cultural extremes

So, I don’t have all of the details as of yet becaue I am at school, typing this post on my blackberry. However, a prelimianry search seems to support the fact that Obama wants to create a civilian natioanl police service that is as big as and funded as well as the entire US Military. Why did he get a pass on this? The last real attempt at a national police service, that I know of was, in Germany and was Hitler’s secret police. We all know how that worked out. This is a very scary proposition and we should all be very concerned. Once I find more info I’ll post more.

I think it is only fair that the Obama fans have their opportunity to celebrate. Their guy won the election fair and square, possibly. How many Acorn votes were we up to? Seriously though, it is their time to dance in the streets and on their chairs. Get up Obama-ites. “The One” won 52% of the popular vote (definitely not a landslide). However, as a result of this marginal victory, he doesn’t have much room for error because those who were on the fence will likely shift back if he doesn’t deliver what he has promised. So once again, I urge you to get up an dance while you can. You’ve certainly earned it. I have provided the music for your victory dance.

America,
You dissapoint me. At 11:00 PM on November 4th, 2008 Barack Obama was named President elect. I hope that I am wrong in my instincts and that you all are truly smarter than I am. However, I am still gravely concerned. We have elected a man who is dishonest an eleusive. He has never once explained his relationships with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers or Tony Resco. He has not been honest with us, with you who voted for him, yet you voted for him anyway. As I mentioned, he has been elusive. He claimed that he did not know about these individuals’ negative aspects, just like he didn’t know that his beloved aunt, whom he wrote extensively about in his $4 million book, is an illegal immigrant living off of the tax payers in Massachusetts. He hasn’t had to explain his position on abortion and he has been given a pass on his continued change with regards to who will and will not receive tax breaks and who and who will not be taxed more. I pray that your naive, blind votes prove me wrong and that voting for someone because he speaks well works out just this one time. Our country has a lot of problems and those problems have just increased exponentially. Although you all hate Bush, he has kept us safe, consistently since 9/11. Joe Biden has almost guaranteed that we will be attacked within six months of Obama taking office. I guess we’ll see how he deals with that. In the meantime, I recommend clinging to your guns and bibles, becuase in order to get through this, we will likely need a lot of prayer and probably some degree of personal protection.

“We will have diverted all that money to address the least likely threat while the real threats come into this country in the hold of a ship, or the belly of a plane, or are smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in a vial in a backpack.”

The above is an excerpt from a speech Joe Biden made o 9/10/2001 regarding the allocation of funds being used for national security. The next day was 9/11/2001. The day that 2 planes flew into the World Trade Center Towers, 1 plane flew into the pentagon and 1 plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. That was the day that thousands of our fellow citizens were murdered by terrorists who are offended by our way of life.

I have posted this quote here because it is clear that Joe Biden is privy to some pretty sensitive information. Either that or he is a clairvoyant. Just this past week, Biden made another prediction and assured us that it would come true if he and Obama were elected into office. Do you know what that prediction was?

Another attack on the US.

I have done a lot of political soul searching throughout the past year. I had never been one who cared for politics until recently and now, I’m a political junky. I listen to talk shows all day and watch the news late at night before bed. Throughout the primaries and now the general election campaigns, I have never really been excited about any of the candidates. However, considering the fact that national security is very important to me, I will cast my vote for John McCain. I certainly don’t agree with all of his politics but I definitely disagree with more of Obama’s politics. Additionally, Obama has a lot of questions that need to be answered and until these questions are answered I could never support him.

I understand and appreciate the attraction to him becuase he is a great speaker and he has the ability to motivate people but that is where it ends for him. He hasn’t spoken about how he will achieve this “change” that he campaigns on. He doesn’t commit to any of his proposed solutions. He uses smoke and mirrors and plays with words to make us think one thing while his intentions are different. For example, during the last debate when talking about off shore drilling, Obama stated that he would “look at offshore drilling.” Look at = No Commitment.

