Clinton or Trump: A Fecal Sandwich

Somewhere in a difficult to access region of my mind, there is a vague recollection that I may have, at one time agreed with something Kathleen Parker wrote. I feel as if there must have been one occasion, but I can't remember when or what the subject might have been.

There's no question now that I find little to agree with in her piece, A nose-holding word to the disaffected: Vote.

When it comes to the three remaining Presidential candidates, I am one of those Americans that Parker refers to as "stranded in a political no-man’s land".

I do agree that this year's election for POTUS is the ultimate "nose-holding while voting" situation. However, unlike Parker, I will no longer engage in that exercise in futility. She admits that no sane person could support either Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, and she knows that Hillary Clinton is an unprincipled, corrupt liar, yet she maintains that Clinton is the "one candidate for whom this middle bloc of voters could reasonably stomach voting."

Sorry, Ms Parker, but no.

In 2008, my top choice for POTUS was the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, but when Barack Obama became the Democrat candidate I wrongly believed that I should not "throw my vote away", and I made the horrible mistake of voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin. I will never vote that way again.

I will no longer vote for the lesser of two evils. I will no longer vote for one candidate because I hate him or her slightly less than the opponent.

Many Trump supporters maintain that a no-show is a vote for Hillary. The Clinton campaign will say a no-show is a vote for Trump. It can't be both ways. I cannot support either Clinton or Trump......the U.S. will continue it's dumpster-dive whoever wins. Neither candidate will receive my vote.

Add One More to the List.

Reason number 17256 why I'll be glad when we've finally moved out of the country in 2014 ...... McCain considering seeking reelection in 2016.

We'll know, soon enough.

Thanks to Mary at against all heresies I discovered a blogger named Bob Krumm. On his web site bobkrumm.com, Bob has his predictions as to how the election will turn out.
To make a long article short, he has this:
"Final popular vote tally: Obama 49.2%, McCain 48.8%, Other 2%.
Electoral votes: Obama 244, McCain 273, Pennsylvania’s 21 TBD.
Wednesday the 5th won’t be pretty."

One thing we know, whoever wins, Wednesday the 5th won't be pretty.
I hope he's right about the rest.

Novena for Faithful Citizenship.

I'm not revealing any secret when I say that this Presidential election is of the utmost importance.
Of course, every U.S. Presidential election is important, but for the pro-life, conservative religious person the situation could not be more critical.
I'm not John McCain's biggest fan. I didn't vote for him in the Republican primary; saying that I am disappointed in his being the Republican candidate would be an understatement.When it became clear that he was the GOP's pick, I began to seriously look at third party candidates. Bob Barr had been my representative when he was in Congress and going to his side was an easy choice for me.
There were two things that brought me around to McCain. First, his picking Sarah Palin for VP.
I had written about Palin in August before McCain made his preference known. [Who will McCain Pick?] Back then, everyone was saying he'd choose Leberman or Romney or Pawlenty and I wasn't happy. I was hoping he'd go against the conventional wisdom, but I wasn't optimistic. When I heard he picked Palin, I was enthusiastic about the race for the first time.
Secondly, I was growing increasingly weary of Barack Obama. I was uncomfortable with his socialist leanings and his pro abortion views made him unacceptable.....but it was his votes on the Illinois version of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that frightened me most of all.[Matthew 25 Obama and Abortion.]
It's hard for me to believe that the American people would vote for someone with such a callous disregard for innocent human life.
I've done my part. I've already voted here in Georgia. [Vote Early-Vote Often]
All I can do now is pray.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a Novena for Faithful Citizenship and is available as podcasts or as a pdf. [http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/podcasts]
Although they asked that people pray the novena on nine consecutive Tuesdays up until the election (too late for that) they said one could create any combination that works. There's certainly enough time between now and the election to pray the novena.
Adding a Rosary every day wouldn't hurt.

I'm Switching to .....McCain/Palin.

As anyone who has followed this blog knows, John McCain isn't my favorite Republican. I didn't vote for McCain in the primary.....I had opted for Romney.
As soon as it was clear that McCain would be the candidate, I immediately decided that, should the Libertarians pick someone I could support, I'd go Libertarian all the way.
The Libertarians did just that when they picked Bob Barr as their Presidential candidate.Barr had been my representative in Congress many years ago and I was happy to see him in the race.
I had placed a few banner links on this blog for Barr, the Libertarian Party and The Libertarians for Life. As you can see, those banner links are no longer there.
I was willing to vote Barr, even if it meant that the Electoral College votes would favor the Democrats.

