How Obama’s Economic Plan and George Washington’s Death Are Linked

     When our first President, George Washington, was dying, his doctor practiced what the medical community called bleeding. This practice was an accepted medical procedure at the time, and it called for the opening of a blood vessel and draining some of the “bad blood” from the patient. Bleeding President Washington certainly did not improve his health and it ultimately accelerated or even led to his demise.

     Barack Obama’s economic plan that calls for “bleeding” our small businesses and the corporations that provide jobs is like that ancient medical procedure. We know better now. How in the world do you expect the middle class citizens to rave over tax cuts if they are losing their jobs. What good is a tax cut if your employer gives you a pink slip. All over our nation the economic well being for our people ultimately rests on the ability of our infrastructure to provide good paying, long enduring jobs. Obama has never run a business for a profit. Jobs come from making profits and reinvesting those profits into growth. Jobs come from well run businesses. Taxing our businesses will force employers to cut jobs or worse, to seek better opportunities overseas.

     Senator Obama, stop the bleeding nonsense. Grow America’s economic capacity, keep Senator Obama away from executive power until he understands basic economics. President Washington was sick and he underwent a medical procedure that made him worse. Our economy is sick, it does not need to be bled by Obama like a nightmare vampire. We need John McCain who understands that the vibrant job producing economic recovery will be led by the robust small businesses across America. 

Would the Real Political Hero Please Stand Up?

     In this rare and extraordinary presidential campaign where Americans will elect either the first African American, or the oldest person ever to be elected president with the first ever female vice-president, we have been witnesses to an arraying amalgamations of all kinds of pundits and media. But what makes a politician courageous? What sets apart one who would want to serve in such a demanding role? Americans want to know who would best serve the nation, and courage is a character trait that must not be ignored.

     Through all the hype, the rhetoric, the political posturing and human spin machines spewing forth proclamations, to me the most courageous act before the official nominations is one that has been little noted. I’m not speaking of Obama’s speech on race, it was very defining and a blessing for the nation. Just as Lincoln said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” So, the brief words this candidate spoke were not meant to be remembered, but it was in the geopolitical location and context that these words were made more profound---and dare I say, monumental if destiny so desires. Because these simple words spoken authentically from an unlikely source in one short speech in just one smidgeon of time in this marathon presidential contest, can actually blast forth like a trumpet call to lead a charge on the way America thinks about race. Could it be a true transformation emancipation proclamation? The words are stuck in my mind and memory and I cannot let them go.

     You see, I am a Reagan Democrat. Now don’t get all fired up and start throwing things at me from the left or the right. Actually a Reagan Democrat has a pretty simple life when it comes to voting----we vote for common sense candidates. Lefties, we just as soon clip their wings like skeet shooting; and, for those die hard Republicans who have no clue what a Hoover rabbit was, then we can only laugh when you present your budget proposals. So just for whom am I voting for this year? I have decided, but many more Reagan Democrats may still be wavering. Obama has pledged to the radical homosexuals that he will do all he can to do away with the Domestic Marriage Act (DOMA) which was skillfully implemented by President Clinton and the Congress in 1996. Red flag goes up. He also opposed protecting the life of an infant accidentally born in an abortion clinic while in the state legislature. Uh-oh, can I trust this man to protect any life? And then there is John McCain. When he obtained the de facto Republican nomination during the Republican primaries as Hillary and Obama were still fueding, the local joke was now we have three Democrats to choose from for president. So, now, who has been the most courageous?

