REASONS TO VOTE FOR MCCAIN!

9 of 10 reasons

By Tom Welge

REASON #1 America, especially now, needs a President that will support and grow our economy. The recent weeks have made us all concerned about our personal finances and the financial strength of America in general. We need a President who will grow and repair our economy, not grow and extend our government. Free markets drive our economy, not government. John McCain understands America’s economic engine. It does not appear that his opponent does.

REASON #2 Senator McCain values liberty, not the power of government. Senator McCain has a long record of supporting and upholding personal liberty, all the way back to his military service and 5 and ½ years in a Vietnamese prison camp. He and Governor Palin are committed to reforming government and reducing its negative impact on our lives. When listening to the proposals of his opponent, one thing is clear, most of what he wants in government will come with some loss of our personal resources (taxes), our right to choose (schools, medical, etc.), or other cherished personal liberties.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - Thomas Jefferson

REASON #3 John McCain will appoint judges that strictly interpret and apply the law, not ones that attempt to make law. We all know that in the Constitution the Founding Fathers established 3 distinct branches of government. Only the legislature, the Senators and Representatives that we elect, are allowed to make laws. Judges (who are appointed, not elected) should not have the power to interpret the laws of our country in ways that allow them to “legislate from the bench”. Our next president will appoint many Federal judges, likely even one or more Supreme Court Justices. Only Senator McCain has committed to appointing judges who will strictly interpret our Constitution and the laws that our elected representatives have established.

REASON #4 The McCain-Palin campaign is the first in history to advocate for the rights of special needs children and their parents. Everyone of us likely knows a family which includes a child with special needs. It might even be your own family. Whatever the condition, it is clear that the earlier a child receives the right therapies and services, the better the outcome for this child throughout his or her life. Concerned parents everywhere search desperately for information and assistance. Unfortunately, many of these opportunities for improvement are missed because sufficient help is not available. Just this week Governor Palin unveiled the McCain-Palin plan for Special Needs Children. Their administration will increase resources for therapies and treatments, allow choice for parents in seeking services, and put a focus on the needs of these children like never before.

"And what's been confirmed in me is every child has something to contribute to the world, if we give them that chance. You know that there are the world's standards of perfection, and then there are God's, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake. And the truest measure of any society is how it treats those who are most vulnerable." – Governor Sarah Palin

REASON #5 Senator McCain fully understands the critical issues of national defense and foreign policy facing America and is prepared to deal with them from his first day in office. While we all hope for peace for ourselves and our children, the world is still a dangerous place. John McCain will support the men and women in the armed forces and ensure they have the best materials and support available. He understands what will be needed to transform our military as we deal with new threats. Knowing very well the horrors of war, he will only commit our military serivce personnel to action when absolutely necessary and with the support that will guarantee their success. Senator McCain understands how to strengthen relationships with our allies. He also knows how to send a clear message to our enemies.

With so much at stake, we can not afford to put our leadership in the hands of the inexperienced. You may recall, when Russia recently invaded the Republic of Georgia (a strong US ally), our junior Senator from Illinois, suggested action by the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, Russia has veto power over all actions of the UN Security Council................

Reason #6 America Needs John McCain: Only Senator McCain will deliver true energy independence for America. John McCain understands that in order to provide both energy independence and sufficient energy to grow our economy, we must fuel our nation from many sources. Three of the most important options are additional drilling of our own oil reserves, more nuclear energy, and clean coal technology. These are all programs which the Democratic party has either continually opposed, or in the least, sent mixed messages on through the years. We should expect no less from them if they gain control of both the Congress and the White House. We must also pursue wind, solar, tidal, natural gas, electric vehicles, and other technologies, and Senator McCain is committed to investing in these industries. "In recent days I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lexington Project -- named for the town where Americans asserted their independence once before. And let it begin today with this commitment: In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025." John McCain, June 25, 2008

Reason #7 America Needs John McCain: Senator McCain's Tax Plan Redistributes
Opportunity, Not "Wealth". By this time, everyone knows Senator McCain's
opponent has openly called his tax plan a redistribution of wealth. An
increase-taxes-and-grows-government plan will ultimately cause severe damage to
our economy and a further loss of jobs. After a review of both plans, the
Heritage Foundation concluded that Senator McCain's Tax policies will grow our
Gross Domestic Product nearly 3 times more than that of his opponent over a 9
year period. Which plan do you think is right for America today? (I'd
encourage you to read the entire Heritage Foundation Review at
http://www.heritage.org/Research/taxes/cda08-09.cfm.)

