More than 2000 gay-rights advocates gathered outside the gates of a Mormon temple, to protest the Mormon church's role in a new statewide ban on gay marriage. Protesters blame leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for encouraging Mormons to funnel millions of dollars into television ads and mailings in favor of Proposition 8. Proposition 8 was sponsored by a coalition of religious and social conservative groups.
Also in San Francisco, 2,000 supporters of same-sex marriage gathered at San Francisco's City Hall to protest following the victory of Proposition 8. Same sex couples and their supporters held a candlelit vigil on the steps of City Hall to commemorate the spot where the fight for their right to marry started four years ago when San Francisco first granted marriage licenses to same sex couple.
Proposition 8 passed Tuesday. It amends the California Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual act and overrides a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed same-sex couples the right to wed. A 2003 California law already gives gays registered as domestic partners nearly all the state rights and responsibilities of married couples when it comes to such things as taxes, estate planning and medical decisions. This law is still in effect.
"Burn their f---ing churches to the ground, and then tax the charred timbers," wrote "World O Jeff" on the JoeMyGod blogspot.
On a blog website, "Tread" wrote, "I hope the No on 8 people have a long list and long knives."
Another contributor to the JoeMyGod website said, "While financially I supported the Vote No, and was vocal to everyone and anyone who would listen, I have never considered being a violent radical extremist for our equal rights. But now I think maybe I should consider becoming one. Perhaps that is the only thing that will affect the change we so desperately need and deserve."
A contributor identifying himself as "Joe" said, "I swear, I'd murder people with my bare hands this morning."
On the "Queerty" website, "Stenar" asked, "Can someone in CA please go burn down the Mormon temples there, PLEASE. I mean seriously. DO IT."
"I'm going to give them something to be f---ing scared of. … I'm a radical who is now on a mission to make them all pay for what they've done," wrote "Jonathan."
On yet another site, "Americablog," "scottinsf" wrote, "Trust me. I've got a big list of names of mormons and catholics that were big supporters of Prop 8. … As far as mormons and catholics … I warn them to watch their backs."
"I hope they all rot in hell, those servants of a lying, corrupt devil! BAN RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM," wrote Angelo.
One contributor went so far as to threaten to take out his frustrations on his own family.
"You want me to come back to Idaho for Christmas? Oh wait, my partner and I can't share the same bed? We can't show any affection or any outward sign of our love for each other? Well sorry family ... no Uncle Adam and all his expensive gifts and delicious cooking for you. Your childrens' presents will now be donations in their name to the equal rights organization of my choosing. As will their and your birthday presents, wedding presents, graduation presents, and everything else I give going forward."
The writer continued, "Remember, I'm angry. And I'm strong from my years at the gym and really am ready to take my frustration out on someone or something."
"Hope the gay waiters at their hotel p---ed in all the drinks they served these cretins," "Jake" wrote about protectors of traditional marriage.
"If you're planning a heterosexual wedding in California … be prepared for picketers. Designate someone to watch the parking lot … You're going to have lots of unexpected expenses. Add $500 to your budget for security. … Be prepared for the flowers not lasting to the reception or the tuxedos showing up two sizes too small or the music at the reception being a way too loud or the cake tasting a little funny," stated another threat. "Be afraid. Be very afraid. We are everywhere."
This is a letter from Huntley Brown. Huntley Brown is a well-known Christian concert pianist. All of the statements he makes about Obama, Wright, and Cone are true. I have links to several articles which explains these facts about Jeremiah Wright and James Cone - Obama is a disciple or a follower of these men. click here for more info. Huntley Brown explains my feelings too. I agree with his statement: "I want to say to all my friends who are voting for Obama 'Can you really look God in the face and say, Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy'." I don't understand how a Christian can vote for Obama and know all that he stands for and feel like God will "understand". God will hold us accountable for putting this man in office and allowing this unholy most abominable practice of abortion to continue in our country. God Bless America and May Righteousness Prevail.
A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating...
First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.
Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.
I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.
We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.
To beat Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.
There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating.
There is a reason th e homosexual community supports him.
There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him.
There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court.
There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill.
There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.
There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.
Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue
The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:
A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.
God help him.
There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.