     On April 4, 2008, John McCain appeared in Memphis. It was the 40^th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Here was this man with white skin, standing in the pouring rain at the National Civil Rights Museum in front of an almost entirely African American audience standing nearby the place on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel where on this day in 1968, Dr. King had just spoken to his friends about the song to sing that night and according to a local eyewitness he had just said, “Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead Me Home,” when the horror of the death shot sounded and Dr. King‘s body was violently lifted up into the air and his untied shoes fell off his feet. Here was McCain’s courage. Here was a true audacity of hope to think that a man who had voted against the Martin Luther King holiday would now run for president of the United States by reaching out to an ethnic group in one of their most sacred vestiges. McCain apologized for his past vote on Dr. King’s holiday and he paid tribute to a true American hero who would as the Bible says, “Lay down his life for his friends.” No greater love hath no man,” the Good Book says. So it is. Thank you, John McCain, for showing your courage. Let’s see if Obama will go before the value voters when they meet and apologize for the ungodly amount of abortions that happen in this country every year or maybe apologize for supporting the myth that people are born with same-sex attractions without any regards to there being no facts to back up the position of the radical homosexual activists, then, Obama might gain some profile in courage. I won’t hold my breath that the new messiah would be courageous enough to speak to a group of value voters.

     Not only was McCain courageous for being there in Memphis, it is what he said that still resonates in my mind. His words summed up what I had heard Dr. King’s niece, Alveda, once say “We are all of one race—the human race.” Now that is a refreshing statement, maybe the evolutionists have convoluted the truth of everyone being of one race in order to divide and conquer not through science but through control of the schools. How about it Ben Stein? Did you uncover any liberal bias that does not want to promote the fact that God made us one race, male and female he created them. So, now, if we are one race, then maybe unity is possible. Could it be that the simple phrase said by the niece of one of the greatest moral leaders the world has ever known and then repeated by a man with white skin could actually be the profound revelation that will finally allow for us to put race behind us? Will true dialogue become real? Can we begin to openly communicate our feelings without feeling that we are pulling the scabs off of unhealed wounds?

     Now the long campaign season is sprinting to the finish line. Sifting the grain from the shaft is common “wheat” sense. Candidate John McCain doesn’t have to speak about courage---his actions on the campaign trail delivers it. If words tell a story its prose, but if it shows you a picture it is poetic art; if presidential candidates talk of courage they are politicians, but if they show courage they are courageous statesmen. So far, McCain’s actions have confounded the simple liberals, stirred political fear in the liberal elitists, driven the conventional Republicans crazy, but resonated a stirring in the heart of Reagan Democrats. When the maverick McCain chose Governor Palin as his running mate I was reminded of what phrase one writer used to sum up Reagan Democrats. The phrase was “I will not be won by weaklings-subtle, and suave and mild--but by men with the hearts of Vikings-and the simple faith of a child” (Robert Service: The Law of the Yukon, 1898).

This phrase was written in 1898. Governor Palin has demonstrated that the words women and men could now be placed where only men was written. What a historic election year. Don’t dare not vote if you are inspired by McCain’s courage and the Artic Fox’s heart of a Viking!! Be a part of history to tell your grandkids about----go register; go vote! 

History Continues---U.S. Presidential Election 2008

With ample concern; and, yet, a steadfast faith in this continuing experiment of we the people governing ourselves, we must show with an attitude of gratitude and participation that this presidential election is more than historic---it is defining. In dramatic primaries where lead changes and heavy campaigning churned the ground like a donkey and an elephant plowing through an open field we have been witnesses unto history. We have had elegant speeches and political crisis in both parties that helped push forward the final nominee of each major party.

America now faces a decision which will either propel the first man with an African heritage into the White House, or we will see the first lady Vice-President. Wow!! Would our founders ever have envisaged this election? Forty-five years ago when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged America with the “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, did he ever really dream that in one more generation one of the two major parties would select for their standard bearer, a man of African descent? Would the feminists of the equal rights amendment push ever dream that the title IX sports programs would help mold a young basketball leader to become a future city councilperson, a mayor, a governor, and now quite possibly the next Vice-President of the United States? Last week I walked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. And reading again the words of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address, I sensed the hand of God had moved upon our nation in its most stressful time, by moving within men and women of faith. Common people, who are willing to step forward and do uncommon deeds for the good of the nation, its people, and its future---this is America.  

