LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Michael Crichton, who helped create the TV show “ER” and wrote the best-sellers “Jurassic Park,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “Sphere” and “Rising Sun,” has died in Los Angeles, his public relations firm said in a news release.
Crichton died unexpectedly Tuesday “after a courageous and private battle against cancer,” the release said.
He was 66.
As I write this, Senator Obama has 333 electoral votes. I did not vote for him. Yet, I am so proud of my country tonight and I am proud to call Senator Obama, “Mr. President”. This is a historic night for the entire world. The 44th President of the United States is a man of both African and American descent - this is only possible in America.
President Obama will lead an administration that supports policy I vehemently disagree with. I will write and speak out about these things, just as I would if John McCain had been elected. But, in all other things with regards to this country - these United States of America, which I have served in uniform and love beyond words - I am committed to my President. That man is Barack Obama.
We have a lot of work before us. President-Elect Obama is now facing the toughest time of his life - a war on two fronts, an economy that is impacting so many of our fellow citizens, and then those challenges we don’t know about yet. The honeymoon will be short for our new president. I pray we will endure and I pray President Obama will endure.
My hope is that those of you who voted for Senator McCain, or simply voted against Senator Obama, as I did, will join me in supporting this wonderful, humbling, historic event. It does not mean you should not fight for policy you believe in. But let us not turn this proud moment in our history into something destructive. You don’t have to give him a free ride, but do Give President-Elect Obama a chance to do what he has promised - bring us together.
God bless you and God bless America
I know there will be many who delve into the rancorous rhetoric that has become our tribal warfare every 4 years in America. You will hear about Senator Obama not being willing to suspend his campaign to save America, but will take 2 days off to visit his sick grandmother or other such nonsense. This is my prediction and I am waiting to see who does it first.
I want to extend my family’s personal best wishes to Grandma Madelyn Payne Dunhamand the Obama family. I sincerely hope all turns out well and she makes a full recovery to witness the history that will have been made regardless of the outcome of this election. I am sure Grandma Dunham will be proud in any case.
God Bless.
Email from Bruce Ash:
DENIALS…………DENIALS…………..DENIALS
That is what we are going to hear from the Obama Campaign from here until November 4th. They are hanging on for dear life between now and election day hoping the MSM won’t make a big deal out out their corrupt connections to the community organizer–ACORN (the same folks who brought America the mortgage meltdown).
The same way they have tried to bring down the financial industry ACORN is actively working to promote their candidate Barack Obama who will wreck America if he is elected. Now is the time for Republicans to rise up and fight for America.
Like 2004 until the McCain Campaign can fully get the guns pointed in the right direction we the GRASSROOTS of the Republican Party must unite and get the message out to other party loyal, Independents and enlightened Democrats.
PLEASE pass this on…………
Bruce Ash
National Committeeman
www.AshForArizona.com
————- Snip Line ————-
Obama Camp Downplays Payments To ACORN
From The Washington Times
By S.A. Miller
October 10, 2008
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign distanced itself Thursday from its $800,000 payment linked to the liberal ACORN organization, which is under investigation in several states where it is suspected of filing fraudulent voter registrations.
Federal Election Commission reports show ACORN-affiliated Citizens Services Inc. got $832,598 from the Obama campaign for get-out-the-vote work during the primaries. …
Still, the contributions to Citizens Services draw the Obama campaign closer to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and the growing voter-fraud scandal that this week spread to the battleground state of Ohio .
The elections board in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, is reviewing about 65,000 voter cards submitted by ACORN after flagging 50 cards filled out for duplicate names, fictitious addresses, noncitizens and recycled names and addresses of currently registered voters, said board spokesman Mike West.
Similar probes reportedly are under way in other large Ohio counties.
Citizen Services is inextricably tied to ACORN. Along with nonprofit sister organization Project Vote, Citizens Services and ACORN share the same New Orleans address and the same executive staff while money flows freely between the three entities. In 1996, Project Vote’s tax returns show it paid ACORN more than $4.6 million for campaign services and Citizens Services more than $779,000 for legal and administrative services.
The ACORN political action committee endorsed Mr. Obama for president.
Its national voter-registration drive - which is targeting low-income, minority and young voters who tend to vote Democrat and likely favor Mr. Obama at the polls - is implicated in investigations of bogus voter applications in a dozen states, many of them battlegrounds. …
In the swing state of Michigan , Oakland County election officials found more than 33,000 duplicate registrations, about two-thirds of new applications since August. In some cases, the same name was registered scores of times and in different jurisdictions, and ACORN canvassers submitted most of those applications. ….
New Mexico officials said they forwarded fraudulent voter registrations involving ACORN to the U.S. Department of Justice, which would neither confirm nor deny a voting rights investigation of the group.
In Pennsylvania , a must-win state for Mr. Obama, Philadelphia voter registration administrator Bob Lee said the state attorney general has been alerted to more than 800 applications with false addresses - all of them submitted by ACORN. …
The group’s voter-registration work is under investigation in Nevada, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and Connecticut, where election officials in Bridgeport flagged about 2,000 fraudulent applications for fake addresses, fake people and even one misrepresenting a 7-year-old girl as being 27. …
To View The Entire Article, Please Visit: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-payments-to-acorn/print/
A Product Of The RNC Research Department
There are now less than 50 days left in this presidential election and the outcome will be historic. Whether Senator Barack Obama is chosen by the majority of Americans or Senator John McCain is, history will be made in America.
But I tell you now, if Barack Obama is not the next President of the United States, the leftists are going to scream “stolen election” like they did in 2000. And if Barack Obama is elected to the POTUS position, you are still going to have a lot of disenfranchised Democrats who think the election was stolen from Senator Hillary Clinton.
If Barack Obama wins out in November, I will not put a bumper sticker on my car that says “Don’t blame me, I voted McCain”. I won’t tell people that the President is a moron or the equivalent of Hitler. After all, in the military you learn that you respect the position regardless of the person in it. The vast majority of the right don’t have the howling instinct when we lose and election because we understand the blessing of changing our country’s leadership without bloodshed and rioting.
In Macomb County, Michigan – 1980s. This is the place and the time that the term Reagan Democrats was coined and I will tell you now – today is the place and the time we at the Joel Gaines Show are coining the phrase Palin Democrats. A look at the Pew Research Center’s most recent analysis of the national post-convention polls reveals exactly what I am talking about. The Obama Campaign is not going to admit this yet, but Obama is being rejected by members of his own party. Now, the Obama campaign is going to use identity politics to explain why this is happening once they find out this is a permanent phenomenon – the jumping ship away from their candidate.
But I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that is exactly the reason people are leaving Obama behind. He has used only his unique identity – as they see it anyway – as a means to garner support. The Obama campaign has spent all of this time building the Obama brand based solely upon his identity and a good portion of the Democratic voters are not nearly as stupid as their party apparatus thinks they are. They are looking at this guy and realizing that there is nothing to him other than a quest for power – and not just power but historic power. Those people who have not been duped or who have recently come to the conclusion that Senator Obama is really no different than anyone else – that Change means nothing since the Biden pick – those voters are starting to look toward John McCain and Sarah Palin. So look at the Pew Research Numbers – pre and post convention numbers.
Pre Convention = CBS News – McCain 42%; Obama 45% DK 13$
Post Convention = CBS News – McCain 46%; Obama 44% DK 10%
Pre Convention = ABC/WaPo – McCain 43%; Obama 49% DK 8%
Post Convention = ABC/WaPo – McCain 46%; Obama 47% DK 7%
Pre Convention = Gallup – McCain 43%; Obama 47% DK 10%
Post Convention = Gallup – McCain 50%; Obama 46% DK 4%
In Minnesota alone – not a bastion of conservatism – 2004 Kerry took it 51% - 48
2000 Gore took it 48% - 46 1996 Clinton 51% over Dole 35% 1992 Clinton 44 and Bush 32 – a pretty polarized but Dem leaning state.
John MCCain is only 1 point off of Barack Obama based on a Princeton Survey USA poll Sep 12. This is a 13 point jump for John McCain.
It is telling that peoples’ attitudes have changed drastically after the conventions. The Democratic National Convention in Denver posted only modest gains in perception of voters. There was actually little of the fire that Obama was known for in the primaries – WHY! Middle vs far left – unispiring Biden – too much Obama family. Tried to play up patriotism and downplay the super star perception – flag debacle
However, the Republican national convention in St Paul was an introduction of the rising star. People got a glimpse of Governor Palin and fell in love with her at the very moment that the Obama campaign chose to attack her. This is another example of the ineptness of this campaign. He is outspending McCain about 2.5 to 1 and still slipping. His Change mantra has been hijacked by his opponents, who actually DID something that represents change instead of rejecting it. I have said before heck Joe Biden said it himself – Senator Obama and Senator Clinton would have been unstoppable. I told you that the manner of the party and the manner of the candidates would put the Democratic Party in the position of rejecting either the first black president or the first woman president and that if they came together and actually worked out a deal, they could have had both. This election would have given them the first president who was either a woman or a person of color and 8 years from now, the VP would have become president. I am certain of it. But the party’s inability to coalesce – and frankly I thought we Republicans were going to have this problem - the Democrats’ inability to coalesce on this have ruined their chances at the White House for at least 12 years – barring some catastrophic event or revelation, which the army of 35 Democratic Party lawyers is scouring Alaska to find. The simple fact that the media at large and the Democratic party machine are stuck in Palin envy is clear.
