National Day of Prayer

(As we in the UK go to the polls our cousins in the USA turn to prayer)

National Day of Prayer 2010

The 59th Annual National Day of Prayer will take place Thursday, May 6, 2010. Millions will unite in prayer at thousands of events from coast to coast. The theme for this year is “Prayer for Such a Time as This” and is based on the verse from Nahum 1:7 which states: “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”

A bit of background and a few facts on the National Day of Prayer might be of interest as we observe this day.

In 1776 the Continental Congress called for prayer, and each step of developing a constitution and a new nation was preceded by prayer. When the Constitutional Convention was at a roadblock in 1787, Benjamin Franklin made a special request for prayer saying, “…I see this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? …I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning….” (Christian Defense Fund, “One Nation Under God,” 1997, p. 22-24).

Although national days of prayer had long been a part of our history, for many years the U.S. President would declare the observance to be on a day of his choosing. In 1952 President Harry Truman signed a joint resolution of Congress establishing an annual day of prayer. In 1988 President Ronald Reagan and Congress amended the law to designate the first Thursday of every May to be an annual observance. Each year the President signs a proclamation encouraging all Americans to pray, and state governors do so as well. President Obama has made such a proclamation this year calling upon the citizens of our nation to pray for their country.

A volunteer coordinator network organizes local, state and federal observances throughout the nation. Observances begin at sunrise in Maine and continue through the day until sunset in Hawaii. There is unity through a theme, scripture and artwork which is developed by the NDP Task Force, but individuals are free to observe the day in their own prayer style. Shirley Dobson, wife of Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family has been the Task Force chairman since early 1990’s. She has volunteered her time as a citizen along with thousands of volunteers across the nation.

First Lady

Michelle Obama must do it her way

Much is expected of Michelle Obama; both publicly and privately, writes Liz Hunt

 

Liz Hunt 

Who should Michelle Obama look to for inspiration? Photo: Getty

'Nothing,' said Thomas Jefferson, "gives one person so much

 advantage over another as to remain always cool and 

unruffled under all circumstances." While it was to 

Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy that Barack 

Obama looked for inspiration yesterday, it is the words

 of the third president that he embodies. The "unruffled"

 demeanour is a defining characteristic. Now it is also an 

attribute of the woman at his side.

It has not come naturally to Michelle Obama. At heart,

she remains the feisty girl from working-class Chicago

 who studied hard and earned the prizes. Used to speaking 

her mind, she did so early on in the campaign and found 

herself lambasted for belittling her husband when she 

joked about him being "snorey and stinky" in bed. Later,

 she was condemned for "emasculating" him when she

quipped: "He's a gifted man, but in the end, he's just 

a man."

But she learned fast from the criticism and from the

objections to perceived gaffes such as the "terrorist fist

 bump" and an alleged lack of patriotism. She gave up kicking 

off her shoes and going barefoot, and was rarely, if ever, 

photographed looking less than perfectly groomed. Even on 

holiday in Hawaii at Christmas, she denied the paparazzi 

the swimsuit shot. And yesterday, she arrived at the 

White House, polished, poised and ready for the challenge.

Much is expected of President Obama – nothing less than 

saving the world. But much is expected of Michelle, too. 

Publicly, she must deliver as châtelaine of 1600 Pennsylvania 

Avenue, and on the world stage. Privately, she has to deliver

 as a wife to a man about to be tested as few in history have

 been, and as mother to two young girls whose lives must

 retain some semblance of normality in the most abnormal 

of circumstances. She must also live with the knowledge that

 her family are the target of every crazy racist or terrorist.

So, to whom should Michelle look for inspiration? To the 

admirable, but bland example of the Bush wives, Barbara 

and Laura? To the wannabe-president Hillary, who flip-flopped

between healthcare reform and baking cookies – and failed 

on both counts? What about Nancy Reagan, living proof that

 you can be too rich, too thin and wear too much Elnett? 

There is, of course, Jackie Kennedy, with whom Mrs Obama 

has been compared sartorially, but how disappointing if she

 turns out to be no more than a glamorous appendage to her

 husband. Whatever she does, Michelle Obama will do it her way,

 learning from the mistakes of others, but mimicking none. Nor 

should she.

