The Perfect Stanger by Charles Krauthammer

The Perfect Stranger
By Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama is an immensely talented man whose talents have been largely devoted to crafting, and chronicling, his own life. Not things. Not ideas. Not institutions. But himself.

Nothing wrong or even terribly odd about that, except that he is laying claim to the job of crafting the coming history of the United States. A leap of such audacity isodd. The air of unease at the Democratic convention this week was not just a result of the Clinton psychodrama. The deeper anxiety was that the party was nominating a man of many gifts but precious few accomplishments -- bearing even fewer witnesses.

When John Kerry was introduced at his convention four years ago, an honor guard of a dozen mates from his Vietnam days surrounded him on the podium attesting to his character and readiness to lead. Such personal testimonials are the norm. The roster of fellow soldiers or fellow senators who could from personal experience vouch for John McCain is rather long. At a less partisan date in the calendar, that roster might even include Democrats Russ Feingold and Edward Kennedy, with whom John McCain has worked to fashion important legislation.

Eerily missing at the Democratic convention this year were people of stature who were seriously involved at some point in Obama's life standing up to say: I know Barack Obama. I've been with Barack Obama. We've toiled/endured together. You can trust him. I do.

Hillary Clinton could have said something like that. She and Obama had, after all, engaged in a historic, utterly compelling contest for the nomination. During her convention speech, you kept waiting for her to offer just one line of testimony: I have come to know this man, to admire this man, to see his character, his courage, his wisdom, his judgment. Whatever. Anything.

Instead, nothing. She of course endorsed him. But the endorsement was entirely programmatic: We're all Democrats. He's a Democrat. He believes what you believe. So we must elect him -- I am currently unavailable -- to get Democratic things done. God bless America.

Clinton's withholding the “I've come to know this man” was vindictive and supremely self-serving -- but jarring, too, because you realize that if she didn't do it, no one else would. Not because of any inherent deficiency in Obama's character. But simply as a reflection of a young life with a biography remarkably thin by the standard of presidential candidates.

Who was there to speak about the real Barack Obama? His wife. She could tell you about Barack the father, the husband, the family man in a winning and perfectly sincere way. But that only takes you so far. It doesn't take you to the public man, the national leader.

Who is to testify to that? Hillary's husband on night three did aver that Obama is “ready to lead." However, he offered not a shred of evidence, let alone personal experience with Obama. And although he pulled it off charmingly, everyone knew that, having been suggesting precisely the opposite for months, he meant not a word of it.

Obama's vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, naturally advertised his patron's virtues, such as the fact that he had “reached across party lines to ... keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists." But securing loose nukes is as bipartisan as motherhood and as uncontroversial as apple pie. The measure was so minimal that it passed by voice vote and received near zero media coverage.

Thought experiment. Assume John McCain had retired from politics. Would he have testified to Obama's political courage in reaching across the aisle to work with him on ethics reform, a collaboration Obama boasted about in the Saddleback debate? “In fact," reports the Annenberg Political Fact Check, “the two worked together for barely a week, after which McCain accused Obama of ‘partisan posturing'" -- and launched a volcanic missive charging him with double cross.

So where are the colleagues? The buddies? The political or spiritual soul mates? His most important spiritual adviser and mentor was Jeremiah Wright. But he's out. Then there's William Ayers, with whom he served on a board. He's out. Where are the others?

The oddity of this convention is that its central figure is the ultimate self-made man, a dazzling mysterious Gatsby. The palpable apprehension is that the anointed is a stranger -- a deeply engaging, elegant, brilliant stranger with whom the Democrats had a torrid affair. Having slowly woken up, they see the ring and wonder who exactly they married last night.

© 2008, The Washington Post Writers Group


Charles covers it all perfectly well. Obama is the perfect stranger. I don't trust perfect strangers, do you?

2008 Election

So, here we are, 68 days til Election Day. I am and have been really worried about all aspects of this election. Local, State, and Federal. They are all vitally important this year. Possibly more important than they've ever been before.

So, I have been very vocal on this blog about this election, specifically the Presidential one. I am honestly concerned and worried like I have never been before about this one. There are so many ways that make it probably the most important thus far in my voting life (21 years). I have worked, prayed, blogged, spread the word any way I can.

But the last couple of Sundays at my church, we've been singing this song, "God of This City", and it smacks me like a ton of bricks. Yes, I need to pray, worry and work for what I believe in this election. BUT, no matter what happens, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. He is still the "God of this City", of this nation, of this world. I needed to be reminded of that. And maybe you need to be reminded too. So, here is the link for the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

May God Bless this great country! May God Bless each of you as you make your decisions this fall for the elections.

Thanks ya'll. Have a great one.


PS. This doesn't mean I will stop campaigning, working towards what I believe is the best choice or being vocal about it on this blog. Just wanted to give some reassurance to ya'll. I know I needed to hear it.

It's Official

Its official. Obama is the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States. It happened about 645pm this evening. May God have mercy on this country and this election!

If you're interested, go to www.foxnews.com and click on politics to see a story about the Greek-like temple that Obama had built in the stadium where he will give his acceptance speech tomorrow evening. I am astounded at the audacity and elitism of this man! I think everyone who is going to tomorrow nights events there in Denver should wear togas in keeping with the Greek themed evening.

