An unpopular incumbent president sits in the Oval Office. His party’s brand is badly tarnished. The economy is in shambles, unemployment on the rise. The housing market is in crisis. Gasoline has become a major issue.

America is enmeshed in a protracted crisis in the Middle East with no end in sight. We are near war footing with Iran. The reputation of the United States is diminished world wide. In historically high numbers, voters believe the country is on the wrong track.

The opposition party has nominated a charismatic candidate for president whose oratorical skills are compared to JFK, perhaps better. He had been introduced to the majority of Americans by way of a spellbinding keynote speech at a previous national party convention.

He has a fervent core of supporters and has emerged as the leader of his party through an insurgency that challenged and ultimately defeated his party’s establishment. He runs against Washington and the special interests that control the Capitol. His message is change and hope.

If ever the public demanded change in Washington, it is in this presidential year. It could not be a better political environment for the party out of power.

Yet with all the stars aligned perfectly for a party change in the White House, national polls show the opposition candidate barely ties, and often trails, his opponent.

There is little doubt about the voter’s desire for change, but there is plenty of doubt about this candidate who pledges to deliver it. Who is the candidate?

Answer; A) Barack Obama B) Ronald Reagan C) Both

Bob Barr, Libertarian, is looking good at this time. Saw him on the Glenn Beck show and didn’t detect any ’spin’ in his comments. AND he’s anti-abortion (a very good thing).

Bob, my only problem with Barr is his blindspot when it comes Islamofacism. We cannot afford a president who is myopic about their threats…which is what we’ll get (and WORSE) with Obamassiah.

I come to this site because I am a long time fan of MM’s – I read her printed articles, buy her books and listen to/watch her on tv interviews – and I want to read what she to say on any given day. In short, I come here because I agree with her points of view.

Likewise, I read the comments section because I want to know the views of others whose political and social beliefs I share. I want to know how they interpret the news stories MM writes about in the thread columns; thus, I want to know the views of commenters like Gabe, Soap, EQ1, Granite, Irish Rose, Emjem and all the other regulars, because they share my views and stay on each thread’s topic.

I DO NOT come here to be distracted, annoyed and left utterly dumbfounded by those people who take advantage of nearly every thread to blather on about their own pet-peeves which, all too often, have entirely nothing to do with the point our hostess has made in composing a particular thread.

I’m sure I am not alone in saying that I have had to reread more than one of MM’s articles because the thread-jackers take the comments section so far off topic, that I forget MM’s intended focus of the thread and the points I want to take away to discuss with my friends and co-workers.

I DO NOT come here to be pontificated to, preached to, or guilt-tripped into thinking my values and beliefs are sub-par and Neanderthal in their conception or extent. If I wanted my conservative views belittled, I would go to D-kos or HuffPo.

What’s more, I think these thread-jackers do negatively affect this site’s appeal to new readers because it puts the reader on the defensive and, like I said, it makes the articles’ details and points hard to recall-follow when the comments skew to other topics.

Now I’m not saying I’d like to see the comments section turn into one big mutual admiration/pat each other on the back confab, because I don’t; I like having my views challenged – to a point – and strengthened by my defending them.

But what I am saying is that I would like to see the thread-jacking stopped, and the comments kept on topic.

So I’ll keep forging relationships in my local community, find ways to cooperate with my neighbors in mutually beneficial ways, and keep a wary eye on the shenanigans in Washington/my state capitol while ignoring/disobeying most of their “imperial” edicts.

other than that the coffee is pretty good this morning….Hee Hee

On June 11th, 2008 at 8:39 am, MrOlympia said:
DRILL DRILL DRILL NOW!!! We need to start TODAY! Get oil right here in the good ol US of A! I don’t care where, drill wherever we can get it. Start building refineries now!