Think about this: You can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is ins ane.
There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years.
Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now?
Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 "Go and make disciples of all nations." This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?
Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a:
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.
Would you support a President who went to a church like that?
Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.
This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.
A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if it's a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.
Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.
Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?
So what does all this mean for the nation?
In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment.
Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 "Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
Then God says
1 Samuel 1:18 " When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."
Here is what we know for sure.
God is not schizophrenic
He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.
Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture, so I doubt it.
For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.
I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.
Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,
1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.
2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?
I've been married nearly 12 years. My husband is self-employed, and has been since I have met him. He does a variety of things for his work, one is more typical blue collared labor work. We have never made $250,000 annually. We have had to finance some of the equipment we bought for our company, and have to worry about cash flow too sometimes. So really according to Obama, our business would benefit more from his tax plan. "Obama explained his tax plan in depth to Joe Wurzelbacher, saying it's better to lower taxes for Americans who make less money so they can afford to patronize his business." (see: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/16/joe-plumber-represents-hopes-dreams-political-football/).
Maybe now in the situation we are in, we would benefit more from Obama's tax plan since we are making less - but we would be benefiting in the wrong way; taking someone elses' hard earned cash is more like STEALING! That is NOT the American Dream!
But we, like other Americans, have a dream. Here in America you can do anything and achieve anything you want. It isn't our dream to be in this same situation our whole lives. We have plans to work on our business, make it grow bigger and one day maybe be one of those business who make $250,000. Maybe we will, maybe not, it is up to us; not up to the president or the government.
The American dream isn't about sitting around on your butt doing nothing and getting a check. It's about dreaming what you want to achieve, working hard (like a plumber) to make it happen, and achieving the riches that you worked hard for. Obama is telling us, "Don't bother to work hard because once you get to that point, I'm going to kick you down a few notches, take your money and give it to someone who didn't do all the work you did, and by the way you're just a plumber so you couldn't achieve your dreams anyway."
Obama doesn't get it. He really isn't like "us" Americans who dream big and work hard. Obama and his supporters are basically stating any "Joe the Plumber" (who represents us hard working Americans) - will always be in that same situation. There is no way he (we) can get out of it. He laughs and mocks us by saying, “He’s trying to suggest that a plumber is the guy he’s fighting for,” Obama said. “How many plumbers you know that are making a quarter-million dollars a year?” Obama says the words "a plumber making $250,000 a year" with such disdain and contempt. It is as if Obama is saying, "A mere plumber couldn't possibly work his way into the elite white-collar tax bracket that I and my Ivy League friends inhabit. Don't even try it. Oh no, that's a laughable presumption for plumbers like Joe. How dare "Joe the Plumber" rise above his station in life."
Other Democrats have joined with Obama and have stated how impossible it would be for an average "Joe the Plumber" to rise about his station in life and become a successful business owner. Sen. Sherrod Brown (d- Ohio) stated, "The last thing that Toledo's Joe Wurzelbacher has to worry about is the tax rate he might pay if he's lucky to have a quarter-million-dollar profit in his new business, My guess is he needs to worry a lot more about how he's going to finance the purchase of that plumbing business" (see: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/16/joe-plumber-represents-hopes-dreams-political-football/).
Everything is possible that is the American Dream! America supports plumbers and hard working citizens with an American dream! Keep the dream alive and vote McCain for president! McCain cares for you and me, and Joe the plumber!
and from Fox News:
Biden doesn't know what he is talking about. Biden states: "John continues to cling to this notion...John McCain is going to continue this policy, 'If you take care of the people that are doing the best, particularly large corporations - which is not Joe the Plumber, even the $250,000 guy, in fact they somehow think this is all going to trickle down." It does trickle down!! If big corporations do well, they hire more people, they give their employees better benefits and wages, they reduce the cost to customers, etc. If big corporations are taxed more, in the end they have less money and what is the result? Do you think they just pay the increase taxes and take it out of their profits, no this is what they do: Increase prices of goods Lay off employees Reduce employee pay and benefits Lowering taxes for everyone even the big corporations does effect us and it does trickle down. When taxes are lower, the economy does better. period. Reagan and Carter demonstrated this fact so clearly years ago. I don't understand why this is such a hard concept for the left to get.
