Ok, I don't want this Barry's adventures blog to become exclusively political, but there are times when it is necessary to stand up and say...this just isn't right. My last entry was well received by most everyone on my list except for a couple of people that tend to lean towards a very liberal political slant. I know my liberal readers are not going to like this because it exposes one their candidates, and they will probably close their eyes and cover their ears and start chanting Lalalalalala....but if you don't see this for yourself, you might not believe it. In fact, one or two of my liberal readers will see the photo and STILL not believe it, and I will be accused of being one-sided and close-minded and not capable of seeing the truth or the facts. Here it goes....recently, a number of presidential candidates were in Iowa on the campaign trail. Everyone stood to their feet, put their hand over their heart for the National Anthem and said the Pledge while facing the American flag....except for one man, Senator Barack Hussein Obama, who refused to say the pledge and put his hand over his heart. Just behind Obama was Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin, who all showed respect for our country and the American flag. I personally think Mr. Obama is very articulate, but he doesn't seem to be very patriotic or respectful of our national pledge. What do you think? Is this a person we want to be President of the United States?
9 comments:
The Senator Barack Obama from the great State of Illinois is showing one of the highest forms of honor and respect found in some countries. In my many travels around this wonderful world, observing the sad truth of a world plagued by the climate in crisis, I have seen many people cupping their hands over what they hold most sacred as a form of such honor. I applaud Senator Obama for following the beat of his own drum. I personally would always hold my hand over my heart in my form of expression for my love for our Country, people and planet.
Al
http://www.algore.com/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/index.html
My sweet darling,
I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you before now. I've been in St. Louis for the last nine days at Devin's wedding. It was absolutely spectacular. Now that I'm back home and things are getting closer to normal I can get back to a few of my e-mails.
So, I looked at your picture. Not shocked. Not appalled. Not affected. You wanna hear me say the Democrats are a bunch of losers? The Democrats are a bunch of losers. But in all fairness, and it must be said, so are your beloved Republicans. I'm telling you, lovie, the US is screwed. Civilizations are born, they live, they decline, and they die. I believe America is on the decline. You appear to agree with me on that--only you seem to think the blame lies solely with one party. I smack my forehead regularly with the antics of the Democrats. But I flat walked away from my career over No Child Left Behind, who blames teachers for the state of public education today, as if the problem was that we weren't "highly qualified" to do our jobs. What a coincidence: I don't believe George W. is highly qualified to do his job either, so I guess that makes us even. And I don't believe that the horse & pony lawyer he appointed to be in charge of FEMA was highly qualified to do his job either--case in point, Katrina. And I don't believe that whoever was giving George W. his information about weapons of mass destruction was highly qualified to do their jobs either, in hindsight. The Republicans have just as much responsibility over the state of our union as the Democrats. When you send me these warnings about how awful "my" party is, honey, I'M WITH YOU! YOU HAVE NO ARGUMENT FROM ME! But, right back at ya!
Now, so you don't worry too much about me, let me assure you of a couple things. First of all, I like being a Democrat because if I can vote in the primaries, I can spend one vote against Miss Hill. You're welcome. And just so you don't think I've completely lost my mind, I'm only considered "liberal" when I'm standing around with a bunch of conservatives. It may warm your heart to know that when I'm standing with a bunch of liberals, I'm considered quite conservative. Which only means I usually just piss everybody off. :) Can't be helped and don't much care.
Now, as for how I spend my energy on this planet, here it is. You can send me a gazillion e-mails warning me of the dangers of the Democratic agenda. Left-winged, liberal, Satanic, flag-burning, Jesus haters, and bleeding hearts going straight to hell. I am detached from it all, and here's why. In spite of the fact that I love my home and country with all my heart, I am an alien in this strange and foreign land. I only have a certain measure of energy, and I choose to spend it loving people--all people. People from this country--Republicans and Democrats alike, the informed and the deluded--as well as people NOT from this country.
There have been three prayers I have prayed that have revolutionized my life.
#1 God, You said we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So, what the heck does THAT mean? Show me.
#2 God, SHOCK me with how powerful You really are.
#3 God, help me understand You and Your relationship to this world on a more global level. Don't let me be narrow minded when it comes to Your opinions about this world. Help me to be unaffected by the thoughts of men and completely saturated in the thoughts of God.
So, here's what happened.
#1 My minds been so renewed it's hard to find people who relate to me. What a journey this has been, though. Wouldn't trade it for the world.
#2 I'm flat shocked. I'm awed. He's impressive, let me tell you.
