Apologetics with No Apology from a Progressive, Part 2

There are times in my life when I HAVE voted for a candidate outside the Democratic Party because either I knew the candidate personally (my mother and I have done a bit of community organizing locally and have had a chance to meet a number of mayors, Congresspersons & elected officials from the Tampa Bay and Florida area). Just the other day I voted for a County Commission candidate from my community who has been a foreign missionary and a church leader--he happens to be a Reform Party candidate, though I voted for him at the last minute because I met him and was struck by his personal story and how he came off as a real person with specific policiy points who would actually represent me, a young entrepreneur and family man on the West coast of Florida.

By the way, if you're looking for a candidate who believes in what you believe in... I have looked at Obama's personal life. He has been married over 15 years to Michelle with two children, and a Christian for more than 20 years. There has NEVER been a hint of scandal or sexual impropriety in Obama's married life. Contrast that with McCain who after his wife waited for him for 5 long years while he was POW, he came home found that she was a somewhat bigger woman because of a car accident that had impaired her ability to move around, and subsequently started an affair with another beauty queen, Cindy, WHILE he was still married to the first Mrs McCain. He has admitted this in the past. Tell me, how would you feel if that was your husband?? Does this sound like the behavior of a Godly, Christian man? It's nice that McCain was a POW and all, but I have news for you, being a POW is not a magic benchmark that somehow makes you more qualified for President. I know a number of other former WITH COMMAND EXPERIENCE such as General Wesley Clark, General Colin Powell, etc who actually have overseen thousands to hundreds of thousands of troops AND multi-million and multi-billion dollar defense budgets. Does that automatically qualify them for the Presidency too? You should check the history books and note that former military officers do not always make the best Presidents (think of Ulysses S. Grant whose administration was a joke, Jimmy Carter (who is a Christian by the way), etc. McCain loves to talk about how he knows how to capture Osama bin Laden and win wars...really???? Well since he says this, the common sense question is why hasn't he revealed his secrets to us in the 7 years since 9-11? I guess we'll have to elect him, then he an Sarah Palin with go over and show our professional soldiers at CENTCOM how to do a better job of those things. No thanks.

Did you know that when Democrats are President, ABORTIONS RATES FALL NATIONALLY? Did you ever wonder why with Republicans having been President for 20 of the last 28 years and being in the majority from 1996-2006, they haven't made more of an effort to outlaw or curb abortion? The only time we hear about the GOP bringing up abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action, and guns is just before an election because it is sad that these issues are used as a sort of baseball which is batted around b/c the GOP knows that it is these are effective Get Out the Vote tools. "Read more at Abortion & The One-Issue Party". And yes, I am a proud pro-life Democrat.

As far as Obama's supposedly adding to the welfare rolls, cite me some facts or some bills that Obama voted for that demonstrate that he would give away our money to people on welfare. Frankly we're providing billions of dollars in welfare to Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc, and I don't see anyone complaining about that. I'm afraid this is just another GOP talking point with no facts to back it up. As far as his tax plan, go to www.BarackObama.com, look up Obama's tax plan. He has consistently written and stated in all 3 presidential debates that his tax plan actually provides tax relief for over 95% of taxpayers and that only those individuals and businesses that make over $250,000 will see any tax increases. For the record, the majority of small businesses in the US do NOT make more than $250,000 in sales, much less profits, so this is kinda a moot point to me. (I own a small business by the way, while my wife will be starting a non-profit in the next couple years). And speaking of small businesses, there are 27 million small businesses in America and the SBA is tasked with supporting and advising those businesses. Over 56% of all Americans work in small businesses and those firms are responsible for over 90% of all new jobs in this country. Since taking office George Bush has cut the budget and staff of the SBA more than 50%. No other federal agency has seen their budget cut as much as the SBA. Bush even closed the SBA office that assists veteran-owned firms. Country first? Hardly.

I seriously doubt that I will regret my decision to vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Bill Clinton may have been hated by some (all charismatic candidates experience this, even Lincoln) but under him (immoral as he was--he slept around with women) but gas was $1, we were relatively at peace in the world, (unemployment was 4-5%--remember that? I do.; contrast that with over 150,000 jobs lost in September under Bush), we had a record federal surplus under Bill Clinton and 22 million new jobs in his 8 years. Meanwhile welfare for the poor was forever changed because Bill Clinton provided incentives for the working poor to get out and work in his Welfare to Work initiatives. Remember that? I do. Now I ask you which is more moral in the eyes of God and poses more of a risk to our national security (sleeping with someone--which is yes, despicable) or sending 4,000 of our boys and girls, mothers and fathers, cousins, brothers, and sisters to their deaths on a quest to find non-existent weapons of mass destruction based on lies concocted by Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, and the neocon wing of the Republican party in order to further enrich their Haliburton buddies who are raking in the cash in no-bid contracts in Iraq. What a coincidence. As far as earmarks which you mentioned...John McCain hasn't requested any for his administration because Ted Stevens, one of the most famous money grubbers in the US Senate and Sarah Palin, already got a good amount of earmarks for the Bridge to Nowhere which Palin supported before she didn't support it in the spirit of Maverickism. They have already spread the wealth around plenty. And also, do you recall (if we're still on the welfare thing), that Palin gave away, $1,200 of oil company profits to each Alaska resident? Now, should we call that "redistribution of wealth"? socialism? or what? I mean, labels should be applied evenly I think. In either case, it's a great way to make sure your job approval ratings stay real high.

Again, I'm more than excited to debate. It is only when we bring TWO SIDES of a story together that we can come to an mutual understanding. That's what Ronald Reagan did to the point that there were "Reagan Democrats", so we should do this too. If you want to read some insightful analysis on why one of the greatest US Generals (in the eyes of Democrats AND Republicans) Gen. Colin Powell endorsed Obama, then please read my blog at "Gen. Colin Powell Endorses Obama in October Surprise". Read about the endorsements of Obama by prominent Republicans such as Ronald Reagan's son (Ron Reagan), Christoper Buckley (son of National Review Online founder, Bill Buckley), George Will, and many other prominent Republican's, and see what they are saying about why they are endorsing Obama over McCain. Then maybe you will understand why I feel the way I do about Obama who has built a political coalition of do gooders and community organizers, Christians & heathens :), Republicans for Obama, suburban mothers and urban professionals, inner city poor and financial billionaires, Black, White, Jewish, Hispanic & women voters, etc.


My goal is not to change your mind--that aim would be arrogant--but rather to let you know that there IS another side to the political story which you may not have heard correctly articulated to this point.