Here is the article about Joe the Plumber from "Fox News"
Joe the Plumber Represents Hopes, Dreams and Political Football Joe the plumber is the nation's every man -- embodying the American dream and representing the swing voter Barack Obama and John McCain want to reach.
FOXNews.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
"Joe the Plumber.
You know him. He's the brawny, bald, middle-class guy who doesn't know whether he's registered to vote by party and won't tell you whom he'd vote for, anyway.
John McCain mentioned Joe the Plumber 21 times in Wednesday night's final presidential debate. Barack Obama mentioned him five times.
While Joe the Plumber could be a metaphor for the state of the American psyche, he's actually a real guy named Joe Wurzelbacher -- and he's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, spread out over the third week before the 2008 election.
Joe says he just hopes he doesn't embarrass himself.
"Right now I'm flabbergasted with this. I hope I'm not making too much of a fool of myself and get a message out there -- learn for yourself," he said. "You know, repeating myself here, I'm a flash in the pan ... It's going to be fun, then it's going to go away."
Joe Wurzelbacher will appear on FOX News Channel's "Huckabee" program in an exclusive primetime interview Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The show will re-air on Sunday night, also at 8 p.m. ET. Wurzelbacher will appear on the program with his son and father.
Joe the Plumber has captured America's imagination -- the everyman who still hopes he can be happy, healthy and wise -- and still make a buck. He had 21 reporters sitting in his driveway Wednesday night.
"Social Security is a joke. ... I don't need another set of parents. ... Let me invest my money," he said, adding that he doesn't want his son to have to pay back $10 trillion of debt.
Joe the Plumber came to prominence over the weekend when he sparred with Obama over the Democratic presidential candidate's income tax plan, which calls for increasing the tax rate from 36 percent to 39 percent for people making more than $250,000.
Wurzelbacher, 34, told Obama that he was preparing to buy the plumbing company he works for, and that its revenues come to more than $250,000 a year.
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" Wurzelberger asked Obama in Toledo on Sunday.
Obama countered Wednesday night in the debate that small businesses would be exempted and small business owners would benefit from his health care policy. McCain said Joe the Plumber would do better with his vision of keeping taxes low.
Joe the Plumber is now part of the political consciousness. Press releases from independent organizations cite Joe the Plumber as the disenfranchised voter. His name came up in a Senate hearing on Thursday.
"The last thing that Toledo's Joe Wurzelbacher has to worry about is the tax rate he might pay if he's lucky to have a quarter-million-dollar profit in his new business," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. "My guess is he needs to worry a lot more about how he's going to finance the purchase of that plumbing business and what his cash flow will look like so long as residential and commercial real estate markets are stalled the way that they are."
Joe the Plumber is a football for political athletes. Joe the Vice Presidential Candidate, a.k.a. Biden, appeared miffed by the suggestion that Wurzelbacher could entertain the notion that he would be better off in a McCain administration.
"I don't have any Joe the Plumbers in my neighborhood that make $250,000 a year and are worried," Biden said. "The Joe the Plumbers in my neighborhood, the Joe the Cops in my neighborhood, the Joe the Grocery Store Owners in my neighborhood, they make -- like 98 percent of the small businesses -- less than $250,000 a year and they're going to do very well under us.
"And they're going to be in real tough shape under John McCain," Biden said, "because John McCain's going to continue this policy that, if you take care of the people who are doing the best, particularly large corporations, which is not Joe the Plumber, even the 250 guy, in fact, somehow this is all going to trickle down."
McCain's campaign responded that Biden can't bully the plumber.
"It is astounding that Joe Biden, the self-adulated everyman, can't believe that an American making less than $250,000 a year might still be opposed to socialism," said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt. "Barack Obama wants to raise taxes and redistribute the wealth in this country because he believes government can spend your money better than you can -- it's not just naive, it's poor judgment,"
McCain added at a Pennsylvania rally that the real winner of Wednesday night's debate was Joe the Plumber.
"Joe's the man. He won and small businesses won across America," McCain said.
Indeed, Joe the Plumber may have difficulty making $250,000 a year owning a plumbing business. Joe isn't a licensed plumber. He told The Associated Press Thursday that he has worked for six years for a small plumbing company that does residential work and because he works for someone else, he doesn't need a license.