Even before the November 4^th election history has been made---and more is coming. Nothing can be taken away from either of these two fresh faces to the American political scene. Our country is remarkable not for what we have, but for who we have had, and who we have now---for it is we the people. Through all manners of crisis, peace, war, and prosperity we have a steady stream of sinners who march forward to lead us. Unlike countries before us, there are no kings or lords or barons. There are us---the people. Yes, the Declaration of Independence declares that we are created equal, and we have never been perfect in fulfilling that declaration, but we are on that road of self determination. Vigor and freedom of speech and the right to assembly, the right to bear arms, the right to freely worship and have freedom of the press are concepts that we Americans many times still take for granted. Of all our failures we must come to the conclusion that we are unique on this Earth with our Declaration of Independence and our U.S. Constitution. There are no other people with a birthright of freedom from which our values have been shaped and our laws enshrined who live so free. Go anywhere and stay there if you so desire, but you will never live as free as when you live in America---I don’t care what color your skin is, there will always be a uniquely American dream as long as freedom rings.

Now, we come to my utmost concern. I have heard it suggested by media spokespersons and even by a local black pastor (a friend of mine) that if Sen. Obama loses this election in November then he will lose because racism is still rampant in America. Racism exists in various forms and to believe that on this side of heaven that racism will one day be rendered extinct would be preposterous. But having said that let me be just as blunt that voting for Obama’s opponent is NOT an act of racism. My fellow Americans, lend me your ears. Please do not look at my skin color and the fact that I am from the South and conclude that I will not vote for Obama because the color of his skin. I find any such stereotyping very offensive and should not have any part in this voting process. I am a part of a group in Mississippi called Mission Mississippi that seeks to overcome man-made divisions of race and denomination within the Christian community. I can honestly say that I look forward to the day that I can vote for an African American who will stand for the principles that are important to me.

I have legitimate concerns about Sen. Obama that he has addressed in ways that shock me. He has bluntly stated that he will work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that was signed into law by President Clinton. Whenever laws protect same-sex marriage,  gay right activists use the laws on the books to promote their agenda to teach MY children that my religious convictions are detrimental to society. The laws are used to deny professional licenses just as physicians in California have recently been forced to artificially inseminate lesbian couples even though the noted physician’s Christian beliefs abhor the experimental use of children in such situations. Even now in Great Britain these same-sex marriage laws are used to force churches there to not discriminate against homosexuals who might be applying for a job as a youth counselor for the church. Do I want the government telling my church that we must hire an openly homosexual youth minister to teach our children in my church? Forbid it Almighty God!!   These are radical positions that I cannot support, and I cannot support candidates that would force them upon me and my family. The true issue is not two people loving each other in marriage bonds, the real issue is calling for complete acceptance of a behavior to become as if it were the same as the genetic determination of someone’s skin color. The two are not equivalent!! Wake up America, Dr. King said that a man cannot ride you down on your back if you stand up tall!

I visualize personally that voting for Obama would be like bowing down to the little “g” god of homosexuality. Not voting for Obama in my book is the same as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. This is a free country and that is why it is wonderful that people can disagree with my perception of Sen. Obama. But, please, please, understand that I have legitimate concerns that the Democrats are providing to America as their nominee the most liberal candidate that either major party has ever fielded to run for president. Most presidential runs go toward the middle but Sen. Obama is the most liberal and he reached out to the third most liberal Senator---Biden to be his running mate. As a conservative Democrat I really was upset that he did not reach out to the conservative Democrats. I am supporting my congressman who happens to be a conservative Democrat. If he starts voting for Pelosi’s far left positions then I will drop him like a hot rock. But I want everyone to understand that to not vote for Barrack is not to diminish the huge accomplishment that he has succeeded in doing. God bless, you Barack. What an incredible journey. You have the guts, the audacity, and the sheer brilliance to climb into the ring that Teddy “the Rough Rider” Roosevelt told us about.