Just as Barack Obama seems to be the man for turbulent 

times and a world in flux, so, too, is this woman, whose

 experience of work, motherhood and marriage resonate with

 so many. So can she deliver? On the evidence so far – yes,

 she can.

Let the work begin

With a wealth of expectation upon him, and the eyes of the world watching, it is likely 

Mr Obama will begin to implement changes, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Here are some of the issues to watch during the new president’s first day in

the job:

• IRAQ

During his first day in office, President Obama is widely expected to meet with 

high-ranking military officials to discuss Iraq.

As far back as July, long before he was elected, Mr Obama vowed: “I intend to end 

this war. My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give 

them a new mission, and that is to end this war responsibly and deliberately, 

but decisively.”

• GAZA

Another “Day One” promise by Mr Obama was to address the violence in Gaza 

and the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to reports, the president will appoint former Senator George Mitchell 

as his Middle East envoy today.

Mr Mitchell has knowledge of brokering peace agreements. As special envoy to 

Northern Ireland he helped usher in the Good Friday Agreement. He received the

 Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999 for his efforts in the province.

• ABORTION

It has been suggested that one of Mr Obama’s first move as president will be to 

overturn the Bush administration’s ban on funding overseas organisations involved 

with abortion programmes. At present, no money can be distributed through the 

US Agency for International Development to charities and NGOs that promote,

 or provide information or advice about termination services.

President Bill Clinton lifted the ban – brought in by President Reagan – when he 

came to power in 1993. President George Bush reinstated it as one of his first acts.

Tomorrow marks the 36th anniversary of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling 

legalising abortion in the US. The date could be used by President Obama to 

reverse the policy yet again.

• GUANTANAMO BAY

President Obama has long called for the closure of the controversial Guantanamo Bay 

base in Cuba. And an announcement on the detention centre is expected by the end of

 the week. It will not, however, signal the immediate end to the base.

Mr Obama has signalled that it could take time to shut the camp down. In an interview 

with ABC he said: “We are going to get it done. But part of the challenge that you have 

is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom may be very 

dangerous, who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication.”

• ECONOMIC PACKAGE

During his inaugural address, Mr Obama pledged “bold and swift” action on the economy

 “not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation of growth”. Work will now turn

 towards getting Congress to pass his proposed 825 billion US dollar (£594 billion)

 economic-stimulus package.

Inauguration Day

Oath

At 12 noon today (washington time) Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The first black president to live in the White House built by slaves.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States".

Most presidents choose to add the words "So help me God", uttered by George Washington after he was sworn in.

Bible

The new president will take the oath of office with his hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his first inauguration ceremony in 1861. Lincoln had wanted to use his family Bible, but there was a delay in bringing it to Washington, so the Supreme Court clerk bought a new one. That is the Bible that will be used today after lying in the Library of Congress for 148 years.

Travelling Hopefully

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama called on Americans to revive the spirit and courage of the patriots who founded the nation to confront historic challenges ahead.

Three days before he will be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president, Obama and his family boarded a train at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station for a “whistle-stopâ€

“Only a handful of times in our history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast,” Obama said. “What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our founders displayed.”

Obama will pick up Vice-President elect Joe Biden and his family in the former Delaware senator’s home state. The two- families will continue on to an event in Baltimore before arriving in Washington this evening.

While the train trip harkens back to the ride that President Abraham Lincoln took to his 1861 inauguration, it also is intended to echo Obama’s inaugural theme: “Renewing America’s Promise” -- with celebrations held in cities central to that premise, aides say.

‘Better Angels’

Noting that he is beginning the trip in the city where the first Continental Congress met in 1774 and where theDeclaration of Independence was signed in 1776, Obama said Americans must take up the work they began.

“What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry -- an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels,” said Obama, 47, who will be the nation’s first black president.

Obama recalled some of the themes he campaigned on and touched on the issues that have grown bigger since the election, particularly the faltering economy.

He mentioned the war in Iraq, which he said “needs to be ended responsibly,” and the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as global warming and “our unsustainable dependence on oil.”