He said he and owner Al Newell have talked about Joe taking over the business at some point. And then anything is possible."
"Early on in his life as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, the most important lesson John McCain learned was that to sustain his self-respect for a lifetime it would be necessary for him to have the honor of serving something greater than his self-interest -- service to his country. John McCain has always put his country's interests before any party, special interest and even his own self-interest. He has always and will always do what is right for our country.
John McCain has a strong record of working across the aisle to reform how business is done in Washington. Throughout his career of public service, John McCain has worked across party aisles with Republicans and Democrats alike to reform our campaign finance system, confirm qualified judges like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, and enhance our homeland security. He spoke out against his own party's out-of-control spending, against the Administration to change a failing strategy in Iraq, and against an energy bill that was full of giveaways to Big Oil companies.
To keep our nation prosperous, strong and growing we have to rethink, reform and reinvent: the way we educate our children; train our workers; deliver health care services; support retirees; fuel our transportation network; stimulate research and development; and harness new technologies.
John McCainUnder a McCain presidency the United States will experience robust economic growth, and Americans will again have confidence in their economic future. A reduction in the corporate tax rate from the second highest in the world to one on par with our trading partners; the low rate on capital gains; allowing business to deduct in a single year investments in equipment and technology, while eliminating tax loopholes and ending corporate welfare, will spur innovation and productivity, and encourage companies to keep their operations and jobs in the United States. Doubling the size of the child exemption will put more disposable income in the hands of taxpayers, further stimulating growth.
Under a McCain presidency the United States will be well on the way to independence from foreign sources of oil; progress that will not only begin to alleviate the environmental threat posed from climate change, but will greatly improve our security as well. John McCain has proposed a comprehensive energy plan - the Lexington Project - that will lower the price of gas while utilizing every energy source to move us toward energy independence. He believes we need to develop advanced alternative energy sources while developing existing energy sources by drilling offshore, expanding nuclear power and encouraging clean coal technologies.
John McCainUnder a McCain presidency health care will become more accessible to more Americans than at any other time in history. Reforms of the insurance market; putting the choice of health care into the hands of American families rather than exclusively with the government or employers; walk in clinics as alternatives to emergency room care; paying for outcome in the treatment of disease rather than individual procedures; and competition in the prescription drug market will wring out the runaway inflation once endemic in our health care system.
Finally to secure the peace for future generations, John McCain will end the war in Iraq with victory and bring our troops home with honor. John McCain hates war. And he knows very personally how terrible its costs are. But he knows, too, that the course of immediate withdrawal in Iraq could draw us into a wider war with even greater sacrifices; put peace further out of reach, and Americans back in harm's way. John McCain will also win the war in Afghanistan by increasing the size of forces there and adopting a true counterinsurgency strategy, much like the one that has been successful in Iraq that John McCain advocated. He will continue to hunt down al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
John McCain has the strength to keep America safe and the courage to secure the peace.
John McCainThere are many public causes where service can make our country a stronger, better one than we inherited. Wherever there is a hungry child, a great cause exists to serve. Where there is an illiterate adult, a great cause exists to serve. Wherever there are people who are denied the basic rights of Man, a great cause exists to serve. Wherever there is suffering, a great cause exists to serve. John McCain has spent his life serving our country and will continue to work with anyone who sincerely wants to get this country moving again. He will listen to any idea that is offered in good faith and intended to help solve our problems, not make them worse. He will seek the counsel of members of Congress from both parties in forming government policy before asking them to support it.
From the day he is sworn into office until the last hour of his presidency, John McCain will work with anyone, of either party, to make this country safe, prosperous and proud."
More about John McCain
"John McCain has a remarkable record of leadership and experience that embodies his unwavering lifetime commitment to service. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982, John has led the fight for reforming Washington, eliminating wasteful government spending, and strengthening our nation's armed forces.
John McCain's reform agenda to reduce federal spending and lower taxes quickly elevated him to statewide office and he was elected to the United States Senate in 1986, after serving two terms in the U.S. House.