I wasn't 100% happy with that decision; the more I learned about Obama's views on abortion and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, the more I realized that having Obama as President would be a disaster.
Still, it was difficult for me to support McCain....that is until he picked Sarah Palin as his VP running mate.
This is an excellent choice. A paragraph from a Washington Post article says it best,
"Picking Palin also helps McCain consolidate his party's conservative base, which has been at best lukewarm toward his candidacy. The governor's conservative credentials are not in doubt, whether on abortion or gun rights or gay rights. The announcement of her elevation to the Republican ticket brought an outpouring of enthusiasm from the right flank of the GOP and will assure a more energized convention next week in St. Paul, Minn."
With this move, McCain has taken my vote from Bob Barr.
In a perfect world, I would still prefer Barr, but I have to be pragmatic. We cannot have Obama as President......Barr has no chance of winning and Palin makes McCain look good.

Who will McCain pick?

Now that Obama has picked Biden as his running mate, we see the agent of "change" is just the agent "politics as usual".
The question, now is.....who will McCain choose?
A wikipedia article on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has this to say:
"Palin has been rumored as a unique and viable candidate for the vice-presidency with Republican presumptive nominee Senator John McCain in the 2008 election.
Due to her female status, youthful image, background in government reform, pro-life stance, fiscal and social conservatism, and an approval rating in Alaska generally in the range of 80 to 90 percent, Palin could become the ticket to solidify the GOP's conservative base and garner independent support, as well as win over some of the disenchanted Hillary Clinton supporters. Furthermore, Palin has a strong and growing community of online supporters lobbying for her."
The "strong and growing community of online supporters lobbying for her" have an online petition asking that Palin be chosen as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. Anyone interested in signing the petition can go here-Draft Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President.
McCain can do a lot worse.

Let's Hope Putin Doesn't Burn Atlanta.

Well, you know, I reckon somebody would have to be holed up in a deep, dark cave somewheres ( or otherwise in a really Podunk place like Cedar Bluff or Gaylesville ) not to have heard about the Russian invasion of Georgia.
Truth be known, I didn't rightly hear about it from the T.V. or the radio on account of Georgia Power disconnected my electricity a couple months back for not paying my bill, but, I did learn all about the invasion from what I overheard these two fellows talking while we was all standing at the express lane at Wal-mart.
You understand, I didn't get all the details on account of they was in front of me and by the time I had checked out at the cash register, those two fellows had done walked out of Wal-mart and was in their car and gone. I guess it might have been a different story if I had only had twenty items like it says your 'spose to up there on the sign at the register.
Anyway, I figured I heard enough where I can put 2 and 2 together and figure out what happened.
Looks to me like the Russians must have come into Georgia by way of Savannah on account of I didn't hear those two fellows says nothing about Tennessee or the Carolinas ner nothing like that. Besides which, it'd be easy enough for them to come up by boat from Cuba, where we all know a whole bunch of them Russians are staying.
The one thing that's got me a bit bumfuzzled in all this is I can't figure out why President W. would have let those Russians just invade us like that and all - specially since Gov. Sonny Perdue is a loyal Republican and faithful Baptist who prays for rain out in front of the Capital steps and all. I was talking about that very thing with my brother-in-law, Barney and Barney, he said that was the easiest part of all to figure out.
The way he explains it, President W. and the Republicans are bound to know that a whole bunch of us in Georgia have got our overalls in a bunch 'cause they done picked John McCain as their candidate. Further more, Barney says, they are bound to know that a whole bunch of us are gonna vote for that Libertarian fellow Bob Barr and that's likely to miscue the Electoral College vote like what that Nader fellow did to the Democrats a while back. So they had the Russians invade Georgia to keep us from voting.
I told Barney I figured he was right on account of I was planning to do the very same thing like what he said.
One of my neighbors, Mrs. Johnson, says we don't have to worry too much on account of that Mr. Obama fellow done told the Russians to ceasefire. I reckon that must have worked on account of there ain't been too much gunfire up in this neck of the woods lately....leastwise not no more than usual.
I still worry on account of I figure them ceasefires can break real easy and we're liable to be seeing tanks coming up Peachtree Street any day now.
I just hope that Mr. Putin decides not to burn Atlanta like what Sherman did.