I understand that the economy is a huge and very real concern right now. However, there is nothing in Obama’s resume that makes him more able to handle the economy than McCain. Obama is a lawyer, not a financial specialist. He is no more qualified to handle the economic crisis than McCain. Also, the economy WILL eventually bounce back. It always does. I think that we will inevitably have to face some tough economic times before things get better, regardless of who takes office. The thing is, the economy is “fluid”. It rises and it falls. It changes frequently as a result of many, possibly infinite, factors. The one thing we can’t recover from is death. We lost over 3000 people on 9/11 and they are gone for good. Unlike the economy, there won’t be a shift or a factor that changes, that returns us to pre 9/11. These people will never come back and the pain and suffering of their families will always be felt. This is why national security still must be a top priorty, despite the economic problems. We must ensure that our freedom to live, and live as we choose, continues. Although the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone on too long and were possibly initiated for the wrong reasons, we can’t be afraid to go to war in the future, to defend our freedom, our way of life, and quite possibly our actual lives. Obama is not going to protect us in this way, at least not before many more Americans end up dead.

So that is where I am right now. I strongly urge anyone who reads this to leave a comment and start a discussion. I’d like to see supporters from both sides engaged in this conversation, sharing opinions and ideas. However, let me lay down the ground rules. Personal attacks on other readers and writers will not be tolerated. Comments attacking others will be deleted. Aside from that, have fun with this.

At first, I didn’t think so. However, my opinion has changed dramatically over the last 12 hours. I was originally a die hard Giuliani supporter but his campaign was over before it began. My loyalty then shifted to Mitt Romney. I honestly thought that he would be a great president. Sure he had his flaws but what public servant doesn’t. I think Mitt would have been great for the US. I think he would have had solutions for many of the problems plaguing us today such as the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, that did not pan out. I was never in love with the idea of John McCain and Barack Obama just scares me. I did, however, hold out hope that McCain would select Romney as his running mate. Well….those hopes were shattered this morning, even if for only a brief time. Once I learned that McCain had chosen Palin I immediately started researching her and listening to the talk shows on the radio. I am now convinved that she may be exactly what McCain needs to win in November. She is very conservative and will therefore galvanize the Republican base and the fact that she is a woman makes her nomination as VP just as historical as Barack’s nomination as President. Additionally, Palin may be able to win over many of the women who feel slighted because of the way Hillary was treated by the media. So, although I am sad that Romney is not on the ticket, Palin is a ver acceptable alternative. She is a down to earth, real person who is not in the elite/royalty/celebrity club.

Good job McCain. Lets see if you and Palin can now seal the deal and save us from the uncertainty an Obama adminstration would bring.

I just read an article about a mother who microwaved her one month old daughter to death. Thankfully the jury found her guilty. I also think that it is appropriate that the death sentence is one of the possible punishments on the table. However, I’d like to hear from you regarding your opinion as to what other punishments may be appropriate. Feel free to be creative and feel free to use variations on already existing forms of punishment.

I’ll start:

Perhaps China Arnold, the mother convicted in this crime, should be wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in a large microwave herself. I think that is somewhat fitting and poetic. It also allows for us to utilize the “eye for an eye” theory but with a little added twist.

Your Turn!!!

During this time of financial difficulty, political change, threatened national security and economic instability, one begs to ask the question “Who is looking out for us?” I would like to think that our prospective presidential candidates are working to address these concerns immediately upon taking office. I would like to think that our current president and our current congress are working presently to ease our concerns. However, as I flip through the news channels on my television or glance at the headlines on the newspapers, or read the feeds coming onto my desktop from the internet I find that there is no answer to the question posed above. Well…..there is an answer but it is not a pleasant one. The fact of the matter is that no one is looking out for us. While we “working folk” are worried about putting gas in our car and food on our table, our public “servants” are concerned about only one thing; their political agenda! The only decision that they will make is one that moves them closer to being elected. While I have to make a decision on how to spread out my weekly income to cover groceries for myself and my wife, as well as formula, diapers, clothing, etc. for my newborn daughter, fuel to get to and from work, car payments, insurance, mortgage and utilities, our elected officials (and hopefuls) are deciding what will ensure that they get in office.

