First comes this story from TIME.  In it the story said

Now, in an unexpected move, Obama has told White House aides that instead of joining a congregation in Washington, D.C., he will follow in George W. Bush‘s footsteps and make his primary place of worship Evergreen Chapel, the nondenominational church at Camp David.

Of course he would choose a nondenominational church, I thought.  He couldn’t appear to value one group over another, even when it comes to matters of faith.

TIME then went on to throw in this hilarious line

A number of factors drove the decision – financial, political, personal – but chief among them was the desire to worship without being on display.

HA HA HA.  I doubt Obama was worried about being on display.  How anyone can claim that this media whore wants to shun attention is beyond me.  The media grants us these periodical reminders of just how delusional they are.

In any event it was a step up from not belonging to a church at all.  Then came this

The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama continues “to look for a church home,” and said a magazine report that he has stopped is erroneous.

White House deputy press secretary Jen Psaki said by e-mail: “The president and first family continue to look for a church home. They have enjoyed worshiping at Camp David and several other congregations over the months, and will choose a church at the time that is best for their family.”

So, yeah forget all that other stuff.  I’m not sure if he was scared at the thought of choosing any place of worship over another like the boyfriend who freaks out and regrets giving her that diamond after 30 seconds or whether it was the fact that TIME pointed out W. was there first that has him running.

In either event, it sure is reassuring to know that our Spineless Leader isn’t so quaint and non-progressive as to favor one group over another.  God Bless America.

It is a fact that, for whatever reasons, conservatives do not organize as well as our opponents.  Sure, every once in a while we get a Tea Party together but by and large we don’t get the whole organizing thing.  This is obviously something we need to fix but in the mean time the furthering of the conservative cause depends (at least for me) on debating and discussing the issues with friends, family, and so on.  Even if we’re not the best organized group, we know that when it comes to a one on one discussion of the issues, we can’t be touched.  It’s not that every liberal is an idiot, I’ve met a number of intelligent ones, but no matter how smart you are you can’t make facts change.  That being said we can get to my point.

I’m young, 20, I’m married to my high school sweetheart and I have a beautiful 10 month old daughter.  My best friend is a guy I went to school with, he was the best man at my wedding and is the godfather of my baby girl.  He’s an extremely intelligent individual and for years we’ve debated pretty much everything, from philosophy to literature to politics.  He attended Notre Dame and during his time there predictably became more liberal in his views of the world.

Since Barry took office, our discussions have become more politically focused.  This can be extremely depressing because my buddy has decided (and I think this is true of many young people) that he just doesn’t care about politics and doesn’t think it matters if the United States becomes socialist or not.  Now, there are many things he’s said that I could bring up that would make for an interesting read but I wanted to focus on something he said just the other day.

We were talking about the decision of a French court that internet access is a basic human right (not even going there).  One thing led to another and it wasn’t long before my friend said

“You know, rights don’t exist.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked as I tried not to bash my head into the table.

He went on to explain that since the concept of inalienable rights was based on Deism (which it isn’t but we’ll get to that) and Deism being a bankrupt philosophy therefore rights do not exist.  After several minutes of amiable obscenities I got down to the point.

First, for those who don’t know, Deism, simply, is a belief in a Supreme Being who does not interfere or interact at all with the physical world (this is the clock-maker theory).  Deists also believe that Truth can be found and obtained through observation and reason alone without faith.

My buddy had claimed that all the founding fathers had been deists, which is not true.  Franklin was certainly the most outspoken Deist and Jefferson flirted with the concept throughout his life but the founding fathers were far from being a “group of deists”.  More importantly, there is nothing intrinsic to Deism that would lead to the belief in human rights.  That is to say, there is nothing unique about Deism that would lead to “certain inalienable rights”.  In fact, it is the fact that we were founded on Christian principles that we have the rights that we do (for now).  Christianity has the most respect for the individual and his worth, more so than any other religion.

The reason my friend’s belief is so scary is that if he were right, if rights were just grabbed out of the top hat by our founding fathers like the proverbial rabbit, then they could just as easily be taken away from us.  The rights we do enjoy are so special exactly BECAUSE they are “endowed by the Creator”.  This is a big reason why Barry wants people to believe that we are not a Christian nation.  He is laying the groundwork (call me paranoid) to take away our rights (and precious bodily fluids [10 cool points if you got that reference]).   It would be a huge victory for Barry if a day ever came (perhaps it already has?) when more people believe that “inalienable rights” were just words thought up by some dead guys and not the Divinely granted expressions of Freedom that they are.

