Religious Liberty and Prop 8

This editorial has it exactly right. Prop 8 is not about discrimination against gays. On the contrary, the No on 8 crusade (and its post-election legal wrangling) is about discrimination against people of faith, about religious freedom. Is this really where we want to go in the guise of "tolerance"?

Legislating Immorality, by The Editors (NRO)

No One is So Blind...

I found this lovely article in the Wall Street Journal by a young man named Robbie Cohen (posted at left). Reading it I can already anticipate what some of the "haters" will say (indeed, I did read some comments and lo! there they were) in response. The Palin pick, McCain's negative campaigning, . Of course these are the people who refused to get a good look at Obama, content to view him from a distance, there, afar, on his mountaintop, shrouded in ethereal mist (or is it fog?). Nary a negative slur was uttered from their savior's lips? It was that nasty Mudslingin' McCain who played dirty. It reminds me of that old saying, There is none so blind as he who will not see...At some point the fog will lift and people will see Obama for who and what he is. And many, I predict, will regret what they have done.

I just read the following in Gary Bauer's End of Day report:

Thursday was another day of carnage on Wall Street, and the stocks of many major U.S. corporations are now selling in the single digits. Big Media, of course, are continuing to bash President Bush for the declines. But what about our president in waiting? Right now Barack Obama has only one major economic “solution” on the table and it is a real stinker. He wants to raise taxes on entrepreneurs, businesses and innovators! It would be hard to come up with a worse idea at a time when people are beginning to whisper words like “depression” and “deflation.” Obama doesn’t take the oath of office until January 20th. But right now he could hold a press conference and announce he is postponing all tax hikes. There would be an immediate rally in our markets. But Barack Obama is AWOL. Not a word. Instead, he leaves a dagger hanging over panicky investors who are watching their assets shrink and who are facing the prospect of giving more of their money to Washington, D.C., next year. Why would the president-elect not take more pro-active steps to assuage growing economic anxieties? Rahm Emmanuel may have let the cat out of the bag...

...Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that as the Democrats close in on a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Left is increasingly eager, if not impatient, to ram through its radical agenda as quickly as possible. Consider these two quotes: “A new revolution is possible only in consequence of a new crisis,” and, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before. This is an opportunity.” The first was written by Karl Marx well over one hundred years ago. The second statement was uttered this week by Rahm Emmanuel, the soon-to-be White House Chief of Staff for President-elect Obama.

While unemployment is up, while foreclosures are up, while the stock market is tanking and retirement accounts are being wiped out, while whole industries teeter on the verge of bankruptcy, Rahm Emmanuel and other leftwing activists are celebrating the “crisis” as an “opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” What does that mean? Is he talking about socializing the auto industry? Is he talking about socializing health care? Is he talking about massive taxes for the sake of “fairness”? Is he talking about repealing the Defense of Marriage Act while you are distracted by the mortgage meltdown? This is a time for Americans who cherish faith, family and freedom to be extra vigilant. Yes, times of crisis demand decisive action. But they should not be exploited for other ideological or partisan purposes.

Only a cynic would believe that an elected official would welcome a crisis in order to foist his agenda on a vulnerable electorate. Yet that is what I have become in the aftermath of this election. Indeed, I tend to believe this president-elect not only welcomes this (economic) crisis, but perhaps even created it (not he himself, but his Chicago affiliations, or others who have yet to be revealed). Years ago Hillary Clinton lamented what she called a "vast, right wing conspiracy." It's laughable now. What's not laughable is what I believe is, in fact, a vast (and very wealth) left-wing conspiracy. I keep waiting for the curtain to be pulled back, for the puppet strings to be exposed, and the puppet-master to be revealed.

An Oxymoron?

This was refreshing, an objective write-up by a liberal democrat, who also happens to like Sarah Palin. ? I think I've discovered my new favorite liberal Democrat.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/11/12/palin/print.html

Why should I leave it alone?

I added the link to an interesting article called, "Entering Casablanca: The hope-and-change candidate is now the president-elect of tempered hope and difficult change," by Liam Julian, at left. Here's an excerpt:

Evidence exists that Obama does not believe, and never has believed, much of his talk; his campaign’s latest backtracking on change is congruent with that. In a way, this is heartening, because a president who did subscribe to the fluffy worldview of Obama’s campaign speeches would be dangerous. But it’s alarming, too. We are right to wonder whether the president-elect, who columnist David Brooks once called the “Hope Pope,” simply spun a pretty tale for Americans’ eager ears, pocketed their votes, and will now meet their anticipation and eagerness with puzzlement: That is not what I meant at all ... Before Campaign 2008 recedes into history and is, as our modern way would have it, erased from our memories, it’s worth reflecting on the words of the man who will now inhabit the White House, on how those words inspired so many, and on whether the person who spoke them meant them — and whether the words actually mean anything at all.

