Palin Party

With all this hype over Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, here's a few political cartoons. With a sizable boost in polls after the GOP convention and Palin's nomination these cartoons explain why the GOP will not give up and why we will never surrender.

My personal favorite:

Media Meltdown

How can it be? No Olbermann or Matthews until after the elections? WHAT????

All you anti-media junkies out there (including me) have just received the greatest and possible the most truthful piece of news the media can offer. It is hard to imagine that a media source could be so forthcoming with news of great truth, but they managed to pull it off. Maybe this is what Obama meant when he said, "change that we can believe in." The most liberal news station on TV, MSNBC has just admitted their total irresponsibility over truthful and unbiased news reporting by booting both Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann from their anchor desks. Perhaps it was because MSNBC fell to dead last in the Nielsen rankings during the conventions or perhaps it was the "experience" of David Gregory that trumped the extremely liberal talking points of Olbermann and Matthews. Either way, the American people were basically told that MSNBC is sorry for its ultra liberal leaning and for practically giving a 24 hour a day endorsement of Obama.

Let's look at some of the numbers. During both Democrat and Republican Conventions, MSNBC scored dead last with an average of 2.5 million viewers a night, the leader being FOX News with almost 4 times the amount, 9.2 million average viewers a night. With such deplorable numbers as these, Olbermann and Matthews at the helm have driven MSNBC's numbers down the drain. It seems like management at MSNBC have clear evidence that the extreme liberal pandering of Matthews and especially Olbermann, they had to go. MSNBC will now turn to David Gregory, a former White House press corps person, to deliver less of an opinionated version of the news, which last I checked is supposed to be fact, not opinions.

Here are a few quotes that probably didn't take too kindly to the potential viewers that would have watched MSNBC during the conventions had Olbermann and Matthews not commanded the stage:

Olbermann (in reference to a 9/11 tribute video at the RNC): "We would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters, perhaps by the Republican Party itself, for exploiting the memories of the dead, and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again. If you reacted to that videotape the way I did, I apologize.”

Olbermann (after sarcastically dismissing GOP pundit Pat Buchanan for saying the the GOP base had been reestablished with Sarah Palin's nomination as VP): “Those reading Us Weekly with the picture of her and her youngest daughter with the word ’scandal’ written across it won’t be so happy.”

Olbermann (in reference to Palin's private personal life): “We’ll see if people feel sorry for unfounded rumors on the Internet,” he said. “If that’s the case, Senator Obama’s probably standing up and cheering and waiting for people to feel sorry for him.”

Olbermann (caught on microphone mocking another MSNBC host, Joe Scarborough for noting some positive developments in the McCain campaign): “Jesus, Joe, why don’t you get a shovel?”

Clearly we can see that Olbermann has made more enemies even within his own liberal media haven aka MSNBC. I would suggest Olbermann blog to let out some of his steam but he is so evil to his core that there is no hope for logic to settle into his brain. If viewership goes way up as a result of this detoxification of MSNBC, I think Matthews and Olbermann can kiss their shows goodbye. I can only pray that the Lord is extra forgiving on judgement day. Next stop..... CNN.

The Republican National Convention (Days 3 and 4)

The final two days of the convention were in my opinion a grand slam for all those Americans out there who would put their country before their party. I think we can all say that George Washington was right to think that parties would be intolerable. John McCain and Sarah Palin have shown us that after they are in office, America will be closer to the true image that George Washington had in mind as he watched Thomas Jefferson and John Adams beginning to divide the country. Here is a recap of the last two nights of the convention.

DAY 3
In case you missed any of this day's convention here are a few clips:

Here's the Roll Call vote which gave McCain enough delegates in order to be officially nominated the next day.



This next clip is Mitt Romney's scathing attacks on the liberal left.



Here we have Mike Huckabee's down to earth speech talking about American values and his support for John McCain.



Next we have Rudy Giuliani's speech which ran about 25 minutes as the keynote address at the Republican Convention.



