Oprah says "Barack Obama is the one"

If you didn't watch her speech to introduce Obama in Iowa, you missed one hell of a speech. Oprah became a star because she knows what to say and how to say it. Her speech was inspiring and heartfelt. Women love Oprah because she is sincere and funny and down to earth. She even has the guts to say that she had voted for as many Republicans as she had Democrats. She believes in Obama, there is no doubt about that.

I'm not a fan of Oprah for many reasons, but I understand why millions of women love her. She's good. And she probably did more good for Obama in that one speech than in all the other campaigning he has done.

But then Obama spoke.

As you have seen here, I root for Obama for the Democratic nomination. Not because I want him to be President, I surely do not. He may be charismatic and smart, but he is as wrong on the issues as anyone can be.

But, a part of me is proud to see a black man being looked at seriously for President. I watched my parent's and my generation (both white and black) change everything for the black community. I watched the black community go from not being able to drink at the same water fountain as their fellow white Americans to this. To see a black American running for President and being a real contender, is heartwarming to me. I can't help it. And on top of that, he is running against the most corrupt political machine to ever grace the Democratic party, the Clintons. He may be wrong on the issues, but he is honest.

I admit it. I want him to win this nomination. Not only because it may make the Clintons go away for good, but because it is time for black Americans to understand that they have a stake in Presidential politics. Unlike Andrew Young, I dont believe Bill Clinton is as black as Obama. And I don't think most blacks believe that.

I wish Obama saw the real threat of terrorism. I wish he could see the good we have done in the Middle East. I wish he could understand the burden of being overtaxed. I wish he could care for the most vulnerable of our society, the unborn. I wish he could see the disaster universal healthcare would be.

I wish he was Republican.

No, Oprah, Obama is not the one to be President, but he may be the one to stop the Clintons.

And that may be the higher purpose he was born for.

Bill Clinton is every bit as black as Obama

This. Is. Appalling.

Andrew Young wants Obama to be President...in 2016. Why? Well, he says Bill Clinton is every bit as black as Obama, and if I hear him correctly on this tape, he says that Bill has "had more black women than Obama." Then he says "I'm just clowning." Riiight. How is Bill just as black? He suggested a "soul train" dance once and moonwalked while Hillary hiked up her skirt above her knees and boogied too. (I'm so sure) But the last bit in the clip is probably what is most disgusting. He thinks Hillary will be the one who stands up for black folk because look what she did with Bill. When all the bimbo eruptions were happening with Bill, she had her staff stifle them. Now that is standing by your man, according to Young. And if she can stand by her lying cheating husband, then how much more will she stand by the black folk?

Good grief.

via HotAir

The Mormon Question.

Politico suggests that although Mitt Romney's speech may be playing well on the news, not so much in Iowa:

"Romney takes risk with talk on faith," read the headline above David Lightman's syndicated story. The piece included significant skepticism about the political impact of Romney's speech. But worse for Mitt's camp, it included this key right under the story ended on page one:

"Learn more about Mormonism" (yes, it was in bold). On the back of the front section was a list of bullet points under "Beliefs of the Mormon Church." Naturally, included were all the key differences between the LDS church and mainline Christianity.

This is the problem I feared. Look, Mormons have strange beliefs to mainstream Christians. Romney would never have stated specific beliefs of the Mormon faith because he knows the impact. When Romney starting running for President I did research on Mormonism. I had known a bit about it because I had a babysitter for years that was a Mormon. Just to give you an idea of some of the beliefs that don't line up with mainline Christianity here are some I took from a site I won't link to:

To the Mormons, Jesus is the firstborn son of an exalted "man" who became the god of this world. The man-god of Mormonism was made the god of this world because of his good works on another planet somewhere out in the universe. He "earned" godhood, and was thus appointed by a counsel of gods in the heavens to his high position as the god of planet Earth. The Mormon god of this world was a man, like all men, who became a god. This is what the celestial marriage and the temple vows are all about. LDS men, by doing their temple work, are striving for exaltation by which they, too, shall one day become gods. Their wives will be the mother goddesses of "their" world and with their husband will produce the population of their world. This is the Mormon doctrine of "eternal progression."

For most of us we might say to ourselves, "Hmm.. that is strange," but evangelicals don't have the same vague sense of anti-Mormonism prejudice that some do. For them it's doctrinal. It is based on very specific theological disputes that can't be overcome by shared values or positions on social issues. To many evangelicals, Mormonism isn't just another religion. It's a cult.