The American revolution, he said, is an “ongoing struggle.â€

“Let’s build a government that is responsible to the people, and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable,” he said.

Guests at Station

Obama was joined by Pennsylvania elected officials from both parties, including Governor Ed Rendell andSenator Bob Casey, both Democrats, as well as Republican senator Arlen Specter.

He appeared on stage with his wife, Michelle, who is celebrating her 45th birthday today, and daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. While Obama spoke, Malia took photographs.

From Philadelphia, Obama is heading to Delaware, the first state in the union, and then on to Baltimore, which has been immortalized in the national anthem, before arriving in Washington, the nation’s capital.

The celebration continues in Washington, where Obama will attend a public concert tomorrow with music legends including Bruce Springsteen and Bono. On Jan. 19, he will also take part in a day devoted to community service.

The swearing-in takes place at noon on Jan. 20.

Obama and his children

'What I Want for You — and Every Child 
in America'

By President-elect Barack Obama

Publication Date: 01/14/2009

Cover Photo By Kwaku Alston/Corbis Barack and Michelle Obama with daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10.

Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them. 


Dear Malia and Sasha, 

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey. 

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. 

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity. 

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other. 

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility. 

Sasha (l) and Malia Obama at play in New Hampshire in 2007.

Bumper cars at the Iowa State Fair in August 2007.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something. 

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be. 

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential. 

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure. 

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House. 

Love, Dad          

Obama and the church

THE Rt Revd Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire, who is openly gay, has been invited at a late stage to take part in President-elect Obama’s inauguration celebrations. The invitation comes a month after it was announced that the Revd Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, an Evangelical megachurch in California, would give the invocation at the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.

In an earlier interview, Bishop Robinson described the choice of the conservative Evangelical Mr Warren as “a slap in the face”, but denies that his invitation to take part is as a balance to Mr Warren. Bishop Robinson will give the invocation at the opening event of the inaugura tion celebrations at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Sunday, which will include performances from the singers Bruce Springsteen and Bono.

Responding to the invitation, he said it would be “an enormous honour to offer prayers for the country and the new President, standing on the holy ground where the ‘I have a dream’ speech was delivered by Dr King. . . It will be my great honour to be there represent ing the Episcopal Church, the people of New Hampshire, and all of us in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.”

Bishop Robinson said he was “very clear” that what he would say at the event “would not be a Chris­tian prayer, and I won’t be quoting scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.”

He said he might address the prayer to “the God of our many understandings” — language that he said he learned from the 12-step programme he attended for his alcohol addiction.

Jim Naughton, Canon for Communications and Advancement in the Episcopal diocese of Washington, said it seemed likely that Bishop Robinson’s appointment was an attempt to even things up.

“It sure looks that way, even though [the Obama team] denies it. I do think that the noise that was made after Rick Warren was initially chosen has made this happen. But Gene Robinson has been on Obama’s radar for at least a year, after the Bishop endorsed his campaign. And they do have a real relationship.”

Thanksgiving

We had an excited American assistant priest at mass today!

Religion is just one aspect of the day that celebrates the beginnings of prosperity in America

Christopher Lingle

One aspect of globalization is that some holidays have become internationalized. That is certainly the case with Thanksgiving Day, a distinctly North American feast day that is often celebrated around the world on the fourth Thursday of each November.

Photo: StockXpert

Many people consider Thanksgiving to be a religious holiday since the first celebration involved worshipful praise for an abundant harvest within a colony of devout Christians. In its modern manifestation, it is a day with broad secular appeal that unites all Americans of all faiths and even those with none at all.

In all events, divine intervention may not have been at work on the first occasion of a celebration of bountiful harvest that marks this day of feasting. As it turns out, the worldly basis for the first day of Thanksgiving involved changes in the economic system that had guided activities in a colony of pilgrims.

To fully understand this assertion, one has to consider an accurate account of the pilgrim’s progress. In the first instance, some historical misperceptions must be cleared up.

Every American schoolchild knows that in November 1620, a small band of pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and founded New Plymouth. Many Americans seem to recollect, or were taught incorrectly, that these pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving with their Indian friends.

