I have been waiting to write about Joe the plumber because I wanted to see his reaction to his new found fame. Was Joe really just your average, every-day working man? Well I am very happy to say that he certainly is. He has handled the onslaught of the democratic search and destroy party with class. He has even campaigned for John McCain in what I believe is a brilliant move by the repubs. His story IS the American dream. His story is my story, my Dad’s story, and the guy next door’s story. Joe’s question to Obama on that fateful day was whether or not the Obama tax plan will raise his taxes in the event that he decides to buy the plumbing business where he has been working. And the answer that Obama gave was an example of one of the major differences between the two candidates. Obama said that while he doesn’t wish to punish Joe for his success, he does want to make sure that the guy BEHIND Joe also has the same opportunity for success that Joe does. Obama also said he thinks it is better if we spread the wealth around. With those few words Obama drove home to every American just what his vision is for America. And here is my rebuttal to Mr. Obama:

Sir, Joe the plumber did not get to be where he is by any government program, stipend, tax rebate, or any other free handout. Joe, like millions of other Americans, got up in the morning, went to work, did his best to learn his trade, and gained experience working in the his industry. Now Joe’s boss is considering selling his business and Joe, through hard work, is in a position to better himself and his family. That is how Joe the plumber, Mike the roofer, Bob the electrician, Mary the construction worker, etc all got to their respective places in their jobs/careers. Nobody came along and HANDED it to them for free. It doesn’t work that way in America.

Mr. Obama, you said you wanted to make sure the guy behind Joe has the same chance as Joe to succeed. My advice (which I have passed down to my own kids and which I had received from my Dad) to the guy behind Joe is this: If you have experience, find a plumbing company that is hiring (perhaps Joe’s if he doesn’t get taxed too high and can’t afford to hire new people) and go to work every day. Do your best in your work. Work hard and learn your craft to the best of your ability. If you do not have experience, stay in school and train in your field. For IF you work hard and IF you do your best, you will be rewarded. And down the line when Joe is ready to retire or sell his business YOU will be the guy behind Joe ready to take over and be the next American success story.

You see, Mr Obama, this nation was built with the sweat and determination of serious people. My Grandfather was an immigrant who came to this country with nothing. He told my father to study hard in school, speak english (even if my Grandfather struggled with it himself), work hard at your job, and NEVER, EVER accept hand-outs from anyone. And always, always be proud of your country. This is my Italian Grandfather’s vision of America. And these are his values, the same values I have instilled in my own kids. This, Mr. Obama, is the United States of America that I am proud of. Not a society that expects the government to guarantee a place at the wealth table. The United States is the land of opportunity, Mr. Obama. The only caveat is you need to get off your butt and work hard to take advantage of that opportunity. Not feed off the government teet. God bless this greatest nation on earth.

The debates are over now. We are in the final stretch of the 2008 presidential campaign. The next few weeks we will decide just what kind of country we want to live in and pass down to our children and grandchildren. Do we want to live in a socialist country where wealth is determined by the government? Where you are taxed and punished for being successful? In 2004 I said that the election was the most important election of our time. I felt that way because of the very real threat of terrorism in the United States. We, as a country, made the right decision-barely. There has not been a successful terrorist attack on the U.S since 2001. There have been attacks that have been thwarted due to the hard work of our intelligence and law enforcement communities. Yet I am not naïve enough to believe we are completely safe. I am also aware that the enemies of this country will not attack now because that would directly impact the election. So you have to ask yourself why this is true. It is because our enemies know that John McCain will protect this country with greater determination and experience than Obama. And deep down every American believes this to be true as well.
When it comes to who you would trust to be open and honest with the American people, it is McCain again. Obama and his long list of excuses for the people he has chosen to associate himself with is a red flag as to his character and honesty. We all know the details concerning his church, his early political career, his mentors, his donations to ACORN and donations he received from Fannie. They all add up to someone who has been less than honest in explaining his connections with shady characters in and out of government. Where he has been honest is in the direction he wants to take our country. In this instance he has been upfront and obvious. He wants to play Robin Hood. He wants to take from the “rich” and give to the poor. Distribute the wealth in his words. Socialism. Which is why I think the 2008 elecion is even more important than 4 years ago.

Socialism: Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism by nature concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, and creates an unequal society. A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor.

Sound familiar? Doesn’t it sound exactly like Obama’s explanation to Joe, the plumber, as to why Joe needs to pay higher taxes if he buys the plumbing business he works for? History has taught us a painful lesson as to why it is an extremely bad idea to raise taxes during bad economic times. That lesson was the great depression of the 1930’s.

I still believe in the American people. I believe they are smart enough to see through the empty suit and the empty promises of Barack Obama. Socialism is not the principles that this country was founded on.