And now we have the biggest speech of the night, Sarah Palin's acceptance of the Vice Presidency.



As you can see, Day 3 was action packed with a barrage of speakers from all points of view of our great party. The next day would prove essential to get a Convention bump and keep the polls tight until election time.

DAY 4
This was the final day of the Convention with John McCain's acceptance of his party's nomination for president of the U.S.

I guess CNN determined McCain's speech to be so good that they broke it up into two parts. Here we have John McCain's 2-Part acceptance speech.





As we have just seen, the Republican party is the party of "country first" where Obama has shown us that his campaign is all about party and not about the entire country. The last I heard this is the United States of America not the Democratic Party of the United States. Country should always come first, especially in the case of the presidency of the United States.

The Republican National Convention (Days 1 and 2)

Now that Gustav has passed, we can see that our prayers for New Orleans have been answered. With no major flooding, we can now refocus our attention on the GOP Convention. Here are some clips in recap of Days 1 and 2.

DAY 1
In case you missed some of the Convention here's a few clips:

Here, we have Laura Bush calling America to take off their political party hats and put on American hats in the wake of Hurricane Gustav that has caused great damage in the Gulf:



Next, we have a clip from Cindy McCain about how viewers and Republicans can donate money to help with organizations who are relocating/rebuilding the hurricane-ravished Gulf Coast:



Here is a clip of an interview between CNN and a Louisiana delegate regarding evacuations in New Orleans and elsewhere in Louisiana:



Since the GOP really didn't know how Gustav would play out, Cindy McCain and Laura Bush were really the only speakers of note for Day 1.

DAY 2
After Day 1, it was determined that Gustav spared New Orleans for the most part and the Convention decided to put the Grande Olde Show back on the road. Here are some clips from Day 2 of the GOP National Convention:

Since President Bush is working on the post-Gustav cleanup of the Gulf Coast region, he could not make the Convention. He did, however, have time to put together an 8 minute video in support of John McCain. Here it is:



Next is a clip from my Senator, who has recently seen the bright light of the GOP by endorsing McCain and shares a similar national security stance with the Republican base, Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Here is the 20 minute clip:



Here is a 26 minute clip from Fred Thompson's speech, where he throws in some barbs against Obama and the unpopular Democrat controlled Congress:



Obviously a much bigger day than Day 1, we heard from all the spectrums that have gathered in support of McCain whether, Republican, Independent, or Democrat.

Nagin: "The Mother of All Storms"

Roughly 24 hours from now, Hurricane Gustav will make its first landfall with the Gulf Coast. As of now the storm has weakened slightly since passing over Cuba and is now spinning at max sustained winds of 115 mph. Make no mistake, this storm is as powerful as Katrina was 3 years ago. Gustav is expected to make landfall near New Orleans as a Cat. 4 storm, which as Mayor Ray Nagin says, who I am perplexed to still see in office, this is "the mother of all storms." Nagin has also been quoted as calling Gustav "the storm of the century." I think we all need to take a step back from the political world for a few days to pray for the people of the Gulf Coast and for the massive humanitarian effort underway that they will have success with evacuations and post-storm cleanups. As I mentioned in my last post, liberals like Michael Moore are so wrapped up in their extreme ideologies that at the expense of the GOP convention, the storm is "proof that there is a God." Such despicable comments like these are proof that there are no limits to the thought that liberal ideologies must reign in America. These comments, to me, are worse than war and abortion combined.

Meanwhile, on the GOP front, it looks like the convention may have to wait a bit longer. I think it is a good decision to delay the convention because our national attention should be set on this potential national catastrophe. Senator McCain and others have agreed that they must change the convention to a "call to national service" for the victims of Gustav and the cleanup effort. Between both Obama and McCain campaigns, our nation should be focused not on politics but on the lives of those on the Gulf Coast who will need our prayers and monetary support over the next few days. As we've seen already, the effort to prepare for Gustav is 110% better than that of Katrina. I think the leadership of President Bush, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has proved most effective in this extreme preparation to make sure that even a more powerful storm than Katrina can be prevented from causing the loss of life we witnessed 3 years ago. Our prayers are with you Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, and Florida as you prepare for this terrible storm.

