Both sides are purporting “Change”. Obama is constantly using the mantra “Vote For Change” while McCain’s campaign is saying “Country First. Reform, Prosperity, Peace”.
Here’s how I looks at it. Obama has zero experience. Joe Biden has been in the Senate for 35 years. John McCain has been in the Senate for 26 years.
The “Change” we need is not in the President of the United States. We need change in both the House and Senate. The entire Congress of the United States is dead wood. Stale. Stagnant.
Something that the press is not talking about at all are the Congressional and Gubernatorial elections.
If you want REAL CHANGE, in this year’s election DO NOT vote for incumbents. All 435 House seats are up for election with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. Thirty-three senate seats are regular elections; the winners will be eligible to serve six-year terms from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2015 as members of Senate Class II. There are also two special elections: one in Wyoming and another in Mississippi; the winners will serve the remainder of terms that expire on January 3, 2013, as members of Senate Class I. Gubernatorial elections are being held in 11 states.
Let’s clean house once and for all and get rid of all of them! That’s what will cause real change.
If you look at what has been going on in the Congress all these years, it’s deplorable. The Republicans blew it when they had both houses. They did NOTHING. The Democrats now have both houses and they have done NOTHING. Nancy Pelosi upon becoming Speaker of the House said “I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership not partisanship, and look forward to working … with you on behalf of the American people. In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country. We stand united in our pride and prayers for our men and women in uniform. They are working together to protect the American people, and we, in this Congress we must work together to build a future worthy of their sacrifice”
Did she live up to her word? I think not. Talk about partisianship! She has done everything in her power not to live up to her word.
In the Senate, where members generally show much more comity, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cast a bipartisan tone while outlining the Democratic agenda for the first part of the year and proceed to introduce 10 bills that will all be sent to committee hearings before they make it to the floor for debate.
“Last November, the voters sent us a message — Democrats and Republicans. The voters are upset with Congress and the partisan gridlock. The voters want a government that focuses on their needs. The voters want change. Together, we must deliver that change,” Reid said.
Guess what? NOTHING has happened. This Congress has been a total disaster from day one.
Here’s a sample of how long some Senators have been in office:
Robert Byrd (D-WV) elected in 1959=49 years
Arlen Spector elected to Senate 1980 = 28 years
Ted Kennedy (D-MA)elected to Senate 1962=46 years
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) elected in 1963= 45 years
Ted Stevens (R-AK) elected in 1968=40 years
Pete Domenici (R-NM) elected in 1973=35 years
Joe Biden (D-DE) elected in 1973=35 years
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) elected in 1975=33 years
Richard Lugar (R-IN) elected in 1977=31 years
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) elected in 1977= 31 years
Max Baucus (D-MT) elected in 1978=30 years
John Warner (R-VA) elected in 1979= 29 years
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) elected in 1992=16 years
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) elected in 1992=16 years
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) elected in 1993= 15 years
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) elected in 1999= 9 years
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) first elected in 1983-2001=25 years 2002-2008=6years total= 31 years
So if you want real change in the United States Government, YOU have the power to make that change happen by NOT voting for an incumbent. Stop complaining and take action. Let’s forget party lines and vote to make a difference. YOU have the power to shake it up this year and change history!
Being an avid gun collector, I was curious as to where each candidate stood on the Second Amendment which states: “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” I wasn’t too suprised by what I found.
What I did find interesting is that on Obama’s website on the main page after trying to figure out how to get past all the signup crap for his campaign and just get into the website, I was looking for issues. There is a menu called “Issues”. When you click on it you get a list. What was not on the list was Second Amendment or Gun Control. It was buried under “Other Issues” and titled “Sportsmen“: Whereas John McCain’s website under issues it has a link called 2nd Amendment. Interesting don’t you think?
In 2000, Barak Obama cosponsored a bill that would have limited the purchase of handguns to one per month. That may not sound significant, but the truth is, such a bill would impede the rights of law abiding citizens. There is no justifiable reason to limit the ability of people who have no criminal record from purchasing any legal fire arm. Obama at the same time also voted against allowing people to violate local fire arms bans even in the case of self protection. What does that mean in application? Criminals who are already breaking the law have nothing to worry about, because Obama has made sure that law abiding citizens cannot carry a weapon to protect themselves against those criminals.
