What Am I So Afraid Of?

I was having a conversation with a friend recently, who happens to be a supporter of Barack Obama.  After chatting back and forth about different issues, he asked me a question that I had not considered:

"What are you so afraid of?"



I paused, and thought about why I don't want Obama to be elected. 

Is it because he is a Democrat?  No.  We've survived Democrat presidents before.
Is it because I'm afraid he is a closet Muslim?  No.  First, I don't think he is, and second, if he were, it wouldn't matter, because it isn't about religion for Obama, it is about power.  It is always about power, for every presidential candidate.
Is it because he is black?  Of course not.
Is it because he is liberal?  Na, liberals are elitist and naive, but they're not terribly dangerous.

So what is it?  What am I afraid of?

Well...nothing, really.

First, because my clock doesn't turn on who is president.  I have placed every bit of faith I am able to muster on the Lord God of Heaven, not a professional politician.  And second, because political ideologies tend to ebb and flow.  If Barack Obama is elected, I believe our economy will suffer, but eventually someone will come along and propose ideas to make it better, and we will survive.  We survived disasters like Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter, and we can survive Barack Obama.  Third, the Bible says that it is God who sets up kings, and it is God who takes them down. I really do believe that. We are commanded in the New Testament to honor those in authority, the same as we would honor the Lord Himself.  If God, in His providence, chooses to place Obama in authority, I'll stand behind him the best I can.

But that doesn't mean I don't have serious reservations about him.  There are things about Barack Obama that should make every voter hesitate when they step into the booth.  Here are a few.

  • His judgment.  You can tell a lot about a guy by the company he keeps.  You can get a keen insight into his character by looking at the people he has surrounded himself with.  Obama has surrounded himself with lunatics, racists, and former terrorists.  I know, the media say that you can't judge Obama by his associations with Bill Ayers, because Ayers' terrorist activities ended years ago.  However, when you look at the sum total of lunacy by Obama's friends and advisers, it should cause you to be very concerned.  Even the most staunch Obama supporters I know tell me that the one thing that could make them reconsider their vote is his associations with radicals.  Take Bill Ayers, who set off bombs in peoples' homes, at the Pentagon, and a New York city police station, then later said that he didn't regret one thing he had done.  As recently as 2001, he said that he wished he had done more.  There is a photo circulating on the internet that shows Ayers standing on an American flag, saying, "guilty as hell, free as a bird, America is a great country."  Barack Obama started his political career in this man's living room. 
  • Or take the twenty-year relationship with his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  Rev Wright is a racist in the first degree.  He says that America deserved what happened on 9/11.  He said we shouldn't be singing "God Bless America."  Instead we should be saying, "God, damn America."  How can anyone want a president who sat under this divisive, hateful speech for two decades? 
  • We're just now learning of Obama's cozy friendship with Rashid Khalidi.  Khalidi is now a good boy, or at least that's what we are supposed to believe.  But for several years he was a high ranking official with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, when the United States government considered it a terrorist organization.  Khalidi himself has made it clear that he is anti-Israel.  The Los Angeles Times has in its possession a tape containing footage of conversations between Obama and Khalidi.  They refuse to release the tape.  Now, I understand that they are claiming the tape would reveal their confidential source, and that all relevant material from the tape was reported on back in April.  But still, it makes one wonder if there is information there which would derail the election for Obama.
  • That the Obamas are intimate friends with one more former terrorist is bad enough.  But it brings up another issue that should cause voters to reconsider their vote for Obama.  Just about every one of these close friends/associates of  Obama's is anti-Israel.  For as long as there has been an official Israeli state, the US has been its strongest ally.  If Obama is elected, I wonder if that will end.  And I wonder what will happen to the United States of America when we stop being friends with Israel.
  • Then there is Louis Farrakhan, who has called Obama the messiah.  Or Father Flager.  Or Tony Rezko.  Barack Obama has shown that he lacks the judgment to be president, based on the types of people he has befriended over the years.
  • His lack of experience.  Even his own running mate, Joe Biden, said of Barack Obama that the presidency does not lend itself to on the job training.  Recently, Biden said that in the first six months of an Obama administration, our country would experience an attack.  He said that this attack would test the mettle of the new president.  And he said that we might not all agree with how he handles it, but that eventually, we would see and understand.  Holy crap!  The enemies of freedom and democracy will see an Obama presidency as a chance to launch an attack on our country.
  • His ideology.  Barack Obama is a socialist.  Oh, he may not be an official member of the party anymore, but make no mistake about it, he is a socialist, and he has opened his mouth and said it out loud.  When explaining his rationale to Joe the Plumber a couple of weeks ago, he used the phrase, "spread the wealth around."  Now there is an audio tape going around where we clearly hear Obama using the phrase "redistribution of wealth."  Karl Marx would be so proud!  It took us seventy years to bring down communism, and now we are about to elect a president who would fit fairly well into their system.  What Obama wants to do is penalize people who have already made great sacrifices—working hard, going to college, getting ahead, by taking money from them, and giving it to people who don't care.  Take a guy who went to college for ten years to become a surgeon.  Now, after working his butt off for years, he is making a six or seven figure salary.  Obama would have that guy spread the wealth around—tax him or her at 75%, then give that money to people who barely graduated from high school.  The reason that ideology doesn't work, and hasn't since the days of Karl Marx, is that it takes away incentive.  Why should I work hard and make sacrifices, so the government can put their hand in my pocket and give it to people who don't the same level of drive, discipline, or talent?
  • His mouth.  He makes clear his disdain for those on the right when he refers to conservative voters as bitter Americans, clinging to their guns and religion.  It shouldn't surprise anyone that he feels this way, given his contempt for the Constitution.
  • His wife's mouth.  She said that this is the first time as an adult that she is proud to be an American.  What an insulting thing to say.

There is a way to spread the wealth around.  It is called "charity," and it should be voluntary, not forced.  You say, "but if it is voluntary, people won't give!"  Oh yeah?  To Boone Pickens, giving tens of millions of dollars to Oklahoma State University?  Or Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, giving billions to charity?  Or Ted Turner, giving a billion dollars to UN charities?  People are extremely charitable, when it is their idea.  But when you force them, they balk. Barack Obama thinks people don't want to give their money away voluntarily.  The Obamas, who are worth millions of dollars, barely gave any money to charity. Joe Biden, who made a few million dollars last year, gave a little more than $3,000.  

Someone tried to get a conversation started in Sunday School today about the election.  Fortunately, our wise teacher wouldn't let us go there.  I pointed out that it doesn't matter, because Oklahoma will not give its electoral college votes to Obama.  If you're an Oklahoma voter and you're reading this, vote for whoever you want.  But if you live in Ohio, or Pennsylvania, or Florida or Virginia or Nevada or New Mexico, or any other "swing" states, please consider voting for John McCain on Tuesday.  We can't afford Senator Obama. 

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Posted by Jason Kearney at 11/1/2008 12:04 PM
Categories: Barack Obama,presidential election,Politics,2008
 

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  • 11/2/2008 2:18 PM Becky wrote:
    I am a registered Democrat.
    I voted early for John McCain. I live in Florida and hope my vote counts!
    I agree with you completely.
    Actually, I agree with you on most things except I am a die hard OSU Cowboys fan
    Reply to this
    1. 11/2/2008 6:49 PM Jason Kearney wrote:
      Well, Becky, thank you for casting your vote early!  And for voting for John McCain.  Your vote does count, more than mine!  And I will say right here and right now that your OSU Cowboys are the REAL DEAL this year.  Congratulations!
      Reply to this
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