarding Super Bowl trophies to a random team at the start of each season? Shortly thereafter, my 2 1/2 year old son should be given a fourth grade spelling bee trophy! He’s pretty smart, after all. Why not award valedictorian to promising sophomores?

In all seriousness, what has this man done to bring about peace, other than make fine speeches? I’m sure even the President himself is embarrassed at this choice.

“I’m, uh… I’m not sure what to say.”

Supposedly he won because he has brought about a “new climate in international politics.” Yeah. Apparently, sometime early this morning, Iran disarmed their nukes, the Taliban disbanded, and Russia decided to play nice with the rest of the world.

*cough*

To be fair, the Nobel Peace Prize has been a joke for some time now, having already awarded such notable suspects as Yasser Arafat and Jimmy “President Malaise” Carter.

Considering the prestige the award has accrued over its more recent winners, you may soon hear the following phrases uttered at a location near you!

• “Hey, I opened a box of Cheerios this morning, and guess what I found?”
• “I opened a checking account with Citibank earlier, and guess what they gave me?”
• “Call our number and order now, and we’ll throw in, absolutely free, a Nobel Peace Prize!“
• Read on a T-shirt: “I went to Copenhagen, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt… and a Nobel Peace Prize.”

Honestly, my parents raised me better. My dad always taught me to respect people, no matter what color they were. Before we were even Christians, we used to watch Sanford and Son together. We didn’t laugh because of the “stupid black guys,” but because we genuinely liked the characters. That they were black merely set a different stage and a unique flavor to the jokes.

Recently, the Harvard professor of Black Studies, Henry Louis Gates (one of Obama’s buddies), tried to make a racist out of a white cop who was investigating a call of a possible break-in at Gates’ residence. You can read the full story at that link, but Gates had actually broken into his own house because he had locked himself out.

When the police showed up, Gates exploded (please read police report here). “This is what happens to black men in America!” No, this is what happens when a conscientious neighbor helps to watch over your home while you’re away.

“Sir, please come outside the residence so we can speak.”

“I’ll speak to yo’ mama outside!”

When was the last time you spoke to a cop like that? You know what I say to cops when they question me? “Yes, sir.” “No, sir.” “Thank you, sir.” This Harvard professor was pushing the cop as hard as he could to make a racial issue out of nothing.

The charges were later dropped. When later asked about the incident, Obama said that the Cambridge police “acted stupidly.” The professor insulted the officer’s mother and screamed at him so long he had to be arrested, and the cop was acting stupidly?

Of course, the excuse is that this was racial profiling of a white cop against a black man. Racial profiling? Seriously? Sgt. James Crowley (the officer who made the arrest) is considered one of the most upstanding members of the Cambridge police force, and actually teaches racial sensitivity courses! Prof. Gates and Obama are now painting the entire Cambridge police force (even the black officers, apparently) as racists.

My wife is consistently amazed at the racial divide in this country. In Canada, there is very little issue with racial disharmony. Her persistent question to me, whenever we see news like this, is, “If they don’t want people to be racist, why do they always bring up race in every discussion?”

Why, indeed.

It is so hard to stay neutral, and keep an open mind when I am constantly being told how much I supposedly despise another group of people. How that, no matter what I might think, or how I’ve behaved my short 30 years in this life, I am, in actuality, some sort of closet racist simply because I’m white. If you hear something enough times, you eventually will believe it. If you keep telling people that it’s “you vs. them,” eventually they’ll believe it and set up a barrier to protect themselves and “their people”. A racial barrier, where none existed before.

“My people” should mean Americans of all color. Yes, slavery happened. Yes, Jim Crow happened. Yes, there was a great inequality in the past. But the days of institutionalized racism are over. We have actually elected a black man to the highest office in the land. We are not going to get anywhere if we continue to spin our tires on muddy “Perpetual Victim Blvd.” It breeds resentment on both sides.

How about this? No more KKK. No more Black Panthers. No more NAACP. Instead, we re-brand it the National Association for the Advancement of Americans (The N triple-A)?

I know for a fact that receiving the Holy Ghost makes for racial harmony. The same God that makes the lion lie down with the lamb makes white, black, Latino, and Asian all brothers in Christ.

But, since we won’t see anything like that until long after we’ve beaten our swords and weapons into plowshares… in the meantime, will you please stop telling people who aren’t racist that they are racist? You. Are. Not. Helping.

No, I’m not talking about Fred G. I’m talking about Republican Governor Mark of South Carolina. A 2012 republican presidential hopeful, a champion of family values, a conservative Christian, a father of four… and, as unlikely as it sounds, an adulterer.

I have no desire to go into the details. But Mr. Sanford left his office, headed for Argentina to meet with his longtime mistress, and neglected to tell anyone where he was going. For five days. He told his staff to lie and report that he had gone hiking in Appalachia.

Above and beyond his lies to his wife, his four sons, the media, the american people, forcing his staff to lie for him, his infidelity, his hypocrisy… the man left the country and the state he was governing for five days, leaving himself unreachable in case of a gubernatorial emergency.

Mr. Sanford has shown himself to be unacceptably devoid of character. I don’t care what party he is in, he should have the decency to resign.