A New Day, Lets Take Advantage

I have to admit that while those around me were worrying, and saying what if it doesn't happen, I never had that doubt. I felt a peace and confidence in my choice some time ago, I felt a peace and confidence that this would be the outcome. If it wasn't this way, oh well, my life would have gone on. And as I have said time and time again, I believe that McCain would have made a decent president, and I stand by that. But I felt there was a better choice, and some 63,000,000 people apparently agreed. Even with all that I still have trouble not tearing up when I think about the doors that have just opened for my own black son, the nearly unlimited goals that he can now set for himself, that he may not of had otherwise. And though it had little to do with my choice that aspect is simply awesome.

But even on this great day I am somewhat sad, because the change needs to be bigger then just this election, a President, or political parties. Today as I read the judgments and in some cases pure hatred I see from my brothers and sisters in Christ, I was disappointed and torn. I have to wonder if we really read the same book. I have to wonder when will we start to wake up and see that believing the same thing doesn't always mean that we have to look at it or act on it in the exact same way? When will we stop attacking and judging anyone who would dare to think outside of our own box? When will we stop accepting the cherry picked facts that are used to divide us, and look at the bigger picture? And when will we stop trying to box a man in, and mark his presidency as something awful, or a failure, before he has even had a chance to take office? Is this really they way we should react when we don't get our own way?

We have been a divided country, and worse yet a divided church for far to long. The truth is we can disagree and still be respectful of each other, we can disagree and still work together. Over the last few months I have seen signs and ads for the website dividedwefail.org, maybe you have too. I can't even say that I have visited the site, or know what its about. But what a kick in the teeth that is, what a truth that is, "Divided We Fail". I think we have been on that road for a while, we have failed. In the way we look at and treat the rest of the world, in the way we practice politics, in they way we treat each other, and maybe even in the way we practice our faith. Divided we have and will continue to fail. 

So for the future of our county and the rest of the world, we are left with a choice. We can keep going at it divided, and continue to fail, and slowly distroy the very things we claim to be fighting for. Or we can be Americans, come together, and work towards a better future. 

Vote, Go, Do it!

Tomorrow I will cast my vote for the first time in my life, I have been able to vote for 10 years, but I have not. Tomorrow I will, and I am proud to say I will be voting for a man who I believe will lead my country through some difficult times. I will vote for a man who I believe offers our country the best chance at better times. A man that I believe will be a great American President.

You might wonder why I never voted before, I myself kinda wonder why now. I guess I just never cared, but I do now, and I feel this election is to important to sit out. So I, like millions of other first time voters I will be participating for the first time by voting for Obama. I have read, and listened, and watched, and then read some more. I have done my homework, but I have also prayed, and listened to my heart, all of which helped me come to the decision that I feel is best for my family, and friends. 

As for McCain, well, I think he would be OK. If he were to win, my life would go on. I respected him for many years, I think he could do the job, but I have been very disappointed in his campaign. During the primaries I really considered him a good option but unfortunately over the last few months he has shown himself to be little more then a run of the mill pol, happy to divide, and do what it takes to win. I don't know that I will ever look at him with the same respect again.

All that said, go and vote, if its for Obama, great, if its for McCain thats fine too, after all its your right.

Abortion

I see so many political conversations start at, or lead to this issue. Many of them are discussions about why people should be voting a certain way. The stance of many Christians seems to be that we should all(Christians) vote for the Republican because thats the party that is "pro-life", and claims they will work to overturn Roe v. Wade. While many Christians that vote Democratic are attacked and accused of not caring about that issue or ignoring it.

The truth is I feel that we to often have let this issue be hijacked and become little more then a guilt trip to try and get people to vote a certain way, at best we have let it become a wedge between brothers and sisters that makes us argue, fight, and treat each other in a not so Christ-like manor. So why do we do this??

It has been over 35 years since the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down. If we include Nixon who was in office at the time, we have had 7 different Presidents since then. 5 Republicans, and 2 Democrats, and Republicans have been the majority in the house and senate more then half of those 35 years. This is an issue that nearly every Republican candidate(Pres. or otherwise) I can remember has used as part of his or her campaign, and yet, I am left asking, what has changed??

