Saturday, November 1, 2008

LORD HELP US ALL (PRE-ELECTION THOUGHTS)

I keep expecting to wake up from this bad dream. Surely I don’t actually live in a country that is considering putting Barack Obama in the White House. I keep waiting for someone to tell me that this was all just a social experiment, and that the real Presidential candidates will be unveiled soon.

I am waiting for Barack to finally admit that yes, even he realizes he’s horribly inadequate for the job—and that this whole thing was just a study being performed by someone who wanted to see how the nation would react to a complete hack candidate for President.

Because this can’t be real.

I am in awe at the number of people refusing to open their eyes to what a dangerous man this is.

Here’s the thing I find the funniest of all: The sheep-like mentality of the Obama followers. I was raised in a sheltered home, I’ll admit. When I went off to grad school, I found that those of us who were conservative were looked down upon and made to feel inferior because we were still “clinging” to the core values with which we were raised. Those in the learning community who had “broken free” and had taught themselves how to think for themselves naturally ended up on the other side of the fence.

Because it was impossible to actually be a bright mind, and still be a conservative. You can’t be enlightened. You can’t be a forward thinker. You can’t truly decide for yourself, and still end up holding to the same strong values with which you were raised.

Those who were still practicing conservatives were simpletons, naïve, couldn’t think for themselves, and were just spoon-fed.

So…imagine my surprise to see just how willfully and blindly all of those brilliant minds are bowing down at the feet of the most unqualified candidate in history. If there’s one quality that can be found common amongst Obama supporters, it is their refusal to actually think about the situation. Simply put, his name isn’t Bush, and that’s good enough for them.

And so the herd falls in line behind Obama. No matter how unelectable he proves himself to be. No matter how many scary and dangerous realities emerge about this guy. No matter how many scarring things he says about the American people. No matter how many radical ideas he spews. No matter how many times he flat out lies about his past… No matter how many times he flip flops and contradicts himself. He’s not Bush and that’s reason enough for these people to turn their country over to him.

Suddenly all these people who had supposedly taught themselves to think outside the box, are just closing their eyes and running mindlessly into the popular crowd.

And as McCain said of Obama in the second debate; that’s not only naïve, that’s downright dangerous.

And so the tables have turned.



A few years ago if you had told me that the most liberal member of the Senate…with just days in office under his belt, with an extremely shady background and no leadership experience would even have a prayer of getting elected here, I would say Lord help us all.

And that’s what I’m saying now. If you are a believer in fasting and prayer, and are not doing both in earnest at this time, that is irresponsible in my mind. At first I just didn’t like the guy because he was grossly liberal. But now when I consider the vulnerable state in which a guy with ideas like his might put our country, my dislike turns to genuine concern. This is historic stuff. Dangerous doesn’t even begin to do this guy justice.

You might hate George W. Bush (and most everyone does by now), but if there’s one thing that can be said for him to this day…our enemies know where he stands. The same could be said for John McCain. Barack? Now that’s a crapshoot. That’s a big guessing game. This is not the day and age for such a risk. Anything but.

I am not a good political mind. I've never claimed to be. But when someone else gives voice to what I wish I could say eloquently, I can recognize that. I am good at that. So I will be quoting several people here.

Derek and I were chatting online one night about how perplexed we both were that this guy even had a shot. Otherwise clear-thinking people…even well-intentioned Christian people—some people I look up to, just refusing to be rational about this man. This was his theory:

“… do you believe that Obama supporters have a 'faith' in Barack that far surpasses the normal support of candidates we've seen in our lifetimes? Here's my thought: there's several groups of people (particularly those in higher education, African-Americans, and guilt-ridden white people) who have anticipated a viable black candidate for a long time. There's also a group of people (particularly college students and younger Democrats who came of age under Bush) who want desperately to be a part of the generation who affects major change.

These forces have combined to turn the candidacy of Obama into a Messiah-like coronation that borders on cultish. And Obama is smart. He knows how to talk to them. There's a synergism to it all that bothers me.”

And I couldn’t agree more. There’s something at work here. Here’s a young politician who has risen to power quickly on the strength of a couple powerful speeches. He has incredible power over people. He claims to be a Christian but has very questionable character and practices. He’s a smooth talker. He says a lot of nothing. A lot of pie in the sky ideas. And people are falling all over themselves for him.

How many more scenes do you want to see of people downright weeping at his events? Thousands of Germans bowing down before him? A children’s choir singing songs of worship to him? A youth group’s creepy chantings about a better day with Barack? How many more of these chilling scenes do people need to see before they come to their senses? There’s something fishy going on here. He’s got a grip on people, and it’s anything but healthy.

At the Saddleback forum he stuttered, he stammered, he refused to answer questions directly because it cut against him politically.

And the fact that Obama survived the Reverend Wright fiasco says it all. The media made a MUCH bigger deal about Sarah Palin’s wardrobe than the maniac who fed Obama’s spiritual brain for 20 years. The fact that I live in a country that is willing to turn a blind eye to a guy who sat under that kind of “ministry” is enough to make me want to puke.