According to the 1998 Illinois State Legislative National Political Awareness Test of July 2, 1998, Obama also supports the banning of all semi-automatic weapon sales and transfers. When most people hear “semi-automatic weapon”, they think of the gun in the hand of the gang banger. That may be true, but there are a lot of other guns that are semi-automatic, which would also be included in such bans. Shotguns, for example, that are used by bird hunters would fall under the ban. The only reason to try to ban a whole class of gun, with such a wide stroke, is to start the progression of banning all guns eventually.
“Barack Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America’s hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport.
Were it not for America’s hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. Obama recognizes that we must
forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America’s hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.
PROTECTING GUN RIGHTS
Respect the Second Amendment: Millions of hunters and shooters own and use guns each year. Barack Obama believes the Second Amendment creates an individual right, and he respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms. He will protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns.”
Now the real deal on where Barry stands:
* Ok for states & cities to determine local gun laws. (Apr 2008)
* FactCheck: Yes, Obama endorsed Illinois handgun ban. (Apr 2008)
* Respect 2nd Amendment, but local gun bans ok. (Feb 2008)
* Provide some common-sense enforcement on gun licensing. (Jan 2008)
* 2000: cosponsored bill to limit purchases to 1 gun per month. (Oct 2007)
* Concealed carry OK for retired police officers. (Aug 2007)
* Stop unscrupulous gun dealers dumping guns in cities. (Jul 2007)
* Keep guns out of inner cities–but also problem of morality. (Oct 2006)
* Bush erred in failing to renew assault weapons ban. (Oct 2004)
* Ban semi-automatics, and more possession restrictions. (Jul 1998)
* Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005)
“Protecting Second Amendment Rights
John McCain believes that the right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual Constitutional right that we have a sacred duty to protect. We have a responsibility to ensure that criminals who violate the law are prosecuted to the fullest, rather than restricting the rights of law abiding citizens. Gun control is a proven failure in fighting crime. Law abiding citizens should not be asked to give up their rights because of criminals – criminals who ignore gun control laws anyway.Gun Manufacturer Liability
John McCain opposes backdoor attempts to restrict Second Amendment rights by holding gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed by third parties using a firearm, and has voted to protect gun manufacturers from such inappropriate liability aimed at bankrupting the entire gun industry.Assault Weapons
John McCain opposes restrictions on so-called “assault rifles” and voted consistently against such bans. Most recently he opposed an amendment to extend a ban on 19 specific firearms, and others with similar characteristics.Importation of High Capacity Magazines
John McCain opposes bans on the importation of certain types of ammunition magazines and has voted against such limitations.
Gun Locks
John McCain believes that every firearms owner has a responsibility to learn how to safely use and store the firearm they have chosen, whether for target shooting, hunting, or personal protection. He has supported legislation requiring gun manufacturers to include gun safety devices such as trigger locks in product packaging.
Banning Ammunition
John McCain believes that banning ammunition is just another way to undermine Second Amendment rights. He voted against an amendment that would have banned many of the most commonly used hunting cartridges on the spurious grounds that they were “armor-piercing.”
DC Personal Protection
As part of John McCain’s defense of Second Amendment rights, he cosponsored legislation to lift a ban on the law abiding citizens of the District of Columbia from exercising their Constitutional right to bear arms.
Criminal Background Checks
John McCain supports instant criminal background checks to help prohibit criminals from buying firearms and has voted to ensure they are conducted thoroughly, efficiently, and without infringing on the rights of law abiding citizens.
Background Checks at Gun Shows
At a time when some were trying to shut down gun shows in the name of fighting crime, John McCain tried to preserve gun shows by standardizing sales procedures. Federal law requires licensed firearm sellers at gun shows to do an instant criminal background check on purchasers while private firearm sellers at gun shows do not have to conduct such a check. John McCain introduced legislation that would require an instant criminal background check for all sales at gun shows and believes that such checks must be conducted quickly to ensure that unnecessary delays do not effectively block transactions.
The Firearm Purchase Waiting Period
John McCain has opposed “waiting periods” for law abiding citizen’s purchase of firearms.
The Confiscation of Firearms After an Emergency
John McCain opposes the confiscation of firearms from private citizens, particularly during times of crisis or emergency. He voted in favor of an amendment sponsored by Senator David Vitter prohibiting such confiscation.
Stiffer Penalties for Criminals Who Use a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime
John McCain believes in strict, mandatory penalties for criminals who use a firearm in the commission of a crime or illegally possess a firearm. Enforcing the current laws on the books is the best way to deter crime.”
