Thanksgiving Address

The following is the text of the speech that Abraham Lincoln gave on the day that he signed the Thanksgiving Proclamation, “to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November...as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the LORD.

We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to, feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

--Abraham Lincoln - October 3, 1863

Expiration Date

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. - Second Amendment to the U S Constitution

One or both expire on Jan 20, 2009.

Counseling Needed

I still haven't watched a minute of TV news since Obama won Ohio. So, by default, the Faux News fast has been extended. I keep up by internet but at least there I don't have to listen and watch as major media figures swoon and prattle on about Michelle's dress or some such drivel. Obviously I need to be admitted.

Real Downer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street slumped Thursday afternoon and the S&P 500 closed at an 11-1/2 year low as fears of a prolonged recession sparked a massive selloff.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 6.7% according to early tallies and closed at its lowest point sine April 14, 1997.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 445 points or 5.6%. It closed at the lowest level since March 12, 2003, just above the low of the last bear market.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 5.1% and also closed at its lowest level since March 12, 2003.

Dick Morris Scorcher

The results of the G-20 economic summit amount to nothing less than the seamless integration of the United States into the European economy. In one month of legislation and one diplomatic meeting, the United States has unilaterally abdicated all the gains for the concept of free markets won by the Reagan administration and surrendered, in toto, to the Western European model of socialism, stagnation and excessive government regulation. Sovereignty is out the window. Without a vote, we are suddenly members of the European Union. Given the dismal record of those nations at creating jobs and sustaining growth, merger with the Europeans is like a partnership with death.

At the G-20 meeting, Bush agreed to subject the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and our other regulatory agencies to the supervision of a global entity that would critique its regulatory standards and demand changes if it felt they were necessary. Bush agreed to create a College of Supervisors.

According to The Washington Post, it would "examine the books of major financial institutions that operate across national borders so regulators could begin to have a more complete picture of banks' operations."

Their scrutiny would extend to hedge funds and to various "exotic" financial instruments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a European-dominated operation, would conduct "regular vigorous reviews" of American financial institutions and practices. The European-dominated College of Supervisors would also weigh in on issues like executive compensation and investment practices.

There is nothing wrong with the substance of this regulation. Experience is showing it is needed. But it is very wrong to delegate these powers to unelected, international institutions with no political accountability.

We have a Securities and Exchange Commission appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, both of whom are elected by the American people. It is with the SEC, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve that financial accountability must take place.

The European Union achieved this massive subrogation of American sovereignty the way it usually does, by negotiation, gradual bureaucratic encroachment, and without asking the voters if they approve. What's more, Bush appears to have gone down without a fight, saving his debating time for arguing against the protectionism that France's Nicolas Sarkozy was pushing. By giving Bush a seeming victory on a moratorium against protectionism for one year, Sarkozy was able to slip over his massive scheme for taking over the supervision of the U.S. economy.

All kinds of political agendas are advancing under the cover of response to the global financial crisis. Where Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism by regulating it, Bush, to say nothing of Obama, has given the government control over our major financial and insurance institutions. And it isn't even our government! The power has now been transferred to the international community, led by the socialists in the European Union.

Will Obama govern from the left? He doesn't have to. George W. Bush has done all the heavy lifting for him. It was under Bush that the government basically took over as the chief stockholder of our financial institutions and under Bush that we ceded our financial controls to the European Union. In doing so, he has done nothing to preserve what differentiates the vibrant American economy from those dying economies in Europe. Why have 80 percent of the jobs that have been created since 1980 in the industrialized world been created in the United States? How has America managed to retain its leading 24 percent share of global manufacturing even in the face of the Chinese surge? How has the U.S. GDP risen so high that it essentially equals that of the European Union, which has 50 percent more population? It has done so by an absence of stifling regulation, a liberation of capital to flow to innovative businesses, low taxes, and by a low level of unionization that has given business the flexibility to grow and prosper. Europe, stagnated by taxation and regulation, has grown by a pittance while we have roared ahead. But now Bush -- not Obama -- Bush has given that all up and caved in to European socialists.

The Bush legacy? European socialism. Who needs enemies with friends like Bush?