These rights, and our belief in where they came from, are a big part of American Exceptionalism and we cannot allow those around us to forget it.

This morning, the AP reports on Iran’s latest development in their quest to destroy Israel and the US.  According to the story, Ahmadinejad has said that Iran has successfully tested a missile with a range of 1,200 miles, making it capable of hitting Israel, any of our bases in the Middle East or southeastern Europe.

Now, whether or not Ahmadinejad is telling the truth is of course open to debate.  The story goes on to say that

Most Western analysts believe Iran does not yet have the technology to produce nuclear weapons, including warheads for long-range missiles. A group of U.S. and Russian scientists said in a report issued Tuesday that Iran could produce a simple nuclear device in one to three years and a nuclear warhead in another five years after that.

If we are right about Iran, they are not necessarily being honest about their capabilities but that is only a small consolation.  One to three years is far too short a timetable for my comfort.  What’s scary is that three years is just about how much time O-blama has left in office, meaning nothing will get done about this.  In fact, it is The Divine Being’s lack of action that is to blame for Iran’s antagonizing behavior in the first place.

Consider this – if Iran does not have the missile capabilities they claim (or even if they do, really) the reason they would say so is to test us.  Iran is trying to ascertain what our response will be and what our relationship with Israel is like.  In the past few years, our determination to work with and support Israel was obvious.  When the US and Israel had such an obvious alliance, Iran and all the other countries who want the destruction of Israel and the West would balk.  Now, however, that is changed.  Barry is speaking to Israel in language that reveals distance – “YOU (Israel) must do so and so, YOU must seek this resolution” etc.  Iran sees this and is seizing on it.

Ahmadinejad knows that the US, under The One, is not willing to take any serious action.  From the AP article above - 

The announcement will not reassure the U.S. government, coming just two days after President Barack Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international sanctions against Iran if it shunned U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama said he expected a positive response to his outreach for opening a dialogue with Iran by the end of the year.

Of course, Obama would expect a positive response to his ideas.  I mean, after all, who disagrees with Him???  That’s just plain insanity.  Seriously, this man’s magalomaniacal narcissism is really getting to me.  The reason this announcement from Iran comes only two days after Obama’s “threat” is that Iran could care less about international sanctions.  They saw what happened with Saddam – the UN issued these sanctions and letters that did nothing and without a president like Bush who was willing to do what had to be done, Iran knows it has some time.

Their plan now seems pretty clear to me – issue these antagonistic statements about their nuclear and missile capabilities and isolate Israel.  Iran must know that whatever the US does or does not do rather, Israel will defend itself.  Tehran believes, as any strategist would tell you, that it would be better to fight Israel if they did not have the support of the US…duh!  If, as time goes on, the US still has not taken any substantive action, I believe Israel will act unilaterally.  All I can hope is that Israel does what it needs to to defend itself and we do all we can to get Our Fearless Leader to take action if, God forbid, it comes to that.

Obama is in office.  As much as I pray every day that this is some sort of horribly twisted nightmare, the facts are the facts.  Barring an impeachment or unforeseen circumstances (please God), he will be in office until at least 2012.  OK.  Every time that I interact with my eight and a half month old daughter, I can’t help but think about what the future holds for her and then, by extension, for this country.  What will the United States look like in 3-4 years?  How far will we be from the vision our founders had for this beautiful nation?  Just how much can Obama’s radical socialist policies change us in that time?  The answer, or part of it, can be found in Spain.

Spain, like the United States, is or has been a traditionally Christian country with most of the Spanish population claiming Catholicism as their faith.  In April of 2004, the PSOE, Spain’s Socialist Party, won the election and took control of the government.  Since then one policy after another has eaten away at the freedoms of the individuals and radically secularized the country.  Even without the type of constant support Obama has from the legislative branch, the PSOE has still been able to further the cause of socialism and secularism.  It has been roughly 4 years since the PSOE took control, so a look at Spain now can give us some idea as to what this country might look like in 2012.

The secularism of Spain and the rest of Europe, which goes hand in hand with their socialist ideologies, can already be seen to be taking root here in the U.S. with Obama’s comments about how we are not a Christian nation, his covering up religious symbols during his speech at Georgetown, his appointment of people like Harry Knox to the Faith Based Initiative and so on.  One issue that dovetails into the national secularization is the issue of abortion.  It’s not breaking news that Obama is one of the most pro-death politicians in our country and certainly the most radically infanticidal person to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  This brings me to an article I saw today from the AP.