God Bless America.

Vote for McCain.

The Blues

Hey ya'll. Here are some good blues for a cool, rainy Wednesday. Enjoy.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxTWQD91b5c



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gDeGdQ3rM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EhYl5uOAhk



Now, we'll finish off with some Pink Floyd....comfortably numb.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKe-KrAs-xw

The Biden Choice

Well, everything came to furious, insane, guessing game yesterday as to who Obama would pick for his VP. By the time I finally got to sleep last night, we knew it wasn't Kaine from Virginia for sure. Some knew it wasn't Bayh from Indiana, which I didn't know, but he was my guess for the pick.

I woke up too early again this morning and had turned the tv on the news. I then turned over to try to go back to sleep, when I heard them say, "It's Biden!". Well, that got my attention. So, I have been watching all of the coverage this morning on both FOXNEWS and MSNBC (although msnbc is so liberal its ridiculous) to see what everyone was thinking and I have to mostly agree with the general consensus. Why Biden?

He won't bring anything really to the Obama ticket or campaign. Yes, he has foreign policy experience etc., but Obama cannot be a President who constantly turns to his VP to decide "policy" on foreign matters. He will not bring any one state into the win column for Obama (which is fine by me). He has the notorious disease, that strikes him often, the dreaded "foot in mouth" disease! Obama will not be able to control what Biden says and Biden often, and I do mean often, speaks before he thinks.

I don't see the logic in this pick. Biden is Washington establishment, something Obama has been saying he's against; he cannot bring any electoral prominent state into Obamas win column (again, this is fine by me); he has the habit of speaking before he thinks, which gets him into trouble; he's from the far northeast (Delaware), which doesn't help Obama at all. This just doesn't make any sense to me.

Obama will spend the next few weeks (as will Biden as well) defending all of the "slams" that Biden said against Obama during the primaries. Biden "hit" Obama over and over again pointing up the fact that Obama lacks the experience to be President of the United States. One actual quote that Biden stated at one of the democratic debates during the primaries was this: “You were asked, ‘Is he ready?’” the moderator, ABC’sGeorge Stephanopoulous, says to Biden. “You said, ‘I think he can be ready but right now, I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training,’” “I think that I stand by the statement,” Biden responds.....". Obama and Biden are going to spend the next weeks/months speaking to those statements that Biden made, and convincing people that, although Biden said thats what he believes, he now thinks Obama is the man to back.

Obama and Biden will be the raise taxes ticket. That will be the big thing. Obama wants to tax and "punish" those are successful, redistributing the "wealth" to those who have not. What does this sound like to you? Socialism. Plain and simple. Universal health care, costly, costly, costly, and unfair. Socialism. If Obama-Biden wins the election, before you can say "God Bless America", we will find ourselves with our freedoms gone, the freedom to be successful gone, and dare I say it, freedom of religion, gone. We will find that we will no longer be the country that our forefathers set us up to be, we will be a socialistic country, where the government does everything for you and if you make "too much money" or are "too successful", it will be taken away from you, even though you worked hard for it, and give to someone who hasn't, so that we are all "equal".

This is a scary, scary time my friends. It is more important this year, more than ever, that everyone get out there and vote. If Obama wins, this country will be ruined. And there will be no turning back. We as a country, will never get back to what we should be as a country, a democracy. We will no longer be the "shining city on a hill" that the great President Ronald Reagan talked about often. Our "light" to the world, our "light" of freedom will be put out. We will no longer be the example to the world, the example of freedom, that others so desperately want and seek.

We need to watch out for our country. We need to defend and protect our country. We need to keep and protect our freedoms. You'll need to vote for McCain to do that.

You Ain't Going to Like Losing......

I got this yesterday from a cousin of mine. Thought it was worth posting on my blog rather than passing it along in an email. Some of you won't like this. It will make you feel uncomfortable. It should.

YOU AIN'T GOING TO LIKE LOSING...

I know everyone has a different opinion on the war and our current President. But, this article makes a lot of sense, take 2 minutes, read it and give it some thought. When electing the next President, "the only decision you have to make is who you want sitting in that seat in the White House when - not if - WHEN we get hit again and millions of American lives are put at risk!"

This is from: "You ain't gonna like losing." Author unknown.

President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq . Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not.

Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders. Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not or whether the war was going badly or not. And war was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war.

But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty. Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war. Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap, to butter was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.

You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough in those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale. And a bunch even enlisted.

And imagine this: Teachers in schools actually started the day off with a Pledge of Allegiance, and with prayers for our country and our troops! Back then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies. A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by being forced to wear women's underwear, or subjected to interrogation by a woman, or being scared by a dog or did not have air conditioning.

There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crack heads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets. No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve. It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorra and the land of Oz.

We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices. We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third or over three hundred million Muslims are sympathetic to the terrorists cause... Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits.

So... We either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing. America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall, or watching the movie stars.( Remember Obama said in his book "Audacity of Hope", 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction'.....). What better place for the Muslins to control our country, than in the office of the President of USA .

I'm an Aunt Again!

Hi all! Just a quick note. My new nephew arrived in the world this past tuesday afternoon! It was a smooth delivery for his mommy and mom and new baby are doing well!

Welcome to the family and the world little one! Your Aunt loves you!

God Bless.