Two Peas

I really have no idea why Obama did not pick McCain as his running mate -- they believe the same things, said the same things, proposed the same things -- and unlike Joe Biden, John McCain didn't really want to be President. At any rate, the two peas met today to discuss how to "fix up the country." I personally think that we are as fixed up as we can be. Don't you?

Ron Paul Nails It (as usual)

The following is an OP-ED special to CNN by Congressman Ron Paul in answer to the question, "What should the GOP do now?" It's not a snippet. I encourage you to read it twice then print it and put it on your refrigerator - then read it to your children at bedtime.....

(CNN) -- The questions now being asked are: Where to go from here and who's to blame for the downfall of the Republican Party?

Too bad the concern for the future of the Republican Party had not been seriously addressed in the year 2000 when the Republicans gained control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency.

Now, in light of the election, many are asking: What is the future of the Republican Party?

But that is the wrong question. The proper question should be: Where is our country heading? There's no doubt that a large majority of Americans believe we're on the wrong track. That's why the candidate demanding "change" won the election. It mattered not that the change offered was no change at all, only a change in the engineer of a runaway train.

Once it's figured out what is fundamentally wrong with our political and economic system, solutions can be offered. If the Republican Party can grasp hold of the policy changes needed, then the party can be rebuilt.

In the rise and fall of the recent Republican reign of power these past decades, the goal of the party had grown to be only that of gaining and maintaining power -- with total sacrifice of the original Republican belief in shrinking the size of government.

Most Republicans endorsed this view in order to achieve victories at the polls. Limiting government power and size with less spending and a balanced budget as the goal used to be a "traditional" Republican value. This is what Goldwater and Reagan talked about. That is what the Contract with America stood for.

The opportunity finally came in 2000 to do something about the cancerous growth of government. This clear message led to the Republican success at the polls.

Once the Republicans were in power, though, the promises faded, and all policies were directed at maintaining or increasing power by trying to whittle away at Democratic strength by acting like big-spending Democrats.

The Republican Congress never once stood up against the Bush/Rove machine that demanded support for unconstitutional wars, attacks on civil liberties here at home, and an economic policy based on more spending, more debt, and more inflation -- while constantly preaching the flawed doctrine that deficits don't matter as long as taxes aren't raised.

But what the Republican leadership didn't realize was that ALL spending is a tax on middle-class Americans through price inflation and that eventually the inevitable consequence is paying for the extravagance with a financial crisis.

Party leaders concentrated only on political tricks in order to maintain power and neglected the limited-government principles on which they were elected. The only solution for this is for Republicans to once again reassess their core beliefs and show how the country (not the party) can be put back on the right track. The problem, though, is regaining credibility.

After eight years of perpetual (and unnecessary and unconstitutional) war, persistent and expanded attacks on our privacy, runaway deficits, and now nationalization of the financial system, Republicans are going to have a tough time regaining the confidence of the American people. But that's what must be done.

Otherwise, Republicans can only mimic Democrats and hope for an isolated victory here and there. And that's just more of the same that brought on the disintegration of the party.

Since the new alignment of political power offers no real change, we will remain on the same track without even a pretense of slowing the growth of government. With the new administration we can expect things to go from bad to worse.

Opportunity abounds for anyone who can present the case for common sense in fiscal affairs, for protection of civil liberties here at home, and avoiding the senseless foreign entanglements which have bogged us down for decades and contributed so significantly to our fiscal and budgetary crisis.

During the debates in the Republican Presidential primary, even though I am a 10-term sitting Representative Member of Congress, I was challenged more than once on my Republican credentials. The fact that I was repeatedly asked how I could be a Republican when I was talking a different language than the other candidates answers the question of how the Republican Party can slip so far so fast.

My rhetorical answer at the time was simple: Why should one be excluded from the Republican Party for believing and always voting for:

• Limited government power

• A balanced budget

• Personal liberty

• Strict adherence to the Constitution

• Sound money

• A strong defense while avoiding all undeclared wars

• No nation-building and no policing the world

How can a party that still pretends to be the party of limited government distance itself outright from these views and expect to maintain credibility? Since the credibility of the Republican Party has now been lost, how can it regain credibility without embracing these views, or at least showing respect for them?

I concluded my answer by simply stating the Republican Party had lost its way and must reassess its values. And that is what needs to be done in a hurry.