Reason #8 America Needs John McCain: Senator McCain will reform and revitalize
our education system, not be held back by bureaucracies and unions. Senator
McCain and Governor Palin believe that we must give families the power of choice
when it comes to education. We must provide our schools all the tools they need
to succeed for the sake of all children. However, parents should be free to
change schools if the students are suffering due to a failed administration,
waste, or poor teachers. Schools should be able to compete for the best
students and the best staff. Schools (both administration and teachers) must be
held accountable for failures as well. All this means major changes, changes
that will not be easy or looked upon kindly by teachers unions (a major
contributory to the campaign of our Jr. Senator from Illinois). Only John
McCain has the independence and determination to do what needs to be done.

Reason #9 America Needs John McCain: We can not afford P.O.R. (Pelosi - Obama -
Reid) government in Washington, DC. At a time when America needs to fuel its
economy, the agenda of a Democratic controlled Congress and White House are
extremely dangerous for both our short-term recovery and our long-term growth as
a nation. Americans need to be very concerned about the liberal polices that
could be advanced and the growth in government spending, taxes, and the defecit
that will certainly occur. John McCain will stand up to Pelosi and Reid to
make sure that our governent acts wisely and responsibly.

Tom Welge is a residence of Chester, Illinois-the home of Popeye. He is a political activist and attorney. He is an executive in a food processing company.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial
REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!
by Steve Fair

"Joe the Plumber" has come to define the 2008 Presidential campaign. Unless you have been asleep the past week, you know that Barack Obama’s conversation with Joe Warzelbacher dominated the last presidential debate and much of the political discussion the past week.

At a campaign stop, Joe asked Obama about his tax plan. Joe, who is trying to buy the small company from his employer, said it looked like Obama’s plan would tax his small plumbing business and hurt the company. Obama didn’t deny his plan would tax Joe, but told him he wanted not only Joe to prosper, but also all those standing behind him. "We need to redistribute the wealth," Obama said. When Obama used that phase, bell, whistles and alarms sounded. Was he advocating socialism or worse communism? Karl Marx, the founder of communism said, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." While anyone who has been paying attention knows that most liberals are socialist in varying degrees, what Obama was really advocating was "Statism" which is state intervention in personal, social and economic matters.

Here are the problems with socialism/statism and the whole concept of redistribution of wealth.

First, redistribution of wealth rewards people with no ambition or sense of responsibility. If you plan to re-distribute the wealth to everyone, regardless of their work habits, productivity or ambition, no incentive is provided for a person to work hard or put forth any extra effort. The "American Dream" has always been to work hard, save your money, and get ahead. The chance to "get ahead" draws millions across our southern borders each year. The reason we have an illegal immigration problem in the United States is because our economic system rewards ambition and responsibility. You take that incentive away and you will have less productivity and poor morale.

Second, redistribution of wealth is not a biblical principle. Scripture calls for private ownership and private rewards. It calls for the accumulation of good things tempered with the giving from those things to help other people. Scripture calls for diligent individuals to work and be fruitful. Christians are to exercise love, mercy, and charity according to their faith towards God. We have already delegated a majority of the work of the church to government- i.e. welfare programs. As that continues, government gains more and more control of our lives and groups rights opposed to individual rights, commonly seem in an atheistic government prosper.

Some socialists use the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 as an example the Bible teaches socialism. I must admit this passage always seems unfair to me. Why should folks who have worked different hours be paid the same wages? We live with a very strong sense of what is "owed" to us and that is the spirit that Jesus challenges with this parable. What we should see in this parable is that we should simply serve and leave everything up to Him. He is not teaching socialism- he is teaching faith.

Third, redistribution of wealth places the power in the hands of government, not the individual. That’s what statism is. Government already has more control than it should. Decentralized economic activity at the level of individuals and private organizations in a free market produces superior economic results. If socialism, statism and communism work, then why was it that the USSR had similar class divisions as capitalist countries? Free markets work when they are allowed to function in their purest sense. Granted capitalism- in and of itself- is not a charitable system, but the most generous people in the world live in capitalist countries.

I support a fair tax http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServerand not just because of the name. The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach. The components include a progressive national retail sales tax, a provision that would allow the poorest among us to pay not federal tax, and the repeal of the 16th amendment. That’s the one that created the IRS. Sometimes known as a "consumption" tax, this national sales tax would be revenue neutral, meaning it would not disrupt the services government currently provides for the citizens. It’s simpler and has the support of a number of lawmakers in Congress.