Democrats who are using their brains instead of raw emotion recognize what John McCain is doing. Is he boosting his conservative credentials to make nice with the Republican base, absolutely. But he is also PROVING his Maverick credentials. He is going to do this thing in a way that challenges the conventional – in a way that shows America that HE is an agent of change in politics. It takes a lot of courage to bring an unknown into this arena. It takes a lot of courage to BE an unknown in this arena. Democrats who are using their brains instead of raw emotion understand that Change is coming via the Republican party candidate. Additionally, we should be clear that Senator Obama cannot hope to compare his record with that of John McCain – that’s why we get the Bush III rhetoric.
But there is another message we should make sure we don’t ignore. And the Republican party is getting money from me for the first time in several years because of this one thing. Sarah Palin represents change for the Republican Party. She is a different kind of politician than the pool of political elite we have been forced to choose from for so long. Governor Palin represents something that is fresh – and the perception is that this is based in her pursuit of office based upon a desire to make something better or correcting a wrong where she sees it.
Conservatives see her as a great candidate on the basis of her policy stances, to be sure, but also because she is someone who is not telling us “like it or not, this is what you get” – something conservatives don’t care for in John McCain, frankly – but that she solves problems regardless of her personal beliefs. Imagine her stance on gay marriage – given her social conservatism. Yet, she passed legislation in her state allowing state employees to have the same benefits as all other state employees. She made this determination based upon the laws and constitution of her state. She could easily have vetoed the legislation – but she used the scale of justice instead of activism. Tell me, would any Democratic candidate that you can think of Do a similar thing with say, Prayer in school? What about parental consent? Perhaps something as innocuous as a cross on a piece of public land or the ten commndments in a courthouse. I tell you now you are going to see the moniker Palin Democrats being used for many years to come – much longer than you’ll hear about Obama Republicans or Biden Republicans or Obamacons.
Palin Democrats will put John McCain and Sarah Palin in the oval office. And I can tell you this – it isn’t because the Republican party political machine fooled the Amrican people. It is because the American people are no longer fooled by the Democratic Party Apparatchiks.
Steve Selengut
http://www.kiawahgolfinvestmentseminars.com
http://www.valuestockindex.com/
Author of: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read”, and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”
Your retirement income investment plan starts now, right now, no matter how old or well heeled you happen to be.
Step One is to understand what a retirement plan is, and to identify the three large numbers you need to keep track of while you are developing your stash. With these three totals on your spreadsheet, it’s much easier to develop long-range retirement income goals that make personal sense. A retirement plan is an income production plan. Guaranteed retirement income - projected expenses = the gap. No gap, add parents and children to the expense number. There’s always a gap.
Employer provided pension plans, Social Security, and (always much too expensive) fixed annuity contracts, are retirement income providers. They are monthly income machines that you have paid dearly for but which may not be adequate to cover your retirement expenses— most of us will need more income than our guaranteed benefits will provide.
And we need to develop these additional income sources while we are still earning some kind of income. The retirement plan is the investment process you employ to eliminate the gap between your projected guaranteed income and a conservative estimate of your retirement expenses. The sooner and smarter you invest before retirement, the easier the transition from full employment to full vacation will be. Smart investing involves separating your security selections by purpose, and monitoring their performance in the same way. You’re never to young to start developing the income side of the portfolio.
Once you start to draw income at retirement, it is much more difficult to invest effectively and unemotionally. Since your income will need to remain secure and constant through several economic, market, and IRE (interest rate expectation) cycles, you really need to develop appropriate portfolio market value expectations if your program is to survive. You cannot afford to take your eye off the income ball, because income is the only thing you can spend without depleting the productive value of the assets in your investment portfolio.
Obvious? Yes, but only until the market value of your portfolio begins to shrink as a result of economic, market, and IRE cycles. If you invest properly, it (the income) should continue to grow in spite of changing market conditions and fluctuating market value numbers. You must learn to expect market value fluctuations and take advantage of them— assuming, of course, that you are following appropriate quality, diversification and income generation standards.
Retirement income planning became more difficult for most of us around the time corporate America realized that defined benefit pension plans were far too expensive to manage and maintain. At around the same time, the Social Security trust fund somehow disappeared (Did it ever exist at all?), and more and more of our hard earned was needed to support our aging friends and relatives. Why haven’t the myriad of defined contribution programs been able to fill the retirement income gap?
Because millions of totally investment-inexperienced people were given discretion over billions of investment dollars that could be tax detoured out of their paychecks and into IRAs, 401ks, 403bs, Thrift, Savings, Thrift/Savings Plans, etc. Self directed investment programs generated a need for an investment media; the investment media fueled the speculative juices of an emotional and naïve mass of newbie investor/speculators; Wall Street created tens of thousands of new products and compound income schemes to sponge up the wayward dollars.
The Masters of the Universe were ROTFLOL while the Investment gods gaped in disbelief.
Defined Contribution plans are just not retirement plans— even if your employee benefits department, the media, Wall Street, and Uncle assure you that they are. Most plans are difficult to self-manage with a retirement income objective. Still, these benefit plans are necessary and quite capable of taking you close to where you want to be. Their only drawback is the false sense of wealth and retirement security that they promote. Either the money has to be converted into an income portfolio— a costly and time-consuming process— or far too many mutual fund shares have to be sold to produce the spending money
Most people think of savings and investment programs as retirement plans, and rationalize away the need for additional, outside development of an income investment portfolio. This is because all of the information they receive speaks to market value growth instead of to income. It’s very likely that less than half the money will ever be yours to spend! What, you say— why? Here’s an example. A NYC resident with a $3 million IRA retires with the expectation of maintaining her life style. Even invested for income alone, $15,000 per month is easy to generate. But how much more has to be disbursed to satisfy three levels of tax collection?
Next example. The same portfolio in equity mutual funds during a correction— now your dipping into principal!
Even though defined-contribution plans are excellent mechanisms for growing an investment portfolio with your hard earned, pre-tax, dollars, most plans and most plan participants worship the market value god to the exclusion of all others. Most people are too greedy and/or tax-averse to convert them into income producers during rallies— when they can lock in a meaningful cash flow. Additionally, the counter productive IRC encourages our use of owned assets first— a universally ignored phenomenon.
The “buy and hold” mutual fund mentality doesn’t transition well from growth to income— regardless of the fund category or description; the idea of helping people into a comfortable retirement hasn’t stopped the tax collectors; the market cycle is just as likely to be down as up when your gold watch is presented. You have to do more, and less, to secure that comfortable retirement.
Step One of the retirement plan is developing a focus on income, and understanding that spending money and market value are not blood relatives. Step Two is developing the right combination of tax deferred and tax-exempt income— among other things.
Steve Selengut
http://www.kiawahgolfinvestmentseminars.com
http://www.valuestockindex.com/
Author of: “The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read”, and “A Millionaire’s Secret Investment Strategy”
Last week I reported to you what the United States Navy was up to in the Black Sea and elsewhere, and the US response to the Russian invasion of Georgia. Let me update you a bit on this situation.
The Flagship USS Mount Whitney is now docked in Poti and delivering aid to Georgian citizens. But let me assure you, this is not simply a humanitarian mission. The Mount Whitney is the 6th Fleet Flag Ship and the Command and Control Ship for a NATO Strike Force. It is lightly armed, but the significance of this particular ship docking in Poti, Georgia should not be lost on the Russians. The United States is sending a clear message – a warning actually – that the United States is firmly behind Georgia and any act deemed hostile to this ship comes with a huge consequence.
Russia is not going anywhere – they will hold out in Georgia, where they still have significant numbers of troops – for as long as they possibly can. President Medvedev has already stated he is willing to risk anything, including a new cold war, to ensure that the interests of Russia are best served. What Russia is interested in is Empire – power – and the same plays out of the Soviet playbook are being used. Russia operates as much today as it ever did during the Soviet era on the 3Ps. Power – economic power to be exact, Passion – Russians are a very passionate people and because of this are easy targets for the last P – propaganda. Russian media – even those outlets that are supposed to be anti-Kremlin are little more than propaganda platforms for the Putin oligarchy. That was on of the first things done by Putin when he had a firm grasp of power in Russia after Yeltsin left the stage.