But it might just take a new crop of leaders to regain the credibility needed to redirect the Party. It certainly won't be done overnight. It took a long time to come out of the wilderness after 40 years of Democratic rule for the Republican Party to take charge. Today though, time moves more quickly. Opportunities will arise. The one thing for certain is that in the next four years we will not see the Republic restored. Instead the need for it will be greater than ever.

The problems are easily understood and the answers are not that difficult. Abusing the rule of law and ignoring the Constitution can be reversed. If the Republican Party can grasp hold of the needed reforms, it can lead the way and regain its credibility. If power is sought for power's sake alone, the Party will never be able to wrench away the power of the opposition.

In the past two years, I found that when the young people heard the message of liberty, they overwhelmingly responded favorably, fully realizing the failure of the status quo and the need to once again endorse a system of self reliance, personal responsibility, sound money, and a non-interventionist foreign policy while rejecting the cradle-to-grave nanny state all based on the rule of law and the Constitution.

To ignore the political struggle and only "hope for the best" is pure folly. The march toward a dictatorial powerful state is now in double time.

All those who care -- and especially those who understand the stakes involved -- have an ominous responsibility to energetically get involved in the battle of survival for a free and prosperous America.

It IS Amazing

Sarah Palin said this in an interview with the Anchorage newspaper:

“I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration? How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration?” Palin said.

“If we’re talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented...So people desiring change, I think, went as far from the administration that is presently seated as they could. It's amazing that we did as well as we did.”

I Feel Your Pain

Good Sign

I still can't do it. From the moment O won Ohio, I have not watched a minute of news TV. The Fox Fast has been expanded to a total news black-out. (Can you still say 'black-out?' Does that offend both African-Americans and gays? It's hard to keep up with what's acceptable these days.)

There is a good sign, however. Obama has already offended Ahmadinejad...and been chided by him. If this is what Obama means by 'conversation,' it's not so bad after all.

Plus, there is that thought in some quarters that Obama's newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel might be none too friendly toward Iran. Emanuel, a Jew with two of his children named Zachariah and Leah, was supportive of Bush's invasion of Iraq though critical of Bush's prosecution of the war.

Wickipedia has this to say in their bio of Emanuel:

Emanuel has been described as a “strong Israel partisan” and a “convinced Zionist” and “prominent figure in the US Jewish lobby.” A strong supporter of AIPAC, he personally introduced fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama to the organization's directors during the 2008 presidential campaign A November 2008 article claimed that while expressing empathy for Palestinians, Emanuel has explicitly condemned their leaders. In June 2007, Emanuel condemned an outbreak of Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip and criticized Arab countries for not applying the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians as they have on Israel. At a 2003 pro-Israel rally in Chicago, Emanuel told the marchers Israel was ready for peace but would not get there until Palestinians "turn away from the path of terror", according to the Chicago Tribune.

So, is Rahm Emanuel Obama's Paul Wolfowitz?

I know that Emanuel is one of my least favorite Dems. And I think his appointment seems to look back toward the Clinton administration rather than forward to 'transformative change.' But who knows.....

Media Spin

Good Questions!

From Ann Coulter's syndicated column today:

Republicans lost this presidential election, and I don't blame the messenger; I blame the message. How could Republicans go after B. Hussein Obama (as he is now known) on planning to bankrupt the coal companies when McCain supports the exact same cap and trade policies and earnestly believes in global warming?

How could we go after Obama for his illegal alien aunt and for supporting driver's licenses for illegal aliens when McCain fanatically pushed amnesty along with his good friend Teddy Kennedy?

How could we go after Obama for Jeremiah Wright when McCain denounced any Republicans who did so?

How could we go after Obama for planning to hike taxes on the "rich," when McCain was the only Republican to vote against both of Bush's tax cuts on the grounds that they were tax cuts for the rich?

And why should Republican activists slave away working for McCain when he has personally, viciously attacked: John O'Neill and the Swift Boat Veterans, National Right to Life director Doug Johnson, evangelical pastors Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee, various conservative talk radio hosts, the Tennessee Republican Party and on and on and on?

Cal Thomas: Religious Right R.I.P.

The following is today's syndicated column by Cal Thomas:

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements -- from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) -- had mixed results.

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren't anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts. The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early '70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results? Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans," not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God's love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more "transformational" than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.