Moore of the Same

Last night I broke my rule to never watch the master of liberal stupidity Keith Olbermann on "Countdown." I was about to turn the station when Keith mentioned that Bush hypercritic Michael Moore would be on the program. I haven't heard his name mentioned since he tried to tie Bush with a master plan of global domination in "Fahrenheit 9/11." I just thought this clip from the show would illustrate Moore's ideas which as liberals like to say, "more of the same." Mr. Moore thrives on death and world suffering as a talking point to attack the Bush administration. While I do see some Democrats as hoping for failure in Iraq to further their political ambitions, Michael Moore makes these Democrats seem extremely conservative. This is a man whom I'm sure could think of one way to call Republicans murderers, when he supports the largest mass-murder in the world each year through the sin of abortion. Here is the interview with Mr. Moore.

CAUTION: WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK... If you feel the need to pray for liberals after watching this, you may choose to do so. May God have mercy on their souls.

McCain / Palin 08

Last night, the crowds gathered for an event of epic proportion. Some call him a rock star and some call him charismatic. Some call him a beacon of change and others call him a glimmer of hope. But in reality, Obama represents something much larger. Last night, liberals from East to West gathered in Denver, Colorado to witness the dawn of a new era.

Religions, whether Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, all believe that God will come to this Earth once more in judgement of the righteous and the sinners. Why do I bring this up? Because, in his "Christ-like" glory, a Savior has been born. His name is Barack Hussein Obama. Upon "His" altar, in the American city closest to the heavens, a king was crowned. The new "Lord and Savior" has returned from Mount Olympus riding chariots of glory. The 80,000 gathered in awe as Barack spread the "Good News." He divided rally signs just as the previous Savior did with the "loaves and fishes." Long story short, the world was basically told that the "Kingdom of Heaven" has arrived. We were told that those led astray from the path will be persuaded to obey "His" words and live as he has lived and do as he has done. All that was heard was "Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama!" from "sea to shining sea." It's a shame I forgot to turn the TiVo on. I guess I better pack my bags for warm weather...

Aside from the coming of the "Messiah," just a day after Obama delivered his liberal agenda and demonstrated his lack of experience to the world, John McCain has stolen his thunder. We all know that polls were even going into the DNC. We know that as a result polls have shifted slightly for Lord Obama (Rasmussen poll shows Obama 49% McCain 45%). Not bad for a supposed liberal landslide the media had expected since Bush is so unpopular. The RNC is not yet underway which allows for more wiggle room.

Today, Senator John McCain selected reformer and conservative Governor of the great state of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Since Obama proved that picking Hillary would make it too easy for him to win the elections in November, he left his so called "historic" ticket at a minimal historic value. We also saw that with Obama's pick of Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Obama let us know that he truly has no clue when it comes to national security and lacks the experience one needs in these difficult times. I especially liked when Obama's camp sent a scathing note to the media a few hours before Palin was selected by McCain, discussing Palin's inexperience as a mayor in a town of 9,000. They did not, however, talk about her being governor for the same amount of time as Obama since he began ignoring his post in the Senate and running for president. Where Obama tries to change laws in Washington, he has absolutely 0 experience running an economy. Sarah Palin, as governor, was in charge of the entire infrastructure of Alaska, while Obama was taking sweetheart deals from Tony Rezko, who is, by the way, behind bars as we speak.