McCain/Lieberman ?

In a recent article for Financial Times,[Lieberman ‘on McCain short-list’] journalist Stephanie Kirchgaessner tells us that Joe Lieberman is "being vetted as a potential running mate for" John McCain.
That particular bit of news does not surprise me. My opinion of Lieberman is pretty much the same as the one I have of McCain; both are "moderates" who are willing to do whatever it takes to advance their political careers - even to the point of selling out their own Party.
The choosing of a running mate has traditionally been a way for a Presidential candidate to pick up voters that he otherwise would not have gotten. With this in mind, Lieberman cannot help McCain in the least. Is there anyone, who would consider voting for Obama, that would reconsider and vote for McCain with Lieberman on the ticket? Not hardly.
The only new voters McCain can hope for are those who have switched to a Third party (like yours truly) or conservatives who have thrown up their hands and decided not to vote at all. Picking Lieberman isn't going to convince these folks to come back to the Republican Party. If anything, picking him will only further convince new Libertarians (like yours truly) that our abandoning the GOP was a good idea.
Libertarian, Bob Barr has my vote. However, I am willing to seriously consider voting for John McCain if he picks the right Vice Presidential running mate.
Lieberman's not the one.

Paris Hilton's response.

Paris Hilton's video response to a recent John McCain ad is funny....so funny, in fact, I'm way sure Paris didn't write any of it.
I wonder who the creative force behind it is.
At least we know she can laugh at her own image.
Or maybe, she isn't the complete airhead we all think she is.
.............nah, she is.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Birds of a feather....two peas in a pod.

As the recent Gallop Poll results show, Obama and McCain are in a statistical dead-heat for U.S. President. But, as we all know, the popular vote doesn't matter....it's the Electoral College votes that will be the final determination. If McCain holds on to the same states Bush carried in 2004, he'll squeeze through. One or two states will make all the difference.
It's not surprising that the two are so close....there isn't 2 cents' difference between them. Both are Big Government advocates. Both will increase taxes and expand the size of the Federal government.
Until the people decide that they've had enough and demand real changes the problem will only get worse.We desperately need to decrease the size and influence of government and cut taxes.
As long as we pick candidates like McCain and Obama, it will continue to be business as usual.

Silly Susan.

I wish I had a dollar for ever time a Hollywood celeb announced that if "such and such" Republican candidate is elected President of the U.S., they've leave the country.......but are still here in spite of what they'd promised.
Now it's Susan Sarandon's turn. She said recently, that if John McCain is elected, she'll move to Italy.
Odd, she should choose Italy, considering her dislike of Pope Benedict XVI. She is quoted as saying,
"This particular Pope is not one of my favourites," she says.
"I am pretty suspicious of him and my only message to him is that he should become more compassionate and more involved in what the world needs now instead of his archaic kind of outdated, misogynist infrastructure the Church has going now."
My choice for Pres. is Libertarian, Bob Barr, but I'd like to see McCain win - if only to see her leave.

The Rising Price of Food reaching its Political and Moral Limits.

We've decided that the price of oil is much too high.....we blame the greedy Arabs or the greedy corporations or uncaring governments.

We're not going to cut down on our driving.The idea that you can live and work in the same city is obviously an alien concept to a lot of folks.You say there's no good paying job close to your home? So, rather than move closer to work you drive 20, 25 or 30 miles one way every day.
The price of gasoline isn't going to go down. So, why not use ethanol to take the place of gas? We can grew corn.

This may have sounded like a great idea, but it has caused the price of grain to skyrocket.
Cereal grain prices are higher. It costs more to feed humans and livestock.

From AsiaNews.it;
"More than 100 million people in poor countries risk falling back into misery, on account of the rapid rise in staple food prices. Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank, is raising the alarm and proposing immediate intervention and a long-term plan to foster agricultural production.

According to official data, from March of 2007 to March of 2008 the price of wheat increased by 130%, soya by 87%, rice by 74%, and maize by 31%. The causes indicated include the rise in demand, bad weather conditions in many countries, and greater use of arable land for the production of plants for biofuels. The rise in food prices in general has been 83% over three years.

These increases have caused popular protests in many countries, including Egypt, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and it is feared that these can only increase and become more violent, since the run-up in prices does not appear to be stopping. In recent months, large rice exporters (India, China, Vietnam, and Egypt) have stopped their sales abroad, to the harm of the major importers like Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Afghanistan."