I asked my babysitter about several things. I was told that elements of their worship were for worthy members only. In other words you have to share the faith to be given the opportunity to learn some of it, because you will not understand it otherwise. Mormons believe that they are the fully realized strain of Christianity--hence the "latter-day saints." They have extra-biblical works of scripture (such as the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants), that follow a series of prophets who claim to have received divine revelations. Beginning with Joseph Smith's vision of God and Jesus in 1820 in the woods near his home in western New York when he was 14 years old.

Maybe you can see why Mitt can't really talk specifics, but it gets a bit stranger. From Wikipedia about the Golden Plates:

The golden plates, also called the gold plates or the golden bible (an antiquated reference),[1] were a set of engraved plates, bound into a book, that Joseph Smith, Jr. said was his source material for the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith, the founder of that movement, said he obtained the plates on September 22, 1827 on Cumorah hill in Manchester, New York, where they were hidden in a buried box and protected by an angel named Moroni. After dictating a translation and obtaining signed statements by eleven other witnesses, he said he returned the plates to the angel in 1829.

According to the Book of Mormon, the golden plates were engraved by a pre-Columbian prophet-historian, from an early American civilization, named Mormon and his son Moroni (who after death protected the buried plates as the angel Moroni) in about the year 400 AD. These men said they had abridged earlier historical records from other sets of metal plates in a language they called "reformed Egyptian".[2] Part of the plates were said to have been sealed, and thus could not be translated. The golden plates are the most significant of a number of metallic plates important to Latter Day Saint history and theology.

Too bad he had to return the plates, it would be rather useful to see them now.

I'm not trying to make light of this. I am trying to illustrate why so many Christians will not vote for Romney no matter what.

Do I think these things are strange? Sure. But I have also been on the receiving end of strange. I've had friends and co-workers question my Catholic beliefs. For example, the belief of the real body and blood present in the Eucharist. I can see why some would find that strange.

So, for me, it isn't about what he believes doctrinally. I am not electing a priest or a pastor. As I have said before, Christ said "You will know a tree by it's fruit." Romney has proven to be a good man and a good leader. The strangeness of his faith does not detract from that for me.

But my opinion is not what matters. What I am trying to point here is that evangelicals make a large portion of our voting bloc. I think Mitt has been able to rise above it, so to speak, and get most in Iowa to see him for himself. But all it would take are more articles like the one mentioned above or a focus on the beliefs spelled out as I have, to make that all turn around rather quickly. Which is where Huckabee comes in. In Huckabee they see someone who shares their beliefs.

I think Huckabee might win Iowa. But he won't win the nomination. Romney will have to surge ahead in states that aren't so driven by evangelicals. Can he?

We shall see.

I'd be shocked....

..with kids these days, but nothing shocks me anymore, except Americans apathy to it all:

Some members of the Virginia Tech community were outraged on Thursday night after some pictures of a controversial Halloween costume were posted on the Internet. The pictures displayed on the social networking site Facebook showed two Penn State students dressed as the Virginia Tech shooting victims.

In the photos, the students are wearing Virginia Tech T-shirts, have bullet holes in their clothes and are wearing elaborate makeup.

God Bless the Candidate

Allah and the rest over at HotAir are horrified at Huckabee's recent talk of giving prayer and God credit for his recent rise in the polls.

Huckabee can credit God, but I blame libertarian type Republicans. The Southpark Republicans. It was Rudy all the way with them. They kept Rudy up in the polls and sang his praises every chance they got. The truth was that Rudy was as liberal as Hillary on social issues and that was unacceptable to religious conservatives. But since when did Southpark Republicans care about religious conservatives?

How did they expect the evangelical community to react? Rudy was as far left to them as Huckabee is as far religious right to the Southpark Republicans. Do you feel uncomfortable with Huckabee's talk of God and prayer? Well welcome to our world. This is how we felt every time Rudy opened his mouth.

Huckabee is, in my opinion, the religious right's way of saying "You try and push onto us a cheater, pro-gay rights, pro-abortion liberal and we will give you back what you don't feel comfortable with either, a praying, praising, evangelical Baptist minister. How does it feel to be on the receiving end guys???"

So it's time for us to stop bickering and fighting. It's time to forget the liberal Rudy and the evangelical Huckabee, and agree on someone who please us both in most ways. We are lucky to have three candidates that both sides of the Republican party can vote for in good conscience. Romney, McCain, and Thompson. None of them are perfect. No one ever will be. But they can bring us together. So let's decide. There is a storm coming named Hillary and we need our back up and our candidate strong with all of us behind him.

Let's get to it.

Mitt's Speech

NRO has excerpts.