I am anti-abortion, I wish that we lived in a world where this didn't happen, but the reality is we do, and changing a law won't change that. My own son was nearly aborted, but by the grace of God someone talked to his BM and gave her an option. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that adoption alone will stop abortions, much like I am not naive enough to believe that making abortion against the law will stop it. After all the law doesn't seem to keep me from going 70 in a 65, and I'd guess your experience with the law is similar. Honestly, I wish I knew some way to make it stop, but I don't, nor have I ever heard or seen a realistic idea from anyone else. But what's more troubling to me then that, is that we allow this issue to be used by people who don't know either. 

What I do know is that electing a Republican or anyone for that matter is going to stop it, history has already proven that. One thing we can and I think we should do is stop letting this moral issue be hijacked by politicians, and used to divide us. Maybe then we can actually get somewhere on the issue.

Socialism???

I'm just gonna be blunt, I'm a simple guy, not an expert on this or many subjects. But this is how I see it. 

I hear and see the word socialism thrown around a lot right now, mostly by those attempting to spin things in order to make Obama's policies seem as though they are anti-american or something. Heres the thing, if you look at our country with any sort of reality you know that this country has practiced socialism on many fronts for decades, maybe much longer. So if thats true then its clearly not anti-american. Sure we like to consider ourselves capitalists, but ultimately our country functions somewhat well because we have a fairly even mix of the two. In fact before the Rescue/Bailout plan our government already accounted for and/or controlled between 20-30% of our economy, with the plan it could be 40% or more when all is said an done.

Also in this country we have Social Security, Medicaid, Unemployment, and Welfare just to name a few programs. All of which are funded by money we or companies are required to give to the government. The reality is most of us have or will receive some benefit from at some point in our lives. In all likelihood we already have a friend or family member that does. Now obviously some of these programs have some issues, and need improvement, no one will argue that. But my question is this, ultimately if we remove the lefty/righty distortion glasses and look again, what's so terrible about them? And if there is something so terrible then why hasn't something be done already in order to get rid of them? 

Obama has said time and time again that he wants to re-evaluate government programs in order to maximize effectiveness and spending, and eliminate those that are no longer working.

McCain's claim is that he would use the line item veto and cut some of them, or "freeze" them. However he has had nearly my entire lifetime to vote on, fight to improve, or dismantle these programs, but his record shows he has supported or at the very least voted for most of them.

In Alaska, Gov. Palin started giving money to the taxpayers, by essentially taxing the oil companies more. Ironically something Obama wants to do. She was applauded for this, heck, I applaud her for this. But from what I have heard, most authorities on the subject would call this a form of guess what, thats right, socialism. 

So call me crazy, but I'm confused as to why this claim or attack even exists. If we want to have some strait talk, we are all taking part in socialism. In my opinion that seems to be a good thing. We need to keep a healthy balance between socialism and capitalism, I think as long as we do we will be better off. I also tend to think the whole mess we are in financially comes back to that balance getting skewed. Maybe we let our greedy little capitalist side take over a little to much. 

Supermajority or Super-Supermajority, thats your choice.

I was wondering when people would start to talk about this, and it seem that something has finally clicked in peoples minds. I actually think at this point we have a choice of a "supermajority" or an "super- supermajority". I'll explain how that works. 

I brought up this Supermajority idea to someone(a financial guy of 20+ years) several months ago, asking how he felt about that. To my surprise his response was, "Well, hows that going to be different with a McCain win?". He went on to say that he thought even then McCain was a long shot, so if McCain were to win, it would only be because the right had worked so hard for him, that they neglected the smaller stuff in the process. You know, like the re-election or election of congressmen and senators. Because of this mistake, McCain as President would have a choice, 1)basically be a lame duck from day one, with little more then Veto power. Or 2)work with a Dem. controlled house and senate to move things in the direction they want to go, so at least there was some progress.