Spain is taking steps to ease restrictions on abortions in their country.  Story here.

The Spanish government approved a plan Friday to ease restrictions on abortion and allow the procedure on demand up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, pressing ahead with a sweeping social reform agenda that has irked conservatives and the Catholic church.

The bill seeks to reform the law that legalized abortion in Spain in 1985. That legislation allowed the procedure in cases of rape up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, fetal malformation up to 22 weeks and at any point when a pregnant woman’s mental or physical health were deemed by doctors to be at risk if the pregnancy went to term.

This latter loophole has generally accounted for the vast majority of abortions carried out in Spain.

The report goes on to say that

Under the new proposal, besides abortion on demand up to 14 weeks, the procedure would be permitted up to 22 weeks of pregnancy if two doctors certify there is a serious threat to the health of the mother, or fetal malformation.

Beyond 22 weeks, it would be allowed only if a panel of doctors certified fetal malformation deemed incompatible with life or the fetus were diagnosed with an extremely serious or incurable disease.

I take issue with this whole idea but the real kicker for me is this last paragraph.  Apparently if a group of doctors says that the baby might be born with “…an extremely serious or incurable disease” then it’s A-OK to kill that child.  The selfishness of the parents in not wanting to deal with the complications of having a child with a disorder is on par with the selfishness of those who simply don’t want a baby, even a healthy one, because THEY aren’t ready.  It’s a good thing Sara Palin doesn’t think that way or her son would not be alive today.

This selfish attitude gives those of us who are opposed to abortion a terrific argument.  If someone wants to have an abortion it’s because it’s inconvenient for them.  Period.  That’s what it boils down to, a matter of convenience.  OK, you say, so to clarify – if it’s inconvenient for you then it’s alright to abort the child.  Yes, they will say.  What the abortionists have done here is to establish a principle.  The principle is that it is alright to kill a human being if they are inconvenient.  This swings the door wide open for euthanasia.  Then you realize that it’s not just unwanted children and the elderly who are inconvenient but the mentally handicapped as well.  And you know who else followed this principle?  Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.  At this point in the debate, your interlocutor will mostly likely scream, turn purple, and claim that you’re just calling them a Nazi “and that’s not fair”.  But you haven’t called them a Nazi for the sake of name calling.  All that you have done is point out correctly that the principle they have established was the same principle used by the Nazi government to kill millions of innocent people who were deemed “inconvenient”.  That’s a historical fact.

Of course, the abortion issue is just one among many that will ruin this country as sure as God’s Justice if we don’t do all we can to stop the policies and The Architect.  I know this for certain, if I wanted my daughter to grow up in a socialist, amoral, secular, nanny state, I’d move to Spain.  

God Bless America, the way it was founded.

Joe Biden (read Obama) has increased pressure on Israel to resolve their conflict with the Palestinians in a 2-party manner.  Story here.

The United States stepped up pressure on Israel’s new right-leaning government on Tuesday to accept the goal of a Palestinian state and halt expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied land.

Israel has to work for a two state-solution — you’re not going to like my saying this — but not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement … and access to economic opportunity,” Vice President Joe Biden said.

His comments in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby, went further than remarks made by President Barack Obama in his White House meeting last month with Jordan’s King Abdullah in which he reiterated his support for a two-state solution.

This last paragraph, specifically “went further than remarks…”, is to me a clear indication that this is future US policy but Obama wants to play it safe and have someone else run it up the flagpole and take all subsequent heat if the idea is unpopular.

I’m sure not every single one of you is perfectly happy with how the State of Israel came into being (I am), but that is irrelevant at this point.  The fact is that Israel is our one and only true ally out there in the Mid East and the last thing we should do is alienate them.  They have proven they can manage on their own, though it would be significantly more difficult without our help, but the United States cannot afford to stab the one country who agrees with our principles in the back.  We need Israel and the hostile Arab states know this.  In addition to their anti-semitism, this understanding is behind their determination to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.  

Obama is paranoid of appearing in any way, shape, or form like W. and, since Bush realized Israel’s importance for our country’s success in the Middle east and acted accordingly, Obama does not want to anger the all important Arab countries like Iran by showing any similar support of Israel.  Also, Israel is a very small country and since we all know that Obama is about the numbers, he would rather win a popularity contest in any other country in the Middle East than Israel.