I will tell you this – and you mark these words. We are as close today to a war with Russia as we were when we played Chicken with Krushev over some missiles in Cuba. The overt military deployments of thousands of ships and planes and troops loading up – those things are not necessary these days. We can send the same message in a few milliseconds with technology. But for the United States to put a ship of war – and one so overtly unarmed as the USS Mount Whitney – in a place that is still being occupied by the troops of a belligerent country. It is a clear message of “cease and desist” to Russia.
The Russians I have been hearing from, like I said, are buying Putin’s wares. They have an inferiority complex – the Russians do. You have to think of it historically and also understand a little of the Russian Psyche – it is tragic. Tragedy unfolds in the souls of all Russians. Russia has succumbed to tragedy starting with the Mongols decimating the Eastern Slavs of Kievan Russ. The Byzantine Empire was next to identify and define the Russian culture. From then on, Russia has been moving away from the rest of the world – particularly moving in the opposite direction as Europe – culturally and geopolitically. Ever since that time – perhaps in the 1850’s or so – Russia has been impacted by Revolution. The Peasant Revolts in Russia, Napoleon and then the French Revolution, the Bolshevik revolution, But let’s focus for just a minute on the early 1900’s. I show you this to make my point. Social reforms in the first decade of the Russian revolution – prosperity for the citizens, freedoms not enjoyed in some times – all of these very things ringing true in Russia since 1989. And just like then, Russia is now gravitating toward a destructive, autocratic form of government. Russians want the houses we have in America. They want the clothing, music, food quality, etc. All of those things Americans have, Russians want with a passion. Their inferiority complex drives them to covet what they don’t have and I for one would love to see them have it. However, the tragic Russian psyche does not allow the Russians the ability to gain it the way Americans have done. Through decades of effort – the Russian ego – remembers only the greatness of the Soviet Union. Despite all of the hardships of the average Russian, they had everything they needed. Nevermind that a telephone took 5 years to get. Never mind that you waited several years to get a car – if you ever got one – and it was never new, and usually a decade old or older. Never mind that the town drunk and the most ambitious person worked in the same factory for the same pay. Russians were relevant in the world because they had military might – something they have always gravitated to. The Russian ego – that tragic Psyche does not allow Russia to be another typical European nation - A contributor to the free world. There is only greatness for Russia. Whether it is the greatest nation on earth or the greatest loss of opportunity on earth is of no matter to the average Russian.
Russians will gain all of the modern things – all the accoutrements of a prosperous society by giving up their freedom, one legislative effort at a time. In the end, as has always been the case for Russians, they will lose it all to start again another day. It only goes to show you that the government cannot provide for you without taking something away.
On Tap for today:
The Republican National Convention is now behind us. Americans got a chance to meet Governor Sarah Palin and I would like to talk a bit about the media and Democratic reaction to her.
As hurricane Gustav roared through LA and left destruction and chaos in its path, Bobby Jindal sprang into action. I’ll update you on what is happening in the Great State of LA since the storm passed through.
The American flag – revered by the patriots of this country. Recently, the McCain campaign inherited some flags from the Democratic National Convention. We’ll tell you how this happened.
Sec State Rice has made an historic trip just recently
The debate schedule for the Presidential and VP candidates is set and I’ll share that with you today.
There is a great deal going on in the fight to staunch the flow and impact of illegal immigration in the United States. Since we have not talked about this for some time, I will share some thoughts with you on this as well.
If we have time, we’ll talk about a change of command in Iraq, and a few other interesting items in the news.
Segment 2
Last week, We introduced you to Sarah Palin and did a bit of comparison between her and Barak Obama. Since then, we get the idea that a lot of liberal America is angry. Well, we already knew that – they’ve been angry and have never grown out of being angry – that’s how you have 60 year old liberals. But many liberals are especially angry of late. They’re angry because the veneer is being removed from their candidate. They are starting to worry that perhaps they’ve made the wrong decision – perhaps. It is a perhaps in the mind of liberals because the logical analysis is still in the background of their minds, being trumped and stomped around by the emotional attractiveness of electing the first black president. Now, because I just said that, I will be accused of “having played the race card” – you see you cannot mention race if you are right of center without being accused of that. If you are a leftist, though, you can make your entire decision on race alone – as is done in affirmative action programs or this election – and that is not “playing the race card”.
We could spend time on the convention speeches. We could do a comparative analysis but to my way of thinking that is a waste of time. National Conventions are all about the glitz and the sound bite. At the Democratic convention, we saw a Vignette of Americanism from the Obamas that is not reflected in their day-to-day commentary or “America is not what it could be and not what it once was” or “For the first time in my life, I am proud to be an American because my husband might be president. We saw a speech where Michelle talks about soldiers in a way that does not reflect her husband’s lack of interest in them over the past 4 years – but all in all, the conventions were successful at painting the respective candidates in a way that tailored them to the target audience. The conventions did what they were intended to do.
The only analysis that matters, ladies and gentlemen – is what got done at the end of the work day for the candidates. And it is interesting. John McCain only needs to sell his policy stances. Joe Biden only needs to sell his policy stances. Sarah Palin is going to have something to point to – she has accomplishments in leadership positions in government. She has a fiscal policy success in Alaska she can point to. She has changed the face of politics in Alaska and she can point to that. She fought the establishment – and won - Something that is a dream for a community organizer.
So, what does the media look at with Sarah Palin? Do they analyze her energy policy? She has had one for a few years now, you know. Do they analyze her approaches to foreign relations? She’s had to work in that arena too as Governor of a state that borders Canada and Russia. What about her policy with regards to judicial fairness – she has legislative experience in that arena. Same sex marriage – what about her policy and actions there? No – here is what the media latches onto.
Pregnancy of Palin’s daughter – Palin should be staying home with the kids! How arrogant – at least Senator Obama told his campaign that the family was off limits. I appreciate that, but the reality is folks that the Party of the people – those who have told us how much the espouse the common man and women and minorities – they attack on the basis of race, gender, and social class. They can’t attack Palin on policy so they attack the person.
Palin’s pentacostal roots are scarey – yet Barack Obama’s liberation theology roots are fine, fine. They can’t attack the policy, so they attack the person.
Did Sarah Palin have an affair? Why do you care? Oral sex in the oval office is no one’s business according to Democrats – why would anyone bring this up without a shred of substance? They can’t attack the policy so they attack the person.
Husband’s 2 decade old DUI – again they have nothing policy-wise, so they go after the person.
Sarah Palin was a member of the Alaska Independence Party – which is an absolute falsehood.
The truth of the matter here is Sarah Palin has more to her than the Democratic presidential nominee. And there is nothing that can detract from her politically and she seems like a pretty decent person to boot. And liberals are starting to worry that they made the wrong decision with BaracK Obama. I told you, the veneer is starting to rub off and the elitist, disgruntled, community organizer is starting to come through.
Barack Obama has no experience running anything larger than a community action committee. He has not experience in foreign policy. He has no experience in managing a large budget – he’s voted for a couple, but has never managed one outside of his own home. Barack Obama is not terribly well versed in the history of this country – which means his understanding of the Constitution and its purpose is flawed. We’ve seen examples of his historical knowledge gap during speeches in which Kennedy met with Krushev – which never happened. The knowledge of our country’s founding and the ideals of the founding fathers is important. This is how we get judges who are capable of judging laws for their constitutionality instead of judges who decide based on political conviction. Many are starting to see that Barack Obama has consistently pointed out how “different” he is from most Americans. This of course fit into the Change mantra of the Obama Campaign. But, this “I am so very different” thing only works for so long. The more he says he is different from the average American, the more the average American is inclined to believe it. Guess what, Senator? Americans don’t vote for people that are so different than they are. They want to vote for someone who has the same problems, beliefs, values, and ideals as they do.
These are the things some liberals are starting to see and there is a bit of resentment coming out of that. Then Senator Obama does something counter to his mantra of change – counter to his “I am different” claim. He chooses as VP someone who is decidedly NOT different. When he selected Joe Biden the strategy was to ground his campaign in the experience he didn’t have. But I am going to tell you something today – Barack Obama’s plan is backfiring. Here is what he has done:
Barack Obama has underscored his lack of experience. He has pointed out to America that he NEEDS Joe Biden because he has nothing but his persona to bring to the table. Barack Obama also NEEDS Joe Biden because he has managed to make himself the odd man out with his “I’m different” theme. Then comes Sarah Palin. Small town girl – whistleblower on folks from her own party. Stands up repeatedly against government corruption. Stands up against big oil and wins. Stands up against corruption in the legislature and wins. Turns a budget deficit into a budget windfall – insists that the windfall be socked away for the future. It comes to pass in a few days that Governor Sarah Palin has more actual experience than Senator Obama. And more ground is lost with the Obama campaign. So, what do the leftists do? They attack the husband. They attack the daughter. They try to dig up dirt and they start slinging the mud around. But guess what? That is going to backfire too and I will tell you why.