Here's a little background of the woman from the largest state in the Union, Gov. Sarah Palin (courtesy of CNN):

Born: February 11, 1964, Sandpoint, Idaho

Education: B.S., University of Idaho, 1987

Elected offices: Wasilla, Alaska, City Council member, 1992-96

Wasilla mayor, 1996-2002

Elected governor of Alaska, 2006

Professional career: Television sports reporter, 1987-89; co-owner, commercial fishing operation, 1988-2007; owner, snow machine, watercraft and all-terrain vehicle business, 1994-97; chairwoman, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, 2003-04.

Married: To Todd Palin; five children. The oldest, Track, serves in the U.S. Army; the youngest, Trig, has Down syndrome.

Something not listed here is Sarah Palin's rejection of the "Bridge to Nowhere" plan and other pork-barrel projects that waste billions of taxpayer dollars, especially for the hundreds of millions of Americans who will never even visit a bridge that they paid for. The fact that Palin is the first GOP female on the ticket in the history of the party should speak volumes to the 54% of women voters this year. Palin's "maverick" ideas go right along with McCain and the idea of "country first, party second." Obama has shown us that it's the liberal agenda first, voting party lines second, operating a campaign of sexism and elitism, then maybe listening to what Independents and Republicans say, then implementing leftist ideas. Governor Palin's other advantage is that she is not of Washington. Obama, who says we need to escape from the "same old Washington politics," chose Joe Biden of all people, someone who's been enveloped by Washington politics for longer than John McCain. Then Obama has the nerve to say that Palin is "more of the same?" If this argument is true, and you add up the Washington politics that have been employed by Obama/Biden and those of McCain/Palin, then we should see what exactly is "politics as usual." The Obama/Biden team have been in Washington for a combined 38 years, while the McCain/Palin team have been in Washington for a combined 25 years. Now tell me, who is the "same old Washington politics?"

Day 4: Inflate Your Tires or Bust

House Republicans are at it again and they are not relenting. Perhaps we should consider this daily "rebellion" for a TV show since it looks like it will go until Congress comes back in session in September. Today on the "Shadow Session," the special guest was former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA). Gingrich's words were that our level of reliance on foreign oil imports is "bad national security policy, it's a bad economic policy and in the long run it's a bad environmental policy." Today, 18 Republicans showed up for work and again 0 Democrats appeared. Some new faces to the "rebellion" were Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Judy Biggert (R-IL), David Davis (R-TN), John Doolittle (R-CA), Ralph Hall (R-TX), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and Christopher Shays (Republican from my home state of Connecticut). For the most part, the message remained the same: less reliance on foreign oil, let us use our own oil resources off our shores and on our mainland. The GOP continues to hammer the issue on Speaker Nancy Pelosi who apparently has time on her vacation to improve her fame on talk shows but cannot seem to find time to bring up a vote on energy. Republicans on the hill also commented on how Pelosi is also busy trying to drum up readers for her new book, "Know Your Power" which today is ranked #1655 on the best seller list. Obviously, her failures as leader of the Democrat controlled Congress can be seen in her ability to sell her own book. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) compared Pelosi to Marie Antoinette, a betrayer of the people. Today's prop was the tire pressure gauge used to mock Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) who seems to think we can keep proper tire pressure and magically see gas prices fall. Wow! Who feeds Obama this information, 2nd graders? Foxx also told the media about "separating the sheep from the goats," a reference to Matthew 25:31-33: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." What an interesting use of "left" and "right" here. Looks like someone's in trouble. Now that Foxx has shown us that Jesus is on the side of the GOP, the Democrats don't seem to be able to win on this issue.

In other news, Paris Hilton has fired back against the McCain campaign with her own new TV ad. Apparently, Hilton doesn't like the free publicity McCain gave her. Although the first part of her ad is a straight out attack on McCain's age, she actually poses one of the best compromises between the Democrat and Republican ideas that have held the issue of oil prices in a deadlock on Capitol Hill. Here's her ad:

MoveOn or Drill?