And also this:
* I know how to use guns; but I don’t own one. (Nov 2007)
* Prosecute criminals, not citizens for gun ownership. (Sep 2007)
* Don’t hold gun manufacturers liable for crimes. (Sep 2007)
* Opposes restrictions on assault weapons and ammunition types. (Sep 2007)
* Calls for GOP “tolerance” of closing gun show loopholes. (May 2002)
* Ban cheap guns; require safety locks; for gun show checks. (Aug 1999)
* Supports ban on certain assault weapons. (Aug 1999)
* Voted against Brady Bill & assault weapon ban. (Aug 1999)
* Guns are a problem, but so are violent web sites & videos. (Aug 1999)
* Punish criminals who abuse 2nd Amendment rights. (May 1999)
* Youth Violence Prevention Act restricts guns for kids. (May 1999)
* Repeal existing gun restrictions; penalize criminal use. (Jul 1998)
* Voted YES on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005)
* Voted YES on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. (Mar 2004)
* Voted NO on background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
* Voted YES on more penalties for gun & drug violations. (May 1999)
* Voted YES on loosening license & background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
* Voted YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks. (Jul 1998)
* Ban gun registration & trigger lock law in Washington DC. (Mar 2007)
* Allow firearms in National Parks. (Feb 2008)
Gun control history has not been positive in favor of the unarmed citizen. The whole point of the Second Amendement is to protect yourself from your Government. Here’s what happed in history when those rights were taken away:
Turkey established gun control in 1911.
From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
The USSR established gun control in 1929.
From 1929 to 1953, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938.
From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill people, and other mongrelized peoples” unable to defend themselves from their government, were exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated by their own government.
Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million “educated people”, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.
The US established gun control in 1968 with The Gun Control Act, which is nearly a verbatim copy of Germany’s 1938 gun control law. Since then, gun laws and much of the Criminal Code have become federalized, with police power being transferred to Washington, DC. War-making liberals at the United Nations are also in the act, declaring peaceful private gun owners should be disarmed. The stage is being set. The process of gun control and registration has begun. Does anybody see a pattern here?
Gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.
The first year results are now in: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent. Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns! While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.
There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.
You won’t see this data on the American evening news or hear our president, governors or other politicians disseminating this information.
Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens. With guns, we are ‘citizens’. Without them, we are ‘subjects’.
So who do you want as our next Commander in Chief? One who supports the Second Amendment, or one who wants to take away all our rights?
Barry Sotero’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was underwhelming to say the least.
He referred to the Kennedy’s 4 times, Marty King once. His entire campaign thus far has been a clone of the Kennedy campaign of 1960 from the way he dresses, struts his stuff, acts like a rock star, giving a speech in Berlin and to cap it off, giving his acceptance sermon in a stadium just as Kennedy did in 1960.
What gets me is his first paragraph thanking everyone who helped him get to where he is:
“Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest — a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours — Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.”
Let’s break this down:
Bill Clinton – here’s a guy who is an impeached president, was implicated in his brother Roger’s drug arrest. (Feb 2004) , gave Presidential Pardons to the following people in his last month in office: Department of Justice List of Clinton Pardons.
Hillary is just as bad. She has over the years lied about just about everything under the sun.
Hillary simply cannot tell the truth. Here’s her scorecard:
Admitted Lies
• Chelsea was jogging around the Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (She was in bed watching it on TV.)
• Hillary was named after Sir Edmund Hillary. (She admitted she was wrong. He climbed Mt. Everest five years after her birth.)
• She was under sniper fire in Bosnia. (A girl presented her with flowers at the foot of the ramp.)
• She learned in The Wall Street Journal how to make a killing in the futures market. (It didn’t cover the market back then.)
Lies She Won’t Confess To
• She didn’t know about the FALN pardons.
• She didn’t know that her brothers were being paid to get pardons that Clinton granted.
• Taking the White House gifts was a clerical error.
• She didn’t know that her staff would fire the travel office staff after she told them to do so.
• She didn’t know that the Peter Paul fundraiser in Hollywood in 2000 cost $700,000 more than she reported it had.
• She opposed NAFTA at the time.
• She was instrumental in the Irish peace process.
• She urged Bill to intervene in Rwanda.
• She played a role in the ’90s economic recovery.
• The billing records showed up on their own.
• She thought Bill was innocent when the Monica scandal broke.
• She was always a Yankees fan.
• She had nothing to do with the New Square Hasidic pardons (after they voted for her 1,400-12 and she attended a meeting at the White House about the pardons).