After reading Biden’s remarks about Israel and feeling down, he then goes on to kick us in the teeth with this gem -

“The United States will approach Iran initially in the spirit of mutual respect — we want Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations politically and economically,” Biden said.

How long can the Obama WH pretend that Iran is going to change and suddenly decide to play ball?  I’m too angry to even address this complacent Chamberlain-esque approach to Iran by Obama.  Fin. 

I just saw this article on yahoo! news that describes how Nevada’s Attorney General and Sec. of State, who are both Dems, are filing voter fraud charges against ACORN.  According to the report - 

Nevada’s attorney general on Monday filed criminal charges accusing liberal community activist group ACORN and two of its employees of facilitating voter registration fraud in November’s election by requiring canvassers to submit 20 applications each day or face termination.

 

The Nevada complaint alleges 26 counts of “Compensation for Registration of Voters,” which it called a felony under state law.

“By structuring employment and compensation around a quota system, ACORN facilitated voter registrationfraud in this state,” Attorney General Masto said. She alleged that the group’s training manuals “clearly detail, condone and, indeed, require illegal acts.”

The complaint accuses Christopher Edwards , former field director for ACORN’s Las Vegas office, of creating a “Blackjack” or “21+” system that awarded a $5 bonus to low-paid canvassers who brought in 21 or more completed registration forms in a day. It alleges that Amy Busefink , ACORN’s deputy regional director, approved the scheme.

I am not surprised in the least.  I am, while not surprised, still amazed at the lengths some people will go to.  Couple this story with the one a little while ago about shady voting practices in Kansas and one really has to wonder about the outcome of the election.  Now, I don’t know if this thing is going to go anywhere but here’s hoping.  Here’s hoping this is the first incident in a long line of soon to be discovered fraudulent voting practices last November.  Here’s hoping these incidents cause the outrage they should among the American People.  Here’s hoping this outrage fuels an investigation into how deep this scandal goes.  Here’s hoping that investigation works its way up the political ladder in the Obama camp and uncovers the truth about who was involved and to what extent.  Here’s hoping the American People remember the words of the Declaration

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

and do the unpleasant task of re-hauling the government that is sometimes necessary.  Here’s hoping this does not stop until EVERYONE who even had knowledge of what was happening is gone.  Here’s hoping Christmas comes early.

I’m not sure if anyone has posted on this yet but I feel I need to make sure this gets covered.  This concerns the painting “The Truth” by Michael D’Antuono, in case you don’t know about this click here there is also a picture of the painting there.  The painting portrays Obama with a crown of thorns on his head and his arms outstretched, as if he were hanging on the cross.  This makes me sick.  Here at Redstate and in other conservative circles, we refer to Obama’s status as a “savior” with our tongue placed firmly in our cheek.  It’s scary to think that there are people who actually see him as their “own personal Jesus”, to quote Johnny Cash.  Obama has heard, I am sure, the references to him in this light but with this painting there can be no doubt that he knows that some (though he thinks ALL) people think of him like this.  All this messiah s*** does is feed Our Fearless Leader’s already colossal narcissistic sense of self.  

I am glad that there was enough outrage over this painting to have the unveiling in New York, set for today, cancelled but I’m sure we all know that if the painting had depicted Obama in reference to some other religious figure, say Mohammed, instead of Christ, the outrage would have been far swifter and more intense.  No doubt, the artist would have been forbidden to ever paint again and Obama would be contorting his spineless body into any shape possible to appease those offended.  Despite the cancelled unveiling, this problem is far from solved.

Soon, the messiah references will resurface and be much more prevalent as the over-hyped swine flu is stopped and contained by swift and just action taken by our glorious leader.  Speaking of, I noticed the Pansy in Chief has already used the disease to further push us (or our great great grandchildren’s kids) further into debt to the tune of 1.5 Billion, story here.  No telling what else the liberals are going to be able to tick off their twisted agenda under the guise of stopping this disease.  I’d be far more amused at all this if it weren’t so scary and depressing.  

One last note on the above mentioned sacrilege.  I’m well aware this would NEVER happen but if Obama had any sense of respect for the believers of the most history-altering religion ever, he would make a public statement denouncing this painting and ask for the messiah references to stop…yeah, I know, it’s not going to happen.  If anything, he’s going to use the belief that he is a savior figure to continue dismantling our country and our constitution block by block as he has been.  My only hope is that the messiah references get so out of hand that the Real Messiah decides to show up and teach B.O. a thing or 8,4467…actually  nevermind,  no number can be placed on the things that man needs to be taught.

