Republican For A Reason

Today I visited a new GOP website titled "Republican For A Reason"...

http://www.republicanforareason.com/intro.aspx

But the most interesting thing I saw there led me to this speech from Ronald Reagan... given in 1964 in support of Barry Goldwater. I was 5 but there could be no truer words spoken today in these times. I encourage you to go and read the entire speech. I will put a few excerpts below. We should all read this, Liberal and Conservative, American or not...

• Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the Cuban stopped and said, "How lucky you are! I had someplace to escape to." In that sentence he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. 
  
• If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand--the ultimatum. And what then? When Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we are retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary because by that time we will have weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he has heard voices pleading for "peace at any price" or "better Red than dead," or as one commentator put it, he would rather "live on his knees than die on his feet." And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don't speak for the rest of us. You and I know and do not believe that life is so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. If nothing in life is worth dying for, when did this begin--just in the face of this enemy? Or should Moses have told the children of Israel to live in slavery under the pharaohs? Should Christ have refused the cross? Should the patriots at Concord Bridge have thrown down their guns and refused to fire the shot heard 'round the world? The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well, it's a simple answer after all.
  

Read the whole speech and others here.......

http://www.reaganlibrary.com/reagan/speeches/rendezvous.asp

Maybe... Maybe Not...

If you run across this, don't think I am some kind of "right wing nut" but some thoughts have been running through my head and I felt the need to put them down somewhere. I saw a reference to a video in an email I received from the mailing list of author Jack Cashill that made a claim that Barack Obama may NOT be a natural born citizen thus not eligible to be President of the United States. While this is a stretch and probably nothing it did make me thing about the power of politics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyspCRmJv7w

At first view I had a hard time getting into it and assumed it was just one of those previously mentioned "right wing nuts". Then I saw a link of a news story from another website www.hotair.com referencing a similar issue.

http://africanpress.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/michelle-obama-tapes-imminent-release-approaching-api-in-a-serious-negotiation-with-fox-news-on-the-best-way-forward/

I read some of the stories on there and you know when you start to see more stories from different sources that are related, a pattern evolves and what I did was dig deeper. I was curious about the official eligibility requirements for the office of President so I did a google search for "eligibility requirements for President of the U.S." I found the general answer but then on the 2nd or 3rd page I saw a link to a story from earlier this year in the New York Times and then I had another thought occur to me. This past year I remember saying to myself "it seems odd that new Senator Claire McCaskill from Missouri has been on all of the Sunday talk shows, spoke at the National Convention and taken a front row seat but maybe I stumbled on the reason why. This link below, when I first saw it on 10/22 had an image of the legal pad that McCaskill scribbled a bill to make sure there would be no question on John McCains eligibility due to the fact he was born outside the U.S. on a military base. She said.... “We can at least make a legislative declaration that the definition of ‘natural born’ includes children of the active military,” she said. “This should be done quickly and easily.” Good intentions... if that was all the bill stated as she wrote on her legal pad which for some strange reason someone thought to scan it in and release to the media..

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/02/29/obama_backs_law_to_ensure_mcca.html

Did you all notice who one of the cosponsors was? Barack Obama. And he even added a comment in the story at the end. He said "Senator McCain has earned the right to be his party's nominee, and no loophole should prevent him from competing in this campaign," Imagine that... a "loophole"?

Well that good but the bill that was written and voted on contained an additional line that caught my eye in Senate RES. 511...... "Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President " If the whole intent of this bill was to clear up any concerns about McCain's run for President then why even include this line? Could that line and Obama's statement have a more long range or alternative motive? Could it be McCaskill was being used in the chess game of politics? Could the Democrats be guilty of running her to the media every chance they had to give her credibility since she is one of the newest Senators and a relative unknown outside of the state of Missouri?

I know there I go again, right wing wacko. Well let me say this I hope this is all my brain and heart just getting caught up in the heat of this heated contest but part of me thinks this is all possible. I will include some links below and add to this as I learn more.

This week, we learned that Senator Obama is going to Hawaii to visit his ill grandmother. Seems she is gravely ill so he left the campaign trail (2 days after announcing we was going to do so). An Obama spokesman said "Per Barack Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, the candidate will leave the trail for 48 hours later this week to travel to Hawaii to be with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who is quite ill. Obama speaks often of his grandmother on the trail. She raised him.
From Gibbs: "Senator Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life. Along with his mother and his grandfather, she raised him in Hawaii from the time he was born until the moment he left for college." It seems odd to me that some as important an influential to his life was very very ill, that his wife and children would go along to see her as well but it is just him.