God teaches in His Word that His power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow's mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one's self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior "kingdom"?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow. By following His example, they will decrease, but He will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results. If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify God, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.

Single Women Elect Obama

"Soccer moms" – suburban married women with young children – have drawn the attention of campaign strategists over the past decade, but an exit poll of voters showed single women were a decisive factor in Barack Obama's historic victory.

"If not for the overwhelming support of unmarried women, John McCain would have won the women's vote and with it, the White House," said the international research firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.

Tuesday night, unmarried women supported the Democratic candidate by a stunning 70 to 29 percent margin, the firm said in a summary of its calculations, based on the Edison/Mitofsky National Election Pool published by CNN.

By contrast, married women supported Obama by a 50 to 47 percent margin.

Obama's backing from unmarried women exceeds the support he generated among both younger voters and Hispanic voters, according to Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.

from World Net Daily

Not One Minute

Since the moment that it was announced that Obama had won Ohio, I have not watched one minute of TV news. Has anything happened that I need to know? I think that I'm up to date via Internet.

Forget Retirement

The stock market took another 434 point dive today - a two day total loss of nearly 1000 points. Obviously Wall Street is just exuberant with news of Obama's election and his sure fix of the economy.

Biggest Post-Election Drop

Wall Street showed its joy at the Obama election by posting the largest post-election drop in U S History falling 486 points. That was yesterday. Today it continues to fall, down 183 points at 11 AM. Wow - what economic confidence Obama inspires!

And by the way, if McCain had been elected and the DOW had done the same thing, how do you think that story would have been spun in the media?

Taking Cover

Is he still there?

Evening Rant

Last post election rant (for the day) follows....

Liberalism didn't really win -- it's very very interesting that in California where Obama won by a landslide (obviously) the same voters amended the state constitution to read, “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” It's interesting that in Florida, which Obama won, those same voters affirmed marriage as only between a man and woman. The 'gay agenda' was turned back even by Obama voters. In fact, seven in ten black voters who voted for Obama voted against gay-marriage. (Of course, Obama claimed at the Saddleback forum that he was also opposed to gay marriage, as did Biden in the VP debate)

I agree with Savage - McCain was the worst GOP candidate in modern times and ran the worst GOP campaign in modern times.

Best election season quip goes to Ann Coulter, "McCain is just like Dole only without the energy."

A Mandate? - while the mainstream media falls over themselves in praise of Obama and his huge victory, be reminded of the electoral reality. Despite McCain's horrible candidacy and Bush's horrifying performance, Obama won five states (71 electoral votes) by the following percentages:

VA - 52%
FL - 51%
OH - 51%
IN - 50%
NC - 50%

Yes, against the worst possible candidate in the most favorable possible conditions for his candidacy, Obama just barely won. Any real GOP candidate would have defeated him.

Romney was the one - looking back, I think that Romney would have been the best GOP presidential candidate. A governor, a northeasterner, the best economic candidate (aside from Paul). Coupled with a southern conservative such as Jindal - that could have been a winner.

Best GOP Candidates Now - Romney, Jindal, Cantor, Palin.

More Random Rants

306 - My FOX News fast has lasted 306 days as of today. Though I was tempted to see what they were saying on election night, I held to the fast. And I was not alone in shunning FOX. FOX has plummeted this election season. Just released TV ratings of election night coverage has ABC winning with CNN in second (with twice as many viewers as 2004). NBC and CBC were next with FOX trailing in last. FOX has gone the way of the GOP - an old cast with an increasingly marginal appeal. That said, I will break the fast today. My fast began when FOX news, of all people, barred Ron Paul from its GOP New Hampshire primary debate.

Feeling Good about Ron Paul - it feels good at this point to have supported Ron Paul. He was his own worst enemy. Only McCain was a worse campaigner. But Paul was right on the economy, right on abortion, right on civil liberties, right on the U S Constitution, right on engaging new young voters, right on interventionism, right on The Fed, right on the Debt, right on the war in Iraq and it’s current toll.

McCain missed his final chance. The ‘bailout’ was McCain’s final chance to separate himself from Obama and to show true conservative colors. He suspended his campaign to come back to Washington and then NOTHING to differentiate himself from Obama. His own House Republicans had already led a revolt against the bailout. He should have come back to be their champion. “Obama and the Democrats are wrong on the bailout” should have been his message. But no. By that Friday he went to the debate that he said that he would not attend and had no difference between himself and his opponent on the biggest bailout in U S history!