"There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adam's words: 'We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people.'

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."
…
"When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States."

The excerpts are nice. As a person of faith, I agree with everything I read. Perhaps we do need to be reminded of our common heritage. Perhaps we do need to be reminded that although we are free to reject faith, we are also free to embrace it and it is right and good for faith to be a part of our public life.

A thought...

I'm thinking Zombie should do a coffee table book of pictures called "Leftwing Loonies and How They Protest."

No one has a better collection.

via Ace

Prejudice is a problem

People in politics are well aware of "whispering" campaigns. They are things said under the radar that opponents hope will gain traction and ruin a candidate's chance at the nomination.

In a sense, there is a "whispering" campaign going on with Obama and Romney, but not by political opponents. I have longed been concerned about bias against Romney because of his Mormonism. I was shocked when asking many people I knew if they liked Romney, and they stated that they could never vote for a Mormon.

Likewise, I was surprised by the Democrats I knew who said that they supported Hillary over Obama, not because they liked her better, but because they did not believe that a black man could win the Presidency and they wanted to win.

So we are here in 2007 still letting prejudice, instead of character define who we want to lead this country.

Candidates Update

Huckabee doesn't know what NIE is or it's update on Iran.

Good Morning America will have a story on Huckabee freeing a murderer.

Romney still strong in New Hampshire, but he forgot to fire the company who hired illegals from last year. Here is what Hugh Hewitt has to say about that:

The illegal immigrant yard worker story is of zero consequence to voters. Romney's 60 and on the road running for president. Ann Romney's on the campaign trail as well.. The kids are grown and gone. Romney ordered the company not to employ illegals. It did so anyway and he fired the company when informed of it. Trying to make that a big story is simply laughable, and the fact that the Globe staked out the Romney home for three months tells a lot of center-right voters just how invested in beating Romney the left wing agenda journalists at the Globe --and elsewhere-- are.

That isn't his biggest problem. It seems there is more political bias against Mormons than blacks or women.

Fred Thompson doesn't have confidence in our intelligence capabilities.

1st attack ad on Hillary from the left

This is an attack ad? Please.

They need some help from the Koskids I think.

via HotAir

War Funding

Senators McCain & Lieberman today in the Union Leader:

...make no mistake. Despite the progress we have achieved this year, there is no cause for complacency. Just as we have managed to turn failure into success in 2007, we can likewise turn success back into failure in 2008, if we are not careful.

As Brig. Gen. Joe Fil, the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, recently put it, al-Qaida in Iraq is now off balance, but they will come swinging back at us, if we give them the chance.

That is why Congress' failure to fund our troops is so profoundly reckless.

Amid all the buzz about the primaries, we cannot forget the important work of our military.

It's time for the Democrats to stop playing politics and send a war funding bill that Pres. Bush will sign.

via NRO

McCain on MTV

I just finished watching it. These forums are being held on college campuses. They are presented in real time with questions from the audience and from online.

The questions were surprisingly thoughtful and didn't seem the kind that just want to "get" a candidate. I think McCain did really well and so did the kids. He got a pretty good rating from them.

I think these kinds of different forums are good. But honestly, most of those in the MTV audience will not be voting so it may just be a waste of time.

MaryKatharine has some pics and was there.

This just in from the Clinton Campaign...

The Clinton campaign has discovered a disturbing past in Obama. It seems 2 little girls from 2nd grade have confirmed that Obama pushed them off the swings during recess in the summer of 1968.

Unlike the bruising and tears, the girl's (now women, of course) mental anguish have not disappeared.

This blow comes hours after the revelation from the Clinton staff that Obama's kindergarten essay was titled: "I want to be President" which obviously proves he has planned this journey to the White House about 2 years before Hillary did:

Asked if Obama has a character problem, she said, "It's beginning to look a lot like that. You know, it really is."

That last quote IS an actual quote and the part about the kindergarten essay is true as well. Sometime you really can't make this stuff up.

Clinton says Obama has a character problem? How can they seriously say things like that with straight faces?

BREAKING! This just in, The Clinton Campaign has also discovered the rough draft of a book Obama wrote in 6th grade called "The Audacity of Junior High."

The Gay Police

The young man above is Ben Johnson, the state chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans. The Gay Police decided that their gaydar caught him speeding in the stereotype lane and proceeded to issue tickets.

Got to love the gay humor over at Wonkette.