Not surprisingly, Obama does not support the Fair Tax plan, but it is surprising Obama does not support the free market system. He has personally benefited from capitalism. Obama is living the American dream- from rags to riches- so why is he trying to keep others from living it? Because he’s a liberal and the liberal’s creed is to tax the rich and give the money to the less deserving. Under Obama’s plan, he will enslave a people that will look to the government for prosperity. They will look to the government for advancement. A fundamental principle that must be understood is that government produces nothing- government consumes.

Voter rolls grow across Oklahoma

BY JULIE BISBEE and PAUL MONIES
Published: October 23, 2008 in The Oklahoman

In Stephens County, the Republican Party’s annual chili cook-off seems to be paying off. Republicans in the southern Oklahoma county increased their rolls by 18 percent, or 1,393, according to preliminary voter registration information analyzed by The Oklahoman. At the same time, the number of independent voters grew, while Democrats saw a loss of about 1,218 local registered voters. Stephens is one of a handful of counties seeing an increase in the number of people who are registered as Republicans or independents.

Republican leaders say good local candidates are helping their cause. Democratic leaders say their new voter efforts have been focused on younger voters in all counties. It’s been a little more than 10 days since voter registration closed for the Nov. 4 election. County election boards are still entering new voter information, but preliminary numbers show that Oklahoma’s voter rolls are growing, said Michael Clingman, state Election Board secretary.

The state has 2,179,603 voters as of Wednesday evening. Of that number, Democrats account for 1,077,984. Republicans add 857,834 voters and there are 243,785 registered independents. Since November 2004, the state has added 35,625 voters to the rolls, figures show.
Democrats still make up about half of all registered voters, but counties that were once Democratic strongholds are seeing small changes in their party affiliation.

"We’ve had a lot of people change,” said Steve Fair, chairman of the Stephens County Republican party. "A lot of people have always been aligned with the Republican Party morally, now they’re finally changing. I haven’t seen this much excitement for a national election in Oklahoma since Ronald Reagan.”

Fair said the Republican Party in Stephens County has spent the last five years educating voters about the differences in the parties, whether it be at chili cook-offs or fish fries.
"It’s finally paying off,” he said. Read the entire story at: http://newsok.com/voter-rolls-grow-across-oklahoma/article/3314508

BATTLEGROUND POLL SHOWS

PREZ RACE A DEAD HEAT!

Oklahoman and fellow Cameron Aggie Ed Goeas(Republican) along with Celinda Lake (Democrat) conduct the Battleground Poll which has been remarkably accurate through the years. The latest results shows Obama at 44% and McCain at 42%- a statistical dead heat. The details can be viewed at http://www.tarrance.com/files/10.23-Presentation-graphics.pdf

ARE THE POLLS ACCURATE!

By Michael Barone- Wall Street Journal

Can we trust the polls this year? That's a question many people have been asking as we approach the end of this long, long presidential campaign. As a recovering pollster and continuing poll consumer, my answer is yes -- with qualifications. Read more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122463210033356561.html

Oliver Stone:

‘Are we alone? Are we alone?’

By Betsy Rothstein from THE HILL

Filmmaker Oliver Stone has been on the media circuit promoting “W.,” the new film starring Josh Brolin as President Bush. Stone convened a conference call Monday morning from Paris with American reporters.


Stone seemed shaky on the details of a conference call. He said he didn’t know where to begin and remarked, “I’m here on a European press tour, just started in Paris. It’s 4 in the afternoon.”
Stone declared his film more important than the upcoming presidential election: “It overshadows the election, in my opinion,” he said. “I frankly think [President Bush] is one of the greatest stories of the last 40 years, bigger than Reagan, bigger than Nixon.”

Stone was asked repeatedly about the authenticity of Brolin’s depiction of Bush, since many quotes were taken out of context. “These quotes are strung over years,” he said. “As a dramatist we have to simplify and condense and I don’t think we crossed the line of what happened in that administration. They said these things.”

After insisting that the Bush family has no desire to look inside themselves psychologically, Stone offered the Bushes a private screening of the film, saying, “If they would like to screen the film with me, I’d be most gracious. It’s very hard, I know, to see a film about yourself. Neither Freud nor Darwin meant a lot to them.”

When the interview came to a close, Stone kept asking the call’s organizer, “Are we alone?” No, hang up, he was told. “Are we alone?” he repeated. No, hang up, he was told again. We’ll call back, he was told. “OK, please do,” he said. You can read the entire story at:

http://thehill.com/in-the-know/etheridge-to-host-fundraiser-for-kucinich-2008-10-21.html

THE CORRUPTION GRAPHIC

The Oklahoman has a great graphic that "connects the dots" on the Stipe/Mass/McMahan scandal. The link is: http://static.newsok.biz/flash/stipe/stipe.html

Two articles that are related to this subject are past posts on FAIR & BIASED. They are STATISM by Jeremy Fair, posted on September 10, 2008 and STICK TO PREACHING CHRIST by Steve Fair, posted on September 29, 2008. Thanks to David Weston for his scholarly, well written AN ESSAY ABOUT AMERICA....