Governor Palin is successful. Despite any diversity in her life, despite any challenges she’s faced personally or in leading her state, she’s successful. And what’s more, she’s REAL. She is not perfect like the Obama people are trying to show him to be. She has the same challenges in life that most Americans have and she has gotten through them and is successful anyway. This is meaningful, America. It hits us right where we know it and makes us understand that we have a choice here between a guy who is placed on the pedestal and paraded around as a shining example of what we lack as a country. See? We are not like HIM. We should be more like him – he deserves this. And then we have another example – we have an example of what I think this country is really all about. It’s not about pointing out how different we are. It’s about us being able to come together – to work together despite the fact that we are all different. That being different is no big deal because we have a common goal – the continuation of HOW our country became the greatest nation on the planet. Sarah Palin reminds us of that. She reminds us that anyone can do anything in this country – if we work hard and keep our values before us. And something Pastor Scott taught us – if we protect our thoughts.
PATREUS FODDER
Segment 3
In parts of Louisiana right now, we have people without power and a lot of devastation that is not making as much news as it should be. In all of this, Governor Bobby Jindal is making certain that all that can be done is being done after the Fierce Hurricane Gustav has finally roared through. Hannah is making her way through the Carolinas and Hurricane Ike is headed into the Caribbean. The threat of more storm destruction and loss of life is looming, but Bobby Jindal seems to be everywhere – pushing on FEMA, calling for churches and colleges to feed the displaced and the poor. Southern and Central Louisiana were hit hard and services will be unavailable for many residents for a while yet. Jindal is purchasing large commercial generators to power fuel stations, grocery stores, traffic signals, pharmacies and ice producers. He is pushing on the electrical companies to send more repair crews into the field and 90-95% of those affected by power outages, some 107,000 people will have power returned to them in the next few days. Some have said by as early as tomorrow. N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin, who somehow retained his position after Hurricane Katrina, is encouraging people to come back and get their businesses open.
In all of Louisiana, 960,000 power meters were out Thursday morning, and Governor Jindal as well as callers to talk radio continued to identify the outage as the most critical challenge facing the state. “Power is the key to getting our communities back on their feet,” Mr. Jindal said at a briefing in Baton Rouge. Six state prisons remained on emergency power, he said.
The governor announced a state program to spend $20 million on 400 generators for gas stations, grocery stores and other sites, getting a jump on the slower-moving energy companies.
“There may be communities without power for some time,” Mr. Jindal said. “We want to be able to get these communities fuel and food.” He said it was “clear to us the quickest way to get this done was to go out and actually purchase generators.”
Compare this to Governor Blanco during the Katrina storm, who did nothing and blamed the consequences on everyone else.
——
John MCCain’s campaign in Colorado Springs is going to be met with a lot of little American flags. 84 trash bags of American flags to be exact. You see, when the Democratic National Convention was over – all those little flags the Democrats waved at the Obamas were put into trash bags and put into the dumpsters at Invesco field. Rescued by local boy scouts after the event and a vendor delivered them to the McCain Palin campaign. The rescued flags will be used to great John McCain in Colorado Springs. Another difference between the Americanism of Barack Obama and the Americanism of John McCain – when the campaign stop is over, the flags will be placed on gravesites of veterans in the area. It is interesting to me that any Boy Scout in America knows what to do with a worn or tattered flag and the Obama campaign doesn’t know what to do with the perfectly good ones that no longer serve their political purpose. Interestingly enough, the DNC is claiming that the flags were stolen but you can go to RedState.com and see the flags in the trash for yourself!
US Secretary of State Rice was recently in Libya. And while this seems an innocuous visit for the Sec State, it is important that you understand the significance of it. Rice is the highest ranking US Official to visit Libya since Nixon was there as VP in 1957 and the first Sec State to visit since about 1953 when Dulles was there. We’ll see what comes out of this, but I think there is a lot happening in this arena and will bode well for President Bush as a part of his diplomatic legacy. Libya is going to represent a diplomatic success and could well be our watchtower in Africa – a place other African nations look to to decide how they feel about America – much as Mexico has been for Latin America. We’ll have to wait and see.
The debates between Senator Obama and Senator McCain are set. Here is the list as I understand it:
September 26: Oxford, Mississippi
Vice presidential debate: October 2, St. Louis, Missouri
October 7: Nashville, Tennessee
October 15: Hempstead, New York
Now, to my way of thinking, THIS is where the rubber meets the road. The debates tell us several things about our candidates – first what ARE the actual policy stances these folks are running on. We’ve had little more than rhetoric to this point from either of the campaigns – in a time when we are actually looking for a little meat – a little substance – around who is going to do what and HOW, which is the bigger question in my mind – I am looking for Filet Mignon and I have only seen pressed ham so far.
Another thing the debates will expose is whether or not these candidates are able to defend themselves – how easily they are shook up. How consistent their message. A president needs to be able to hold his own against the arrogant rulers and despots around the world. Diplomacy is about carrot AND stick. It’s about getting inside the decision cycle of the other guy and making him see things your way or at least seeing them less his way.
The debates are also sound-bite havens, but you’ll see a lot more of the candidates from the perspective of their policy and American response to that as this goes along. We will be providing you with the analysis of these events – unless of course they become so droll and uneventful that analysis is wasted. I anticipate so fire from the McCain campaign though. This is where McCain wants to be – side by side with Obama. This is where McCain has the experience and debates is not really something Senator Obama wants to do. He’s refused to do town-hall debates with Senator McCain because he is not a very good interaction guy compared to his skills as an orator.
So, three Presidential debates and one VP debate. Most of the action happening in October.
General Patreus will hand over command of U.S. forces there to Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno on September 16, a military spokesman said on Sunday.
Petraeus will relinquish command of the approximately 146,000 U.S. troops in Iraq after 19 months on the job to become head of Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters responsible for a vast region from Kenya to Kazakhstan.
Odierno most recently served as the number 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, finishing that assignment earlier this year. He will be promoted to full general as he takes over the Iraq command on September 16, said Colonel Steven Boylan, spokesman for Petraeus.
Petraeus will hand over control of a very different Iraq from the one he found when he became U.S. commander here in February 2007.
Sectarian and indiscriminate bloodshed has dropped sharply, and attacks are now at low levels not seen since early 2004.
Petraeus oversaw the “surge” of some 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq last year, a move that helped reduce violence along with cooperation from Sunni Arab tribal leaders and a ceasefire imposed on Shi’ite militiamen.
Odierno assumes control with the United States expected to further draw down its military presence more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
Pentagon sources said last week they are recommending the withdrawal of one combat brigade, 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, in early 2009, reflecting both improving conditions in Iraq and growing needs in Afghanistan.
The five additional “surge” brigades have already left Iraq and have not been replaced.
U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating a security pact that will govern the U.S. presence in Iraq after the current United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.
Segment 4
Several states have adopted legislation designed to deter businesses from hiring illegal labor. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement people are closing a stupid “self-deport” program and the border is no more secure today than it was in 2001.
I will share with you my view of the whole thing because we have no talked about this for a while. First of all, I won’t listen to any bigoted crap about Latinos – I have worked with Latinos and we live among them and I am proud that we share so much – in our desire for a good home for our kids, our values, hard work, all of that. Our food is influenced by Latin America and Spain. Our street names, our kids’ names.
We have about 10,000 Canadians living illegally in this country and they don’t belong here any more than the illegal immigrant from El Salvador. But let’s also be realistic, the vast majority of illegal immigrants are from Latin American countries and the majority of those are Mexican.
I think folks should be able to come here to the US and make a good life for themselves, if they meet certain criteria and they are willing to become Americans. There has to be a cap, but we can sustain a much higher number of immigrants than we currently cap the various visas at. As far as seasonal or temporary work foes, I am not so certain we should have big programs for this – we want more dedicated citizens not people who’s sole purpose is to ship dollars to another country’s economy.
Illegal labor is nothing more than an exploitation of people - nothing more than taking advantage of people who are in trouble. These folks are leaving their home because there is no work where they are – and for the most part we are talking about folks who have had at least a secondary education. Their economies are not industrialized and what there is in their countries is hoarded by a small group of the elite.
When I read stories like this one I am going to share – it underscores for me the exploitation.
Shipley Do-Nut Flour and Supply Company Inc. pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.3 million forfeiture to the government, federal prosecutors said.