It is time that we, as concerned citizens, stand up for ourselves. Our country used to stand for something. It once provided a safe haven, for the every day man, from a government that scoffed at the idea of freedom and choice. It once offered hope to those who lived under the rule of a monarch or vicious dictator. Now what hope does it offer us, the people who live and work within its borders, day in and day out, to not only ensure our survival but the survival of our nation in the global community. What has the government, put in place to protect us against threats, both foreign and domestic, given back to you lately besides increased gas prices, increased food prices and increased taxes? Its time that we demanded results from those assigned to represent and protect us. If this means drilling for oil domestically, so be it. I’m sure the technology exists, or could exist relatively quickly, to drill in an environmentally friendly manner. If we need to find an alternate source of energy, then do it. There are many options on the table, pick on and go with it. Sounds easy doesn’t it? The truth of the matter is that it is easy. We could have accomplished any of these long ago except once again, the age old culprit has thwarted all attempts. “Political Agenda!!!”

Our political system, which was based on some great principles, has been distorted and skewed to an almost unrecognizable form. “Of the people, By the People, For the People” no longer applies. Our public servants and representatives now belong to a special club. They are the elites of our nation, Royalty, if you will. A better representation of the current state of our government is “Of the Elite, By the Elite, For the Elite.” The president and congress are so all consumed with vetoing and denying each other’s actions and in doing so, we are suffering. We are the ones paying the price for their petty differences, their inability to see eye to eye or in the very least find some common ground and agree on a compromise. So, when I ask the question “Who is looking out for us?”, it is somewhat leading. The real answer is that we need to look out for ourselves. So what are we going to do? What can we do? I’m ready to discuss this with any and all interested. I will be creating a spot in the cultural extremes forum to have this discussion, as well as any others pertaining to problems plaguing our society today. Go to www.culturalextremes.net/forum to join in. Its not much but it does provide a venue to begin talking about what we can do.

Many of you may not know that my wife and I are expecting our first child in May. I have created a free wordpress blog, that chronicles our day to day experiences before the birth of the baby. We will most likely keep it going after the baby is born to document our experiences as new parents and later, as experience parents. Feel free to visit and post. I think it will prove to be a fun site for all who are parents, are thinking of becoming parents, have parents and for those who just love to read and contribute to online media. Check it out. I’ve added a link in the side bar in addition to the link here.

When reading this, please keep in mind that I am newly interested in politics and am still learning about politics on a daily basis. Also, please keep in mind, and for purposes of full disclosure, that I am not affiliated with any political party although I tend to consider myself more conservative than liberal (but I do find certain aspects of each party appealing).

I have heard on the radio, and read online, through fairly reputable sources, that pledged delegates can vote for whoever they want at the Democratic National Convention. I do not know, at this time if it is the same for Republicans.

What this means is that if the process of determining a nominee goes all the way to convention, there is a chance that your vote and the delegate that you pledged, to vote, for “your candidate” may go to the opposing candidate. Let me put this in real, although hypothetical (yet possible), terms for you. Suppose you vote for Barack Obama. Suppose Barack Obama wins the majority of delegates in your state. Now, suppose that Hillary Clinton, although losing, is close enough to Barack Obama, in delegates won, to force the nomination to go to the convention. Apparently, in the rules laid out by the democratic national committee, pledged delegates can go in and vote for whoever they want. What this means is that, although these people, put in place by the state’s democratic committee, have been pledged to a specific candidate by the majority of citizens in that state, they can vote for the opponenet at convention. This fact means that candidates can payoff, bribe, blackmail and manipulate delegates for their own advantage. It also means that your vote is not necessarliy your vote.

Keep this in mind and conduct research on your own. Jay Severin, a radio talkshow host on 96.9 WTKK has spoken about this and you can hear him (via streaming audio and podcast) and contact him at www.96.9wtkk.com and you can also read about this at politico.com. In a day and time when unity is something that we must strive for, underhandedness such as this won’t fly. Practices such as these throw the whole idea of democracy out the window and completely negates the notion of the “will of the people.”

Just something to keep in mind, be aware of, and come to terms with. What I have written above is a brief explanation of how I understand it to be based on the information I have been given. I only wish to share it with you so that you can do whatever it is that you feel you need to do, to make sure your vote counts.