Now in its 3rd day, the GOP's House rebellion is still going on. There is not much media attention because the "liberal" media knows that such a rebellion can really hurt the Democrats, whether it be Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, or Barack Obama. There might be a way to increase such attention, however, and members of the liberal movement can be its ultimate cause. Up until today, this rebellion has only made it to Politico.com and other political sites but it has not even scratched the surface of the big media sites or TV news programs. Today, liberal think tank MoveOn.org encouraged a group of about 50 leftwingers to show up and protest the GOP protest of Democrats in Congress from leaving for vacation. In addition, about 20 conservatives affiliated with Free Republic were there to counteract MoveOn. Such a protest actually sparked the interest of a CNN camera crew and some other reporters. No doubt the media was there only to explain the story of the MoveOn fanatics, but at least attention was brought to this situation. Hopefully, tomorrow's Day 4 Rebellion will draw even more attention and possibly be given airtime on an evening news show or at least on a mainstream media website. The message must be understood that Republicans in the House have sacrificed their vacations in order to help Americans go on theirs. This won't be possible if the intolerant Democrats continue their stranglehold on Congress until what they hope will be an Obama administration takes over the White House.

On the subject of drilling legislation, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and House allies are calling for Democrats, particularly "freshmen," to sign new discharge petitions in order to force Pelosi to hold a vote. Reps. Jason Altmire (D-PA) and Don Cazayoux (D-LA) are now asking other Democrats to join with them to get something done on this dire issue. Pelosi, however, remains unwilling to negotiate as if the GOP was a terrorist nation. On Sunday, Pelosi appeared on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Early in the interview Stephanopoulos pointed out that when Pelosi took office as Speaker, she promised "open, full and fair debate." Stephanopoulos then asked, "If [Republicans] want to offer a drilling proposal, why can't they have a vote?" Pelosi replied, "They, they, they, they'll have to use their imaginations as to how they can get a vote." Clearly, Pelosi is so wrapped up in the liberal sphere that she cannot even formulate sentences properly when it comes to the evil GOP. I wonder what her imagination will lead us to as a solution for economic issues. I am more interested into seeing how long it takes for even a single vote to take place on any issue of reducing oil prices. Only time, that we don't have, will tell.

The 5 Hour Rebellion

On Friday, members of Congress departed for a month-long vacation while the economic crisis is still unsolved. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her Democrat allies had all the lights, microphones, and C-SPAN cameras turned off because there was no need to keep them running if no one would be there to use them. They were not, however, prepared for the next 5 hours after the shutdown. Around noontime just before the final Democrat, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, had left the halls of Congress, a rebellion began. A small band of Republicans lead by minority leader John Boehner of Ohio, Georgia Rep. Tom Price, and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence demanded for an emergency session of Congress in order to deal with the oil crisis. Democrats tried to keep this occurrence on the down-low by forcing members of the media to leave the lobby that adjoins the floor where the Republicans were speaking. Arizona Rep. John Shadegg was able to input a random code into the computers to turn on the microphones and, thus, the rebellion began. For the next 5 hours, Republicans read speaches, held chants, and sang songs such as "God Bless America." By then, Republicans had allowed people in the gallery to watch the event and were greeted with loud applause. Clearly, the normal citizens attending saw the devotion of at least one party to try and fix the oil crisis. In all, 48 Republicans spoke at and 75 attended the event. Republican California Rep. Devin Nunes even pretended to be a Democrat for a day and paraded across the chamber with a poster of a VW Bug with a sail attached to it, as a witty way to show the way Democrats want to solve the oil issue. Texas Rep. John Culberson sent numerous cell phone recordings to his own Twitter site. By 5pm, the speeches and hymns were over and it was time to put the demonstration to rest. The members of the rebellion left the chamber chanting, "USA! USA! USA!"

