POTUS No. 8

"Call If You Need Me"

Tonight, in response to reports that John McCain will suspend his Presidential campaign in the morning so he can return to the Senate to help solve the financial Armageddon in front of us, I came across this response on an ABC News blog - verbatim:

"McCain is not ready, prepared or able to have a serious debate on issues. This is a strategy so if he does badly, he can’t say he was putting country first. He must think we are a bunk of stupid idiots or worse.

It is easy to have a conversation about pigs and lipstick, but more difficult to talk about your campaign manager is in the hind pocket of the same institution that is failing or in governing our society. They make stupid statement like he haven’t taken salary, okay, when all the dusk settles and this election is over, there is something called retained earning where distribution are made. Don’t you kinda think he will get his prorata share down the road. Are we really that stupid?"

Are you really that stupid? From the typos, lack of coherent thought and problems with subject/verb agreement, I'm gonna sayyyy... yeah! I think you're that stupid.

(Sorry. The top part of this blog was all for me)

In all reality, this morning, in response to the crisis, Senator McCain released the following statement:

"America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, every corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns. This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward. I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective. It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me. I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem. We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.

I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis. I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country."

When asked of his plans, Senator Obama's response?

"I told the Congress if they think I can help, call me"

Dear God!

Every day, in my job as a lowly writer, I want the ball. I want to effect change and have a positive impact on the outcomes affecting our company and I'm just a creative director at a small advertising agency in Dallas. I'm not running to be the most powerful man on earth.

"I told the Congress if they think I can help, call me"

If Barack Obama doesn't value his input as a leader more than that, why should I?

POTUS No. 7
"Obama's Right - I'm Voting For Change"

For the past 18 months, Barack Obama has been telling the country it's time for change. He's been saying that Washington is broken and that it's time for a wholesale shift in the way things are done. He says it's time to change the way America thinks and more importantly, the way America acts.

After watching the speeches from the Democratic National Convention and then watching the speeches from the Republican National Convention last week, I've decided that I couldn't agree more. It is time for change. And change is what I'm voting for on November 4th.

I want leaders who will force a change in the piss poor job Congress has been doing under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. I want the House, and especially the Senate, to stop the finger pointing and the partisan Bullshit that's keeping them from getting anything done. I want the petty gridlock to stop and I want the multi-million dollar earmarks abolished forever. Politicians shouldn't go to Congress to garner favors for their friends and big contributors and if that's why they went, they don't deserve to be there.

In her acceptance speech, Governor Palin commented that politicians need a servant's heart and that Americans expect public officials to serve for all the right reasons. At the risk of speaking for America, yes! That's exactly what we expect.

I want leadership that will change the Liberal judicial wave that's rolling through this country where judges think it's their right to legislate from the bench. Our Judicial system was put in place 14 generations ago for judges to interpret the laws set forth in the Constitution. When a state votes overwhelmingly against gay marriage and three out of five judges overturn those millions of votes based on their personal ideology, that's an abuse of power and it has to change.

After 8 years of a man who treated the Oval Office like the Playboy Mansion, and 8 years of a President who meant well, but who's been highly ineffective, I want a President who will change the level of respect we feel for the Presidency. I want a man who will make us believe in America again and who will inspire US to change America. That man is John McCain.

Say what you want about John McCain, the man has spent a lifetime doing what's right. And don't tell me the fact that man was a Prisoner of War for 5 years isn't relevant. That is such horseshit! Does being a POW and getting the Hell beat out of you every day for four years because you let other soldiers go home ahead of you qualify you to be President? No. Does it tell me everything I need to know about John McCain's character and integrity? You bet your ass it does.

John McCain believes in the people. Barack Obama believes in the government.

John McCain believes in inspiring and empowering people to make a difference in our country. Barack Obama believes in making government bigger to redistribute our country's wealth.

John McCain believes in cutting taxes and letting we the people decide how and where to invest the money we've earned. Barack Obama belives in taking as much of your money as he can and giving it to a Congress with a 12% approval rating to spend.

John McCain is Country First. Barack Obama is Government first.

It's not the same thing!

In the "Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln talked of "a government of the people, by the people and for the people." Notice government "for the people" comes last. It has its place, but it is last! Whether it was our founders, or our greatest President of the last century and a half, government is first and foremost "of" and "by" the people. We are the ones who are supposed to make a difference. We are called to help those less fortunate. We are called to make America great. Not the government. The people! When that power and responsibility are usurped and given wholly to the government, our democracy will crumble and all the liberal freedoms we think will set us free are the very ones that will end up destroying us.

As I've said before, I completely respect the views and opinions of my Democratic friends. I know they hold their political philosophies as closely as I do mine. But this election is too important for polite chit chat and "you could be rights!" For the first time in my political life, I find myself hypercharged and hyperfocused on where our country has to go and who the leaders are that have to help us get there. In my heart, I truly believe it's a life and death imperative for our country and the future of our children.

Hearing Governor Palin's speech and John McCain's the following night at the RNC, it struck me how different America will look this time 4 years from now depending on who comes out on top. We have 56 days to affect that outcome in any way possible.

Vacation is over. There's work to do.