And we could start by drilling through the skulls of a few eco freaks. Call it exploratory.
This strange convergance of Leftist eco freaks and foreign oil producers is nothing less than Treason. We have a lot of energy options besides oil, the technology exist. When the eco freaks yell NO NO NO we need to just ignore them. I am sure I acted that way when I was little but thankfully my parents did not consider that a valid argument.
Yes oil
Yes coal
Yes tar sands
Yes shale
Yes nukes
Yes hydro
No eco freaks

This is a bombshell on Drudge: BHMO refuses to release anything but a ONE PAGE summary of his health for the last 21 years, whereas McCain has released thousands of pages:

From the article on Drudge:

The release of a scant one-page summary for 21 years of care brought some criticism to the Obama campaign – especially when compared to the thousands of pages of medical records released by McCain. Obama promised reporters that if there are additional health-related questions, his campaign would make that information available. “In terms of additional records, if there are particular things that people have questions about, then we’d be happy to give that information,” he said.

What the heck is he hiding? The MSM was all over McCain’s health and all over Bush in 2000 about these same issues. Why not Obama? Can you imagine if a Republican were a chain smoker and was running for president?

This coupled with his refusal to release his birth certificate (is he or is he not a natural born American citizen?) is disconcerting.

These are questions that he needs to be pressed about.

1. America, 2008: a debtor nation with huge trade deficits, a country that no longer manufactures what it buys, a country that allows American companies to outsource blue collar jobs to countries all over the planet that pay a pittance to their workers, and then allows those same companies to sell, at no apparent savings in this country.

2. The new mantra: “ask what this country can do for you”. There are so many constituent groups looking to put politicians in power that promise one thing: government hand outs. The two main groups: Hispanics, and blacks. Statistics show these groups are having babies at a rate well in excess of caucasions. Once the latter is outmatched at the polls in sheer numbers (within another couple of decades) its over; this country will be socialist. Does this sounds racist? Puh-leaseeeeee..if facts equate to racism, then I guess I’m racist. Besides, our “national conversation on race”, that demagogues like Al and Jesse are always clamoring for, already exists; the “coversation” is just one way.

3. Neither party will protect our border, and want to reward those who have already violated our laws to get in. The consequence? See #2 above.

4. Political correctness is destroying our national identity, and endangering our freedom and security. We search 80 year old grandmothers at airports, so we can show the practitioners of the religion of “pieces”, here and around the world, how fair and enlightened a people we are. Additonally PC’ness is destroying the overall education and achievement levels of our young people. Rather than insist on, and strive for excellence, we dumb down so people’s feelings do not get hurt.

5. Our foreign policy is far too interventionist. We have far too many treaty and other committments to intervene militarily in the conflicts of countries that might not be crucial to our national security. We will bankrupt our country defending other countries and sacrifice our brave young people for other countries; many of which would never return the favor.

6. Culturally this Country is broken. We are not a “melting pot”; we are just a pot collecting different groups who do not want to assimilate. Also, our young people are subjected to 24/7 of trash in every media you can think of. In the US, 2008, we offer sex education to our kindergartners; and lessons on how to put a condom on, to our seventh graders. However, prayers, and the ten commandments are out of the public arena; at the behest of morons of every political ilk that do not fully understand the establishment clause of the constitution; proving indeed that a little knowledge is dangerous.

The exception of course is Islam: the religious flavor of the decade, in which we turn our head to ignore taxpayer funded schools that preach Islam in the school, and in which our children are forced to study about, and emulate Muslim customs to further our “understanding” of them and their religion. Freedom of the press is also unilaterally suspended by our country’s media so as to not to “offend” Muslims by printing cartoons of Mohammed. Of course, printing pictures of the Virgin Mary covered in feces is just “A-OK”, because afterall, its just Christians that would be offended, and why would we care about that, ya know.

7. Speaking of the media, we now have a corrupt national “mainstream” media that, rather than objectively report the news, actually have a political agenda: the agenda of the far left. Worse, these hypocrites think (and whine) that the media is slanted to the right.

8. The Republican Party, the party of small government, fiscal restraint, individual achievement, honesty (in its politicans) and excellence is dead. Left in its wake is the RINO party, headed by the presidential nominee John McFraud.

I could go on and on, but why bother? I believe that history will show that the greatness of this country was on its path to diminishment with the growing up of the flower children of the 60′s. In about 50-60 years this country will be a cross between Mexico, and France.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20080610-9999-1m10laraza.html