From telegraph.co.uk ;
The mass diversion of the North American grain harvest into ethanol plants for fuel is reaching its political and moral limits.
'The reality is that people are dying already,' said Jacques Diouf, of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 'Naturally people won't be sitting dying of starvation, they will react,' he said.

The Philippines - a country with ample foreign reserves of $36bn (Britain has $27bn) - last week had to enlist its embassies to hunt for grain supplies after China withheld shipments. Washington stepped in, pledging "absolutely" to cover Philippine grain needs. A new Cold War is taking shape, around energy and food.
The world intelligentsia has been asleep at the wheel. While we rage over global warming, global hunger has swept in under the radar screen."

We'll be forced by circumstances to alter our current lifestyle. The cost of driving will be too high. There will be high unemployment and there will be nothing Clinton or Obama or McCain will be able to do to stop it.


It's going to happen and in the mean time, poor people will starve while we cling to this way of life.

McCain's Choice for VP. Part 2.

Always one to do things bass ackwards, after posting "McCain's Choice for VP", I took a cruise on the Internet to see what others were thinking vis a vis McCain's possible pick as a running mate.
A site called Right Wing News had "John McCain's Top 24 Potential Picks For Vice-President"
24 seems a bit much, but the piece was informative. I especially liked what the writer had to say about Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn:
"The TN Congresswoman is attractive, has a superb personality, and has a 97% lifetime ACU rating. She would be a fantastic choice if McCain wanted to reach out to conservative voters and women voters at the same time. Of course, Blackburn has only been in office since 2002, but that still makes her more experienced than Barack Obama. How seriously McCain would look at Blackburn is hard to say, but at first glance, she would appear to be an excellent choice for Veep."
I took a look at her on wikipedia and I believe I could vote for her.

McCain's Choice for VP.

Much to the dismay (and dislike) of a good many Republican conservatives, it looks as if John McCain will get the Party's nomination.Many of these conservatives....myself included....have seriously considered not voting in the Presidential election this November rather than vote for McCain.
The Democrats appear ready to nominate Obama (assuming Clinton isn't able to pull off a coup d'etat during the convention).Many of those conservatives contemplating not participating might vote never the less if the Democrats ran with Hillary, but the prospect of Obama as the Democratic candidate probably won't motivate the anti McCain Republicans to vote.
Traditionally, a Presidential candidate will choose a Vice-Presidential running mate that balances the ticket as a way of attracting voters he wouldn't otherwise get.Right now, Huckabee is staying in the race, most likely in an attempt to force McCain to choose him for VP.
This would be a big mistake.
Huckabee might bring in a few votes for McCain....but not many. Anyone who'd go for Huckabee isn't likely to vote for a Democrat and having him on the ticket won't bring in any new voters.
The logical choice for the Republican's Vice President nominee is Condoleezza Rice. As Secretary of State, Rice beats Obama and Clinton when it comes to the experience needed. Anyone doubting that she is more than qualified for the job need only check out the article on her at wikipedia.
Picking the right VP is going to make all the difference for McCain. I hope he's listening.

McCain Wins Florida.

Not really happy about it......
I'll still vote in the Georgia primary; early voting has already started, I may even vote tomorrow and not wait until next Tuesday.
If McCain wins the Republican nomination, I may sit out the general election.I'm not being a sore loser or a spoil-sport. To me, McCain is a closet Democrat and not worth voting for. I don't think he'd be any better than Clinton or Obama...... and it looks as if the Democrats aren't really wild about Hillary after all; maybe Obama will carry this off.

New York Times Endorses Clinton, McCain

New York Times Endorses Clinton, McCain
The headlight alone should give conservative Republicans pause.
The New York Times editorial board said of Hillary Clinton,
"Hearing her talk about the presidency, her policies and answers for America's big problems, we are hugely impressed by the depth of her knowledge, by the force of her intellect and by the breadth of, yes, her experience,".

Surely, the Republicans can see that the newspaper does not have our best interests at heart.Their endorsement should, in a perfect world, be the death knell of McCain's campaign.
McCain and Romney are in a dead heat for the Florida primary.Giuliani and Huckabee don't have a prayer of winning Florida.....the Republicans should give serious consideration to picking Romney over McCain.