Three former and current managers of the Houston company also pleaded guilty Friday to hiring or continuing to hire illegal aliens. The case is part of a government attempt to crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
You see, I think this should go directly to the CEO and COO level. They are fining the company, but prosecuting the managers. We’ve got Sarbanes Oxley legislation related to a company safeguarding personally identifiable information that is more stringent and points directly at the C suite of a company than the laws for illegally hiring people who are not supposed to be in this country. Despite the strengthening of several laws in several states - despite the increased enforcement – despite the fact that a lot of jobs are drying up, you still have people willing to break the law – willing to engage in unethical practices to get ahead. These managers are just doing what they think they have to given the expectations and culture of the company they work for. Now, this isn’t an excuse, but managers typically respond to the bidding of the executives. And I don’t see the executives being held accountable. A fine? please.
Illegal immigration is a problem – it poses a health risk as diseases wiped out n this country are brought likely entering without our knowledge. It is a risk to the economy – with 8% of our work force here illegally, it is difficult to measure productivity and our responses to economic indicators – as you have recently witnessed – can be slow or outright incorrect.
Illegal immigration is – and I hate to say this – a risk to our safety. 33% of the prison population in Arizona is illegal immigrants. They are in prison for crimes – felonies – other than being in the country illegally. American laws are not as violently enforced as the laws in other countries. This makes the US a safe haven for hardened criminals who know they will be treated pretty well in our system.
We need to be able to enforce our laws. We need to have the ability to decide who deserves to be a worker – even if it is some job “no one else will do” we should be able to choose who we want here doing it. We should be investing our efforts in assimilating people who want to be Americans rather than allowing billions of dollars to go to other countries that we could use frankly in our own economy.
You have to remember that America belongs to you – the citizen. Our elected officials are supposed to be doing our bidding and Americans are tired of being told that our laws are not worthy of being enforced. We do not have to sit by while “migrant activists” decide who we are and what we stand for. We do not have to sit by and take being called bigots because we want our laws enforced. We don’t have to sit by while elitists who want nothing more than cheaper goods and services, regardless of the actual cost – who want a guaranteed source of votes by people totally dependent upon the benevolence of government - who will exploit their fellow human beings for power, tell us how wrong we are to care about illegal immigration.
We can be heard – Arizona, Oklahoma, A dozen states are proof that Americans can shape their own country. Can decide their own course on immigration. Americans can impact the future of this country as can be done in no other country on the planet. And it is in this spirit, that I say to you - God Bless you and God Bless America.
Welcome America, to the Joel Gaines Show. I am your humble host - the common-sense conservative, Joel Gaines, and this is the where we remove the bumper sticker rhetoric typical in the mass media today. The number here is 484-461-JOEL.
Before we get into my riveting analysis of the United States political landscape, I want to talk to you about someone, her name is Irena Sendlerova and she hails from Warsaw, Poland.
Much of this lady’s life has been spent in obscurity and she certainly thought she was no one special. But let me tell you a little about this lady who recently died at the age of 98. She is someone you should know.
Irena was born is 1910 In Warsaw – her father was a physician. She was a bit of an activist against racial segregation in Europe – racism was rife against Jews during this time in much of Europe. She was suspended from university for three years because of her activism.
She was instrumental in the creation of escape routes for Jews fleeing the Nazi political machine – housing and feeding them, and falsifying documents necessary for escape. She did this on a daily basis, risking hanging or death by firing squad if the Nazis caught her.
During WWII, she was given a special permit to go into the Warsaw ghettos to check the Jews sequestered there for Typhus. The Nazis wanted nothing to do with Typhus or the dirty jews – in their opnion – who might have it. As Irena left each time, she carried a child out with her. Hidden among the things she claimed to have belonged to Typhus infected residents of the Warsaw ghetto.
During the course of 4 years she aided in the escape of some 3000 Jews – mostly children – from Nazi persecution. Each time she would place the person’s name and a few particulars on a slip of paper and place it in a jar – which she hid or buried. This was her record keeping system, in case she could help families reunite after the war.
In 1943, Irena was arrested, severely tortured, and sentenced to death. But her guards were bribed into letting her go. She was left in the woods, unconscious and with broken arms and legs. She was listed as among those executed.
After the war, she dug up the jars containing the children’s identities and began an attempt to find the children and return them to living parents. However, almost all the children’s parents had died at the Treblinka extermination camp.
After the war, she was at first persecuted by the communists who took over Poland, for the “crime” of being related to the Polish government in exile and association with the Armia Krajowa resistance. She was imprisoned, miscarried her second child, and her children were denied the right to study at a university.
Her life and lessons on character and race have been the topic of study and influence in Universities all over the world. There have been books written about her, movies made about her, and a website irenasendler.org is dedicated to helping people understand the importance of what Irena lived for - Ensuring freedom for others. Now, let’s fast forward to 2007. Irena was nominated for an award because of the wonderful, important, and dangerous things she had done – things she had dedicated her entire life to and suffered as a consequence. Yet, when the award was announce, Irena Sendler was not among the recipients. Among those named was someone we’ve heard more about. Irena Sendler did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize – the prize went to Al Gore and the International Panel on Climate Change. After all she had accomplished against racial discrimination and against communism, Al Gore received an award she deserved so much more because he was able to bloviate about Global Warming. The cult of personality triumphed against real good in the world – which sets the theme of this show. Cult of Personality vs. the Real.
On Tap for today:
The VP picks, fully vetted and strategized into the respective campaigns, are out in the open – Barack Obama, of course chose Joe Biden. A respected senator and 2 time presidential nominee. John McCain chose relatively unknown Alaska Governot, Sarah Palin. I will tell you not only who this lady is, but why choosing her is sheer brilliance for John McCain’s campaign as well as for the country.
Change that you can believe in. Let’s take a look at the decisions of late that underscore Change you can believe in. Change – that dramatic, emotional mantra of the left. Let’s look at exactly what the leftists want to change.
In the 4th Segment, we’ll definitely talk about the faith vote and each candidate’s efforts to capture it - we’ll bring you some choice cuts from the Saddleback forum in Texas. The idea here is not to report what was said there, but to give you my astute analysis of the relevance of each candidate’s words.
Segment 2
To say that I am excited by John McCain’s choice for VP – well words don’t do justice to the range of thoughts regarding this brilliant, brilliant, decision. Before I go into why I am excited by this campaign, let me tell you a bit about Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin is someone who DOES things. She is a “geter done” kinda lady. She is the epitome of the citizen activist that I think best suits government. These folks go into government because they want to right a wrong. They want to change something they see as contrary to the benefit of the citizens. Sarah Palin ran for City council because she saw a lot of waste and abuse going on. She ran for Mayor because she saw abuse and corruption. She ran for Lt Governor because she saw corruption. She ran for Governor because she saw ethics abuses. She chaired the ethics board of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She resigned in protest because of ethics issues with fellow Republicans on that board. As governor, she has fought corruption, wasteful spending, and she has no compunction against attacking those things – having publicly called for Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about his participation in corrupt dealings with oil, fisheries, and private corrections industries.
Palin is a Maverick – which fits doesn’t it? At 42, she was the youngest ever governor of Alaska. She was Alaska’s first woman Governor. She has bucked the conventional wisdom in Alaska – selling the state jet – on ebay no less – to rid the state of the overhead and perception of elitism that came with it.
Sarah Palin is all of those things conservatives are looking for. Pro-life. Lower-taxes. Ethical government. Fiscal conservatism – she told the US government that Alaska is capable of building their own bridge, thank you so much. This effectively put a stop to a controversial federal measure to build the “bridge to nowhere”.
But I have heard – in what seems to be the biggest statement of hypocrisy from the Democratic party apparatchiks these days – is that Governor Palin does not have enough experience to be Vice President or in a position to be president.
Let’s do some comparison between the Republican VP candidate and the Democratic Presidential candidate. In Washington, the mantra is what have you done and what have you run?
In the Illinois State Senate – Obama helped create tax subsidies for private industry designed to help low income housing projects. The neighborhoods he built – left to rot. Most of the homes are uninhabitable. The money went into the pockets of the developers.
Sarah Palin Created cut 1.2 billion in spending in Alaska, while also having the largest operating budget in Alaska history. The result? Total elimination of a budget deficit and a surplus, after spending more on education, transportation, and security.
Much is being made of the fact that Senator Obama has co-sponsored 570 bills in the US Senate. Co-sponsoring a bill is not an accomplishment, it is something done in the course of EVERY Senator’s normal day. To co-sponsor a bill, you have to do little more than tell someone you support whatever legislation it is and that you want to be listed as a co-sponsor. There is an average of 7 co-sponsors to every bill that is introduced in the US Senate. This is not an accomplishment.
