Wednesday, December 31, 2008

What If?

I continue to be asked the question by Democrats and Republicans alike whether Barack Hussein Obama could have lost the election since it appeared that he made few or no mistakes in the last two months of the campaign. The answer is YES. There are many things to be taken into consideration, and I will address the two candidates as "topics" for this speculation.

Barack Obama could have LOST the election by "stepping in it". There were a lot of things that the voters did not like about him, but he carefully maneuvered through the piles without once really stepping in it. He did get some on his shoes, but he showed great agility by not getting himself too messy.

First, there was the issue of "spreading the wealth around". When this comment was made, there was too little ink on it at first (big surprise). He avoided this particular messy pile by NEVER answering any questions on the subject (he did learn something from the Clintons).
This is a pure socialist comment, and accurately reflects his beliefs.

Second, there are all of his radical associations. The press absolutely refused to cover his professional and political and social connections. Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Father Flager, Screwy Louie, Tony Rezko and a host of Chicago political ne'er-do-wells just to name a few. Any of these could have brought him to his knees. This group would have been press fodder for any Republican running for office. This is a prime example of the bias in the media; especially the print media and the network news. He didn't do anything to avoid the topics, they practically never came up. John McCain did bring up his ties with this radical group in one of the debates, but Barack pulled a Clinton on him and the audience by not answering the charges. Brilliant!

Third, is the issue of his birth certificate. In his total arrogance toward the American people he pretended that this real issue did not exist. I never doubted that he was a legitimate candidate for the Presidency, but I could not get over his arrogance. When McCain's citizenship came into question, he produced a vault copy of his birth record within 24 hours of the charge; leveled by Obama operatives. In hind sight, I am of the belief that the entire birth certificate topic was leaked by the Obama campaign to "rally the troops" to show a high level of support. Another brilliant move!

Finally, Obama moved far to the right in the last 3 weeks of his campaign promising tax cuts to 95% of Americans. This is an absolute lie which, sadly, the majority of voters didn't see. The fact is that only about 50% of Americans pay income tax, so how can 95% of the people receive a tax cut when only 50% pay the taxes in the first place. This lie was what eventually sealed his victory which proves once again that today's America has the dumbest voters in history.

John Sinclair McClain ran his campaign like the political fool he is. Let's get something straight right now: John McCain is no conservative. He is a RINO (Republican in name only). Unfortunately, there are far too many like him in the Senate and Congress. He foolishly believed that if he reached out to the people on the "left" they would come flocking to him. What a joke! Those on the left courted him, but never intended to support him. The print media and the network news outlets praised his candidacy on one hand, but assaulted his campaign on the other. He thought that the media was in his corner. Just another example of his foolishness.

McCain's "handlers" should be drawn and quartered for being so stupid. This was one of the worst run campaigns I have ever witnessed in my 62 years! Choosing not to attack Barack Obama's radical friends was a huge blunder. Obama was weak on all of these radical associates. Any one of them, if approached intelligently, could have brought him to his knees. The "hands off" approach was wrong from the git-go.

Another of McCain's foolish moves was to support the Wall St. bailout and the AIG bailout. If he had gone in opposing the bailouts, he would have won the election. The polls indicated that more than 60% of registered voters did not want any part of this "corporate welfare". However, in his best liberal character, he went in and supported both. Both these actions were mistakes. Unfortunately, he was not alone; there were far too many in congress supporting these issues.

John McCain pulled off one of the most brilliant moves in recent political campaign history when he selected Sarah Palin to be his running mate. She took of like a rocket! She quickly united the conservative base which McCain had failed to do in his entire campaign. She was quickly becoming the "darling" of the campaign. The more the "left" and the press attacked her, the more popular she became. She was wooing many of the Hilliary voters, and she was frightening the Obama campaign. Then McCain's ignorant advisers decided that she was detracting from McCain himself, and decided to "muzzle" her for the good of the campaign. The McCain campaign once again began to drop in the polls. He should have turned her loose! When she, once again, was allowed to speak openly, McCain climbed in the polls. By now it was too late. The self-destruction of "McCain for President" was complete. McCain had all the tools necessary to win, but he listened to the fools he hired to run his campaign. When all was lost, these same fools tried to blame the selection of Palin as the cause of McCain's defeat. I hope these same fools decide to "help" the Democrats in future elections. John McCain could have won the election, but he let his senatorial ego get in his way.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Why No Rain for Georgia

It has been rather hectic around our house for the last 3 weeks. Our oldest son got married. My work is keeping me on the road most of the time. And my health hasn't been that good. However, all things considered, things are good. These are just a few reasons my blog posts haven't been coming out at least weekly. I hope to do better in the future.



As many of you are aware, we in North and central Georgia have been in a drought of late. Our rainfall levels have been coming up short for the past 4 or 5 years now. Lakes are low and so are the rivers and streams throughout the state. It is almost like we are on an island. All the states around us are not having the same problems, or at least not nearly as severe. This has caused me to wonder why.



We have had rain recently; 3 inches in some places, and the lake levels are on the rise because of it. The liberal weather people are saying that, "We are glad to get it, but it wont help." How will it not help? It seems to me that any rain would be welcomed and extolled for its helping the situation. The conservative weather people say, "Wow! The lakes are on the rise again!" This is how you can tell a liberal from a conservative weather person. The liberals are always in a crisis mode, while the conservatives are always looking for the bright spot. If you don't believe me, just watch your local stations and see how they report news and weather. It is very easy to tell who is liberal and who is conservative.



It is always fun to poke fun at my liberal friends, but that's not the reason I'm writing this. A little over a year ago our governor, Sonny Perdue, asked us to pray for rain. I am a firm believer that God answers prayer; especially those prayers raised out of need. Since then the rain has increased all around us, but not here. Here, we are still bogged down in a drought. When I looked into the prayer vigil, I discovered why. The answer will likely offend some of you, but I ask that you look into what I have to say.

Gov. Perdue wished to "seek help from a higher power". He, along with most in the state legislature, prayed on Nov. 11, 2007. This is a good idea. Where he went wrong is that he didn't trust his God to grant his request. He called on the Hindus, Buddhist, Muslims, and many existing cult religions to participate. This is like saying to God that I want your help, but you may not be able to handle it by yourself. How utterly ridiculous! God, Almighty God, can handle any situation and answer any prayer if it is a part of His plan. Don't get me wrong. I think Sonny Perdue is a devoted Christian, but he made a decision based on political correctness rather than faith.

Elijah was a man of God with great faith and God rewarded him.

1 Kings 18
Elijah and Obadiah 1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 5 Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals." 6 So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.
7 As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?"
8 "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, 'Elijah is here.' "
9 "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' 12 I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. 13 Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD ? I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And now you tell me to go to my master and say, 'Elijah is here.' He will kill me!"
15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."
Elijah on Mount Carmel 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." 42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Footnotes:
1 Kings 18:32 That is, probably about 13 quarts (about 15 liters)

If only Gov. Perdue had had the faith of Elijah, we would no longer be concerned with the lack of rain or the low levels of our lakes and streams. The next time a politician asks for prayer, I hope that he realizes that the Creator God is the only one that needs to be included.

2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before [a] me.
a. Exodus 20:3 Or besides

When we trust in God and put Him first in our lives, we too will receive great rewards. Trust in Him who created us!