In the Senate, John continued to demand that Congress put an end to loopholes for special interests and fix the broken system in Washington that too often allows lobbyists to write legislation and members of Congress to waste taxpayer money. In November 2004, Senator McCain was overwhelmingly reelected with nearly 77 percent of the vote.
As the son and grandson of distinguished Navy admirals, John McCain deeply values duty, honor and service of country. John attended college at the United States Naval Academy, and launched a 22-year career as a naval aviator upon his graduation. He continued the McCain tradition of service to country passed down to him from his father and grandfather when he asked to serve in the Vietnam War.
On July 29 1967, John narrowly survived the first of many near-death experiences during his lifetime while preparing to take off on a bombing mission over North Vietnam from his ship, the USS Forrestal. A missile accidentally fired from a nearby plane struck the fuel tanks on John's plane and created a deadly inferno aboard the ship. John barely escaped the fiery disaster that killed 134 men, injured hundreds more and destroyed 20 planes.
Instead of taking the option to return home after the Forrestal disaster, Senator McCain volunteered for more combat duty - a fateful decision that stopped the clock on his life and separated him from his family, and country, for five and a half years.
During his 23rd bombing mission on October 26, 1967, a missile struck John's plane and forced him to eject, knocking him unconscious and breaking both his arms and his leg. John was then taken as a prisoner of war into the now infamous "Hanoi Hilton," where he was denied necessary medical treatment and often beaten by the North Vietnamese. John spent much of his time as a prisoner of war in solitary confinement, aided by his faith and the friendships of his fellow POWs. When he was finally released and able to return home years later, John continued his service by regaining his naval flight status.
Senator McCain's last Navy duty assignment was to serve as the naval liaison to the United States Senate. John retired from the Navy in 1981. His naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Senator McCain has seven children and four grandchildren, and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Cindy."
More about Sarah Palin
"On December 4, 2006, Governor Sarah Palin made history as the first woman to become her state's chief executive. As the 11th governor of Alaska, she has successfully fought the special interests, the lobbyists, the Big Oil companies and the good ol' boys network to reform a system that had bred corruption in her state.
Since taking office, her top priorities have been energy development, ethics reform, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development. She has brought Republicans, Democrats and Independents together to work to change the status quo in Alaska.
Under her leadership, the state invested $5 billion in savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program to provide support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to oversee and maintain oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed major pieces of legislation. She came to office promising landmark ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing, and today, that ethics reform is the law.
Governor Palin took on the oil companies and began a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline. Because of her leadership, work has begun on a $40 billion natural gas pipeline – the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history – to help lead our country to energy independence.
When oil and gas prices went up dramatically and the state revenues rose, Governor Palin sent a large share of that revenue directly back to the people of Alaska. She also suspended the state's fuel tax.
In office, Governor Palin championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending. She has used her veto pen to eliminate nearly a half a billion dollars in wasteful spending. She told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for the "Bridge to Nowhere." Upon taking office, Governor Palin took common-sense steps to trim the size and cost of her office. She sold the state's luxury jet, eliminated the personal chef and got rid of the personal driver.
As Governor, Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment. She also serves as chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and natural resource management.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the Mayor of Wasilla. During her tenure, she reduced property tax levels while increasing services and made Wasilla a business friendly environment, drawing in new industry. She stopped wasteful spending and put the people first.
She also served as chair and ethics commissioner of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska's most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas. When she found corruption there, she fought it and brought the offenders to account, even though they may have been members of her own party.
Sarah Heath Palin arrived in Alaska with her family in 1964, when her parents came to teach school. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. Palin, who graduated from Wasilla High School in 1982, has lived in Skagway, Eagle River and Wasilla.
She is married to Todd Palin who she met in high school. Todd is a lifelong Alaskan, a commercial fisherman, a production operator on Alaska's North Slope, a proud member of the United Steelworkers Union and a world champion snow machine racer. Together, they recently celebrated their 20th anniversary. Through Todd’s Yup'ik grandmother, Alaska’s Native heritage plays an important role in their family.
Todd and Sarah have five children – Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007 and is set to deploy to Iraq in the service of his country. This year, Trig joined the Palin family. As the mother of a special-needs child, Governor Palin has pledged to all those families with special-needs children to be their advocate in the White House.