Barak Obama has introduced amendments to 50 bills. So, of the 570 bills he has attached his name to, he has only worked – really worked – on 50 of them. Not a very good rate. Of those 50 bills, his amendments have been adopted in 16 cases. So, he has about a 33% success rate with the legislation he actually writes in a Democratically controlled congress. Again, not a very good rate. His one major legislative effort? The one thing people can point to for the Jr Senator from Illionois? He wants to give over 500 billion US taxpayer dollars to corrupt governments around the world. Those places impoverished by the practices of their own leaders.
Governor Palin does things that Barack Obama only talks about. Now, let me remind you that I am comparing the republican VP candidate with the Democratic Party Presidential dream guy. But let’s take a look at a few things Governor Palin has done.
She stood up against the some practices between oil companies and legislators from her own party. She blew the whistle on them. She put an end to the good old boy practice of pork barrel spending on behalf of her state. She maintains that Alaska is quite capable of determining what gets built and what gets spent in her state.
Governor Palin has been to Iraq as many times as Barack Obama had been before he was a Presidential candidate – despite the fact that he was in the US Senate before she was a Governor.
Governor Palin is responsible for the security of one of America’s biggest coastlines – a place, let me remind you, where we have recently seen Russian bombers approaching again for the first time since the “end of the cold war” She is also responsible for the security of the country’s largest oil pipeline. They say she lacks foreign policy experience – yet she governs every aspect of a state the borders two other countries – Canada and Russia.
She has more executive experience that Barack Obama. Mayor for 10 years and Governor for 2. Barack Obama has not LEAD anything.
Governor Palin is the Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard and has been actively involved in that post – as I said, having visited her soldiers in Iraq – making that trip as many times as the Senator from Illinois.
Barak Obama, again – no experience of that nature.
Sarah Palin comes from Blue Collar, humble, beginnings. She was a sports reporter and a Salmon fisher. Barak Obama was a civil rights lawyer.
Her husband is a salmon fisherman and in off season a supervisor for an oil production facility. Barak’s spouse holds a number of positions as dean of this, VP of that, executive director of the other, and lawyer.
GO ON WITH MORE.
So, we have a party highly animated on the theme of change. Change you can believe in. What has Barack Obama done to live up to his mantra of Change? Did he change the face of politics with respect to his decisions as a candidate for POTUS? Did he choose a woman or another minority? No - he didn’t. He chose someone who grounds him in experience. Joe Biden – 25 years in the Senate and as typical of a US Senator as anyone.
The bottom line about Barack Obama is that he has never – not once in his career – CHANGED anything. He did not change the power politics in Chicago. He has not challenged the corruption rife in that area. He has done nothing to CHANGE policy. Sarah Palin has changed more as a Governor, than Barack Obama has changed as a State Senator and US Senator combined. Governor Palin has stood up to ethics violations and corruption against people in her own party. Barack Obama can’t even stand up against his pastor.
John McCain’s choice of Governor Palin is as relevant as it is brilliant. He has taken away the ability of the Obama campaign to attack her experience because she is in fact more experienced that he is. John McCain has brought in someone with solid conservative credentials _ PRO Choice, Lower Taxes, Fiscal management leading to surplus, ending corrupt spending practices, ending porkbarrel projects_ Barack Obama has a failed housing project with nothing to show for millions of taxpayer dollars.
Sarah Palin is married to an indigenous Yup’ick – that’s right, her husband is a Native American or American Indian or whatever term makes you most comfortable. But I don’t contend this represents change. To me, Sarah Palin is the American Story. Humble beginnings, nothing dramatic, like an imagined march for civil rights that lead to her conception. She has fought for what is right, rather than trying to maintain the status quo of go along to get along.
The interesting aspect to this – Democrats are talking about Change. What are they trying to change? Well, the anecdotal evidence is that Obama’s change is related to social conditions of the average American. In 1988, that was what Biden was all about and that fits n nicely with Barack and Michelle’s statements about America. With their pastor’s statements about America and the African American Value System which seems to denigrate the United States for something no one living today had anything to do with. Sarah Palin is able to be married to a Native American and have great things to say about the United States and then contribute to that greatness. That’s the sort of Change Barack Obama should be pursuing. Instead he seems to send his message to the most bitter among us. To those who are disgruntled and those who support them. Governor Palin is young, independent of thought, and a proven, capable leader. Barack Obama is young and has proven nothing but that he can make great speeches from time to time.
Change – that’s what John McCain has done and Barack Obama has only promised.
Segment 3
A quick update on Russia’s invasion of Georgia. They are not going anywhere. I told you this was going to happen. I have been trying to warn Americans about Russia for 7 years. Russia has neutered the free world, while re-invoking Soviet –era ambitions for controlling vast stretches of the globe outside its own borders.
Listen carefully, Russia has recognized the independence of S Ossettia and Abkhazia. My leftist Russiaphile acquaintances are giddy and it is sickening to me. The free world is neutered into inaction against the reemergence of the Russian bear of the cold war era. Listen to these words from the President of Russia himself.
“We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War,” he said. Hours earlier he had ordered his Foreign Ministry to start establishing diplomatic ties with the secessionist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In the mean time Russia is warning NATO about a buildup of NATO ships in the black sea.
The missile destroyer USS McFaul is already off the Georgian coast, with the US Coastguard ship Dallas docked in Georgia’s port of Batumi, both to show support for the Caucasus nation. Washington has now ordered the flagship of its 6th Fleet, the sophisticated command ship Mount Whitney, into the area, saying it will deliver humanitarian supplies. But the flotilla has angered the Kremlin.
Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to Nato, warned against western interference in Georgia’s two breakaway regions, saying: “If Nato takes military actions against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, acting solely in support of Tbilisi, this will mean a declaration of war on Russia.”
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, dragged the United States presidential candidates into the row. He suggested Georgia might have been pushed by someone in the US into using force to protect the two separatist states, saying the anti-Moscow rhetoric would help give a competitive advantage to one of the candidates.
It is curious – some of the Criticism I have about Barack Obama’s campaign is mirrored by some of the people who now tell us they know him best and he is best for this country. I am talking about Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.
“You never hear the specifics.”
– Hillary Clinton, speaking about his Issue Plans
“I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The
Presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job
training.”
– Senator Joe Biden, when asked if Barack Obama is ready to be
President
“I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience he will bring to
the White House–and Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”
– Hillary Clinton, about Obama’s leadership
Welcome America, to the Joel Gaines Show. I am that man - your humble host Joel Gaines - the common-sense conservative, and this is the place where we remove the bumper sticker rhetoric typical in the mass media today. The number here is 484-461-JOEL.
Speaking of common sense - here is a tidbit I received in email and I wanted to share it with you. The current presidential pension is $191,300 plus office expenses every year after the president leaves office, until the age of 80. If John McCain is elected and serves an 8 year term, he will get nothing as a presidential pension. Now, I don’t know what Barak Obama is going to cost this country if he is elected, but I can say that he will be receiving a pension of $191,300 for 25-26 years - so whatever the amount, you can add about $4,900,000 plus 26 years of office expenses.
We are seeing a number of fine examples of how the party of the people operates, as this race goes forward. A couple of weeks ago I told you about the Democratic Party delegate from Wisconsin or Minnesota who had her credentials removed by the DNC - the national committee mind you - because she mentioned she would not vote for Barak Obama. Then, the party is castigated several Clinton supporters because they were arrogant enough to buck the party’s popular wisdom by pushing for the ability to put Hillary’s name back in the race at the DN Convention. The party apparatus is throwing its weight around to ensure that Barak Obama is the undisputed king of the hill in Denver. Well, guess what? Apparently, there was enough of a call for this that an agreement has been reached between the two campaigns to put Hillary’s name on a roll-call ballot in the convention. I told you in May this was going to the convention. I told you in July that you can never count Hillary Clinton out of the game, not even when she says publicly that she has conceded. Clinton is not out of this by a long shot. We are 8 days away from the national convention and there has been no mention of a VEEP for the ticket. In the mean time, the Democrats are pushing folks around to make sure that Barak Obama is THE candidate. Here is another example:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is actually threatening a sitting Senator of the United States with political retribution, if he does not toe the Democratic Party line. What is most interesting about this is that the Senator she is threatening is not a Democrat. Nancy Pelosi is trying to shut Joe Lieberman up by threatening to have him removed from the Chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Think about this - Nancy Pelosi is considering removing one of the most experienced Senators from a Homeland Security committee - A homeland security committee- if he does not stop saying nice things about John McCain. Now, listeners of this show know that Joe Lieberman is one of the people who encouraged Barak Obama to run for President. But, I am betting that Senator Obama’s penchant for throwing people under the bus; his ability to have a 45 minute conversation with American voters, and say absolutely nothing; the exposure of Michelle Obama’s hatred for this country; I am betting many of these revelations are having the same impact on Senator Lieberman that they are having on the American people.