     But, please, do not let your peers and fans cast me as racist or a bigot for being concerned that you have never fought against your own party like your opponent has. Now would be a great time to show some political courage. You have surrounded yourself with the architects of the failed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Show some statesmanship by calling for the Democratic chairmen who headed the oversight committees to step down from their chairmanships. Keep those who are responsible, accountable. You would win my respect if you would stand up to corruption in your own party from Chicago shenanigans to the financial crisis. Your opponents have fought corruption in their own party. Once again I have legitimate concerns as a person of faith and as a citizen who wants a reformer with a record of action. These wants of mine to find in the qualities of the next president of the United States have nothing to do with Sen. Obama’s skin color and everything to do with his stated direction he wants to take our nation. Many in our country bitterly oppose my faith being played out in the way I choose to vote, but that is the true meaning of being free. All voters have secret ballots, and thank God, all our opinions count and get registered by our personal choices in the voter’s booth. You are free to make the choice to let your faith dictate your choice or to walk into the voter’s booth without uttering a single prayer. In fact, if everyone reading this would vow to pray just before marking their ballot, then I believe that God’ man for the job will be anointed.

Racism has no place in today’s life. Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has taught me that there is really only one race---the human race. She is a pro-life activist. She believes in the civil rights of the unborn. And she is promising not to let the color of a candidate’s skin to come before steadfastly maintaining her moral principles. Her stance reminds me of when her Uncle Martin was taking much flack from many in the Civil Rights’ field when he started speaking out against the war in Vietnam. Alveda’s Uncle Martin said, “…I have struggled too long and too hard now to get rid of segregation in public accommodations to end up at this point in my life segregating my moral concerns.” She has a very deep longing to see that babies in the preciousness of their mother’s womb are not violently attacked and ripped out in the abortions mills. She is especially disturbed that Planned Parenthood’s actions are killing more black babies as per the population than any other group. She has issues with Sen. Obama’s far left position on abortion. She will be voting for the candidate supporting life. She is taking flack from her friends and family for not choosing to vote for the first African American running for President. Skin color should not be a criteria to vote for the candidate nor to vote against a candidate.

In Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address he stated:

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

Now, in 2008 we cannot dedicate and we cannot validate this election to the success or failure of our civil rights. What the pioneers of the Civil rights movement have done and what each of us has done today to eradicate the sin of racism in our world is what validates us. Anyone who thinks that they must have a president with similar skin color in order to validate themselves as being anointed for success is in for a major disappointment. If Obama wins this election or loses this election has nothing to do with God’s gifts to you as an American citizen. You are validated. When you were in your mother’s womb God gave you unique DNA that makes you different from any other human ever to be a part of this world. Validate life by living it to your full potential. Be strong for Obama or against Obama but let neither be because of the color of his skin.

It is my hope and my belief that we should live up to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said he wanted his children to be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. No one should go to the polling booth with a racist attitude to vote for a person because of his or her skin color or to vote against a person because of the color of their skin. We need to pray, seek God’s face, and vote accordingly---anything else would fall beneath the high standard that Dr. King has given to this nation. Let us celebrate history. Let us be a part of history. Let us seek God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And when the election is over, let us pledge anew that whoever is our new President, in the spirit of JFK, we will ask not what our country can do for us, but, rather, what can we do for our country. I pray for a new anointing on our next President to lead us into a cycle of peace and prosperity. I pledge to work with our new President and his administration as a citizen who loves his country. I urge all Americans to join us in the blessing and praying for our next President. God bless America.

Take a moment to VOTE

Let’s not vote to validate

Let us vote to rededicate

Ourselves to God, country, and family

As our generation wrestles with destiny

Let us be found worthy of the fight

Do not let us go gentle into that good night

Rather, we must find the courage to spring forth

As we open a new birth of freedom on Nov. 4^th

Let the year of our Lord in 2008

Be the year that all America celebrates

A time to review and freely talk

A time to renew and really walk the walk

And a time to pursue another moonwalk

Moment.

 God bless America---and guide her every moment.