So basically, if he goes with option 1, the best he could do is veto bills and budget line items. But if he can't really accomplish anything else he promised, even the people who voted for him will start to turn on him after a few short months. Its also a dangerous situation because he would be extremely easy to pin everything bad on, because lets face it he is not willing to work with them. If he goes with option 2 he essentially turns his back on the very people that elected him. Sure maybe he can get one or two of his policies and promises to happen. But at what price, how many more of their policies or even worse, those pesky earmarks will he have to let slip past his veto pen? The same one he has promised to use so much.

I have to admit I hadn't thought about it quite like that before, but like it or not he has a point. At this time it seems the mistake has been made and at the very least its extremely likely that there will be a Supermajority. If that happens I think McCain might as well be Bush, Bush might actually look better. If he loses and Obama wins, which seems more and more possible every day, we have a Super-Supermajority.

So Supermajority or Super-supermajorty, thats your choice.

First and Last

"I genuinely admire both of them. I think that we make a terrible mistake believing we have to find something wrong with the people we can't vote for." Bill Clinton on the View.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have ever used a Clinton quote, other then to make fun of him. I also tend to think its something I may never do again. However he is dead on with this comment, and its exactly they way I have felt throughout this cycle. I have a always liked and respected John McCain, just like I like and respect Obama. I read views form the left and the right. The biggest thing I notice is that people on the right just love to try and belittle and attack Obama, and people on the left though they seemed initially reluctant, now feel free to do the same to McCain. 

Why is this, why can't we can't show some respect, even if we don't agree? Everyday, we face people with different opinions, are we this aggressive, cruel, and disrespectful to those people? 

Here's an even harder question, why does it seem that some of my fellow christians are sometimes the worst offenders in this political game? Do we really think this is the way Jesus would approach politics?

To Debate, or not to debate?

Are you kidding me!! To some people, the most important part of the campaign process is the debates.  And it should be, you can say anything you want in an ad, or at a rally. The debates are the only chance we get to see these guy face off, and discuss issues. Maybe this debate was supposed to be about another issue, and thats still a major concern, but clearly we have something else to discuss too.

I understand we face a troubling time, and there is much to be decided. But the world or the United States of America will not come to an end if McCain and Obama take a few hours to meet, answer questions, and discuss the very issues we as a country are now facing. In fact, being in this situation right now, might make for a better debate. They can't just talk about what I want to do, and might do, but must talk about what's going on today, what effects every single American today. So lets get it on!!!

On a side note, debates are not just thrown together, this has been in the works since 2006. From what I have heard Ole Miss has spent over 5 million dollars getting the campus and venue ready for this. The secret service has worked extensively with the university to make sure it is up to snuff for this, I would guess at a pretty substantial cost. So what happens if it doesn't happen??? What if McCain doesn't show up, and Obama does??? Well one way or another it seems like we are going to have a nationally covered event, will is be a debate, or a just be come a nationally televised Q & A with Obama???

Life is short, dig in!

A friend passed away this week, he was young, late 30's. He had a wife and young son, who had to watch him deteriorate and eventually die before their eye's as he battled cancer. It was a short fight, and though he is missed by many people, those of us that really knew him, know he is in a far better place. 

His death has distracted me from the nonsense of politics for a little while. And while I'm not sure I really have much disire to write, right now, my friends death does remind me how short life can be. Which makes me remember how important this election is, how it can effect our lives, and how many issues will have to be faced in the next couple of years by which ever candidate wins.

I beg everyone to dig into the facts, don't just watch and listen to partisan garbage. Don't be afraid to open your mind a little, and as one friend says "turn the beach ball", its to easy to get stuck on one idea.  Too many elections have been decided by noise, distorted truths and down right lies. Only WE can change that, so lets get started!

My 9/11

I was in NYC on 9/11, working for The Salvation Army on 14th street. My office was basically a box in the middle of the building, so no windows, no connection to the outside world unless I had the radio on, which I didn't. Just after the planes hit my dad called me, I guess because he wondered why he hadn't heard from me. He asked if knew what was going on, I thought he was just giving me a hard time because my day was spent in this box cut off from everything. He told me I needed to go upstairs where I could look out the windows, so I did. 