Guest Editorial
An essay about America…
By J. David Weston

A historical summary

America--A country where God predominantly pulled people out of England and Europe with the promise to freely exercise their right to worship Jesus Christ based upon their own convictions. Yes some came with a desire to obtain wealth, but most were compelled to leave England and Europe after centuries of oppression and persecution by the Catholic and Anglican Religions.

Upon settling in America, God allowed these Christians to select their own leaders who allowed them to live quiet and peaceable lives and where the Gospel of Christ was promoted without any restraint of the State and as a result, evangelism and righteousness flourished. That is the most important and most wonderful legacy that we have inherited from our forefathers.

Leading up to the point of our Independence and ever since then, American's have struggled with pursuing wealth and licentious behavior over righteousness. Those temptations have been overcome by Great Awakenings and National Revivals. Only Heaven can tell of the exact impact that: the George Whitefield's, the Jonathan Edwards', the Lyman Beecher's, the Dwight L Moody's and the Billy Graham's have had upon our Country.

As a result, our people not only returned to righteousness but sent out missionaries to promote the gospel in other countries. It is one of the reasons that God has blessed us and protected our homeland from the ravages of war that cursed the 20th Century. Our country started along the Atlantic Coast and has spread from "Sea to Shining Sea" and beyond. All in the midst of what would seem to be insurmountable circumstances. Throughout our history, our inventors, our entrepreneurs and our industries have led the world into the unprecedented prosperity that is known on most continents today.

But now we have committed the error of selecting leaders that do not believe the Gospel of Christ and these leaders seek to suppress and curtail the influence of the Gospel upon our society and our government. Our founding fathers were not concerned about the influence of the Church upon the State. They feared the opposite! They never wanted to separate the influence of God from Government because they understood that although they were elected by their constituents, it ultimately was God who had placed them there.

They understood that the State should not be the master of the Christian Church. They understood that the Christian Church should not be servant of the State. But they did understand that the Christian Church should be the conscience of the State.

Our current situation

Unfortunately, a prolonged American prosperity has led to complacency and ambivalence amongst her citizens. Over the last 60 years we have allowed misguided leadership to enact laws that have gradually taken away the conscience that our government needs to make good decisions. The result is that we have selected leaders who drunkenly reel and stagger around the District of Columbia, our State Capitols and our Courthouses making stupid errors and mistakes.

As a result our land has become polluted with the blood of 40,000,000 innocent unborn babies! Our elected officials endorse the perversion of sodomy to our children and call it an alternative lifestyle! They reward slothfulness with welfare! They allow for the proliferation of pornography and profanity under the guise of freedom of speech! They encourage greed amongst speculators and prop up their schemes on the backs of the honest and hardworking! They promote the false-hope of gambling which preys upon the trust of the poor and the uninformed! They allow judges to stay in office that subvert the will of the people! They vomit decadence and call it freedom!

Thus we find ourselves on the verge of government bankruptcy, our enemies plot our demise and our society has decayed to the point of malevolence.

Yet there is hope

If America is going to avoid the wrath of a Just and Holy God then her Christian Citizens must once again stand up, speak up and promote the restoration of the ideals of righteousness. Our government must acknowledge her conscience!

The book of Ecclesiastes says that, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:" This is a time to for Christians to fall on our knees and beg our Sovereign and Holy God for mercy. This is a time where Christians must turn away from our sins. Where we must rise up and come together and select new leaders from amongst ourselves that are not drunk with a desire for wealth and power, who will restore a quiet and peaceable atmosphere where the gospel of Christ can once again promote Godliness.

An obstacle to hope

Christians believe that the Bible is Inerrant Truth inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Pastors are characterized as the shepherds who protect and lead their flock/church of sheep/Christians. But pastors, churches and Christians have become intimidated from fulfilling their role as the conscience of our government.

This intimidation is enforced by the Internal Revenue Service which threatens the assessment of penalties and taxes when pastors and churches attempt to talk about the unrighteous behavior that the leaders of our government promote. Prior to July 2, 1954 Pastors could talk to their congregations about this subject. But Senator Lyndon B. Johnson was afraid that his own unrighteous behavior would be mentioned by the pastors within the churches of Texas and therefore he would lose his pending re-election.

