I am getting real tired of being labeled as a battleground state. Why you ask? Well, could it be the campaign TV spots that are being run every 2.3 seconds on every channel during the entire day? YES. Oh, and did I mention that most of the commercial spots I see are for Grampy's campaign? Now, he's got Succuby with him on those ads and it makes me ill. I tend to turn the channel when those ads come on, only to stop at a channel where the next commercial they show is for Grampy again....different ad, same crazy old man. What's interesting about where I live by the way, is that most people do not put those crazy campaign signs on their front lawn. Not that I have anything against them, but no one has them out. Are they afraid to show their loyalty? Are they afraid their neighbors will look down on them if they advertise their political loyalty? God, I hope not. Aren't we a country where all voices matter? Oh wait...I guess not. What am I saying?

I don't have a sign out, but then again, I am cheap. I have looked on the Obama website and have thought about financially supporting his campaign through buying some swag and such. I looked at a lawn sign, but with S&H all the way to my home, it's around $15 total. Not that 15 bucks will break the bank, but seriously! Maybe with the 15 bucks I would have spent on a BO lawn sign, I could buy a case of Old Milwaukee beer, drink it all, and paint my own McSane signs for my neighbors. This presupposes they have a sense of humor about being "drunk signed" on their front lawn. Would look mighty nice on some of the million plus homes just west of me, on the other side of the tracks! Signs like "Muck FcCain," "Pukey Palin," or "My donkey can kick your elephant's ass!" I would rather put political foot to ass this way, albeit in a crude unbelievable way, than put out some lame lawn sign that sticks out like a sore thumb. I want to see political signs which break the proverbial thumb altogether, and offers a different finger in its place! More later...

I continue to ponder her majesty's speech the other night, and how intestinally disturbed I continue to be by it. Actually, I don't lose much sleep, because unlike the Republican party, I have faith in this country and in the people who occupy it to see through the slant, the smoke, to see the wizard behind the curtain actually working the machine of lies and deception for votes. I have faith that people will vote for change because they deserve it, desire it, want it, and need it.

As I watched Grampy McSane last night talk about really nothing but that which plays fear into the American conscience, I got a sense that he really is an empty shell of a leader. I heard nothing last night that remotely makes me feel any shred of confidence in his ability to run a country, much less ours. I intentionally listened for any agenda that he might have to help bring the country back to focus. All I heard was a shallow remark about doing it, and not really how he was going to do it. Just ask my wife what she thought when he touched on education. He wants to put the schools back into the hands of the administrators and parents. My wife mentioned that's code language for keeping the schools aligned with no child left behind and letting that serve as accountability for parents and administrations. My wife is so smart. Again, I heard about his time in Hanoi. I get that. Many men went to Vietnam because they had to, many went because they wanted to. Many did not come home. Many spent time behind bars as a POW. And that was terrible and awful, and no human being should be subjected to that kind of inhumane treatment. I get that. But stop using that as justification for your qualification. Stop running on that, because it somehow makes McSane look like a martyr, and I am not about to believe he could ever achieve that on his own.

I continue in my own life try to be a solid leader in what I do. I am learning the process and trying to be aware of my own growth and improvement. I try to learn as I go, and at times, I have not always gotten it right. So as one who has read about, gone to conferences for, and tries to practice it, I can see an unqualified leader in McSane...he is not right for THIS job. He might be right to be a senator. Obviously, some people like him. But, what I heard, and what I will most like hear again and again, are affirmations as to why he is not right for the job, and why my vote will go to someone else.

Oh, returning back to her majesty...I leave you with a quote from a friend of mine who stole it from a friend of his (thanks Jay). When Palin was jabbing BO the other night about his community organizing skills and such, she failed to realize the following about her position compared to another well know governor. Think about it:

"Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor."

And we all know what happened to Jesus after he met with Pontius Pilate. Pilate wiped his hands clean of the people's cries for redemption, and sent Jesus to his death. Might Palin do the same to this country if given the chance? I think she and McSane would crucify the hell out America and leave us for the dogs who wait for us to die a slow and painful death. I guarantee, this GOP ticket will kill this country for a generation or better. Course, we realize that Jesus was resurrected in three days. I wonder how long it would take for this country to resurrect itself after Grampy and Succuby kill it? Not three days. Only God is capable of raising the dead. And if our country dies, maybe even God himself will take a step back so that we learn how to raise this country with each other, and with the world as our network of friends, allies, and hope. Maybe we as a country need to be taught that lesson before we can ever appreciate what a God-given resurrection ever does.

More later...

McSane & the former Succubus

I am back, and am going to start posting regularly again since I took a hiatus from inviting you into the recesses of my mind...scary I know. So, I want to blog about something that has been burning within me for this week.

If you are like me, you have been watching with baited breath the dichotomy between the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. It's been very eye opening to see the stark contrast between the two events. In fact, this whole election so far has been polorizingly different extremes. You have one candidate that offers change and hope, and the other, well...he is a fear inducing veteran who continues to remind the American people just how rough he had it in the Hanoi Hilton. Well, you know just because you are a veteran, does not make you the best qualified person for the job. What it proves is an overzealous sense of militarism and patriotism. Makes anyone with an arm reach for a sick bag so they can fill the damn thing.