Tonight I will say an extra prayer that God blesses this country, as he has in our past times of trouble, and lead us away from this dangerous path that we face. God gives us all free will. I pray we use that gift to make the right choice on November 4th.

Short and sweet: I just heard on Beck tonight that as part of the F/F bailout package, every person who gets a morgage for $100,000 or more is REQUIRED to pay $400 that will be routed to ACORN and ACORN-like organizations! Unbelievable!!! How come this isn’t more widely known? It is an actual line item on your mortgage statement. I am utterly astounded. When did we lose control of our government?

I would like to see McCain bring along a copy of the chosen one’s autobiography to the debate tonight and read from the holy gospel according to Barack. There are passages in his book that would make even the most stalwart Obama supporter cringe. And the best part of all is BHO can’t say that it is lies being perpetuated by the vast RWC. It’s right there in his own words. Of course I am sure BHO has a logical explanation for that too. He will give a twenty minute dissertation that will make you forget just what the question was in the first place. But his answer will include “change and middle-class”, and references to “them” who are obviously the “them” that are out to smear his good name and detract from the real issues facing Americans today. Or some variation of all that blooey.

Let us sound the death knell for objective journalism in the MSM. It is dead. A moment of silence please. If McCain had just one of the many skeletons Obama has tucked away in his closet, he would have been driven out of the race before the primaries were over. Yet BHO just rides along on the free pass of the MSM. Here is just a small sample of BHO’s past. Let’s review the Obama lowlights:

• He has associated himself with racist clergymen and attended a radical
church that hates America, white America in particular, for most of
his adult life. These associations include not only the infamous
J. Wright, but also Rev Meeks (google this sorry excuse for a man of
the cloth). And let’s not forget the Catholic priest, Rev Pfleger,
and his Hillary rant. It made all of us who live in the Chicago area
so proud (especially us Catholics). Pfleger is also on record as
wanting to “snuff out” a gun shop owner in a Chicago suburb (nice talk
for a follower of Christ).

• When first elected to the Senate, his wife, who sits on the board of a
local hospital, had her salary doubled. Shortly thereafter that same
hospital received a nice stipend courtesy of the American taxpayers
and one Barack Obama. Just a coincidence I am sure.

• He is a close business partner of Tony Rezko. Mr. Rezko is on his way
to jail for a litany of financial felonies. The day that Obama bought
his house in Chicago a few years ago, Rezko bought the adjacent plot.
Apparently the price was a little too high for BHO so his good friend
Tony bought it for him. Just to be nice. I am sure there was no
other possible reason Mr. Rezko would do that for BHO and his family.
Give credit to BHO though, he admitted it was a “bonehead move”.
Ooops! silly Barack, isn’t he just a rascal?!

• And let’s not forget his ties to that great American, Bill Ayers. Mr.
Ayers was a member of the 60’s radical group the Weather Underground.
Those kooky kids really weren’t all that bad. They just blew up a
couple government buildings and killed a few innocent government
people who I am sure deserved it. I am also sure those weather
underground scamps did it while wearing their tie-dyed peace
t-shirts. Of course this all happened when Obama was a young child.
And even though Ayers has said recently he wished he could have done
more damage, and killed more innocent Americans, I am sure BHO doesn’t
see anything at all wrong with being friends with some “guy who lives
in his neighborhood”. Just a buddy. Well those extreme right-wingers
at CNN have dug up information that shows there is a much closer
relationship than BHO has previously stated. Does anyone find that
lie disturbing? Hello MSM? Are you there?

• Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines association. Sub-prime mortgage mess:
enough said.

• ACORN activist.

These are just a few examples of BHO’s past. This does not include his own admitted illegal drug use. He has a long history of bad decisions, bad behavior, questionable alliances, and associations with some of the most radical, criminal, and outright dangerous individuals not seen since Al Capone was running the streets of Chicago. And the MSM just ignores all of these facts about BHO. They look away or they downplay every single instance of his obvious bad judgment as just an innocent mistake or they categorize it as a republican campaign smear. We are but a few weeks away from electing our next President. How is it possible that this man, this incompetent dangerous man, is even being mentioned as a possibility, let alone the front-runner for this office? Have we lost our collective minds in this country? Apparently we have. And what is worse. I am afraid we may have also lost our soul.