His exact quote before the President of the Senate on this dubious day follows: "Mr. President, this amendment seeks to extend the provisions of section 501 of the House bill, denying tax-exempt status to not only those people who influence legislation but also to those who intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for any public office."

And thus, the conscience of our government has been muzzled for fifty-four years!

Further need for change
It can be no coincidence that with her conscience muzzled our government fell into making the depraved decisions that have led our country to brink of insolvency, moral decay and the threat of nuclear obliteration.

It is not happenstance that we now teach our children that they are descended from lizards, tadpoles and monkeys instead of being made in the image of God. It used to be that kids got in trouble for chewing gum and passing notes in class but those small problems have since been replaced in our schools with drug abuse, rape and murder. Perhaps this debauchery can also be tied to the facts that since 1954 our leaders have banned teaching from the Bible, prayer and the display of the 10 Commandments in our public schools?

A step towards renewal and restoration

We need Pastors to be the good shepherds that, "convince, rebuke, and exhort with longsuffering and teaching." We need pastors to fear God, not the IRS. We need: more Nathan's, more Jonah's, more Elijah's, more Ezekiel's, more Isaiah's, more Nehemiah's, and more John the Baptist's!

We need Christians to set aside their desire for wealth and power and sacrificially serve their God and Country! The District of Columbia, our State Capitols and our courthouses must be purged. Before it is too late, the conscience of our Government must be restored!

Can another Great Awakening save America from herself? Our history and the Bible tell me, YES!

J David Weston is a political activist. He serves as a deacon at his church. David is a past finance director for the Oklahoma State Republican Party. He currently is a financial planner. He can be contacted at jdavidweston@gmail.com.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

Stone’s "W" a flop!
by Steve Fair

Oliver Stones, “W” opened this weekend. The cost to produce and market the movie was $55 million, so short of a taxpayer funded “bailout,” it will lose money. There was a lot of hype for the “original” idea of a leftwing socialist making a movie about Republicans. There was also a lot of curiosity, not just in Hollywood, but in political circles as to how many people would go the theater and see “W”. On Friday it was #2, but by Sunday it was #4 behind The Secret Life of Bees. Less than 400,000 total saw “W” this past weekend. That translates to an average of 195 people per theater- not exactly a blockbuster.

According to Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood, exit polling for “W” found that 89% of those attending the movie disapprove of President Bush. 78% are voting for Obama with only 6% voting for McCain. Those numbers are not surprising because over half who went said they went to see a movie that made fun of Bush.

Oliver Stone is a three time Oscar winning director who is also a decorated Viet-nam veteran. He is also an unabashed socialist, and liberal whose portrayal of President Bush in “W” is less than flattering. In the movie, he has Bush, who is portrayed by Josh Bolin, drunk driving his car onto the lawn of his parent’s home and challenging George HW Bush to a fistfight. The incident never happened, but future generations will be telling that story as fact.

There is also a scene in which during a meeting on Iraq, Bush playfully locks Colin Powell out of the room. He then steals a mint from Condolezza Rice and tells Paul Wolfowitz to trim his ear hair. Another scene has Bush in a sit down with Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. The President(Josh Bolin) explains that he has given up sweets since the beginning of the Iraq war. “This is my personal sacrifice to show support for our troops.” Watch for that quote in next year’s liberal history books.

Stone belittles the President’s faith by having a sign where he tells a televangelist, “The truth is, I really don’t want to run for President, but I feel that God wants me to do this and I must do it.”

I’m no screenwriter, but Stone should have included a scene of “W” calling down Hurricane Katrina. Liberals still believe there is a “hurricane” button in the Oval Office and one day Bush decided he wanted one to hit the Gulf Coast that day and pressed the button.

There used to be a time in our country when there was a respect for the office of President. No matter who held that office, they were not personally ridiculed. Their policies and leadership skills were questioned, but their personalities were off base.

Gone are the days when Hollywood produced movies like John Ford’s, Young Mr. Lincoln and Frank Capra’s. Mr. Smith goes to Washington- both released in 1939. Moviegoers who viewed those films got an accurate view of history and politics. Capra’s film was so controversial that during its premiere, the sitting Speaker of the House allegedly walked out because he said it portrayed politicians as “crooks.” Mr. Smith has been called the “whistleblower” film because it dealt with the issue of corruption in Washington from a moral perspective.

But few of Generation Y has seen those films. The members of this generation, who grew up in the ‘90s, are exceptionally tech-savvy. According to Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa in their book, Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's Students , 97% of them own a computer, 94% of them have a cell phone, 76% use instant messaging, and two thirds of them have a Facebook profile. But they don’t use conventional means to get their news- 34% of them use websites as their primary source of news. 28% of them author a blog and 44% read blogs. While that may be high-tech, it’s not always accurate or unbiased.