And as Derek emailed to me: “True or false: Friends of Barack Obama's late mother, who Obama claims shaped his political philosophy, say that she harbored Communist sympathies… True or false: Obama's father was a Muslim, his mother an atheist/agnostic, and his sister is married to a Buddhist.” (The answer to Derek’s “true or false” game is always true, by the way…)

Oh but there is one. I have found one person willing to think this through. One of the biggest democrats I met at Baylor recently wrote this on his facebook page: “(I fear) the coming defenseless, socialist, abortion-on-demand society.” Another day he wrote, “(I refuse) to be complicit as a taxpayer in a taxpayer funded abortion procedure, which would be the case if Obama wins and passes the Freedom of Choice Act.”

This guys gets it.

Another guy I knew at Baylor wrote: “I have never heard someone talk so well and much and never say anything at all.”

And you know what I fear on a personal level? The return of this stinkin’ “Fairness” Doctrine. As someone who makes my living in radio, the Fairness Doctrine would flat out destroy my radio station. There’s a reason why people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin are insanely popular. And there’s a reason why Al Franken was exposed for the hack he is and went off the air. Because conservative talk radio works. Obama and Pelosi could easily destroy the large amount of momentum that our radio station has right now with their attempt at “fairness.” Makes me sick This country could turn into something very very ugly. Something that doesn’t even resemble itself.

Oh my Obama complaints are many. I thought initially I would try to document all the reasons this guy is completely unelectable. But the list has grown so extensively in recent days that I’m just exhausted. But the sing-songy condescending tone of voice he uses...his absolute inability to speak off teleprompter... I heard someone say that Obama's a piece of art and not an actual presidential candidate. Well put.

Even if ONE of these (well-documented) character issues is even close to being accurate, that should be enough said. The fact that there are dozens and that they keep piling on, well... You tell me.

The truth is, the media hand-picked this guy. They picked him over Hillary and they got their wish. Now they’ve already decided he’s beaten McCain, and I’ve already seen that it’s crushing the spirits of some conservatives.

If these poll projections keep people from the voting booth, that is brutal. The media would have you to think it is a done deal. It is anything but. And I’m sure the exit polls will show an Obama landslide early Tuesday as well. Just like they did for John Kerry in 2004. Let not your heart be troubled. Vote. A thousand times I say, vote. The media has decided this race. The American people have not. Yet.

With all that said, I’ll leave you with this paragraph I found:

“Obama/Biden is a very dangerous choice for our country...he is a very attractive candidate and a lot of people have fallen for the hype...his stances are obviously VERY liberal which isn't the most awful thing in the world, but it when it comes to moral issues, he seems to be light years away from where I am...I could never vote for someone like that. He is a big government guy, which I have never been a fan of, and he is all about raising taxes, which is not the answer to most economical issues...including our current economic state. I hope people are educated enough to know the candidates for who they really are and not how good of a show they can put on. 75k people in a stadium is a pretty amazing thing for a politician...but it absolutely does not mean that he is the right person to lead our country during some of its toughest times. At the end of the day, God knows and His plan will come to pass...I am not one to over-spiritualize anything, but we need God's will for this election...now more than ever.”

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Oh...and because I couldn't have said it any better myself, please see this email exchange between two of my friends from undergrad:

"Am I the only one befuddled by what I'm seeing around me? Has there ever been a groundswell of stupidity in the history of our country that could even come close to rivaling this one? I have grown weary of the sentiments expressed (in an Obama video), but I am perhaps more exasperated by the otherwise sane people I know that each day add to those already lined up with palm branches ready. Colin Powell? Christian leaders, including Anderson University's current Spiritual Emphasis Week speaker? Some of my very good, and otherwise analytically sound friends?

The hope and joy in these peoples' eyes are the marks of those who believe themselves to be, in some way, on the cusp of redemption. I believe there is no more fundamental common denominator in the human experience than the longing for redemption; it spans cultures and historical epochs. It drives people to do things both good and bad, and has been wielded as a weapon more than 'religion' or perhaps even 'fear'. Barack Obama, and any human for that matter, is completely incapable of providing the kind of significant redemption each of us is searching for. To believe otherwise is not simply an abandonment of logic, but also the stubborn expression of infantile faith in something far more fanciful than the Creator of the universe being born in a manger to a virgin...

Are any of you feeling even a tenth of the frustration I am right now?"

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And the reply...

"I agree with your assessment and frustration. To the best of my knowledge, America has never had a candidate with the ability to turn the minds of so many to such mush and who has such control over so many. If that is cult-like language, so be it. Here's what worries me if Obama gets elected. If he screws up, will it even be acknowledged? Are the viewpoints of people like us going to be marginalized by the voices we'll be hearing? Will a "fairness doctrine" be re-enacted since many liberal opinion voices can't fairly succeed in an arena that requires large numbers of viewers and/or listeners? One of the New Mexico senators brought it up just today. The reaction to Obama has turned NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN into the closest thing I've ever seen to state TV in America. We thought the media was biased in the past. As it turns out, we hadn't seen anything. In my most worried moments, I wonder what happens if such a doctrine silences some dissenting voices, while the pro-left voices shape the conversation for a next political generation..."

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