I was driving earlier today and listening to the radio.  I’m that person who belts out whatever comes on which is what I was doing.  I switched to the country station and heard Rodney Atkins’ song “It’s America” (video below).  As I sang along a very strange thing happened – I found my eyes tearing up, literally.  Now, I’m not the “sensitive guy” by a long shot but just sitting there listening to the words of this song and realizing that there are people who are trying to change who we are as a nation really got to me.  

Add to that the fact that among these people is the one person who, above all others, is supposed to preserve and defend our nation and the principles on which it was founded and you can understand why I teared up.  Watch this video (if you don’t like country music, at least make it to the first refrain so you know what I’m talking about).  Here’s the link.

As the song finished, my thoughts moved to how you could always rely on country music to be patriotic no matter what the sitting administration.  The next 30 seconds revealed a huge paradox and forced me to make an important distinction.  When the song was over the DJ came on and started to talk about how your bank might unexpectedly jack interest rates.  Then the soothing tones of Our Fearless Leader echoed across the air waves.  As I heard him begin to speak I thought “Oh good, they’re going to play something to stick it to him…”.  The sound bite they played was the Socialist In Chief talking about how the consumer must be protected from interest hikes (note: they didn’t specify when this clip was from).  The DJ then came back on and said:

“You go Obama, he’s looking into it for us.  Those bankers just keep geting rich, don’t they?”

I was struck by the contrast here.  First we have a song about what makes America great.  Then the DJ comes on and plays a clip of Traitor Number One who is trying to change this country.  Finally, the DJ paints Obama in the light of Guardian Angel and throws in a shot at the “bankers” who are taking advantage of us.  

I don’t know if Obama has just been that successful in convincing people to hurl all their blame at the bankers even now or the DJ (the station) is on the payroll.  Of course, the irony is that day by day the government gains more control of the banks and so is the really the one who dictates rates, salaries, et all.  ARE PEOPLE REALLY THIS BLIND??!??  Do we live in a nation of sheep?  I know there’s talk of increased displeasure with Obama and his performance but when will enough be enough?  How many days must this go on and how much of our country’s true nature will we lose before this destructive force is stopped?  If some omnipotent RS member out there has these answers, PLEASE let me know.

Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a late term abortion bill yesterday…surprise, surprise.  Story here.  Excerpts -

The vetoed bill would have required late-term abortion providers to report the specific diagnoses used to justify the procedure. Abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy are illegal in Kansas unless necessary to prevent serious health threats to the woman.

The bill also would have allowed a woman or her husband – or the parents of a girl under 18 – to sue the provider if they suspect the abortion violated the law. And it would have given prosecutors greater power to file charges against abortion providers.

Sebelius argued that the bill would not have reduced abortions and would likely be ruled unconstitutional. She said the bill, if signed into law, would have intimidated abortion providers and potentially limited women’s access to abortion services.

“…would likely be ruled unconstitutional.”  I didn’t realize that one person’s speculation on a possible interpretation of our Constitution was enough to contravene the INALIENABLE right to life.  It’s very hard for me to see this woman as anything short of evil incarnate (cue SWAT teams being deployed to my house) but even if she’s not I have no idea how conservatives have let her get this far.

It is encouraging to see Michael Steele doing something to stop her appointment but I would expect much more outrage over her policies.  The vetoing of this last bill is proof of her emboldened “I can do anything, I’m as good as HHS secretary already” attitude.  It’s shocking.

Even more shocking is how Sam Brownback is JUST NOW thinking twice about giving his support to her.  For a guy who claims to be pro-life, any support, even if they are from the same state, is totally unacceptable.  In the face of her continued and increasing pro-death (because that’s what they are) policies, Brownback will only say that “It makes it harder and harder”.  Listen up, Sammy boy, this is not hard at all.  If you want to have any credibility as a pro-lifer than you need to immediately condemn her and apologize profusely to all those pro-life advocates you’ve betrayed so far.  I’ve already written an email to Mr. Brownback saying as much, and if you care in the least about the life issue I would ask that you do the same.  In the mean time we must continue to support the efforts to stop Sebelius’ appointment.  Jim DeMint and Mike Steele have got the ball rolling, let’s get some steam behind it.