All this tolerance being thrown around on the left side of the web caused Ben to write a letter to college Republicans to set the record straight (so to speak). He's not gay and he is much to young to realize how venomous the left side is, seeing how he is taking it in stride. I don't think he realizes that they are probably going through his garbage as I write, looking for ManLove magazine. He just leaves this little dig:

On a small side note, I find it strange that the ever so tolerant and accepting-of-all-lifestyles-Left have no problems calling me every gay-bashing offensive name in the book. Guess it just goes to prove that nothing is offensive or intolerant so long as your insulting a Republican. But none of it bothers me. If I am not hated by the Democrats, I am not doing my job.

Maybe he does understand the mentality over there.

Good News all around...

Michael Totten says things in Iraq are looking good.

Ohio State and LSU will play in the BCS game.

GUEAX TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama!

Yes, I know it's advice from Karl Rove, but he does have a track record for winning, so listen up! (It's subscription, so I will copy heavily)

First, stop acting like a vitamin-deficient Adlai Stevenson. Striking a pose of being high-minded and too pure will not work. Americans want to see you scrapping and fighting for the job, not in a mean or ugly way but in a forceful and straightforward way.

Hillary may come over as calculating and shifty but she looks in control. You, on the other hand, often come over as weak and ineffectual. In some debates, you do not even look at her when disagreeing with her, making it look as if you are afraid of her. She offers you openings time and again but you do not take advantage of them. Sharpen your attacks and make them more precise.

Take the exchange in the Philadelphia debate about Bill and Hillary keeping documents hidden about her role as first lady in his White House. She was evasive. You spoke next. You would have won a big victory if you had turned to her and said: “Senator, with all due respect, you and your husband could release those documents right now if you wanted to. Your failure to do so raises questions among a lot of Americans about what you’re hiding and those questions would hurt our party if you were our nominee.” But your response was weak as dirty dishwater. Do not let other great opportunities pass by.

Second, focus on the fact that many Democrats have real doubts about Hillary. They worry she cannot win, will be a drag on the ticket and that if she got to the White House it would be a disaster. You know better than most what they are worried about; they have told you their fears. It is why you have done so well raising money from Bill’s backers and gaining support from Clinton administration officials. Talk about those doubts. Put them in a bigger context than just the two of you. Remind primary voters that these shortcomings will hurt Democratic chances.

The third is to not pick fights where she has the upper hand, like foreign policy.

The fourth was to not give garbled responses, like you did on drivers license for illegals. Don't look as calculating as she does.

The fifth is to explain fully what kind of change you represent.

The sixth is not let her get away with complaining about being picked on. To be President one has to be tough. People don't like her sense of entitlement. Bring her down a notch with humor.

He ends with this:

Hillary comes across as cold, distant and conspiracy-minded, more like Richard Nixon than her sunny, charming husband. During the Clinton presidency she oversaw a disaster (the effort to sell Hillarycare) and argued hard against welfare reform, one of the promises on which he had campaigned. She is a hard-nosed competitor with a tough and seasoned staff.

But her record is weak, her personality off-putting and her support thin. If she wins the nomination it will be because her rivals – namely you – were weak when you confronted her and could not look her in the eye when you did. She is beatable but you have to raise your game. Iowa is your great chance for a breakthrough. Win it convincingly and you can build on it in the contests that follow. Lose it and victory becomes much more difficult.

Must. Banish. Mental. Image.

Eloise Harper reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton, speaking at Bettendorf, Iowa, trying to Iowans to caucus for her, explained to the crowd that she wants to be with them so that she can win Iowa in November 2008.
"I want a long term relationship," she said. "I don't want to just have a one night stand with all of you."

Also, in a very telling statement about Hillary: (emphasis mine)

"I have been for months on the receiving end of rather consistent attacks -- but now the fun part starts," Clinton said.

The fun part?? She just can't wait to attack. She lives for it.

"We're into the last month and we're going to start drawing blood (ok, I made the blood part up, she said "the contrast," but we all know that's what she meant) because I want every Iowan to have accurate information when they make their decisions."

Obama didn't let the fun part go either:

"This presidential campaign isn't about attacking people for fun," Obama's statement said, "it's about solving people's problems, like ending this war and creating a universal health care system. Washington insiders might think throwing mud is fun, but the American people are looking for leadership that can unite this country around a common purpose, and that's what I'll continue to offer in this campaign."

I think Obama is finally understanding what he is up against.

Romney will address the Mormon issue

From the AP:

Romney will deliver a speech called "Faith in America" at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday, outlining his religious beliefs and how they might impact his administration.

The thing that ticks me off is that journalists feel free to ask personal religious questions to candidates like Romney, Huckabee, or McCain, but never seem to find that same curiosity when questioning the Democratic candidates. Even though Obama and Hillary regularly speak at Churches touting their faith.