While there was a three-day feast that took place after a shooting party in the fall of 1621, it was not the first Thanksgiving Day. Although many of the pilgrims owed thanks to local Indians who taught them indigenous practices such as fertilizing corn with fish, the original Thanksgiving did not include their aboriginal friends.

The harvest celebrated at the first Thanksgiving occurred later, after the pilgrims abandoned a form of agricultural socialism they had implemented upon their arrival. In large part, the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the bounty arising from the pursuit of individualism and incentives associated with free markets.

The background for understanding Thanksgiving Day is found in records kept by the governor of the colony, William Bradford. He informs us that the pilgrims’ English sponsors arranged for all crops and goods to be held “in the common stock” from which they would be supplied, reflecting the religious beliefs of the colony.

As with many other recorded applications of communalism, there were disastrous results. Governor Bradford wrote that this experiment reflected a belief that common ownership of property would allow the colony to flourish. Instead, it was soon found that communal sharing resulted in unintended consequences. The pilgrims, as the Soviets discovered several centuries later, found that individuals work harder within an incentive system that allows them to maintain and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

The pilgrims’ initial experience mirrored the unfortunate experiment in Jamestown, where half of the original settlers either starved or fell victim to disease. With the pilgrims facing the prospect of a famine in the early months of 1623, they called a meeting to look into ways to escape near-certain death by starvation.

Their decision was to abandon their communist arrangement for the distribution of goods on the basis of “from each according to their means, to each according to their needs”. Instead, according to Bradford, from then on, “they should set corn every man for his own particular need.”

These new arrangements provided only a limited form of property rights, since land continued to be held commonly. Nonetheless, each family had a parcel of land to cultivate and they could keep what they grew, even if they could not deed the land to their heirs (similar agricultural reforms were initiated in China in 1978 under the direction of Deng Xiaoping. After centuries of cycles of famine, China has become self-sufficient in many foods and a net exporter of others).

Although it was recorded that the American colonists exhibited a dramatic increase in industriousness, these were offset the following summer by the effects of a drought. Following the convictions of their religious beliefs, they offered appropriate contrition for their sins. The drought ended and the harvest was saved.

And so it was that the pilgrims set about to celebrate a “day of thanksgiving” that Americans continue to celebrate to this day. Their new economic system that relied on individual efforts ensured they would be able to produce enough food for the future. This system continues to thrive within the freedoms enshrined in America’s national heritage.

Remembrances on Thanksgiving Day should not be limited to the pilgrims’ offering of thanks to God for the rain that saved their crops. It also provides an opportunity to praise the institutions of individualism, private property and liberty that make the US such a rich and welcoming country.

In fact, all wealthy and advanced industrial economies possess similar institutional arrangements that underpin their success and lay the groundwork for continued good fortune. And for that, they should all be thankful.

Socialist Economics

John McCain Calls Out Obama’s Socialist Economic Plan

Posted on October 18, 2008 

In John McCain’s Weekly Radio Address he lays out why Senator Obama’s economic plan is a socialist plan, and why that would harm our economy.

You see, he believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism. And a lot of Americans are thinking along those same lines. In the best case, “spreading the wealth around” is a familiar idea from the American left. And that kind of class warfare sure doesn’t sound like a “new kind of politics.”

This would also explain some big problems with my opponent’s claim that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You might ask: How do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero?

Well, that’s the key to Barack Obama’s whole plan: Since you can’t reduce taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit. And the Treasury will cover those checks by taxing other people, including a lot of folks just like Joe.

In other words, Barack Obama’s tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington. I suppose when you’ve voted against lowering taxes 94 times, as Senator Obama has done, a new definition of the term “tax credit” comes in handy.

At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives. They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Senator Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut it’s just another government giveaway.

What’s more, the Obama tax increase would come at the worst possible time for America, and especially for small businesses like the one Joe dreams of owning. Small businesses provide 16 million jobs in America. And a sudden tax hike will kill those jobs at a time when need to be creating more jobs.