Don’t get me started......

Random Thoughts the Day After

The Good News - America has reached beyond ‘race’ in it’s election of Barack Obama. That is good news on many levels. Further, most of ‘the world’ was hoping for an Obama victory. He will (and America will) have an incredible opportunity to ‘reboot’ its foreign policy and foreign relations image.

Waiting to See -- I personally am waiting to see if Obama’s closest friends are beyond race. Do you believe that Jeremiah Wright is beyond race this morning? Do yo believe that Ayers is beyond race this morning?

GOP gone for a Generation -- this election spelled the end of the GOP for a generation. Ronald Reagan captured the imagination and loyalty of the under 30 crowd and that crowd (me and my peers) have been Republicans every since. Barack Obama just overwhelmingly won the under 30 voters and they will be Democrats all of their lives.

Bush / Rove Did It - the moderate, pitiful, thousand-points-of-light, compassionate-conservative, big spending, government expanding, liberties stealing, war focused Bush Dynasty did in the Republican party.

Tip of the Hat - having just ripped Bush (not nearly enough) I do have to say that he did try to get his party to pass immigration legislation so as to not lose all Hispanics to the Dems, and he did try to pass reforms of Freddie and Fannie, and he did try to work toward energy-independence legislation, and he did do more than most recent presidents on HIV/AIDS not just here but around the world. He just was so weak as a leader that he could not make case OR EVEN GET THE CREDIT for having tried.

McCain was an incredibly weak candidate. As the final vote numbers suggest, despite all that favored the Democrats in this election Obama was beatable. Moderate maverick McCain offered no real alternative to Obama so why not vote for the young energetic guy?

Loss Protocol - when FSU loses an important game, I refuse to watch sports TV ‘cause I don’t want to hear about it or see replays of it. By about 10 PM last night, I had the sound off on my TV - just watching, no sound. By this morning, no TV, only internet. Bleak. We have now elected a guy who has literally said that he is not sure the the U S Constitution in its current form is relevant to today’s world.

Jekyll or Hyde - a female African-American political ‘panelist’ and Obama supporter on CNN last night nailed it - (after the results were in of course) - she said that as a Senator, Obama was left-wing and aligned with Pelosi but as a presidential candidate Obama had been a centrist - then she asked the key question: “which will he be as the President?” Of course, CNN never made that distinction in their campaign coverage and NO mainstream reporter challenged him on the differences between his voting record and his stump speech.

The Hope - that Obama the candidate will be President, not Obama the senator. That Obama really will be the unifier and positive change agent he claims to be. That he can govern and lead when has has never governed or led before. He does seem to be calm in the storm and that should serve him well.

Populist orator -- the “stump speech version” of Obama has been a populist orator - as were Bill Clinton and especially Ronald Reagan. To put in this generations’ term, they ‘connect.’

Obama will be frustrated - Obama enters the White House with more combined power (Dems control congress) than any Democrat since Carter or LBJ. But I predict that he will be frustrated in getting his agenda through AFTER the initial honeymoon. The Democrat congress doesn’t need him. They have all power. If they had gotten to 60 in the Senate, he could have been vetoed on everything. Now, none of that will happen early as he is the Savior. But that will wear off.

Intolerance -- every signal suggests that we are about to experience the most intolerant administration in history. Obama kicked reporters from three newspapers off of his plane because the papers endorsed McCain. His people tried to destroy more than one local TV reporter after they simply asked a tough question or two. Now his appointing the most arrogant and intolerant person in Washington, Rohm Emmanuel, to run his White House. Don’t get in the way of Barack (or Michelle!!!).

GOP lost the Future - lost Hispanics 67% to 31% (the majority minority voting block), lost blacks, lost people under 30 years of age, lost almost every college town - so lost the intellectual future as well. The GOP did not run a single minority candidate in a competitive race for Governor or the US Congress anywhere in America. Once again, the GOP will have ZERO blacks in Congress. So, when you look to a future Presidential ticket, where is the minority person to choose?