I sent the article to my dad, knowing it wouldn't matter but for some reason wanting him to understand what it is that bothers me about this whole thing. He replied:

We shall see, won't we? Any and all campaign speeches throughout history have been and always will be laced with rhetoric. What's the point of analyzing post-election, the seeming hypocrisies of promises and half-truths of persons seeking office? Are they still trying to prove that the election was a sham, that a charlatan was elected? That this sly, cunning magician fooled us all? It's over...leave it alone already. Watch and criticize later if need be.

It's funny that he should say I should leave it alone, it's over, etc. How long did the angry Democrats (including my dad) leave it alone after George Bush was re-elected, after he supposedly "stole" the election? I find it fascinating that now that Obama is elected everyone's saying, OK now let's all get along, be nice kids. Yet for years we (Republicans) have put up with such hate and anger and lies and distortions. I had to put up with it on a personal level from my own father and brother. Why should I leave it alone?

Out of the Closet

I got an email from someone I thought was a little like me. Conservative. Christian. McCain. She wrote to tell me she voted for Obama and was proud of it. Needless to say, I was surprised. This has been one of the puzzling aspects about this election, the un-closeting of evangelical Christians.

Obviously there''s no rule about which political party one should support if one professes to be a Christian. I understand there are a variety of issues that might influence a believer to vote one way or the other. But there's also an underlying assumption that most believers will draw the line (in terms of support for a candidate) on the issue of abortion. And how far beyond that line a candidate crosses often influences our vote. Barack Obama's views about (and suport for) abortion (all documentable and on record) have exeeded that line so far, they can only be regarded as reprehensible. Which is why it baffles me that anyone calling herself a Christian would cast a vote for Obama.

I've been a believer long enough to understand that there's a spiritual realm and there's an earthly realm. And while I know that God transcends politics, that He is not a Republican or a Democrate, etc., I also know that He watches what goes on and that He does have a hand in all that goes on in governance. Lately I've been reminded of verses that have to do with the so-called End Times...."God will send a powerful delusion" and that people "will believe the lie," and that "even the elect will be deceived." I admit to not being as "head in the book" as I once was--I can't retrieve scripture and verse as easily. But this whole election has the smell and the feel of what it will be like during the era of the anti-Christ. That's the frightening power of deception is that even the very elect can be deceived, and nothing--no amount of reasoning and logic and documentable evidence--will or can persuade them that they were duped. Is that what's going on here?

What's so very distressing about all this is the sense of inevitability, as well as the sense of futility. I notice myself lately, when thinking I could try to convince someone logically, I'm beginning to get a sense of "whatever," or "it doesn't matter" or "nothing I say will make a difference." It's like a glass partition or a brick wall stands between me and them. I had the first inkling of this after the first presidential debate. This was the one that McCain came out strong on foreign policy. P and I watched the entire debate. We watched how clear and lucid and convincing McCain was, and how inexperienced Obama seemed in comparison. He really seemed to us to be the "junior" senator, eclipsed by McCain. Later I dubbed it the "President and the Professor." At one point I said, "I want him to be my president" (meaning of course McCain). And when it was over we both agreed McCain won the debate hands down, 1-0. Imagine our surprise, our shock, when immediately the pundits began claiming this was an Obama win. Even a conservative commentator that I admire (David Brooks of the New York Times) felt Obama handled himself just fine, came across presidential, stood his ground, etc. We were totally blown away. Did they just watch the same debate we did?

And from that point forward it began to be clearer and clearer to me that there was something fishy going on. It would be like this for the rest of the election. What I saw was not what I read in the papers. When new revelations came out about Obama that would have destroyed another candidate, it merely bounced off him like a ping pong ball...what the heck is going on? Was it a conspiracy? Is this a spiritual thing (we wrestle not against flesh and blood, etc.). Everything just seems topsy turvy. Near the end of it all I think I began to "get it"--something is going on that transcends mere politics. This is either God's judgment (and maybe we do deserve this), a sinister conspiracy, the end times, a foretaste of the anti-Christ, the anti-Christ himself....or just an incredibly brilliant politician the likes of which we have never seen. Which is it?

This election has soured me and made me lose a sort of innocent, naive trust in the inherent honesty and trustworthiness of our government and the media. We have been sold a bill of rotten goods, we were defrauded, we were robbed...and decent, smart people just don't or won't see it. I predict the Nancy's and the Gerry's and the Laura's will one day regret (on a personal level) their vote for Obama. But as I said....it doesn't matter, does it? It is what it is....

