Mindless Tripe and Star Studded Glamour Appeal

I doubt that these will be my final comments about this particular election cycle, regardless of who wins what office.  My observations about Election 2008 are being written on the eve of a truly historical presidential election, one that will likely have a profound impact on where our nation will be headed for decades to come.

Barack Obama as our nation’s first African-American candidate (okay, he really is half white) and Sarah Palin as just our nation’s second woman vice-presidential candidate have heightened interest in this campaign, perhaps well beyond what we could have ever expected. Then again, how many of us thought that Hillary Clinton would represent the Democrats this November and that someone else, besides John McCain, would win the Republican nomination? This year has certainly had its share of surprises!

This particular election though has bothered me considerably, especially as the Democratic candidate’s obvious shortcomings have not been fully vetted by the media which has been openly supporting his candidacy throughout. What we have here is an attractive candidate, one with star-studded glamour appeal, a top notch orator — at least as long as the teleprompter is working!

But, we also have a candidate who holds some dangerous views, a person who is sending out strong signals that he’ll be spreading the wealth (your wealth) around, sitting down with dictators, and ushering in what will likely be a new era of repression not seen in this country since the McCarthy era. With the Fairness Doctrine rising up out of the dust, abortion on demand implemented across the board, and the likely appointment of at least two Supreme Court justices who devalue life, the spiritual darkness ready to descend on our land is thick and heavy. That is, if Obama wins.

My other beef with this election is the mindless tripe I constantly find online. Certainly, online access to the news and the blogosphere have impacted the way news is disseminated tremendously, but it is clearly one-sided.

Worse, is the public’s willingness to embrace a candidate whose mantra of Change, Hope, Believe says absolutely nothing, giving warm touchie-feelies to millions of adherents. Mindless and empty platitudes combined with dangerously vapid hyperbole from a throng of hysterical supporters who you dare not cross.

On the Republican side, we have John McCain — a centrist candidate who admittedly did much damage to the conservative movement. Until Sarah Palin came along, his chances of winning the election were quite small, but by pulling in a charming, but quite unknown conservative from Alaska, his campaign received new life and the conservative base has been energized to a level not seen since Ronald Reagan was president. Credit Palin, not McCain with this energy, but I’m not about to be too hard on McCain who truly fought for our country, suffered the consequences, and has a track record that Obama can only dream of.

The media has done their best to rip apart Sarah Palin but for those of us who love our God and our nation, respect life, and prefer minimal government intervention, Governor Palin is the right tonic for a political party that has taken its lumps. True, we know of her shortcomings as we do know Senator McCain’s, but Obama (and Biden) have quite a few of their own, difficult as it has been to learn of through the newspapers, network news shows, and other sources controlled by the left.

As for me, I’ll continue to share what I believe to be important on this blog as well as on other sites that I manage. I would hope that relevant news would be disseminated by the mainstream media, but we’re not likely to see that happen regardless of who is in the White House or what political party controls Congress. That leaves this responsibility to bloggers and online journalists who have a passion for the truth and don’t want our nation to sink into one party obscurity where their thoughts are your thoughts or else!

Sarah Palin Rocks Saint Louis

Okay, I admit it: I’m in the tank for Sarah Palin.

Unlike the mainstream media who, for the most part, pretends that they are impartial, I’m not — at least when it comes to political reporting, a topic I rarely cover. In my opinion, I believe that Sarah Palin is the most refreshing of the four candidates on this year’s Prez-VP ticket.

I am a registered Republican, but more importantly than that I am a conservative. Above even that, I’m a Christian and try to look at politics through my spiritual lens. This doesn’t mean that I am readily predictable in my political beliefs, rather I have certain expectations when it comes to a candidate and Sarah Palin is the rare person who meets most of mine. I’m not the type of person who will even consider a Democratic candidate, choosing to go third party if the Republican Party gets flaky and offers up a closet liberal instead.

Holding Back Sarah Palin

Yesterday, I was waiting in nervous anticipation for the debate, praying throughout the day for Governor Palin that she would find her voice in time to take on Joe Biden. I had seen snippets of her interview with Katie Couric recently and was, like many, disappointed on how poorly she performed. However, I also felt that she was being held back by the McCain camp who had been on the defensive mode too long, making it difficult for her to be just herself.

Leading up to the 9 p.m. (ET) start, I watched the Bill O’Reilly show (The Factor) which only stirred up my anticipation. The flamboyant O’Reilly can be difficult to watch and last night he was all that and more, letting Rep. Barney Frank have it with both barrels over the congressman’s involvement in the Fannie Mae debacle. By the time the interview was over I was on edge, wanting to put that boisterous confrontation behind me and enjoy the debate.

A Compromised Moderator?

I was also bothered by the news that the moderator, Gwen Ifill, had failed to disclose that she was writing a book that is favorable to Barack Obama, a publication that is to be released on Inauguration Day, coinciding with what some hope will be Obama’s ascent to the presidency. In my opinion, Ifill should have recused herself, but since the McCain camp didn’t demand that she do so, she went ahead and moderated. FYI – Ifill did a fabulous job, remaining impartial throughout the debate and keeping everything moving like clockwork.

Without rehashing every point made last night I believe that both candidates performed well, though I take exception to some of Biden’s claims, particularly relating to McCain’s maverick ways. McCain is the reason why so many conservatives were on the sidelines until he named Sarah Palin as his running mate, a politician who has long irked people for crossing party lines and thumbing his nose at established Republican practices. For better or for worse, McCain crossed party lines more frequently than Biden and certainly much more often than the junior senator from Illinois.

Sarah Palin — Mainstream American

Throughout the debate, I found Sarah to be confident, poised, easy to understand, knowledgeable and most definitely someone who walks in the same shoes that the average American walks in. Quite easily, I believe that Sarah can relate to us and we can relate to her, unless you’re an elitist, an avowed liberal, or simply someone who cannot stand the woman.

Harnessing her experience as governor, we learned that Mrs. Palin works across party lines, was able to get the oil companies to pass some of their profits to Alaskans, and has plenty of executive and leadership experience dating back two decades when she first started out as a PTA mom. Sarah held her own when it came to world affairs, correcting Biden on several issues including Obama’s deplorable refusal to acknowledge that the Iraqi surge was a success, articulating that a troop build up plan tailor made for Afghanistan was necessary, and making an impassionate case for our country to stand up to Iran and defend Israel if need be.

When the debate was over, both candidates were standing, but I must say that Palin exceeded expectations while Biden performed as expected. This doesn’t mean that I’m taking anything away from Joe Biden, I’m simply recognizing that he have his game day plan in place or risk losing to the governor.

At the end, the candidates shook hands, talked with Gwen Ifill, and had their families come up on stage to meet each other. That last act was priceless, a rare public display of cordiality between political families.

Will The Veepstakes Help?

Will the Veep debate help the McCain/Palin ticket? That is hard to say at this point. Clearly, Governor Palin allayed fears some people had about her, proving once again that she is smart, witty, fun, and just the right person to stand with John McCain should he become president. No doubt, I believe that the governor is a fast learner and, if something terrible happened to President McCain, she’d be able to step right in and command our nation – with God’s help, of course!