We spoke last week about the zero bounce effect to the Obama campaign after his European trip - and the fatigue of the American public toward the Democratic Party candidate. This week, we are seeing even more of a slip, as Americans become more familiar with Senator Obama. the Pew research Center has recently released a poll which shows the candidates in a statistical tie - largely because the Senator from Illinois has made no significant headway with Clinton supporters. that all may change after the DNC in Denver - where Hillary Clinton is billed as the headliner. We’ll have to see how this al shakes out, but I don’t think Clinton is going to garner as much support for Senator Obama as the Obama campaign would hope. Something is afoot here between Obama and Clinton. Any way you slice it, though. No matter what the Democrats want to say about this race - this is the epitome of a brokered convention. Regardless of the primary election results, Hillary Clinton is still very much a part of this election process and not as an unmitigated Supporter of Barak Obama.
I told you a couple months ago that the Democratic party ruined this election by not sitting down with the two front runners and hammering out a deal. Instead, their inability to coalesce as a party put Democrats in the position of rejecting either the first Black Presidential Candidate or the first Woman Presidential Candidate. Rather than being in a position to truly usher in a new era for America, they created a deep divide in their own party that they are working furiously to mend leading up to the general election. The problem with this, is there is no sense of camaraderie - no sense that Democrats are working together for a cause. Add to this a loose cannon DNC chairman and probably the most ineffective Speaker of the House in American history and the Democratic party is beginning to look like more of a circus than it typically does.
Think of this - we have an opportunity to make real changes to the immigration laws in this country. Make significant changes that could impact thousands of people and bridge a gap we have as far as our government’s responsibility to respond to people’s requests for citizenship. We could make real decisions about whether or not to expand the 13 guest worker programs holistically and streamline processes for paperwork, credentials, and the like. But what do the congressional democrats spend time on in this regard? Debating an increase of 1000 slots on a specific visa type for runway models.
We have Americans still paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline in some states, while some of them are in jeopardy of losing their homes. Food prices are up, businesses are closing or severely cutting back on the services they provide. Americans want a solution NOW, but Nancy Pelosi closes Congress for the summer in the middle of the debate for drilling - drilling mind you, in places where the location and scope of the oil reserves is well known. Democrats are refusing to allow debate on something that a vast majority of Americans want an answer to. The Democrats in Congress are practicing the same obstructionist politics that kept judges from being confirmed for 4 years. the Democrats have managed to make sure that 8 of 10 government appropriations bills - this is the money we use to run our government - they have made certain those bills don’t come up for debate and vote on the floor. Because if they come up, Republicans are going to amend them with language for exploiting oil reserves and the Democrats are not going to allow those debates to happen.
Congressional democrats have been promising to make life easier on the American citizens for decades - promises broken by their policy stances.
On Tap for today:
Pastor Edward J Scott – Author of the book “Hurricane Katrina: The best thing that ever happened to me” will be with us today. We’ll be discussing his amazing story of being displaced by that storm, losing everything, and by putting his faith in the Good Lord how he was blessed to continue his life’s mission.
Joe Biden has been named as the VP running mate for Barak Obama. This is great news for John McCain and we’ll expose some of why that is today.
If we have time in the 4th Segment, we’ll talk about the faith vote and each candidate’s efforts to capture part of it during the recent Saddleback event, including the actual words of the candidates themselves.
Segment 2
Hurricane Katrina was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States – and the 6th strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic to ever make landfall. It caused massive destruction all along the Gulf Coast and into Alabama, but the most severe loss of life and damage was in New Orleans. As we approach the 3rd anniversary of the devastating storm that wiped out much of New Orleans we’re talking today with Pastor Edward J Scott.
I have read your great story, Pastor Scott, and I will tell our listeners how to get a copy of this book TITLE in a few minutes, but let’s walk our listeners through the story a bit.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, you were a pastor in New Orleans – describe your ministry there. Where you located and what were some of the activities you were involved in outside of regular service?
So here comes this big storm and you decide to get out of New Orleans, where did you go?
One of the things which impacted me about your story is your constant dialog with God. You weren’t asking for anything but guidance and your prayers were answered on a regular basis – and there were t9imes it seems, when you were like “really? You want me to do that?” Like it wasn’t something you’d have thought of otherwise.
Even so, it must have been difficult to be a displaced person in the aftermath of this devastating storm – what was that like?
I did some coverage of this storm for another radio show – hard to believe it was 3 years ago. In many ways it seems like either much longer or not very long ago at all. But it was very emotional – I sorta broke down while the show host was interviewing me. I can remember clearly that I could only think “What are these people thinking about god right now and how can I help make Christ Mass happen for people who are going to be displaced for a very long time. This storm became a curse to so many - How did you come to view this devastating loss as the blessing you describe repeatedly in your book?
When something like this happens, there is the inevitable question – and I am not a deist thinking that God is just up there and everything that happens is just fate, nor am I much on the whole New Orleans is Sodom on Mississippi vein either, but tell us Pastor Scott because people ask this question all the time – why didn’t God stop this devastation and loss of life from happening to begin with?
5) There is a particular chapter in your book – and let me get some information out about this before I forget. I have a couple copies of it right here, so sign up for my newsletter and Joel Gaines Show dot com for a chance to receive a free copy of Pastor EJ Scott’s book “Hurricane Katrina: the Best thing that ever happened to me” – Ok – in one chapter you share an important lesson – something learned from those Katrina victims who chose not to evacuate. What is that lesson?
You are living your own lessons – I mean, this is not just a story about a storm and a Pastor - your message goes beyond Katrina and beyond victims of natural disasters. People who read your book will understand how they can turn tragedy into victory – but could you provide a couple of examples of this?
What have some of your former parishioners – the Church, not the county – what have they told you about how things are in the 9th ward today?
There were over 1500 deaths in the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans alone – this compared to the Mississippi Gulf Coast where 238 people died. The other states are in low double and single digit numbers of victims. There are also some 700 people still categorized as missing since the storm. Hardest hit were Plaquemines Parish about 25,000 residents and St Bernard Parish which was of about 67,000 people. Now, in St Bernard Parish only 25,000 or so remain. To my way of thinking – despite the failures at all levels of government to prepare people for this storm - the biggest failure of government – again at all levels – is not getting the necessary infrastructure back up and not getting the right kind of help to people so they could rebuild their lives. The amount of tragedy that has unfolded as a result of the hurricane is amazing, but you have a few thoughts on how others can view enormous tragedy in their lives as a blessing, don’t you?
What do you mean when you talk about having hope in the face of tragedy?
There are twelve things listed in your book that people can do to prepare for a hurricane. Can you share come of these practical tips?
Listeners can get a copy of your book several ways – if you are listening on BTR, you can get a copy of “Hurricane Katrina: the best thing that ever happened to me” by following the link attached to this show. You can also follow the link under Guests at joelgainesshow.com – remember I am giving two free copies away to a couple of lucky people who sign up for my newsletter Capitol Gaines at joelgainesshow.com and Pastor Scott will give you a couple of other ways to get your hands on this great “God is in your life” how-to on turning tragedy into blessing. Pastor Scott where else can they get it?
Segment 3
Presidential Candidate Barak Obama made the single most significant move to ensure he will not be elected President in 2008. He chose Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.
Now, Joe Biden is supposed to bring the experience to the Obama campaign that Senator Obama himself lacks, particularly in the foreign policy arena. This is the man, a Senator since 1973, who told America that Barack Obama is not ready to be president – the same thing Joe Liebermann is being threatened for saying. Joe Biden also stated that the Presidency is not a place for On the job training – again referring to the total national policy experience of Senator Obama of 3 ½ years - during which Senator Obama has written not one memorable speech or significant piece of legislation.
Senator Biden is supposed to ground the Obama campaign in experience and foreign policy credentials. But we are talking about a Senator who says things like we need a surge in Afghanistan because the surge in Iraq didn’t work. Who says that just because Anbar province is now only as safe as south central Los Angeles on a given night, that the Iraqis are not making the kind of progress that shows they are ready to stand up for themselves. That the Sunni’s and Shia are engaged in a civil war, and that a strong central government is a bad idea in Iraq - that they should have a loose central government, with strong provincial governments. This is laughable, when you look at the democratic party policies which seek to drive a over-arching strong, central government, involved in every aspect of American lives.
Only Joe Biden can turn Gen Patreus’ statement that things have gotten much better since the surge into a statement that shows how it is now working. Only Joe Biden can tell Ambassador Crocker that the Awakening movement by the Sunnis in Iraq is an insignificant political accomplishment. Only Joe Biden can make a racist comment about needing “a slight Indian accent” to go into any dunkin donuts or gas station quick mart in Delaware.” Joe Biden, who qualifies his ability to campaign in the south and not be seen as a typical Northeastern Liberal with the reply that Delaware was a slave state, so he can campaign just fine in South Carolina – thank you very much.