Their kids are even less informed. In a recent survey of kids 13-17, only 25% could name the city where the US Constitution was written (Philadephia). However 80% could identify the city whose zip code was 90210 (Beverly Hills).

The distorted, whacked out views of someone like Stone will likely influence a new generation of leaders who will have a revisionist view of history. They will not develop critical thinking skills. They will believe there are no absolutes, and conduct their lives using situational ethics.

In a satire movie called Idiocracy, Luke Wilson is a man with an average IQ who is frozen in an experiment in 2000 and then thawed in 2500. When he awakes, he finds he is a genius. His IQ isn’t any higher, but the rest of society has become completely clueless about the most basic truths. For example, they believe a sport drink is the key to everything including the growing of crops. With Stone and the Hollywood elite being the source of history for future generations, perhaps Idiocracy is not a satire, but a prophecy.

EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT SAY THEY'D NEVER LIE TO A POLLSTER

Ann Coulter addresses "The Bradley effect" in this week's column. In her normally diplomatic, shy way of course. The link is: http://anncoulter.com/

BARACK 'O LANTERN!

from The Hill

Yes we can … have civilized pumpkin carving Three old friends who met while working for a Seattle record label launched the nationwide Obama pumpkin extravaganza Yeswecarve.com http://yeswecarve.com/ last week. Josh Horton, 29, lives in Memphis, Tenn.; Jason Powers, 31, lives in Manhattan; and Josh Jeter, 25, mans the carving operation in Chicago.

It’s not your typical pumpkin-carving affair — these pumpkins will have candidates’ - actually one candidate- Obama-heads carved into them.

It’s civilized pumpkin carving, so no smashing pumpkins and “no attack pumpkins,” assures Powers. “We’re not going to allow any bashing on our site.”

Here’s how it works: The site offers creative Obama stencils for pumpkin carvers to meet up for carving parties around the nation. The page showcases photographs of the carvers with their Obama pumpkins.

Horton said he came up with the idea while lying in bed with his wife. The couple was discussing, of all things, pumpkin carving and began conjuring silly Obama pumpkin phrases such as the “Barackolantern” and the “Obumpkin.” The next day he bought the domain name and phoned his friends.

One thing agreed upon early on was that the site should not be overtly political, despite the fact that all three are Obama supporters. There are rules: no negative stenciling, and no carving McCain’s head into a pumpkin with a large red X through it.

Mainly, the creators just wanted something different. “Everyone has a yard sign,” Horton said. “There’s nothing personal about that. There’s something expected about that.”
Jeter, who enjoys pumpkin carving in his off time from the University of Chicago Law School (where Obama taught), thinks of it as the “organic version of lawn signs.” He’s also looking forward to BYOP (last letter stands for “pumpkin”) parties. “I was thinking maybe we’d restore civil discourse one pumpkin at a time,” he said.

ACORN's Phony Voter Scam
By Congressman Tom Cole

Much is being made in the news lately of the uncovering of massive, multi-state, multi-election cycle voter fraud, perpetrated by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN. In just the past year and a half ACORN claims to have registered 1.3 million new voters. Normally this would be a good thing - we should encourage greater participation in our political system. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that ACORN was operating a massive scam by registering tens of thousands of phony voters.

In Nevada it has been revealed that ACORN hired inmates in the state penitentiary to register new voters. They registered the Dallas Cowboys to vote in Nevada. Another Nevada canvasser was caught filling out voter registration forms using names and addresses copied out of the telephone book. Needless to say, this scandal is not confined to Nevada. Election officials in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Mexico have all uncovered similar instances of fraud. A state prosecutor in Washington State put it very well when he described the activities of ACORN as "an act of vandalism against our voter rolls."
Voting in free and fair elections is the very foundation of our system of self governance. Who can ever forget the remarkable election of 2000 when the candidate who actually received fewer popular votes won the election? This was after an extended recount - in the state his bother served as Governor - and a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Yet at no time did we see tanks rolling through the streets. There was no martial law. Americans tuned into the Tonight Show every night to see Jay Leno cracking jokes about hanging chads. This was possible because Americans had faith that despite the problems we had in that election, the process was fundamentally honest and fair. Organizations like ACORN undermine that trust and as a result they undermine the very political stability of the United States.

And as if this treachery weren't enough, ACORN does this with millions of dollars of taxpayer money. You see, ACORN played another role in the dominant news item of the past several weeks - the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry. For years ACORN has used intimidation tactics to force banks to make loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back. And they extorted millions of dollars from Congress under the auspices of the Community Redevelopment Act by arranging to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy up the risky mortgages on the secondary market.