One Month of Chaos

At the end of the week, Congress will adjourn for the month during this recession-like period where we need an active government the most. Yet, the oil crisis still remains unsolved with not even a simple action. At the same time, there has been so much deadlock within Congress that it seems like they've been on vacation since last year's elections. Nancy Pelosi continues to put the economic life of the country in check in order to further her extreme liberal agenda. The oil crisis is probably the lead cause in the current economic downturn and there is still nothing even on the table to fix it. President Bush and Senate Republicans are rightly calling for an emergency session during the scheduled vacation period in order to deal with this dire issue. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) said that Congress should not be taking a vacation in this situation while Americans are struggling to make their own vacation plans. We should reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which both parties agree on. The Democrats think that cutting down on speculation is simply the way to fix the situation. In reality, our dependence on other nations' oil is virtually making the U.S. a world hostage. I think both parties would like to see oil retired as our biggest source of energy, but as of now there is no alternative. The only thing we can do now is to get our own oil off of our shores, on our mainland, and in Alaska. We must acquire as much of our own resources in order to have more funding for new fuels and to allow for more Americans to be able to go on vacations again.

Flip-Flops We Can Believe In...

The Obama campaign has long tied McCain to the "usual Washington politics" because he was connected to and has former lobbyists in his campaign. Barack Obama, however, claimed that he would not take money or be swayed by Washington lobbyists. He promised all of us that he wants to bring a "change" to Washington and that he would act in the people's best interest. This is the same candidate who was swayed so much this year that he wanted up to $300 million worth of pork-barrel spending so that our tax-payer dollars could fund projects in Illinois that we may never personally see. What a waste of money. Shouldn't states use their state citizens' money instead of hundreds of millions of others who don't reside in that state? It's sad that pork-barrel lobbying can make a politician's judgment, such as Obama's, so confused and irrational. Obama's pledge was to never accept lobbyist funding but being swayed by them to fund ridiculous projects sounds basically the same to me. To show how convoluted Obama's message is on lobbying, here is an example of funds donated by lobbyists to both parties: $3.3 million for McCain and $4.7 million for Obama. So before Obama makes attacks on McCain's lobbyist money, Obama should look at his own amount which is much higher than the amount McCain received. Just like his acceptance of money he said he would never accept, Obama has created a long list of flip-flops between running for the party and now running for president.

Here is just a glimpse into his top 5 favorite flip-flops:

(1) His reversals on "special interest" money. He pointed out, during the primary season, that both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards accepted the donations of union money. Now, Obama is happy to accept money from the "working people" of America (notice the change in language).

(2) Remaining on the money topic, in 2007, Obama said he would accept public financing during his presidential bid. However, after he won the Democratic nomination, he said he wouldn't accept this financing, which limits the amount of money you can get from the public.

(3) In 2004, Obama wanted to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba because he said it failed to overthrow the communist regime there. Now, however, while speaking to Cuban Americans in Miami in 2007, Obama said that we should keep the embargo because it will lead to "change".

(4) In 2004, Obama opposed the idea of the government cracking down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Earlier this year, Obama said that we should crack down on businesses that are taking advantage of the situation.

(5) Finally, there is the case of marijuana. In early 2004, Obama told college students in Illinois that he supported eliminating penalties for marijuana uses. At a presidential debate in 2007, Obama and his other Democrat counterparts agreed that the use of marijuana is illegal and should be punishable offenses.