• She negotiated for the release of refugees in Macedonia (who were released the day before she got there).
Ted Kennedy – a drunken murderer who has never held a real job in his life. Ted’s Father amassed a fortune through illegal activity (bootlegging) and unscrupulous stock market speculation; and how he used his money and connections with organized crime to influence both the media and the American political establishment.
Ted managed to graduate from prep school (Milton Academy) in 1950 with only a C average.
Teddy was never a scholar, and his brother Jack once referred to him as “the gay illiterate”.
Despite his terrible grades, Teddy (like brother Robert) was admitted to Harvard as a “legacy”, because his older brothers and father had graduated form there with such distinction.
Yet even at Harvard, young Ted floundered.
In his sophomore year he was expelled for cheating. He had been failing Spanish and feared it would keep him off the varsity football team.
He paid a friend to take the exam for him.
Ted’s friend, however, was recognized when he turned in the exam book.
Both lads were expelled, but were advised that they could apply for readmission in a year if they demonstrated responsible citizenship.
It was a shame and disgrace, but the family would manage to keep it a secret until Teddy ran for the Senate.
After his expulsion from Harvard, Teddy returned to Hyannis Port where he would sit brooding, sometimes for hours.
Finally, he enlisted in the Army.
Not surprisingly, he did not bother to read the enlistment papers and signed up for four years instead of two.
Ted’s father, the US Ambassador to England, was horrofied at the thought of his youngest son spending four years in the service, with a good chance of being sent into combat in Korea.
“Don’t you ever look at what you’re signing?” he shouted.
With one phone call Joe contacted a friend who managed to get hold of Teddy’s enlistment papers.
Ted’s enlistment period was shortened to two years, a maneuver that was nearly impossible for the average enlistee. Furthermore, Ted would do his service in Europe, not Korea.
Teddy never rose above the rank of private, and was discharged in 1952.
He returned to Harvard in the fall of 1953, as did his test-taking friend, and they graduated together.
Once back at Harvard, Teddy made the rugby team. During one match in 1954, Ted got into three fistfights with opposing players and was finally thrown out of the game. According to referee Frederick Costick, Teddy was the only player he had ever expelled from a game in thirty years of officiating. “Rugby is a character-building sport,” Costick said. “Players learn how to conduct themselves on the field with the idea that they will learn how to conduct themselves in life. When a player loses control of himself three times in a single afternoon, to my mind, that is a sign that, in a crisis, the man is not capable of thinking clearly and acting rationally. Such a man will panic under pressure.”
Of course, years later, in the crisis at Chappaquiddick, Teddy would do exactly that.
In 1957, Ted entered the University of Virginia Law School.
The warning signs of trouble would continue. While in law school, Ted would earn the nickname “Cadillac Eddie”. He was cited four times for reckless driving (three times in 1958 and once in 1959). These violations included running red lights and driving with his lights off at ninety miles per hour in a suburban area. Teddy was convicted of three violations and fined, but for some reason his driver’s license was never revoked.
And last but not least Joey “The Plagerist” Biden:
Biden was forced out of the 1988 presidential race — he officially dropped out on Sept. 23, 1987 — just when his candidacy seemed to be taking off in Iowa, the all-important first caucus, and just as he seemed to be gaining on Michael Dukakis, the eventual nominee.
A Dukakis staffer noticed and fed to Maureen Dowd, then a New York Times reporter rather than columnist, that Biden had lifted almost verbatim his closing remarks at a debate at the Iowa state fairgrounds in August 1987. The lines were lifted from a passionate speech delivered by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.
Biden got in trouble in 1965, during his first year in law school. He wrote a paper in which he lifted five pages verbatim from the Fordham Law Review. He was given an “F” in the course. He managed to avoid being bounced from law school, retook the course and earned a B.
• He claimed that he was “the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship.” He didn’t. He did have a half scholarship that was need-based.
• He claimed he graduated in the top half of his class. He did not graduate from law school in the top half of his class. He graduated 76th out of 85 — and he was near the bottom of his class all three years.
• He said he won the moot court competition — and he claimed at the time that he actually did — he did not put it on his resume, surprising for a man prone to so egregiously exaggerating his accomplishments.
• He did not win the award for being the outstanding student in the political science department at Delaware, and he graduated with one degree, not three. He had a “C” average and graduated 506th in a class of 688.
Here’s a ticket of Barry and Joey running for the two highest offices in this country. Where is the integrity? Do we really want people like this and the people they thank for getting them to where they are running our country?