I read this article (see link at the end of this diary) today and it made me angry, sad, worried, and frustrated to varying degrees. I cannot believe that this country has strayed so far from its values that we cannot recognize something that is truly evil. It shouldn’t matter whether you are white, black, brown, etc. It shouldn’t matter, also, if you are a conservative, liberal, or in-between. On this one issue there shouldn’t be any debate. And yet, unbelievably, there is. It is the issue of babies that are born alive following unsuccessful abortions and whether they deserve the same human rights that we all are guaranteed in the constitution. The answer is an obvious YES! End of story. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, this is NOT something that should be up for debate. And yet, as unbelievable as it sounds, the democrat nominee for president has voted not once, not twice, not even 3 times! No, Obama has voted 4 TIMES AGAINST legislation that would protect and guarantee babies, living breathing human beings, the right to medical care to save their lives. By virtue of his actions, Obama is not only pro-choice, he is NOW pro-death. As shocking and disgusting as it seems to be, his vote cannot be explained away or interpreted in any other way. And yet he wants me to trust him with my security and my family’s security should he become president? How can any thinking, caring, HUMAN BEING be so cold-hearted and so terribly misguided to vote this way? He must not have a soul to cast his vote this way and to deny a living, breathing baby medical care. As harsh as that sounds, there is no other way to explain his actions.

I am obviously a resident of Illinois. I live near the hospital that is mentioned in the article. I am saddened and sickened to know that this takes place in a Christian hospital. Where is our soul as a country? Why isn’t there more outrage on this particular topic? How can nearly half of the voters be seriously considering Obama as their next president? I fear for the future of our nation if this is indeed the direction and the “change” Obama wants and the liberal Dems are pushing for. I have blogged here, numerous times, about Obama’s public service legacy here in Illinois. How our unemployment is way above the national average and job creation is near the bottom compared to the other states. I have written about his ties with radical (racist) preachers, 60′s radical terrorists, and jailed business associates. How he is a product of the corruption that IS Illinois government. Yet, his vote on this topic I have found to be even more troubling. He is obviously a man with very serious issues when it comes to protecting human life. His actions, his past voting record, and his close association with people who hate our country (or hate people with certain skin pigmentation) should be setting off alarm bells all across this country. And yet, as I said before, nearly half of the voters in this country believe that this is the type of person they want as the next president of the U.S. Yes, I am very concerned for the future of this great country.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28631

While there are a lot of issues concerning Obama that can show him to be the empty suit that he is, I want to address in particualar the double standard in this race, when it comes down to race. The reality is this:

IF John McCain, or Sarah Palin belonged to a radical church for 21 YEARS that espoused the same kind of racist hatred, outrageous and dangerous lies, and unabashed disgust and contempt for this country, the kind of church that Obama attended (for 21 YEARS!!!), they would be CRUCIFIED in the MSM and every other kind of media in this country and most countries world-wide. The pastor of this so-called church that Obama attended, baptized Obama’s children! He also wrote the forward for Obama’s book. And he also is infamous in his well documented, public record of hatred for white people. He has sold DVD’s spewing his hatred. And yet it seeems that Obama gets a free pass on this. He has never answered, to my satisfaction anyway, why he was a very INVOLVED member of this church FOR 21 YEARS!!. Why did he appoint the pastor of this “church”, Jeremiah Wright, to a “spititual advisor” position on his own staff?

Racism does exist and it most certainly exists in the form of one Barack H. Obama. He hasn’t earned nor does he deserve a free pass from explaining this to the American public. It angers me that he trots out how he has been the vicitm of racist comments, when he has the most explaining to do when it comes down to his own racist past! He has a long track record of associating himself with people of dubious character (Wright, Ayers, Rezko, etc). 21 years is not a phase, or a momentary lack of judgement. It is a deliberate and chosen path that Obama took, with his wife and kids at his side. Is that what he teaches them at home? To hate your country? That white people are evil and should be damned? He is an absolute phony hypocrite with no resume, a history of questionable judgement, and a collection of friends the likes of which have not been seen in Chicago since the days of Al Capone. I implore the MSM, and every other media outlet to not give Obama this type of free ride. They certainly give no quarter to McCain or Palin. Why is there fear to expose this charlatan? I always thought, naively perhaps, that America was home to a free press. Another casualty of the leftist agenda I guess. I still hold out hope that Obama’s past will be shown and dissected under the same type of microscopic light that the McCain/Palin ticket has been under. But that hope fades a little every day.

Chevy Chase has commented that he liked the SNL skit about Palin but said it didn’t go far enough. He said he would like to see an encore where they “really decimate her” Typical comment from one of the Hollywooden heads. I guess he is a bitter man since his own career has gone down the drain. He hasn’t done anything worthwhile since he quit using drugs. If SNL is so cutting edge ike they fancy themselves to be, and willing to explore every taboo and so called “untouchable” subject, then why haven’t we seen a scathing skit about Obama? Why not decimate him? Who are they afraid of? They are very afraid of bucking hollywood’s obvious agenda of getting Obama elected. SNL used to be cutting edge. Now they, like Chase, have become an empty shell of what they once were and are both totally IRRELEVENT.