Oil, The Final Frontier

Oil is to cigarettes as domestic drilling is to the nicotine patch. While oil has been at a slow decrease in price over the past 2 weeks, it is still at an astronomical rate and will need much more action to get it even lower. There are motions in the Senate, which pauses for a month long break in August, that are trying many things to try and curb foreign energy demands. There is, however, gridlock in the sense of how to go about reducing the price at the pump. On the Republican side, the motion is to increase domestic oil production (whether offshore or onshore), something which nearly 75% of Americans approve. The Democrats, on the other side, want to create laws restricting speculation in our markets, which many believe is also increasing oil prices. How are we going to curb speculation if a move like this will only create more speculation. Sure we can "illegalize" speculation in this country but that will only increase speculation in all other nations causing more increases in oil prices. With the relatively weak dollar, we cannot afford to take risky chances just because one party has a different idea. The Democrat held Congress/Senate has showed that they can only operate on a partisan basis, even at the cost of all Americans suffering from everything from oil prices to failing housing markets. The last thing we need to do is increase speculation as to our oil addiction. Still, other Democrats are saying that we should avoid oil altogether. That's fine, but what do we have to replace it? Although T. Boone Pickens has his own plan for domestic energy, these new technologies are still 15 to 20 years away from cost effectiveness and practicality. I think we all stand united in the fact that we will ultimately need to switch to alternative and domestic energies especially for the sake of our future economy and the environment. However, we need to make sure the energy available is the most cost effective possible in order to be finished with the "nicotine patch" part of our energy crisis. Then we can move on to the "free of smoke" phase and live happily ever after.

The Pickens Plan

Today, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens went to Capitol Hill to discuss his multi-billion dollar plan to reduce America's dependence on foreign energy. The Texas billionaire shows that he and his company are prepared to invest in solar, natural gas, and especially wind energy. Our country has a vast "wind corridor" stretching from Texas to the Canadian border where wind turbines could be placed which could increase the domestic energy supply by 20% or more. Along with his money, Pickens said that private investors will also help foot the bill on this great conservative project. Pickens is so confident in this that he is also investing a personal $2 billion in this great project to become less energy dependent.

When asked about the offshore drilling question (which McCain approves of and Obama does not), Pickens says we should not just focus on the Southeastern Coast and the West Coast but our deposits on our own homeland, especially in ANWR which can reduce our dependence considerably. Pickens predicts that our country will be entirely energy/oil independent by 2050. The quest for energy independence will also create thousands of more jobs which will benefit this nation altogether. It's sad that an oilman/investor has to tell Congress how to do their job. The Democrats in Congress are trying to hold out for 20 more years until we develop altogether new sources of energy and that is 20 years we don't have to fix this country. We have Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to thank for this. No wonder why their approval ratings are even lower than President Bush.

German media for Obama?

It appears Germany's left-wing media machine is trying to ensure an Obama victory by spreading complete lies about Iraq. A German magazine reported Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki as saying "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months...That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes." al-Maliki says that this quote is not what he said at all. Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said that "the possibility of troop withdrawal was based on the continuance of security improvements, echoing statements that the White House made Friday after a meeting between al-Maliki and U.S. President Bush." (CNN) So, clearly Obama is the German media's (and no doubt all liberal medias') guy. I would just like to point out that no one, not even the president, want to see our troops in any combat situation for long periods of time. When John McCain says that we could see troops in Iraq for 100 years, he means (and has said time and time again) that we could see a military presence there. This is just like the presence of troops we still have in Germany, Japan, and South Korea. To think that we can simply leave Iraq in what General Petraeus has called "fragile stability" is just plain idiotic. So what happens after we leave (before both Iraqi leadership and our generals on the ground tell us to) and Iraq falls back into terrorist hands? We have to go back to save the innocent people of Iraq from a genocide. This means more civilian deaths and more of our brave soldiers' deaths. We can all point fingers as to why the whole thing began in the first place but the reality is that we are in the situation we see today. There is no doubt that the McCain troop surge strategy has worked and is working so that one day we could voluntarily leave a fully functional democratic republic in Iraq. This process will take time and I think we owe it to the future of Iraq and the future of a terrorism free Middle East to pursue this fight until the end.