#3 This, like the previous two, is a work in progress. My heart continues to be stretched in compassion for all people regardless of citizenship, gender, age, ability, orientation, political party or religious affiliation. I share in the suffering of all humankind and rejoice in every victory. I don’t believe God loves me more or chose me over some little Buddhist guy standing in a rice paddy in China simply because I ‘m a white chick born in the Western Hemisphere, specifically on American soil, within an eight mile radius of an Assemblies of God church.
I don't get bogged down by the media, news reports, political views, debates, or popularity polls. The headlines can read however they like. This world is not my home, America will pass away with the rest of the earth, and God be praised, I'm just a-passin' through. What is critical to me is simply how I have spread the love of Christ to everyone He's brought into my life, and how effectively I have followed His example. I didn't witness Christ running around warning everybody about the political agendas of the Romans or the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Zealots. I witnessed Him, for the most part, feeding people and healing them and handing out zinging one-liners, and following a line of thinking so foreign, even to His disciples, that it revolutionized the world. It has certainly revolutionized me. I just don’t have the time or energy to get my panties in a wad over every assanine thing that politicians do. I can’t police them because I can’t friggin’ keep UP!
I have to admit that I've had to let go of the peer pressure that is so prevalent in the church to "think" a certain way. I look at every issue from as many perspectives as possible--certainly not something the church is too fond of. This kind of reasoning also does not occur very often in this country, and it is to our detriment, and ultimately, our peril. Republicans summarily reject ANYTHING a Democrat says simply because the person who said it is in the opposing party. The opposite is true as well. We reject each other before the opinion is even expressed. That’s just ignorant! We don't stop to consider whether or not the opinion has merit. From this, there is no compromise and, thus, no resolution. Ever hear "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" Have you ever heard, "Listen to your enemies--they are half right." And, Barry, it's your turn not to get mad at me. I have to wonder if you fall into this category. I have to ask if there's anything that the modern-day Democrats have said or done that has merit in your eyes? Or is everything they say so irritatingly ludicrous that you reject it in a knee-jerk reaction? You said on your blog that you, "...will be accused of being one-sided and close-minded and not capable of seeing the truth or the facts" by the liberals who disagree with you. But isn't that what you think of us? If we don't pick up what you're laying down, my friend, aren't we being one-sided and close-minded and incapable of seeing the truth or the facts? We're the ones you said would shut our eyes and put our hands over our ears and chant, "Lalalalalala!" I, for one, have my eyes wide open, along with my ears, and I'm chanting, "We're screwed, people! We are majorly, possibly irrepairably SCREWED!" And what lends itself more than anything else to our inevitable and impending demise is that EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR EYES CLOSED, HANDS OVER THEIR EARS, AND CHANTING LALALALALALA! You're doing it by warning everybody to summarily reject anything that comes from a Democrat, simply because they're a Democrat. In a nutshell, Barry, we've got a "pot/kettle" situation here that you don't seem to recognize. Remember now, you’re not allowed to be mad at me. :)
I'm in a funky place. I'm intelligent. I love my country. I'm a Democrat. My Dem-friends point at me and say I'm conservative. My conservative friends like you think I've flipped my lid.
So, I'll just be over here making lasagnas for people who are caring for a sick loved one. And I'll be over here taking care of their children and cleaning their houses. I'll be teaching kids and loving on them the best I can. I'll be loving the Mormons and all the gay people, and even the Republicans. I'll probably vote once in a while, even though I think it's a waste of my time half the time, but I do it because I can and I'm at least grateful to be able to. I'll be over here raising my son and my husband and making sure we contribute to our world, our WHOLE world, as best we can. And when the world ends, darling, it ends. And I'll begin the next phase of my existence: hanging out in Heaven, watching Sean-Martin flyfish. Sipping on a pina-colada, knowing that all the calories and transfats will never end up on my butt. I'll sit on the beach under the Light of the Son, writing away on my iMac with a battery that lasts forever. Next to Geoffrey and Oprah Winfrey. God love their hearts. I just love those two. If Obama was ever President, I probably won't recall. And Lord knows my sweet Jesus will wipe all recollection of George W. and the last eight years from my mind. He is a good God, after all.
I think I'd like to post our dialogue on both our blogs. Of course, you may edit or delete whatever you like.
One more thing, Barry. Regardless of our differences, I love you truly. When I posted a blog that came from great frustration, you were one of the people who actually called my house to make sure I was doing alright. You wanted to hear my voice. I don't forget things like that. I know your heart is filled with compassion and the very best of intentions for me. I may or may not respond like this to every blog posting of yours, but I will absolutely check in when I can if I am still welcome. After all, if I chased down the Democrats over every stupid thing they did, I would need to be on Prozac before long. And, gosh, there'd just be no time LEFT to chase down the Republicans, would there?