To my shock there was smoke billowing out of the towers, while I was trying to get the story of what happens someone screamed, we all turned to watch the 1st building crumble. Of course we were all horrified, not just because of what was happening, but because we all knew that we had coworkers that had already gone down there as first responders. There was no way to get in touch with those guys at that point(they were all physically OK in the end), all the phones were down, even the FDNY radio that was kept in the building wasn't working. No one really knew what was going on, all the high level people were called together(I don't recall why I was in there, as I was not one of these people), and it was quickly decided that anyone that wanted to, could leave. Then the room went silent as everyones thoughts turned to what we would have to do next. I remember the CEO started to talk, and then said, we need to pray, and thats what we did for a couple minutes. he said amen, and we started working. 

Things happened so fast that it all kinda blurs together. One thing I distinctly remember is that in what felt like a couple hours it was already the next day, many of us worked for 2-3 days before we ever even sat down, forget sleeping. While most of the world sat watching TV getting the story, we just did what needed to be done. 

I remember several days later, in the middle of the night, it was the first time I actually stood at the pile, I stopped and looked at the pile of rubble, just a few feet in front of me, I was shocked and overwhelmed, I had been so busy working that it didn't really sink in until then. The image was forever ingrained in my mind. 

To this day there aren't many days that go by that something doesn't trigger that image in my mind, it has forever impacted the way I look at the world, my life, my family, and even the way I look at politics. But today is not a day for politics, today is a day to remember those that were lost, and those who's lives were forever changed by the events of that day.

Same Sex Marriage

Here's a subject that has been a hot button issue for many years, one the right there has been a strong consistent attack on same sex rights, on the left a strong push for same sex rights. But where is this issue in this election cycle, has it become a non-issue? If so, why?

Here's the stance of both candidates:

As president, John McCain would nominate judges who understand that the role of the Court is not to subvert the rights of the people by legislating from the bench. Critical to Constitutional balance is ensuring that, where state and local governments do act to preserve the traditional family, the Courts must not overstep their authority and thwart the Constitutional right of the people to decide this question.

The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.

As with most issues vital to the preservation and health of civil society, the basic responsibility for preserving and strengthening the family should reside at the level of government closest to the people. In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers reserved for the States the authority and responsibility to protect and strengthen the vital institutions of our civil society. They did so to ensure that the voices of America's families could not be ignored by an indifferent national government or suffocated through filibusters and clever legislative maneuvering in Congress. (from www.JohnMcCain.com)

It seems Obama no longer lists this issue on his website, however his stance and voting record is readily available. It is that like McCain he supports civil unions, but not marriage. He like McCain also believes this is an issue to be decided by each state, not the federal government, or courts.

Wow, it kinda seems like we have agreement between the two candidates for President.

Where do the VP's stand?

Biden agrees with Obama's stance, but did at one point say he thinks gay marriage is inevitable even though he does not agree with it.

Palin has not had to face same sex marriage on a national level, however, she supported Alaska’s decision to amend its Constitution to ban same sex marriage. However, she used her first veto as governor to block a bill that would have prohibited the state from granting health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees. Ms. Palin said she vetoed the bill because it was unconstitutional, but raised the possibility of amending the state Constitution so the ban could pass muster. 

What do you think? Why has something that has has been a rallying cry for both sides for many years, become such a non-issue? Does anyone still care?

Here we go!

I've decided to start blogging again. Its been a long time since I've done this on a regular basis, but I'm going to try it. The reason I feel compelled to speak is simple. I'm sick and tired of reading one sided blogs, that are quick to attack, complain, and use certain facts in a negative manner. 

Politics can be positive and respectful, and should be about issues and facts. I'm not just talking about the two or three hot button issues, like abortion or gay marriage, or taxes. These are important issues, but they are just a few of dozens, if not hundreds of issues that we all should consider, and I'm going to do my best to touch on many of these issues. Will I share opinions, of course, but in the process I'll try to be positive, give you the truth, and hopefully make you think. 

Now, sometimes we don't like the truth, especially if we have already made up our mind about something. This can lead to being defensive and temp us to attack, but lets try and keep our discussions respectful. Oh, and if you feel I'm going negative, or being to one sided, let me know, I'm human too.