I can guarentee you that if Romney gets the nomination reporters will ask all kinds of questions about Mormonism, but Obama or Hillary will never be asked questions about their faith.

I don't think Romney needs to explain anything about his faith. I don't think most people care one way or another, and the ones who have decided that it's a "cult," will not have their minds changed. But there is a difference between explaining his faith and discussing his faith. It's always nice for someone to talk about his beliefs and what they mean to him. I hope Romney will be discussing and not explaining.

The only thing that bothers me about candidates is when they claim faith, but live in a such a way that is hypocritical to that faith (see Rudy and the Clintons). But that is clearly not the case with Romney. He lives his faith.

I noticed in the YouTube debate that he didn't seem comfortable discussing religion. My feeling is that comes from a northeast mentality where faith is very personal and not discussed in a political forum.

In the South, people and candidates tend to embrace their faith as a big part of who they are. They freely discuss it. Romney needs to understand this a bit more before South Carolina.

Is a Vote For Huckabee a Vote for Rudy?

I think so.

From The Telegraph:

Rudolph Giuliani, the Republican frontrunner, and Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor now surging up the party’s rankings, are pursuing an unofficial non-aggression pact as they try to knock rivals out of the race for the presidential nomination.

More:

Advisors to Mr Giuliani told The Sunday Telegraph that they were deliberately refraining from public criticism of Mr Huckabee, despite his increasing popularity, in the hope that he can derail their mutual rivals, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

I can see why Rudy is refraining from public criticism, but why would Huckabee refrain from bashing Rudy? Could it be a V.P spot that is mentioned in the article?

If it is, then that makes me sick. It would show me that Huckabee is more interested in power than in doing what is right.

Do they think that Huckabee on a Giuliani ticket would "religion" it up? Would Huckabee make the Rudy nomination easier to swallow for religious conservatives?

Uhhh...no.

It would only make me lose all respect for Huckabee.

The Difference Between Michelle Malkin and Most of Us

Yes, she is young and beautiful, but that isn't what I am talking about.

I was watching Michelle on Fox News yesterday discussing the CNN/YouTube debate and the questioners that were plants and it occurred to me that the one word to describe her is tenacious.

Whereas most of us get angry/disgusted/frustrated over the MSM's bias and sometimes outright lies to the American people, we don't do much about it.

Michelle does.

She has a pit bill mentality when it comes to lies. She will not let go until Cable news at least acknowledges the error.

Sometimes I watch her on the news and just smile. She sits there all petite and pretty but just simmering with indignation.

How many stories over these past few years has she hammered and hammered until finally, the news network picked them? Too many to count.

I think of Michelle as our watchdog. No one is getting past her. Don't even try. She never backs down. She will dig and dig into a story until the truth is finally uncovered.

I realized that I feel better about politics with Michelle out there. I can rest in the knowledge that the left can no longer get away with lies, spin, and subterfuge.

Cheers to our beautiful watchdog.

The McCain Endorsement

Here is it is from The Union Leader:

On Jan. 8, New Hampshire Republicans will make one of the most important choices for their party and nation in the history of our presidential primary. Their choice ought to be John McCain.

We don't agree with him on every issue. We disagree with him strongly on campaign finance reform. What is most compelling about McCain, however, is that his record, his character, and his courage show him to be the most trustworthy, competent, and conservative of all those seeking the nomination. Simply put, McCain can be trusted to make informed decisions based on the best interests of his country, come hell or high water.

Competence, courage, and conviction are enormously important for our next President to possess. No one has a better understanding of U.S. interests and dangers right now than does McCain. He was right on the mistakes made by the Bush administration in prosecuting the Islamic terrorist war in Iraq and he is being proved right on the way forward both there and worldwide.

McCain is pro-life. Always has been. He fights against special-interest and pork-barrel spending, and high spending in general, which ticks off liberals and many in the GOP who have wallowed at the public trough. Yet he also has the proven ability, unique among the contenders, to work across the political divide that has led our government into petty bickering when important problems need to be solved.

We have known John McCain for many years. We will write more about him in the days ahead. For now, we leave you with this to ponder:

When McCain was shot down and taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese, he was repeatedly beaten. When his captors discovered that his father was a top U.S. admiral, they ordered him released for propaganda purposes. But McCain refused, insisting that longer-held prisoners be released before him. So they beat him some more. He never gave in then, and he won't give in to our enemies now.

John McCain is the man to lead America.

In case you missed it, why I think he is the only one who can beat Hillary.

Another good argument.