Fortunately, America has an alternative to the phony tax cut my opponent started talking about only months ago. The McCain-Palin tax cut is the real thing. Among our other serious tax reforms, we’re going to reduce every income tax bill in America, and double the child deduction for every family. We will cut the capital gains tax. And we will cut business taxes to help create jobs, and keep American businesses in America.

As Joe the Plumber has now reminded us all, America didn’t become the greatest nation on earth by letting government “spread the wealth around.” In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity, for those who need jobs and those who create them. And that is exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Recession shadows Obama's economic goals

Phoenix, November 5: Memo to president-elect Barack Obama: be careful what you wish for.

The victor in Tuesday's US presidential election will face a host of acute economic problems on a scale not seen since the 1930s.

The spiraling financial crisis, meltdown in the housing market, and Wall Street chaos coupled with longer-term challenges like high health care costs and foreign energy dependence will be on the next president's to-do list.

But analysts say Obama, now a Democratic senator from Illinois, will face his biggest challenge after becoming president on Jan. 20 in navigating a deep and potentially prolonged economic downturn.

"The United States is in a profound recession, and when the next president takes office, chances are things will look as bad or worse as they do today," said Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund who provided occasional advice to Obama's defeated Republican rival John McCain.

"That problem's going to be so pressing that it's going to push a lot of other items to the back of the agenda."

Many economic analysts hope that Obama puts his official economic team together quickly, perhaps by Nov. 15 when outgoing President George W. Bush hosts a summit in Washington to discuss the global financial crisis.

Among the candidates frequently mentioned for the top job of Treasury secretary are former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

SECOND STIMULUS PACKAGE

Obama, whose popular support strengthened on perceptions that he has a better grip on the economic crisis, has advocated a second government stimulus package worth $175 billion that would include money for investments in infrastructure as well as another round of rebate checks.

"That's the type of package Sen. Obama believes needs to happen right away," Brian Deese, the Illinois senator's deputy director of economic policy told Reuters.

The McCain camp criticized Obama's plans as a return to a tax-and-spend approach, but Obama countered by saying the United States could not afford four more years of a Republican administration.

Though a recession will likely dominate the Obama administration's agenda, other short- and long-term economic challenges will also feature high on the to-do list, economists and advisers said.

Obama has promised to revamp regulations governing Wall Street, to bring down the costs of health care, to boost indigenous energy sources and fight climate change by setting caps on carbon dioxide emissions for big industries.

But limited resources -- diverted to ease the financial crisis and fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- would hamper the ability of any president to achieve many of those goals.

"These are not things that are achievable," said Jeffrey Frankel, an economist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

"Energy independence is basically not achievable. Balancing the budget is not achievable. Preventing us from going into a recession? It's too late."

Deese said Obama would not allow health care reform to be placed on the backburner. He has proposed a national program to allow individuals and small businesses to buy health care similar to that available to federal employees.

"Sen. Obama understands that our nation's long-term financial challenges are intimately tied up with addressing our nation's health care crisis and that we cannot wait on the type of ambitious reforms that he's talked about," he said.

On energy, Obama has emphasized massive investments in renewable energy technology as opposed to Republican calls for more offshore oil drilling and increased use of nuclear power.

Islam and Israel

Obama, the Muslim Thing, And Why It Matters

by Pamela Geller (September 2008)

He knows the stakes involved.

The thing is, you can't be a leader and not know what Islam means. The average Joe pumping gas on Route 66 - okay, not on top of the issue. But there is no way you can be running for President and not know the hell being wreaked on the free and not-so-free world by Islamic jihad.

 

That said, Barack Obama went to a madrassa in Jakarta. A madrassa in a Muslim country. Whether he was devout or secular, he knows what was taught. He knows what is in the Koran. Even if he is ambiguous, he knows the stakes involved. His father was a 
 
Muslim who took three wives (without divorcing). His stepfather and close members of his family are devout Muslims. Not an unimportant influence.

Every Muslim who left Islam is very definitive about leaving and why. They are quite vocal. If he left Islam, Obama must have very definite thoughts about it. He has to, he practiced Islam. That is not benign; it's big. And even if, as inferred by big media, it was not big to him, then he can still appreciate how important it is knowing what he knows about Islam and apostasy.