Will Change Come?

Straight tough talk....is change coming to the GOP, too? Deroy Murdock thinks so...
The Night of the Long Knives...the GOP Has Been Laid Low....name your title.
Restoring Reaganism...

Change has Come

Barack Obama's Victory Speech:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4572578n

John McCain's Concession Speech:

http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQYKoc4N7c

An Obama Chronology
http://www.renewamerica.us/news/081030obama.htm

Accepting Defeat Graciously...

After all, we were trounced!

I appreciated this essay by Andrew C. McCarthy, "The Possibilities of President Obama" (see link at left)....

Time for soul searching, humility, and a bit of courage. I'm not optimistic about the future, but I'll pause to acknowledge the greatness of the moment historically-speaking and hope for common sense to prevail. However, I fear the momentary conciliatory rhetoric will shortly give way to retribution once the after-glow has worn off...after all, this was never really about idealism or even race...it's always been about retaliation.

We'll watch, wait, and see, I guess. Meanwhile, for now...congratulations, Mr. Obama.

The Greatness of God

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the LORD’S hand
Double for all her sins.”
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
“Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
And marked off the heavens by the span,
And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
As for the idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To prepare an idol that will not totter.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the storm carries them away like stubble.
“To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40

If a Tree Falls in the Forest....

...and no one's there to hear, does it make a sound?

Stanley Kurtz has been researching and writing about the "real" Barack Obama, revealing and exposing information about the man who may be on the verge of becoming President of the United States.

No one, it appears, is listening.

Here is today's installment, "What We Know About Obama: The Illusion of Pragmatism Advances Far-Left Goals, in Baby Steps."

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=M2E0ZjM5ZWE0Y2Y3ODA1YmQzMzliZTE4ZWFkNGJkNjg=

Here is a collection of articles and short publications by Stanley Kurtz, beginning in September 2008.

http://www.eppc.org/scholars/scholarID.81,type.1/pub_list.asp

Is anyone listening?

Afternoon Before the Election

Someone asked me what were my thoughts....here's what I replied:

My political thoughts are, don't listen to the news, don't watch the election results, don't pay attention to the polls. I've heard it said that sometimes news outlets release early results from the east coast to discourage voters on the west from going to the polls. I've personally lost all trust in the media (mainstream) and have tended lately to go directly to National Review Online for the most reliable information. So I'm starting to just tune everything out.

My personal thoughts (as a Christian)....we are either about to enter a period of darkness if Obama wins (is this the beginning of the end? is this just a foreshadowing of the end?) or we will be be given a reprieve (if McCain wins). If the latter, I hope we (Christians) repent and see this reprieve as an opportunity to make a difference in our culture and that we (Republicans) don't gloat or grow complacent. There's been so much division and partisan rhetoric coming from our own party, we deserve this rebuke (if the Democrats sweep the White House and Congress). If the former, then the need for personal repentance and soul-searching is even more pressing, and I think we will need to brace ourselves for hard times. I'm astounded at the level of deception among those who have bought into Obama's promises of hope and change. I keep returning to a verse in the Bible that says "God will send a powerful delusion, that they may believe the lie." It's like people are under a spell. If Obama wins, I feel there will come a time when people snap out their spell and realize too late their error, but it will be too late....My sister, who supports Obama, naively said (in response to my suggestion that Obama is a charlatan), "Well, this is a democracy, and if it turns out that he's a nightmare, we can throw the bum out." I hope she's right, but there's a sense (in my soul) that it won't be that easy. Virtually nothing that has been "thrown" at him has stuck. He's survived Jeremiah Wright, ACORN, Michelle Obama, extremely abhorrent abortion positions, Biden, a blank Senate record, on and on we go....any one of which would have sunk another politician. There's something fishy going on....it's like he's insulated.

I believe God's in control, and He could derail this whole thing in a moment if He wanted (think parting of the Sea)....so if this election isn't all about things that are already meant to be, then there's reason yet to hope for a reprieve. That's what I'm choosing to believe for now....

As for Obama

I wrote this entry as a response to a personal email from my loving sister, who rightly implores us to "agree to disagree" and leave it at that. She writes:

I hope we can try to overcome these differences that all families face, and try to grow with them and learn from each other, and face them with tolerance and perhaps a bit of humor (or my favorite: avoidance!). More important than anything is family, which as we are aging sometimes feels like it is slipping away, and I would surely hate for anything to compound that.

Well said. And rather than overwhelm her with my long-winded arguments, maybe I'll just post my thoughts here...and leave it at that.