A Trap for Obama

Next week the Illinois senator and presumptive democratic nominee Barack Obama will be overseas instead of campaigning in his own country. Obama's trip includes Jordan, Israel, meeting with the terrorist organization running Palestine, Germany, France, and the UK. Obama has also been pressured to go to Afghanistan for the first time ever and Iraq for only the second time, but the first time since the successful troop surge. It will be up to the Obama campaign to decide how to minimize the damage of visiting or not visiting Iraq and Afghanistan. The McCain campaign has painted Obama into a corner on this one. On one hand, Obama not visiting Iraq/Afghanistan means that he will continue to show his ignorance with foreign policy by making judgments about the situation in these countries without going to the theaters or listening to the commanders on the ground. If Obama does go, however, people will be eying a possible change in strategy for Obama when it comes to our wars on terror. If Obama does not change his mind, he will be viewed as having learned nothing and ignoring the recommendations of the commanders on the ground. This lose-lose situation is up to the Obama campaign to make as less painful as possible. Obama's "World Tour" was decided based on polls such as the Washington Post/ABC News Poll which found that 72% of registered voters thought that McCain had sufficient foreign policy abilities where only 48% said the same of Barack Obama. Clearly, Senator McCain has the upper hand with "Commander and Chief" qualities.

Offshore Drilling

Today I watched an interview on CNN's "The Situation Room" between Wolf Blitzer and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. The first part of the interview was about America's growing support for offshore drilling as a way to reduce demand for foreign oil and thus reducing the overall cost for gas. A CNN/Opinion Research Poll taken between June 26-29 revealed that 73% of Americans approve of offshore drilling while only 27% disapprove. Despite this fact, Pelosi is still very much opposed claiming that it won't help. This is where President Bush comes in. Three days ago, President Bush told America that he would lift his ban on offshore drilling. In the past 3 days, the price of crude oil has dropped $6, $4, and today $5. Over the past week, the price of oil has dropped from $147 a barrel to $129, a drop of nearly $20!!! While this trend seems great, stock market speculation will probably regain control until we see the effects of adding more offshore drills. In addition to the thousands of offshore drilling acres available, there are even more acres available on our own soil in Montana, North Dakota, and in ANWR in Alaska. We also have a national oil reserve that is about 97% full. From all of these sources we can reduce our oil prices significantly, create more jobs, and reboot the economy. Many people are calling for the immediate implementation of new biofuels, however, while they help the environment, they are still much more expensive than the record prices we are currently paying for oil. Therefore, it makes sense to increase our own oil supply immediately to lessen the power overseas dictatorships have with our economy.

MLB All Star Game

The best way to start off this new blog is to talk about the most American thing of the day, the MLB All Star Game. Tonight the best of the majors gather at Yankee Stadium in New York to watch the exciting match-up between the seemingly always dominant American League and the National League. As a Braves fan living with Red Sox fans, it is a tough decision for me to make. Right now, the Braves are in a dire spot in their standings sitting at 6.5 games behind the division leading Philadelphia Phillies and an equally upsetting 7.5 games back in the Wild Card. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox are at the top of everything. I have grown accustom to seeing a rather dominant Red Sox organization and admire their abilities to win. This is where my dilemma begins. If the Braves do not make the playoffs, there is no other team in the National League that I could follow. My fall-back position is always with the dominant force of Red Sox Nation. Therefore, I am not quite sure who to root for since the Braves situation seems dire at best. No matter what the outcome of this game is, it promises to be an exciting game between baseball's best.

Here are the lineups for starters:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
DH Milton Bradley Texas Rangers
C Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins
*1B Kevin Youkilis Boston Red Sox
*2B Dustin Pedroia Boston Red Sox
SS Derek Jeter New York Yankees
3B Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees
OF Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners
OF Josh Hamilton Texas Rangers
*OF Manny Ramirez Boston Red Sox
P Cliff Lee Cleveland Indians

NATIONAL LEAGUE
DH Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals
C Geovany Soto Chicago Cubs
1B Lance Berkman Houston Astros
2B Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies
SS Hanley Ramirez Florida Marlins
*3B Chipper Jones Atlanta Braves
OF Matt Holliday Colorado Rockies
OF Kosuke Fukudome Chicago Cubs
OF Ryan Braun Milwaukee Brewers
P Ben Sheets Milwaukee Brewers