Remarkably, in the recently passed Economic Recovery Act, the liberals in Congress attempted to put even more money into the pockets of their cronies at ACORN. Fortunately, the Republicans put their foot down and all additional funding for ACORN was stripped from the bill. I'd call that a good start, but now we need to get to work making sure the rest of their taxpayer funding is stripped away.

Unfortunately, it does not appear to be just a few bad apples at ACORN. The entire organization has a considerable record of manipulation and fraud. In June the Consumers Rights League published a series of internal documents from the organization that reveal ACORN has comingled political money and taxpayer funds. In order to prevent future taxpayer rip-offs and blatant voter fraud, the Community Reinvestment Act needs to be overhauled, and ACORN should never again receive a penny of taxpayer money. Furthermore, those responsible for the fraudulent registrations must be thoroughly investigated, and if found guilty, punished to the full extent of the law.

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

D I R T Y B I R D S !
by Steve Fair

On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove a rented truck to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The offices and day care center had just opened for the day. The truck was loaded with 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and motor-racing fuel. Federal prosecutors said McVeigh ran away from the truck after he ignited two time fuses, one was a 2 minute fuse and another one a backup of 5 minutes. At 9:02 a.m., a massive explosion destroyed the north half of the building. The explosion was so powerful that McVeigh, who was jogging away from the building was lifted 2 inches off the ground. The explosion killed 168 people, and 450 were injured. Nineteen of the victims were small children in the day care center on the ground floor of the building. McVeigh did not express remorse for the deaths, which he referred to as " collateral damage", but said he might have chosen a different target if he had known the day care center was open. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection at 7:14 a.m. on June 11, 2001. No Oklahoman will ever forget that day in April 1995.

On May 19, 1972, a group known as the Weather Underground Organization bombed the U.S. Pentagon. The WUO was a far left organization that bombed government buildings, staged jailbreaks, and conducted violent protests in the 1970s. Their justification was to “bring the Viet-nam war home” to Americans. The WUO actually declared war on the United States. Nobody was hurt in the attacks by the defunct organization, which the FBI labeled a "domestic terrorist group."

Two of the former Weather Underground members are now married- Bill Ayers, 63 and Bernadine Dohrn, 65. He teaches at the University of Chicago and she is a law professor at Northwestern. Ayers and Dohrn had federal charges filed on them in the bombing, but later dropped due a legal technicality. Along their new path in life, they met a rising political star named Barack Obama, who lived in their neighborhood.

The Ayers-Obama relationship was first publicly revealed back in April at the Democratic presidential debate. “ It is an issue certainly Republicans will be raising should Obama be the Democratic nominee for president,” rival Hillary Clinton said during the debate. While I rarely agree with Hillary, she is right on this issue.

How close are Ayers and Obama? In the mid-1990s, Ayers and Dohrn hosted a meet-and-greet at their house to introduce Obama to their neighbors during his first run for the Illinois Senate. Ayers also served alongside Obama between December 1999 and December 2002 on the board of the not-for-profit Woods Fund of Chicago.

In addition, Ayers and Obama interacted occasionally in their roles with the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a not-for-profit group charged with spending tens of millions of dollars it obtained through its affiliation with a school-improvement foundation created by late Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg.

Back in April, after Hillary tried to link Obama to Ayers, Obama said he hardly knew him. But last week Rush Limbaugh compared Ayers to McVeigh on his radio show and the media begin to check out Bill Ayers past. Because the Obama-Ayers relationship made even some moderates a little nervous, Obama issued this statement:

"The gentleman in question, Bill Ayers, is a college professor, teaches education at the University of Illinois," he said. "That's how I met him -- working on a school reform project that was funded by an ambassador and very close friend of Ronald Reagan's" along with "a bunch of conservative businessmen and civic leaders." "Ultimately, I ended up learning about the fact that he had engaged in this reprehensible act forty years ago, but I was eight years old at the time and I assumed that he had been rehabilitated," Obama said.

There are three things wrong with Obama’s statement. First, Ayers is a legend in Chicago and if Obama is just now learning about Ayers’ terrorist past, he is too naïve to be President. Second, he is using the same excuse he used when confronted with Rev. Wright’s radical views- “I was never there when they said those things.” That is just not plausible or creditable. And third, you never assume anything if you are using good judgment.

For the record, Ayers has not been “rehabilitated,” and is not remorseful about the bombings. In fact, he says, "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough", and, when asked if he would "do it all again," he says, "I don't want to discount the possibility."