****

I guess to me this is the classic case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Those conservative columnists you mentioned who have expressed disappointment in the “changed” McCain, or those who have abandoned McCain to support Obama, often refer to “the McCain of 2000,” and how they would have voted for that McCain but not McCain 2008. Their reasons? He has abandoned his principles, principles they once admired. Oddly enough, they don’t seem to have any problems endorsing Obama who seems to have no scruples (Example: reneging on his promise to use public money for the general election. Another example: when he ran for the legislature in Chicago, he apparently won in a landslide. What people may not know, though, is that the reason he won in a landslide is because he ran unopposed, and the reason he ran unopposed is because he managed to get all his opponents’ names off the ballot for violating some minor signature-gathering rule. Another example: his use of negative ads and distortions of McCain’s record, his mockery of Palin. Another example: questionable and possibly illegal fund-raising). Here’s a politician’s politician in the worst sense of the word, yet John McCain gets chided by people of his own party for “playing politics” just to stay in the game. That’s the “damned if you do” part of the story. The “damned if you don’t” part is, if he hadn’t played by these rules (selection of Palin, his own use of negative ads) we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. It would be no contest.

The funny (ironic) thing is, most of these conservatives who have switched to Obama have trouble defending themselves. It’s like they can’t get beyond how much they admire McCain, and almost seem to feel remorse about their decision. There was one conservative author (I can’t remember her name) who recently hopped on the Obama bandwagon and wrote about her decision. She spends literally three quarters of her article itemizing why she respects McCain, but then she talks about how the Republican party has changed and that’s why she’s voting for Obama. I noticed the same thing in Chris Buckley’s meandering endorsement of Obama. He revered McCain. The best reason he could give for supporting Obama was because Obama is articulate, and he actually wrote his own books (he said that…it was bizarre). There was no clear, distinguishable, logical thread of argument for his support, no ideology or otherwise logical reason to justify why he was voting for Obama (other than Palin, perhaps, but I don’t buy into that logic). It was more like why he’s not voting for McCain. You read some of these writers’ reasons for why they’re supporting Obama and search for logic, yet their articles become more of an endorsement for McCain.

So in answer to your question, yes, maybe I do think even intelligent conservatives are confused. They praise Obama for his intellect but overlook his inexperience, excuse his obvious failings (those Chicago associations, his paper-thin resume as a legislator and Senator), and buy into his nebulous promise of change with no evidence to support their belief. If anything, there’s ample evidence to believe Barack Obama will renege on most of his campaign promises. He’s already proven to be a man who will back-peddle and break his promise (though he’s very smooth about explaining why).

Yes, I think people have been hoodwinked, and if Obama is elected, it will be, in my view, a very sad day. John McCain, as I said, is the better candidate, the better person, the more authentic and honest man, the more reliable Commander in Chief. Of the two candidates, McCain’s the one most likely to bring about actual change, including the very real possibility of narrowing the “divide” (at least, politically….I guess nothing will bridge the gap when it comes to certain social issues). With Obama, I can all but guarantee you that the divide will not only remain, but will very likely widen even more, especially if allegations about illegal fund-raising, voter registration fraud, anti-Semitic affiliations, media bias, violations of journalistic ethics, etc. are proven after the fact. McCain is a man who not only in word but in deed has literally walked across the “aisle.” Even David Brooks noted in one of his earlier columns that, despite the fact that McCain has “changed,” he still believes the “real McCain” would emerge as president, given the chance. Unfortunately, McCain doesn’t campaign well, or he took bad advice from his campaign managers and he bungled this whole thing badly. He was out-spent, out-manned and out-smarted politically, so he may not be given that chance.

And there’s another sad irony. The fact that he’s not as politically savvy as Obama actually speaks well of him in my view, and is one reason why I really like him. Give me an honest man any time even if he bungles a speech or makes a politically inept decision over a smooth talking politician any day. Being politically savvy is not necessarily a good thing. It just means you’ve learned how to work the system. That’s why I’m disappointed in (those) who have bought into the Obama mania. Can’t they discern between a man of character and a mere politician? There are so many red flags about Barack Obama, any one of which would have sunk another candidate. I guess it’s true, it’s hard to betray your partisan roots. He may be a scoundrel, but he’s my scoundrel, that sort of thing. I’m sure you all felt the same about those of us who voted for George Bush. He may be a cowboy, but he’s my cowboy…. I hate politics.

******
For Further Reading

Obama’s Mediscare Tactics
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2ZlOTMzMWNjZmVhYzNjODcxOTRhZTk0YzA2NTNiMzQ=

Redistribution You Can Believe In
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTZjMTVkMzBkY2NhNzgwOWVhMzFlMmFjODE5N2I3ZTM=

The Choice
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=N2Q5YjJkNjVmZjc3NmI3MGQ0MzUzNTg1M2RiMzYxOTM=