Prior to taking office, Governor Palin served on numerous boards and commissions throughout the state. In many ways, she was just your average 'hockey mom.' She was active in her family’s pursuits – including serving as a sports team mom, coaching basketball and volunteering on the PTA to help make her kids' public education better. She also runs marathons.
Palin is a lifetime member of the NRA and enjoys hunting, fishing, Alaska history, and all that Alaska's great outdoors has to offer."
"RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?
CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?
RUSH: How about that?
CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, longtime listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: 'We Love Kids with Down Syndrome.' So when they pulled in in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin?
CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them --
RUSH: Oh, cool!
CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter.
RUSH: Very, very, very cool.
CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, 'Wow, that's awesome,' because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, 'Hey, can you come with us?' I was like, 'Do we have a choice?'
RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.
CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, 'May I hold your daughter?' and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.
RUSH: This is amazing.
CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and we thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm.
RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address.
CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush.
RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website?
CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country.
RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves.
CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country.
RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work.
CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.
RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all its limitless possibilities.
RUSH: All right.
CALLER: That's what she is.
RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here, but I'm going to put you on hold.
My sister-in-law sent me this picture. It's a neighbor of hers who is sick in the hospital with cancer. Shows you the compassion of Cindy McCain (visiting the sick).
"You know you're pretty important when the wife of the Presidential Candidate hears that you are sick and comes to see you. (yes, it really is Cindy McCain)"
I received this in an email. It is written by Raymond S. Kraft. There is information about this writer at the end of this article. Three of his articles were sent to me and they were all very interesting.
THIS IS HISTORY THAT HAS BEEN AND / OR WILL BE LEFT OUT OF OUR TEXTBOOKS.
"Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England and America for food and war materials. At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war.
Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage Congress unanimously declared war on Japan, and the following day on Germany, which had not yet attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had few allies.
France was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly aligned itself with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an ally, as Hitler was intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in Europe. Japan was not an ally, as it was well on its way to owning and controlling all of Asia.
Together, Japan and Germany had long-range plans of invading Canada and Mexico, as launching pads to get into the United States over our northern and southern borders, after they finished gaining control of Asia and Europe. America's only allies then were England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, and Russia. That was about it. All of Europe, from Norway to Italy, except Russia in the East, was already under the Nazi heel.
America was certainly not prepared for war. America had drastically downgraded most of its military forces after W.W.I and throughout the depression, so that at the outbreak of WW2, army units were training with broomsticks because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank" painted on the doors because they didn't have real tanks. And a huge chunk of our navy had just been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor.
Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600 million in gold bullion in the Bank of England, that was actually the property of Belgium, given by Belgium to England to carry on the war when Belgium was overrun by Hitler (a little known fact). Actually, Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next day just to prove they could. Britain had already been holding out for two years in the face of staggering losses and the near decimation of its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later, and first turning his attention to Russia, at a time when England was on the verge of collapse, in the late summer of 1940.
Ironically, Russia saved America's butt by putting up a desperate fight for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at Germany.
Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad and Moscow alone... 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers.
Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire war effort against the Brits, then America. And the Nazis could possibly have won the war.
All of this is to illustrate that turning points in history are often dicey things. And now, we find ourselves at another one of those key moments in history.
There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world. The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs -- they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam, should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world. And that all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated.
They want to finish the Holocaust, destroy Israel, and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra.
There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part not a hot war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and its Reformation, but it is not known yet which will win -- the Inquisitors, or the Reformationists.
If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control the Middle East, the OPEC oil, and the US, European, and Asian economies. The techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC -- not an OPEC dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis. You want gas in your car? You want heating oil next winter? You want the dollar to be worth anything? You better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic Reformation wins.
If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.
We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the Islamic terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. And we can't do it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a time and place of our choosing........in Iraq.
Not in New York, not in London, or Paris or Berlin, but in Iraq, where we are doing two important things.
(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is a terrorist. Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million Iranians.
(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic terrorism in Iraq. We have focused the battle. We are killing bad people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq, which will be a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East, and an outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East for as long as it is needed.