If John McCain had held a fundraiser at Timothy McVeigh’s house, the news media would be right to be all over it. While no one is guilty solely by association, where a candidate’s support comes from reveals their views, opinions and judgment. Remember the idiom, “birds of a feather flock together?” In this case, the birds are dirty ones.

JUDGE ORDERS OBAMA TO PRODUCE BIRTH CERTIFICATE
By Jon Christian Dryer
October 3, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

On September 29, 2008 US District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick, the federal magistrate for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in the matter of Philip J. Berg vs Barack Hussein Obama, et al as the world was distracted by the $700 billion subprime mortgage crisis. Obama signed a breathe of relief as the mainstream media chose to ignore the question: 'Can Senator Barack Hussein Obama legally seek the office of President of the United States? Read more about this story at: http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2008cv04083/281573/13/

Weekly Opinion/Editorial

CHOOSE WISELY GRASSHOPPER!
By Steve Fair

Four weeks from now, it will be over. The 2008 General Election will be in the past. We will have elected a new President or perhaps not. According to several political pundits, a tie in the Electoral College could result this year. The country is pretty evenly divided. On Fox News Sunday, Karl Rove said, “thirty nine state polls released in the first three days of October have given Barrack Obama his first lead over the magic number of 270 since mid-July. Minnesota and New Hampshire both moved from toss-up to Obama, giving him 273 electoral votes to McCain’s 163, with `02 votes remaining as a toss-up.” Rove went on to say, “This race is susceptible to rapid changes, so no definite prediction is possible.”

In a very possible scenario, John McCain could win Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Ohio, but lose Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa to Obama. That would give each candidate 269 electoral votes. What happens then?

Under the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives would then decide the election when it meets in January, with each state getting one vote- no matter its size- to break the tie. Democrats have the majority of Representatives in twenty-seven states; Republicans twenty-one and two states are equal. Most likely, if the electoral vote were tied, Obama would become President, but that’s not a certainty.

Obama and McCain could lobby the Electoral College voters to switch their support. Twenty-four states have laws that bind their electors to the results of the general election, but twenty-six do not. That means an elector could switch- it’s happened before, but never when it affected the outcome of an election.

The US Senate picks the Vice President if there is a tie. It’s possible the House could pick McCain and the Senate Biden. If the House has not made up their mind by January 20th when President Bush leaves office, the Vice President selected by the Senate could serve as President until the House decides who the President is. In a very scary scenario, House Speaker Nancy Peolsi could become “acting” President if neither chamber decides before January 20th, but she would have to resign as speaker.

The last time the US House decided a Presidential election was in 1824 when John Quincy Adams was named the President. His opponent who would later become President- Andrew Jackson had gotten ten percent more of the popular vote than Adams, but did not get a majority of the electoral vote because there were four candidates in the race. When the race was thrown in the House of Representatives, thirteen sided with Adams and only seven with Jackson. One of the four candidates was Henry Clay, the sitting Speaker of the House. Only the top three candidates in the electoral vote are to be considered by the House and Clay had finished fourth.

Clay detested Andrew Jackson and had said of him, “I cannot believe that killing 2,500 Englishmen at New Orleans qualifies him for the various difficult and complicated duties of President.” Clay was also an ally of Adams, so he threw his support to him. For his loyalty, he was named Secretary of State. All of the Presidents prior to 1828 had been Secretary of State, so Jackson claimed the two had made a “Corrupt Bargain.” Jackson claimed being the SOS would give Clay a leg up in the 1828 election. Old Hickory was elected in 1828 using the strategy that Clay had made a “corrupt bargain.”

Fast forward 184 years and we could have a similar situation. It’s not likely the 2008 election will result in a tie, but it could happen. The country is evenly divided. Obama and Pelosi could arrange another “corrupt bargain.”

The next four weeks will be very interesting. If Obama is able to keep his supporters energized and the “perceived” terrible state of the economy in the news, he will likely be President.

If calm is restored and people make their decision based on the facts and vote for the candidate who is the most qualified, John McCain will be elected. Rest assured the difference in leadership and vision between these two candidates is dramatically different. Not since Nixon and McGovern have we had such a dramatic difference in political philosophy between two Presidential candidates

In years past, there was a TV show called Kung Fu about a Shaolin priest named Chang Caine who was living in the old west. When Caine had to make an important decision, he would flashback to his training as a young child with his mentors Po and Kan. Po, who affectionately called Caine “grasshopper”, would often tell him- “Choose wisely grasshopper.” Americans would be well advised to take Po’s advice on November 4th.