Obama would have had to make a decision to reject Islam. When did he make that decision? How? Why the silence? Why the reluctance to talk about it?

Apostasy is punishable by death in Islam. Have there been calls for Obama's death? If not, why not? Islam gives no free passes.

Obama's posture on this is hard to define or understand, because it is a critical issue.

Transitional issues facing this nation and the world at large - the world at war, creeping sharia, the perversion of the rights of free men, individuals, women, etc., hang in the balance on the make up of the next president of the United States. The stakes could not be higher domestically.

On foreign policy, Europe has laid down. The political elites have capitulated to Islamists and to multiculturalists. Suicide. It seems unclear that they could hold up their end even if America did the heavy lifting.

As far as Israel is concerned, if Obama makes it to the big house, Israel is screwed. Finished.  Israel will be on its own.

Perhaps that is necessary, though, because it seems they have relinquished their sovereignty to the US and they expect the US to guarantee their security. Ain't never


gonna' happen. No country, ever, should abdicate its role in protecting and defending itself. Ehud Olmert is on a one-way trip to nowhere. So maybe tough love is necessary, because this relationship is hurting Israel.

The recent revelations of Obama's ties to Raila Odinga in Kenya are disconcerting as well, because Odinga is behind the terrible violence in his country. It was he who instigated bloody riots and killing after he lost the election. Obama's bias for his fellow Luo was so blatant that a Kenyan government spokesman denounced Obama during his visit as Raila's "stooge." And while there are few angels in Kenya, Odinga is the source of great unrest and turmoil; and the MOU he signed with the Muslim Council to institute shariais a foreshadowing of a dark fate for Kenya.  Just how quickly will Kenya go Islamic?

We must be allowed to ask these questions. I do not embrace change for the sake of change - the impossible new buzzword on the campaign trail. Jimmy Carter was the dark horse, the new unknown, and he was an unmitigated disaster. The worst, most damaging president in US history, in my opinion.

This could be even worse. And so, I implore my fellow Americans to question, question, question. The potential damage to this country is incalculable. These are dangerous times, my friends; reckless and capricious intellectual laziness will have disastrous consequences.

Counter offensive (August 2001)

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama launched an online viral counteroffensive Tuesday against persistent e-mail chain letters that lie about his religious and political background. But history suggests that the effort might backfire, according to experts in urban myths and folklore.

"The principle is that a very strong denial makes some people think: 'Uh huh, we knew it. If he's taken the trouble to make such a strong denial, there must be some truth to it,'" says Bill Ellis, a professor at Pennsylvania State University who studies contemporary folklore and popular cultural responses to societal events like the 9/11 attacks.

There are various versions of the e-mails, but they generally insinuate that Obama is secretly a Muslim who attended a radical Islamic school in Indonesia. One of the e-mails charges that he's a radical Muslim who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Another e-mail claims that he was sworn into the Senate using a copy of the Quran. All of the allegations are false.

Pro Abortionist

Obama's Abortion Extremism

Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket.

Barack Obama's victory may open abortion floodgates (Telegraph)

When a conquering general rides over a battlefield, with colours flying, receiving the plaudits of his troops, little thought is spared for the corpses that have paved his path to victory. So it is with the American presidential election. Now is the moment when post-election Stockholm Syndrome traditionally engulfs the defeated party, which garlands the successful candidate with good wishes.

Unhappily, such sporting, cricket-pavilion conventions are inappropriate in the present instance. The conventional "Now, let us all rally round our new President" provokes the question: "To help him do what?" Barack Obama has declared: "The first thing I'd do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." We have no reason to doubt him: he is co-sponsor of the Bill in the Senate.

This legislation would abolish all restrictions on abortion in the United States, overriding state laws, including 38 states' bans on partial-birth abortion. Obama defended partial-birth abortion to the last ditch in the Illinois senate and described himself as "extremely concerned" when the Supreme Court upheld the ban last year.

The practice, euphemistically termed "intact dilation and extraction", is used to kill an unborn baby at five to six months, by removing the infant from the womb feet first, until only the head is undelivered. Scissors are then used to make an "incision" in the back of the head and a suction catheter sucks out the brain until the skull collapses. Hope? Change we need?