I love you, my brotha. Spend your time and energy on this earth how you see fit. I’ll do the same.
Your bleeding-heart sista,
Daisy
Amen Christian (Daisy)!
You're looking at the big picture! We are loved by God, even democrat senators and presidential candidates are loved by God and the big question is how are WE showing that Godly love to each other? Are we carrying out the Great Commission? Are we telling others about Jesus? You're absolutely right that this world will pass away so what does it all matter? I think it was Felicia from Vanguards in a bus to a singing gig we were doing that said, "It's all going to burn". We are so fortunate to live in this country and I have traveled all over this world from Africa, to India, all over Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico and Japan, and we really have a wonderful country because WE the people can have an influence in choosing our leaders, and we the people can make a difference in our country. This is so unique world-wide, and I believe we live in the greatest country in the world. That greatness is starting to dwindle however. We the people are being taxed more now than ever, there are thousands of taxes that didn't exist 100 years ago, and back then our economy exploded. We were once a country that was very patriotic and very proud to be an American. When I look at the republican party and the democrat party, I probably see something totally different than you, because I am looking from a historical point of view back to the days when our country just began, thru to the mid to late 1800's and then thru history to now. Historically, the democrat party has had a bad wrap because of the crazy things they stood for. For example, historically speaking, it was the democrats that fought hard to keep slavery in America and the Republicans who fought to abolish such a horrible practice. If you look at who the democrats side with today, ridiculous organizations like moveon.org and the ACLU it's unconscionable that anyone who loves God would support a candidate or party that is so interconnected with these organizations. These organizations by the way, hate Christians, they hate the fact that our country was founded on Biblical values, they are trying to remove God from our society, our money, and our heritage. The moveon.org organization was originally put together immediately after President Bush became president, with the sole purpose to express how much they HATE President Bush. When you have an organization that is based on hatred shouldn't we as Christians be concerned? Speaking of President Bush, I have had the privilege and honor of meeting George W Bush on two occasions and I happen to know that he is a strong Christian, he spends a lot of time on his knees in prayer, especially when it comes to major presidential decisions he must make. He is well known among the staff in the whitehouse to be highly respectful of the office he holds, and he carries a sense of dignity and respect in the oval office. I also know for a fact that although he doesn't come across this way on television, he's very intelligent, he absolutely loves this country and wants to do what's right...not necessarily what's popular. Even Diane Feinstein, the California Senator was impressed by President Bush when she met him in-person recently. The democrats, and the media have demonized GW from day one, they have slandered, smeared, discredited, and flat out lied about GW and obviously from your comments, their rhetoric has worked, because you seem to have a low opinion of our President. Even in the recent Democrat debate, you would think the democrats were running against GW because they mentioned how horrible he is numerous times (do you see a trend here?). If you hear something negative about a person no matter if it's true or not, over and over again, eventually you will start to believe the lies and smears. GW has not had an easy period in our history to be President with the attack on America during 9/11. He was President for only a short time in the whitehouse, and when 9/11 hit, guess who was blamed for that terrorist attack? Now I'm not saying that republicans are squeaky-clean, but the fundamental differences in the two parties are so vast....I choose the lesser of two evils.
As Christians living in America, we have the great opportunity to have an influence over our leadership and WE get to pick our next leader (president). It is vitally important that we are responsible as Christians to choose a leader that is going to lean more towards our Christian, Biblical values, not who's more popular, not who's the underdog, not who's smarter, not who's the best looking, but which candidate will carry OUR values as Christians to the whitehouse and best represent OUR Christian values. The reason for this is that the United States of America, contrary to what moveon.org or the ACLU promotes, was founded and based on Christian and Biblical values and we need a leader that is not only well qualified, but who will embrace the origins of this great nation, and help us as a country to come together and solve the day-today issues we the people deal with. Look at what moveon.org stands for. Look at the ACLU and what they stand for. Now look at which "candidate" is going to have the values that are the furthest from these two organizations. If a democrat has the values furthest away from moveon.org and the ACLU then that's my candidate, but unfortunately, this is the democrat's base in which they are basically driven by. I haven't chosen a candidate yet, but I will vote for the candidate that best carries my values as a Christian. This is the reason I speak out on my blog....because people need to know who the candidates are and what they stand for. GW has certainly made some mistakes, but I happen to know first-hand that he is genuine, and he's a good man...not the lier the media and the democrats make him out to be.