World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began with a "whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor. It began with the Japanese invasion of China. It was a war for fourteen years before America joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year war -- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own again .. a 27 year war.
World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a full year's GDP -- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion dollars. W.W.II cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and nearly 100,000 still missing in action.
The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion,which is roughly what 9/11 cost New York. It has also cost about 3,000 American lives, which is roughly the same as the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed on 9/11. But the cost of not fighting and winning W.W.II would have been unimaginably greater -- a world dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.
This is not 60 minute TV shows, and 2 hour movies in which everything comes out okay. The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes bloody and ugly. Always has been, and probably always will be. The bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism until we defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore it.
If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq, then we have an "England" in the Middle East, a platform, from which we can work to help modernize and moderate the Middle East. The history of the world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates. The Iraq war is merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war. And now, for the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons. Unless somebody prevents them.
We have four options: 1. We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons. 2. We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which may be as early as next year, if Iran's progress on nuclear weapons is what Iran claims it is). 3. We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in America. 4. Or, we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe. It will, of course, be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier.
If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes, cultural clashes.
All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
In the 20th century, it was Western democracy vs. communism, and before that Western democracy vs. Nazism, and before that Western democracy vs. German Imperialism. Western democracy won, three times, but it wasn't cheap, fun, nice, easy, or quick. Indeed, the wars against German Imperialism (WWI), Nazi Imperialism (WWII), and communist imperialism (the 40 year Cold War that included the Vietnam Battle, commonly called the Vietnam War, but itself a major batt le in a larger war) covered almost the entire century.
The first major war of the 21st Century is the war between Western Judeo Christian Civilization and Wahhabi Islam. It may last a few more years, or most of this century. It will last until the Wahhabi branch of Islam fades away, or gives up its ambitions for regional and global dominance and Jihad, or until Western Civilization gives into the Jihad.
It will take time. It will not go with no hitches. This is not TV.
Remember, perspective is every thing, and America's schools teach too little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young American mind.
The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Forty-two years. Europe spent the first half of the 19th century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation, and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan.
World War II resulted in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million people, depending on which estimates you accept.
The US has taken more than 2,000 killed in action in Iraq. The US took more than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism. In W.W.II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of the individual battles of W.W.II lost more Americans than the entire Iraq war has done so far.
But the stakes are at least as high ... A world dominated by representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal freedoms ... or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement, by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).
It's difficult to understand why the American left does not grasp this. They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but evidently not for Iraqis. In America , absolutely, but nowhere else.
300,000 Iraqi bodies in mass graves in Iraq are not our problem? The US population is about twelve times that of Iraq , so let's multiply 300,000 by twelve. What would you think if there were 3,600,000 American bodies in mass graves in America because of George Bush? Would you hope for another country to help liberate America ?
"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America, where it's safe. Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, North Korea, in the places that really need peace activism the most?
The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins, wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.
Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side of their own worst enemy. If the Jihad wins, it is the death of Liberalism. Everywhere the Jihad wins, it is the death of Liberalism. And American Liberals just don't get it." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Raymond S. Kraft is a writer living in Northern California. Please consider passing along copies of this article to students in high school, college and university as it contains information about the American past that is very meaningful today -- history about America that very likely is completely unknown by them (and their instructors, too). By being denied the facts of our history, they are at a decided disadvantage when it comes to reasoning and thinking through the issues of today. They are prime targets for misinformation campaigns beamed at enlisting them in causes and beliefs that are special interest agenda driven. see: http://www.greatamericanjournal.com/writers.htm
I started this blog a few weeks before the 2008 election. I started it as a way to share articles, thoughts, quotes, pictures, videos, etc. with my family and friends that stand for truth, freedom, and conservative values . Yes, I do believe if we don't defend these conservative values, we will lose our freedoms. I invite all to read and to study the issues and find the facts. I am a Christian - (Latter Day Saint), so I will also post views from my church as well as views from the Catholic, Protestant Christians, and other Judeo-Christian Churches on political issues. John Adams' stated: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people." "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone. " I believe this statement to be true. Mitt Romney states:"Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history -but it is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter - on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people." I fully agree with him. We must all work together for the greater good. We are a nation 'Under God' and in God, we do indeed trust.
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