This just keeps getting better and better... read this and the comments attached to it !

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/david_hinz/2008/oct/22/has-sen-obamas-hawaii-trip-detoured-through/

A couple of questions.....
#1 - You grandmother is gravely ill and you announce you are going to run to her side... in 2 days?
#2- Why has he not released his medical records and university records? Could there be relevant information on them that he does not want exposed?
#3- Why is his step brother living in a hut on very little income in Nairobi? Is that how a wealthy politician supports his family? How will he support you ??

Clean House

In light of the turmoil the country has gone through and realizing that the only real affect we can have as Americans is to "clean house" in Washington. These troubles seem to have gone back over at least the last couple of "2 term" administrations and the common denominator has been Congress.

These folks have been in control for FAR too long. I understand and appreciate the fact that McCain admits that "Washington changed us". I don't think Biden or Obama are capable of making that admission. Part of any "recovery" is admitting you have a problem. And believe me, we all should see that Washington has a problem, itself. Most of these men and women went to D.C. to do the business of the people and turned it INTO a business. That is not the meaning of "By the people, for the people". Rather or not Senator McCain has seen the light and will back up his words is up to the voters and time.

The decision the voters will make to decide who will be the President and Vice President is a monumental decision this election, but growing in importance it seems to me is who do we send to do the peoples work in the House of Representatives and the Senate. We must send a message to incumbents, do the work for us or you will be sent home to find an honest living. Both parties congressional members were instructed to protect our interest, to make sure that things like Social Security, Industry, Companies (Wall Street AND Main Street) always were viable and operated in a way that best protected our economy and the financial freedoms and opportunities this country had to offer. BOTH parties in congress have let us down.

What is needed is to hook up an "IV" next to the bed of dishonesty and get some "new blood" flowing in the halls of D.C. Elect folks who have been watching from the outside and are not blinded by money and power. Maybe it is time to revisit term limits again. Not sure HOW that could harm ANYTHING after seeing what the American taxpayers are having THROWN at them this week. Fight corruption, fight criminal activity, expose and prosecute those that commit the crimes and those that see it and do nothing.

I am just a simple "C" student and even I know that what I am seeing is wrong. You would think that there are lots of Americans out there with more knowledge and skills than what I bring to the table but common sense is not something you need to go to Harvard to learn. It's about knowing the right thing to do because you have done the wrong things in the past or have seen them done and you learned honestly that there is a right way and wrong way to do something and neither is always easy.

Hey Washington... GET IT OR GET OUT !!

United 93 and January 2009

I came across "United 93" on TV over the weekend. I watched in both amazement and sadness. This is a powerful movie that I am not sure I could watch in the theatre without the tension breaks offered with commercials.

This movie made me realize again that there are people in the world that hate us enough to plan a day like 9/11 and pull it off almost flawlessly. They are still out there and still hate us. A couple of moments from the story affected me the most were the accounts are from real people on the ground. The Verizon supervisor saying the Lords prayer with one of the passengers, and the young lady talking to her mom for they both knew it would be the last time they would hear each others voice.

I know people always throw out the argument about seeing these images and hearing these stories as painful and inappropriate but it seems to me these have never lost the importance to Americans. What would we do in that situation? I can say I am not sure and I also never hope I have to find out. This country is filled with amazing people from all walks of life and all political beliefs but the message is for all of us. Freedom has never been kept without struggle.

The struggle goes on and this election is an example of that struggle in how to protect the country. If we were forced to elect our next president on ONE issue alone... I would pick national security above others because what good is great health care, low taxes and a great economy IF the country and it's citizens are not safe? Would I feel more comfortable choosing the protection of the John McCain policies or those or Barack Obama? No question in my mind... country first means America first.

We don't have to rely on one issue for the election, but let's not forget about the safety or our country. This is America and whoever is inaugurated in January 2009 should keep the above paragraph in mind. We can all agree America is the greatest country in the world and as the seasons begin to change, the election season is what really makes this country the strongest in the world...

Let's ROLL !!
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Royals

Will the KC Royals EVER be a winning post season team again? I hope so... struggling through this makes it a little tough to be a fan. But fan I am... even in Septembers like this one.

Welcome to Kansas

Sick of politics yet ?? Me too... but the election this year is critical !! Be informed... if you want to know how the midwest thinks, stop here often !!