That is what the man whom thousands of young people flock to idolise believes is appropriate treatment for America's unborn, for which he has crusaded. He even resisted the Born Alive Bill in Illinois, allowing life support for babies who survive abortions. What kind of individual denies life to some little mite who, against all odds, fights for survival, abandoned in a sluice room - and then characterises himself as the personification of Hope?

This election was an issue of life and death. That is why to deplore Obama's victory is not churlish, but an affirmation of the sacredness of human life, formerly acknowledged by all civilised people, but now dangerously marginalised.

Since the Roe v Wade decision, 46 million Americans have been deprived of lives they never lived. Obama made much play of America's slave-owning past; but he is championing a death cult that future historians will equate with the immorality of slavery when they chronicle these times. By a cruel irony, if Obama's Bill passes, it will disproportionately cull black children: already the abortion rate among black women is 49 per 1,000, compared with 13 per 1,000 among whites.

"He's been sent by God!" claimed an infatuated supporter. Beyond the sinister personality cult of The One, there is a moral imperative to be confronted. Life counts for more than celebrity.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2008

Obama-Biden presents a dilemma for Roman Catholics

Senator Joe Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House himself. He has immense experience in defence and foreign policy — areas in which Senator Obama fares relatively poorly in the polls compared with Senator McCain – but he is a Roman Catholic with a long record of liberal voting, and a long-standing supporter of Roe v. Wade and a woman's ‘right to choose’.

His selection poses a major challenge for American Roman Catholics. A pro-abortion Catholic choice as a vice presidential candidate may offend and alienate very many Christians for whom the sanctity of life and the belief that life begins at conception are articles of faith. 

The American bishops have made clear that Roman Catholic political leaders must defend the dignity of every human person, including the unborn. But Senator Biden's tenure in the United States Senate has been marked by steadfast support for legal abortion.

In 2004, John Kerry's support for abortion sparked a nationwide controversy over whether Roman Catholics who support legal abortion can receive Communion. The debate was re-activated in 2007 when several bishops criticised Rudy Guiliani, also a pro-abortion Roman Catholic.

The Obama campaign will now have the very considerable problem that everywhere Senator Biden campaigns, the media will be church-watching to see if he can find a priest who will permit him to receive the host. Whilst the private/public division has so far pertained - the notion that politicians can personally and privately oppose abortion whilst refusing to pass laws protecting the unborn - the increasingly widespread view is that this is a manifest hypocrisy.

Bishop Saltarelli, the senator’s own bishop, said: "No one today would accept this statement from any public servant: 'I am personally opposed to human slavery and racism but will not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena.' Likewise, none of us should accept this statement from any public servant: "I am personally opposed to abortion but will not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena’." 

He has made it clear that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should refrain from receiving the Eucharist. He said: “The promotion of abortion by any Catholic is a grave and serious matter. Objectively, according to the constant teaching of the Scriptures and the Church, it would be more spiritually beneficial for such a person to refrain from receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. I ask Catholics in this position to have the integrity to respect the Eucharist, Catholic
teaching and the Catholic faithful."

The American bishops have instructed Roman Catholic voters to consider many issues, but have characterised the defence of human life as 'foundational' and have explained that the issue has a special claim on the conscience of the Catholic voter. This means that a political candidate like Senator Biden, because of his strong support for abortion rights, is unworthy of support despite his views on other issues like defence, health care and the economy.

And let us not pretend that this is only a problem for America’s Roman Catholics. The Evangelical contingent – the ‘Religious Right’ - in the United States is a hugely influential and highly vocal contingent. Senator Obama might just have handed the White House to Senator McCain (though Cranmer has never doubted that this will be the outcome of this contest). The choice may have given the world's leaders someone to phone at 3.00am, but the experience of the vice president ensures that it is he who will be on the other end of the line, undermining the president at every turn. Senator Biden does not plug the gaps in the Obama quest to become the most powerful political leader on the planet; he draws attention to them. And neither man will have the blessing the most powerful religious leader on the planet. If Senator McCain chooses his running mate wisely, it is he who will be annnointed.