Big Techno Win -- Obama destroyed the GOP in internet and wifi campaigning and funds raising. Like JFK won the first real TV election, Obama won the first techno geek election.

Left-Wing Kooks -- what will Obama do with all of those left-wing crazies that he has been friends with through the years?

Too Maverick to Win -- McCain did not pull in any GOP big-hitters to campaign for him until the last weekend. Interestingly, people who decided who to vote for in the final ten days of the campaign broke decisively toward McCain.

Viet Nam Politics is Over - McCain represented Viet Nam era, Obama the first post-Viet Nam era Presidential Candidate. Young voters know nothing of Viet Nam and don’t care. They know about Iraq - and do care.

God, Guns and Gays - those will not win elections outside of the NASCAR nation.

Right Move on Iran -- I believe that Obama is right when he says that the US must be engaged in conversation with Iran. Perhaps progress can be made there.

Liberal Carte Blanche -- the Dems now control it all - President, Congress, all appointments in government, of judges and to the Supreme Court, and of all legislation.

Incredible Disappointment -- my last thought this morning is that people will soon be bitterly disappointed with this administration and the Democrat congress. It’s good that they now run it all and will have nobody to blame but themselves (after a year or so - up until then it will be ‘we are cleaning up the Bush mess’). Just as the Democrats swept congressional elections last time on an ‘end the war’ theme - then didn’t to it - and now have the lowest approval rating in the history of congress - so I believe the same will happen to this crowd. They can’t instantly end the Iraq war. They can’t instantly fix the economy. They can’t instantly fundamentally change the health-care system. And if it is up to Pelosi, Obama will not be able to deliver on his tax-cuts. So people will soon be frustrated. And it will be very interesting to see how Obama reacts when the evening news is finally critical of him and his administration.

Total Votes as of 9 AM -

Obama 08 - 62,521,169

GW 04 - 62,040,610

McCain - 55,446,169

GW 00 - 50,456,002

Reagan 80 - 43,903,230

Bring in the Puppy

The winner of the 2008 Presidential election will not be determined in the month of November.

Why?

First - note these background factors:

1. The Dems really believe that Bush ‘stole’ the election from Kerry.

2. The Obamaphiles have been told for weeks and weeks that their candidate will be the hands down winner.

3. Left-wing organizations have already been plowing the ground for law-suites against the GOP for voter suppression.

4. “Mainstream” media began last night suggesting ‘worries’ about voter intimidation keeping Obama supporters from the polls.

So - the reason why the election will not be determined in the month of November is because John McCain is going to post a stunning, comeback-for-the-ages victory on Tuesday. (Actually, it will have nothing to do with McCain - it will have to with voters just like me who 'hold their nose' and vote for McCain because the alternative is just so frightening.) The outraged Obama campaign, their Hollywood financiers, their ogle-eyed mainstream media ‘reporters,’ their leftist/socialist political action committees, and all entitlement minded people everywhere are individually and collectively going to cry “foul!” Accusations and outrage will be loud and large. Carville’s predicted riots will happen in some urban areas.

Lawsuits are going to abound.

Every vote will be challenged - in every swing state that McCain wins - Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio. Hanging chads will be sensible in comparison to what’s about to happen beginning Wednesday.

National division and acrimony will be deep and not soon healed.

It will take weeks to finally settle the legal squabbles - and declare the winner.

So, go vote, then go buy all the staples that your family needs - then return home and bolt the doors. It’s going to be quite a ride. But by the time it is over, the behaviors of these Obamaphiles will prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that voting against O was the right decision.

OK - it’s true that my prediction has only slightly better odds than green aliens landing on your lawn today.

But bring in the puppy just in case.

24

The nation is in peril and must be rescued in the next 24 hours!

Where is Jack Bauer when you need him!?!

Down to the Last

As the final snips were applied to my haircut today, I said to the stylist, "this is the last haircut that I will have before the presidential election. This is the very haircut that I will take into the voting booth."

Yep. It's down to 'the last.'

The last haircut, the last college football Saturday and NFL Sunday, the last Sunday worship service, the last Monday before the presidential election.

It's the last hurrah for John McCain (and hopefully moderate Republicanism as well).

It may also be the last gasps for capitalism, federalism, original intent, and American sovereignty.

And it most literally will soon be the last gasps for millions more unborn (or partially born) babies.