Joe Biden is a blessing to the 2008 presidential elections – he is capable of telling us that Barack Obama is much more experienced this month than he was last month. He is capable of telling the American people that he would be proud to run either with or against John McCain one month and that McCain is Bush III another.
Joe Biden is going to bring 25 years of risk to the Democratic party. 25 years of policy statements that show exactly how far left he is. He is one of the few Senators – like Senator Obama – to vote against the Iraq resolution. He tells us that Pakistan is a bigger threat to the US than Iran because Pakistan already has nuclear weapons. He says we should not be worried about Iran because they will not be able to produce nearly the amount of nuclear material that Pakistan has. This is his logic. A nuclear Iran – determined to wipe Israel off of the map – is not nearly the threat that Pakistan is. We should work for a stable Pakistan and Ignore Iran. Senator Biden, why can’t we help stabilize Pakistan AND prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons? Is Barack Obama only capable of one foreign policy interaction at a time?
Now, Joe Biden does have several differences with Senator Obama – things that make them unlikely partners, except politics makes for strange bedfellows as they say. Senator Biden is against partial birth abortion. Senator Biden believes life begins at conception. But, then he goes back to the liberal Democratic Party line –
should a parent know if their minor child is going to get an abortion? No.
Should those who harm an unborn fetus during the commission of a crime be penalized for that? No.
Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Apr 2007)
Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion. (Mar 2008)
Human cloning? That’s just fine with Senator Biden
· Civil unions ok; gay marriage is probably inevitable. (Apr 2007) – a position counter to Biden’s supposed deep religious convictions.
· Voted YES on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002) and we have seen what “prosecuting hate crimes” have done in America. Absolutely nothing. There is no crime under this stupid, stupid legislation that is not prosecutable under another law. Hate Crimes legislation is about thought control. It is about political correctness and nothing more.
· Hire more teachers and pay them for smaller classes. (Dec 2007) – how about we go a step further than this. Why don’t we actually professionalize the teaching vocation? Why don’t we invest in our teachers before they become teachers? Why not have teachers go through an educational experience much like doctors do? Pay teachers a salary that is commensurate with their benefit to American society. We throw billions of dollars at education and rarely does that money get to the teachers or the classrooms.
· For longer school day & school year, & 16-year minimum. (Oct 2007) – My kids are exhausted by the time they get home from school and by the end of the year, not only are the kids done in, but so are the teachers. This is not going to produce more productive learning – it will create less productive environments.
· Sent kids to private school after death of their mother. (Jul 2007)
Voted for NCLB
· The energy challenge take sacrifice and is a moral crusade. (Dec 2007)
· FactCheck: Oil did not jump $18/bbl due to Iran Resolution. (Dec 2007)
· Supports cap-and-trade for greenhouse gases. (Nov 2007) – this basically creates a penalty system for pollution. So, if I exceed the emissions set by some government organization, I get penalized in dollars. However, if I want to exceed these standards, all I have to do is pay for a permit to emit at a higher rate at some price set by the permits market. So, basically, we are setting up a means to bargain with the emissions without a necessity for actually DOING anything about them, as long as we pay off the government. That’s right. The cap and trade system benefits no one except the government who has their fingers in anything that is regulatory or with the word PERMIT in it.
· Voted YES on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (Jun 2008)
· Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jun 2007)
· Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning. (May 2007)
· Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska’s ANWR. (Nov 2005)
· Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Mar 2005)
· Voted YES on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
Joe Biden is the perfect candidate to run with Barack Obama. Joe Biden is a study in opposites. He opposes his own positions on a regular basis and he opposes many of the positions of his own running mate. They are opposites on enough issues that questions are going to arise on two fronts:
1) Barack Obama has 3 ½ years of policy experience and Joe Biden has 25 - who will really be running the country, if they are elected?
2) Barack Obama and Joe Biden disagree so markedly on several really important issues - what comes out of that?
Now, Joe Biden is a dynamic speaker. He comes ready-made to pound out statements about his knowledge and deep understanding of certain topics. If you listen to him, you’ll feel this too. But I am here to tell you, he has been fact-checked as much as anyone else in the past 2 years and a lot of his “facts” are figments of his own imagination. And that is exactly what we are dealing with here, America - Imagination. The imagined Presidential candidate – made from whole cloth as the Democratic party messiah is paired up with a VP candidate who could not gain the interest of the American people in 1988. He did not gain the interest of the American people as presidential candidate this year. I do not see Joe Biden energizing the American people as VP to a pretender.
Next up – we’ll bring you some sound bites from Saddleback and we’ll take your calls – when the Joel Gaines Show continues.
Segment 4
The US presidential Candidates are both spending effort to garner a percentage of the “Faith Vote” - They are meeting church-goers in forums in Texas and discussing issues core to the religious voters - among them gay marriage, AIDS, abortion, and the promotion of traditional family values.
I want to compare the two campaigns - two men who both claim a religious affiliation. Now, John McCain does not talk much about his religious beliefs and Barak Obama does. Much of the Democratic candidate’s message is Bible based, but I want to show you an interesting aspect to this difference in the two men. We’ll start with an Obama flip flop related to the Sermon on the mount.
Play Cut 4
Notice here that Obama is crafting a message to a mostly liberation theology crowd here and he is appealing to the sentiments by showing why the Bible is not a good means to shape policy. The Sermon on the mount is being downplayed, regardless of it being probably the most significant and revealing passage in the Bible - one that basically underscores the 10 commandments. It was a discussion where Jesus was actually teaching his disciples about the core teachings of Christianity.
reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sermon_on_the_Mount
But notice how Obama discusses his disdain for the military in the same breath he discusses his Disdain for the Bible. For a guy who has spent 20 years of his life in a Church pew, he has a big gap in his Bible knowledge.
Play Cut 5
Now the Sermon on the Mount is a reason for Gay marriage? Or is he saying that as long as we don’t call it marriage, but it is the same in every other aspect, it is ok? Listen. People can do whatever it is they are moved to do, as long as it violates no one else’s rights. Love who you want to love for whatever reasons you have. That is your choice. But you cannot create an equivalent benefit to society where it does not exist. Marriage is not about what the government gives you - this goes back to who grants your rights.
The benefit of matrimony in the world is about a union before God to bear and raise children into a society of laws decreed by God alone as the basis for who we are and what we do. If you don’t believe in God, look at it through the eyes of nature. Homosexuality does not exist in nature. It is something made in the minds of humans alone because we have the ability to “think outside the box”. Why does it not exist anywhere in the animal kingdom? because the benefit to perpetuating the species does not exist.
Now, let’s take a look at John McCain - this is a guy who might even have some confusion about what actual religion he belongs to, but I want you to hear his responses at a recent forum. We’ll compare these to Barak’s responses at the same forum. This is from just a few days ago.
Cut 6 - McCain on abortion
Cut 7 - Obama on abortion
You see the difference here? There are a couple of points to take away here.
It’s about women only - not about the baby!
A guy who has such a background in the Bible - enough to say that “folks haven’t been reading the Bible” can argue that life doesn’t begin at conception.
Notice how Senator Obama puts abortion incidents on the back of George Bush, despite being pro-choice himself, and despite the fact the Roe v Wade is supported exclusively by his party. Then there is either an uninformed Senator from Illinois or a piece of misinformation. Abortions have dropped significantly in 2005 and continue to decline as people discuss morality - which only exists in religion - to a much greater degree than has been done in a long time. In 2005, the number of abortions was 160,000 lower than estimated and the lowest since 1974. Those numbers continue to decline although 2005 is the most recent year we have full numbers for.
I am going to put something else in front of you today, America. In a minute I am going to play a very telling cut from John McCain. You’ve had plenty from Senator Obama to date. But I want you to compare the words of John McCain with the things you have heard from Senator Obama - the race baiting, the bitter middle class who clings to their guns and religion - the absolute disdain for America of Michelle Obama before her husband began his bid for President. I want you to listen to Senator John McCain of Arizona and then let me give you a take away.
Cut 8 - McCain and Moral Failures
John McCain is not going to pass a political purity test. John McCain is not going to pass a moral purity test. He poses himself as a man who has lived a life that places skeletons in his closet - like most of the rest of us in this world. I have been critical of a lot of John McCain’s policy stances over the past 7 years and I will continue to hit hard when I need to. But there is a big difference in these two candidates as MEN. One trys to show you why he is perfect - not only as a policy maker, but as a person. The other shows you that someone with the same flaws and the same kinds of challenges in life, this candidate shows you that we are all in this together. He is not “taking over” so we don’t have to do anything but let the government handle it. John McCain is continuing his quarter century investment in something bigger than he is - not some weak tea talk about being a citizen of the world, but a strong America - the freest nation on the planet. And it is in this spirit, that I say to you - God Bless you and God Bless America.