I see Barack Obama has a new ad criticizing McCain for not being a computer whiz. Which in itself is indicative of just how scattered his campaign has become. This is the big issue of the day? Make fun of his age? He has also found unflattering pictures of McCain from back in the 70′s. I have seen pictures of Obama in tribal head dress too. Some people might see that as somewhat silly. I myself have several pictures I would like to burn from the 70′s too. But I digress. There only needs to be one response to this ad- Barak Obama has mastered email. Good for him! John McCain is a military-trained pilot. He has flown multi-million dollar jet fighters in hostile environments. Which is harder to master technically? Enough said!

This is just another sad ad from the Democrats. What they STILL don’t realize is they are the ones who are out of touch. My parents, my in-laws, and even some of my brothers and sisters are still computer challenged. These are people who are CPA’s, Machinists, and successful business people. And they vote! So my advice to the democrats is this: Keep insulting older members of our society. Continue criticizing small town residents. Keep ridiculing fellow Americans because..I don’t know…because they aren’t “Cosmopolitan” enough (Thanks Rudy!). That’s my advice for the Democrats.

I logged in to the Dalykos web site to tweek all the Dems on the demise of the Obama campaign. I found their blog to be filled with disgusting references to McCain and Palin. I am proud of the Red Staters who blog here regularly. I have read some of the most well thought-out blogs on this site. I have yet to read a blog here that references the anatomy of either Obama or Biden. The Dkos blog is disgusting. I would have loved to debate the clowns there but it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I am not a prude, but the site is disgusting. I will not log on there again. Too disgusting. They can’t argue intelligently so they act like immature high-schoolers and indulge in name calling (and I apologize to most immature High schoolers for including them). Absolutely no class.

I noticed the Obama camp has once again attacked small-town America. How come the candidate of change who says he will unite all people, derives pleasure in attacking certain groups and citizens in this country? Remember his attack on small town America saying they are simply misguided people who cling to religion and guns? Nice stereotype Barry. I would think he would be sensitive to stereotyping. I guess not. Obama is just another Dem politician spewing his socialistic policies.

P.S. Poor Hillary. Shown up by the other woman- again!

I just got through watching Sen. Boxter on Fox News. She called McCain a radical because he is pro-life. I think I am going to send Boxter a copy of the Declaration of Independence. I will highlight, in red in case she hasn’t read this document before, the exact quote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. I guess in many people’s mind the framers and authors of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were radicals. Being pro-life, pro-constitution is a radical idea from a democratic point of view so I can understand her confusion. Those pesky bill of rights do seem to get in the way don’t they? She also went on to say that “they” whoever “they” are, have pictures of John McCain kissing George Bush! How sad is that? This coming from a party that just 4 years ago had a Vice President on their ticket who is now cheating on his wife, while she battles a terminal disease, and having illegitimate children with his adulterer. And yes Senator Boxter- WE ALL HAVE SEEN THOSE PICTURES.

**Greetings,

This is my inaugural diary entry. A fitting occasion as we sit and enjoy the Democrats fight and squabble amongst each other. I commented to my son that I thought Obama made a mistake by not giving Hillary an obligatory meeting. I thought a smart move would be to have given Hillary a token look for VP. There is still a lot of hostility in the Clinton camp. I was watching Fox news interview a member of PUMA-Party Unity My Ass. Lends credence to the old adage- Nature knows no fury as a woman scorned. Especially when her name is Hillary. The PUMA people has delusions of Hillary being the candidate-still! Hillary would love another run at Obama in four years. Which is why she is secretly enjoying the friction between her supporters and the Obama camp. Should Obama beat McCain (that just gave me a chill!) she knows she will have to wait 8 years before she can run again. By that time this country will be wise to the left agenda.

One more thing I would like to comment on- I believe this country NEEDS to hear from the conservative right. The republicans need to do a better job of getting their message out, especially to the younger voters. The silent majority needs to be heard from again. McCain is certainly a middle of the road politician. He is pro-life and had better choose a candidate with similar political leanings if he wants the evangelical voters to come out. He must also hammer Obama’s inexperience and flip-flops. I would also re-visit his associations with the Black liberation church movement along with ties to 60’s radicals, and other shady characters from the Chicago and Cook county Democrat machine. Paint the picture of Illinois’ absolute governmental disarray and keep this message in the ears of those undecided voters (They need to have it hammered in their brains for it to stick). The next President will appoint the 2-3 new Judges. It is CRITICAL they are not liberal judges scheming to rewrite the constitution. Get out the vote! Those states that are a toss-up need to understand what the implications will be should Obama be elected. It could impact our way of life and the direction of this country for a generation.