Now, my first impression of the RNC is all the empty seats in the arena. Look at the DNC....pretty much standing room only at that venue. When cameras scan back to reveal the emptiness of the arena, it's almost as if it relates well to the messages themselves spoken from the floor of that place. AND, does anyone see any striking diversity among the throngs of mostly white people? I don't. Well, ok, I see the occasional token black veteran, but can anyone see the difference between the diversity of people who were at the DNC compared to this circus known as the RNC? I mean, being from North Dakota, I can see the pale skinned resemblances I am used to, dotting the floor of the arena holding their signs up as if they will magically inspire me to come to the dark side. In fact, seeing such moronic advertising reaffirms why I am backing BO and JB.

Let's take Sarah Palin on for a second. It seems that career driven, power brokering, and politically backwoods, Red Man chewing women now have a hero. I am glad that she is a lifetime member of the NRA. That's alright. I am a member too. But, the difference between her and I is that, she actually believes in the political posturing the NRA attempts to provide for gun toting, rootin tootin shootin Americans. Me, I like to go and shoot rounds through paper plates with a 38 Special or a 9mm Glock. Maybe I like the challenge. Oh, and the NRA membership I have? It was a gift given to me. I am not sure I would pay for one to be honest. Anyway, I was appalled and shocked as the majority of Americans to hear that Grampy McSane had chosen Sarah Palin as his VP choice. Strange choice it is. It's like going to Wal-Mart, going to the pet section where all the fish tanks are, looking at the thousands of tiny goldfish swimming around, and telling the nice salesperson, you want that the orange one. Of all the viable candidates he could have chosen, he chooses this strange, unknown, awkward overextended mother of 5.

Now, I could care less if she's a mom or not. Nor could I care less about her NRA membership, or her former affiliation with a group that wanted to secede Alaska from the rest of the states. Nor do I care if she was mayor of a town of 8000. Nor do I care if she won the Governor of AK job by about 17k votes. Heck how many people are actually residents of AK that are close to a voting place? Figures right? Nor do I care that she is a former Roman Catholic (a recovering Catholic I call her or anyone who have left the RC church on account of reason alone) who is now a card carrying Pentecostal with strong roots to the Assembly of God denomination. It is widely known that she tends to know just what God's will really is as she plainly stated at her home church recently, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built." Now, I am an ordained pastor and I don't even know God's will, nor do I suggest to know it, nor do I hint at it. I tend to realize that God is God and that's the way He prefers it. Nor do I think it ironic given her "Bible-believing" faith that she is an outright supporter of capital punishment. Hmmm...which looked at through the lens of faith, one has to ask, what does it cost our own sense of life when we are willing to take it as justification. Nor do I think that her stance on sex-education of which she supports abstinence only is any cause to be alarmed since we all know just how well that talk went considering her 17 year old daughter really didn't know what a condom was. Nor do I think it strange that only 3 days after giving birth to her second son this past April, did she feel the need to go back to work...you know, to govern the space that is Alaska. Nor do I care that her husband is a man's man, racing snowmobiles and hunting Reindeer. In fact, I bet he makes a mean deer sausage.

But, I do care about what qualifies her to be the next Vice President of our nation. You know the position I am talking about, that is, if Grampy McSane dies in office, that she takes the hot seat?!?! My God. What the hell was he thinking? What because she was a PTA organizer, the mayor of a small village, mother of five, and an infant governor of Alaska? Those are the qualifications of a VP? Yes, she is not a part of the DC elite...hell, I wouldn't want that type of person either. But, she has no track record to prove her competence of governance or GOVERNMENT to speak of. I want to know that if our president dies or is removed from office, we can be confident in the number two choice. It seems that the Repubs have really screwed this up since both Bushes took office. Why do they pick these out of touch, power driven people who could possibly run the country? What are they thinking?

Well, it seems they do not think for one. The Repubs run on fear...they control it, they broker it, they buy it, they sell it, and they have national conventions with speeches that are driven by it. And what it remarkable to me after watching Palin speak last night, was that she is lock stock and barrel, a part of that fear machine. She buys into it, she promotes it, and she tries to prove how in touch and tough she can be when it needs to be defeated. Oh, I love how she mentioned that BO had not mentioned once the word "victory" other than in relation to his own campaign. Well, let's be honest Mommy Dearest, there needs to be a fight with two clear cut opponents to garnish a victory. There is no war to be victorious about. This has not been about defeating an enemy in the right place. This war has been about defeating an enemy to fulfill some kind of agenda that the Bush machine drafted day one of the administration. In Iraq, there is no enemy to be victorious over. Go where we need to be, and start there. Victory? Victory for what and for whom? We as a nation? Because all I have heard is how many bodies we bring home to be buried all in the name of "freedom." Freedom and victory? Sarah Palin, you ask the mothers and fathers of those who had to bury their sons and daughters if the non-negotiable terms of freedom and victory are worth dying for? I bet, you would get a sobering answer that would wipe the smile off your face causing you to take back any frivolous use of the word victory of which you know nothing about.

This election is going to get interesting real fast. Watch for the spin, watch for the language, and watch for the tactics of the Repubs. They will work Palin as the female savior the Republican Party that will try and win votes to their side. That is the only reason they asked her to be the VP candidate...it somehow lures former Hillary supporters because she is a woman. Actually, she is another empty pantsuit like Hillary, but that's for another blog. More later...