By the way....I didn't get an invitation to Devin's wedding darnit! How did it go? I'd love to hear more about it. Were there any other SCC people there? Do you have any pictures? I bet he's very happy!
Christian, I hope you don't think I got something stuck up my butt with all this. I really enjoyed your response, and I certainly don't think any less of you.....I want you to know that specifically. Hey by the way, I am working on getting a book published that I wrote a few years ago and just recently fine-tuned it. It's about the Titanic and how the story of Titanic parallels the life we live. It's an evangelistic book that is written to lead people to Jesus.
I'm at work, I better start to get things done around here.
Barry
I wanted to get to the bottom of this photo to learn the truth, so I called the Barack Obama headquarters to inquire about this particular issue and he sent me a letter which I will post below. I believe in finding the truth, and because I posted this on my blog I felt it was important to follow-up and get the truth right from the horses mouth (so to speak). Even though I do not agree with the political positions Mr. Obama holds, I think it's important that my readers know the truth about this issue out of respect for Mr. Obama. I believe what Mr. Obama wrote to me, however, he didn't exactly address specifically why he didn't appear to be participating in the Pledge and National Anthem from the photo that has been circulating. To be fair and balanced, Below is the letter from Mr. Obama:
Dear Barry,
Thank you for inquiring about the false accusation that I have refused to sing the National Anthem or say the Pledge of Allegiance. I knew when I decided to run for President that I would not be immune from the "anything goes" form of attack politics that has been so prominent in our elections in recent years.
And this outrageous charge is just another example of the kind of mean spirited, "shock" politics I will move beyond as President.
I am honored to lead a life of public service, and it is inconceivable that I would ever refuse to say the Pledge or sing the National Anthem. In fact, as a U.S. senator, I am sometimes called upon to preside over the opening of the Senate in the morning, at which time I am proud to lead my colleagues in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, with my right hand over my heart. Anybody
who doesn't believe in the Pledge shouldn’t be running for President.
Every time I have been elected or reelected to the Illinois Senate and the United States Senate, I have proudly raised my right hand, placed my left hand on the Bible and sworn to “support and defend the Constitution of the United
States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” And I will be proud to take the Presidential Oath of office on January 20, 2009.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please share this message with anyone you know who has been misled by this baseless and particularly hurtful political
attack.
Sincerly,
Barack Obama
BOO YA! You know I"m giggling right now. I'm voting for him, dude! Ha!
Love,
Daisy
PS...
GET OBAMA TO POST ON MY BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, I'm a little late to this thread, but I thought Daisy had some interesting comments, especially here:
"The Democrats are a bunch of losers. But in all fairness, and it must be said, so are your beloved Republicans. I'm telling you, lovie, the US is screwed. Civilizations are born, they live, they decline, and they die. I believe America is on the decline."
Oddly and unfortunately enough, I think she's on to something. Has anyone here read Pat Buchanan's new book? I have not read it, but it sounds like he has basically said the same thing. Pat is coming from a conservative perspective, as am I. He basically says that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have, over the last several years, made a lot of mistakes contributing to the decline of America.
Sorry I'm so late to this this topic, but I wanted to respond to the lovely and talented Daisy because I actually think she's on the right track here:
"The Democrats are a bunch of losers. But in all fairness, and it must be said, so are your beloved Republicans. I'm telling you, lovie, the US is screwed. Civilizations are born, they live, they decline, and they die. I believe America is on the decline. You appear to agree with me on that--only you seem to think the blame lies solely with one party."
I also think America is on the decline in different areas and I am a conservative. Has anyone here read Pat Buchanan's latest book? I have not because it just came out, but I plan to. From reading the reviews, and from reading other books by him, he basically says the same thing: America is on a decline from BOTH the Democrats and the Republicans. I think Pat is one of the few guys willing to be honest and take a look at both parties and say they both have problems instead of just being a cheerleader for whatever party you decide to be with.
Oops, I didn't give any examples. One thing that Buchanan likes to point out is how destructive NAFTA and GATT and high taxes have been to our economy. Ross Perot was right on in the early 90's when he predicted that NAFTA would take a lot of good paying jobs out of the US because companies would rather pay a person in a poorer nation .50 an hour to manufacture goods than to pay an American 20.50 an hour. Not always, but generally speaking, Republicans have often stood at least for lower taxes, but it was both Republicans and Democrats that pushed through NAFTA. And what about the American Union? Most people have never even heard of that yet, but some people think this will be another regional governmental group that will further blur the boundaries and turn America more into a poorer country.
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