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We all have heard about Barack Obama’s rise to his historic nomination this year.  We witnessed Hilary’s historic run this election season as well.  What the democratic party did this year is remarkable, and it’s good to see minorities and women take a bigger role in this country. 

Do you recognize these names: Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, or Condoleeza Rice?  Obviously you have, and all of these minorities hold important positions within our government.  The problem with this group is that they are conservative, not liberal.  It seems like whenever a liberal minority is in office, or is running for office, it’s a monumental moment that is great for America.  But if the candidate is a conservative, the spin on them is much different, and can even turn negative. 

Let’s use John McCain’s nomination of Sarah Palin.  Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, is now the running mate of John McCain, and the attacks on her came fast and hard.  I understand that she was criticized for her lack of experience, but she was also criticized for being “out of touch.”  Democrats and the media were quick to point out that she doesn’t form to the mold of what they believe a woman should be.  Attacks included: she has five kids; including one who has down syndrome (this concerns pro-choice organizations), she has strong Christian values that is dangerous to liberal beliefs, and she tends to put her family before her career.  In other words; critics of the nomination say that “SHE’s NO HILLARY.”  Forget what she has gone through, forget that she is a great model of sacrifice and putting her family before herself.  Many liberals are saying because she’s conservative, doesn’t have a poor me/women/minority attitude, and because she puts her family before her career she’s, out of touch and no Hilary.  Sarah’s monumental nomination isn’t being portrayed that way, it’s being viewed as a danger and a threat to woman and minorities because she doesn’t fit the mold of a liberal candidate, and because of that it’s not as monumental if Obama would have picked a liberal woman; how sad.

Something I don’t understand about our culture is our love affair of celebrities.  It seems like if something happens, and then they get on the front page.  Morgan Freeman and his accident, A-Rod and his divorce, John Edwards and his affair.  To be honest, I don’t care about the lives of celebrities; and I’d like to know as little about them as possible.  It just seems that the more we know about a celebrity, the less we wish we knew.  I think people read about celebrities for two major reasons.  A)  The reader needs that assurance that the celebrity is human.  Sometimes people are so engolfed into the celebrity, they believe that he/she is a god or goddess of some sort.  The news story tends to bring us back to reality.   B) The reader’s life is so terrible right now, that he/she needs a pick-me-up and needs to read about the turmoils of a celebrity’s life.  Admit it, we all feel better about ourselves after we read about Britney Spears shaving her head, Lindsay Lohan wanting to get married to her girlfried, and how certain celebrities are going through financial problems.  ”At least I’m not like that” we thing to ourselves. 

With all that’s going in the world, we need to get them off the front page, and let them live their lives the way they want.  Most of the time, they act the way they do to get attention; if they didn’t get attention, maybe they’d start acting respectable, and real stories will grace the front page.

It’s election year; in case you haven’t noticed, and things are beginning to heat up. Candidates are calling each other out, tentions are flairing up in house holds, and talk shows are trying to persuade listeners to vote for a certain candidate. Things can get kind of confusing during an election year, and I like to keep things as simple as possible. So, when I go vote for a cadidate, I think about an old saying: “you are the company you keep.” When I sit down and think about those who support Obama, then I realize that there’s no way I can vote for him. Here are five groups (maybe a little more) who will vote for Obama that cause me not to vote for him:

1) Hollywood- I like Hollywood. It’s a fun town, has nice weather, and sometimes it produces good movies and shows. It’s the people inside Hollywood I don’t like. The majority of Hollywood are way left leaning liberals who think socialism is ideal, and well… just look how they live their lives, not quite the model citizens.

2) The world- you take a look at how receptive the world is of Obama, and it’s frightening. They view him as a god who should be enthroned. If you see how Europe is turning out, and how the countries are being run; especially France. Why would we want a candidate that these country fully accept? I don’t want a candidate that the world despises, but I surely don’t want one that the world loves.

3) The youth- don’t we always complain how the youth are lost, confused, and don’t know how to run their own lives. Then why should I vote for a candidate that the youth fully embrace. Doesn’t make sense to me.

4) The poor- this isn’t a knock on the poor; but I don’t want to vote like the poor. They want handouts from the government, and will vote for the party that gives the most handouts. The people should help the poor, not the government. Government programs are good for temporary fixes, but many feel that they can’t live without the assistance.

5) Air America, moveon.org, Atheists… ENOUGH SAID.

6) Finally… Uniions. Unions were fine and dandy back in the 50’s, but now they are money grubbing organizations who protect the worker at all costs; even those that don’t deserve protection. Don’t believe me, look at the teacher unions. Also; they take union dues and give them to candidates, that’s just wrong.

When I sit down and see who is voting for Obama, I realize why I won’t vote for him; he truly is the company he keeps.

Late last week, one of McCain’s staff members said that we have become a nation ofo whiners.  I understand that McCain had to back off for political reasons, but I agree with the statement.  Back in the golden days, the United States was a nation of doers.  Citizens didn’t wait or expect the government to bail them out, they tried to find ways to bail themselves out.  These days all we hear about is, “The government has to do this, the government has to do that.”  The goverment is here to protect the citizens and help the citizens, not do everything for the citizens.  As citizens, WE need to do things for ourselves.  Go back to school if you don’t have a degree (the government will help you), start your own business if you’re unemployed (the government will gelp you), get a second job like I did for a little while (government can’t help you there).  Take action to help the country, don’t just take action every 2 or 4 years by voting, but take action in your daily life. 

The passing of Tim Russert is heart breaking and tragic.  I enjoyed watching Tim on Sunday mornings; he asked the hard questions (to both sides of the aisle), and got the answers that he was looking for.  He was also well respected by colleagues and friends.  I am looking at Tim’s death in another light though.  I was watching the tribute to Tim, and I thought, “That could be me in a few years; if I don’t start taking care of myself now, that could be my children and my wife weeping and wondering what is going to happen next.”  As men and father’s, we are called to take care of ourselves; not for us, but for the hearts and stomachs that depend on us on a daily basis.  I’m hitting the gym Monday; no more excuses.

A few weeks ago, a Brazilian priest went missing.  No foul play is suspected, and rescuers know exactly what happened to the man.  The priest wanted to build a retreat center for his congregation, but he didn’t have enough support from the members of his parish.  So the priest decided to try to set the world record for flying using helium-party balloons.  The priest was strapped to the balloons, and had a radio strapped to him.  Shortly after take off though, the priest went missing off the coast and was suspected to fall into the ocean.  He was never found, and the search has recently been called off.  Think twice before you try to a world record

John Edwards endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama today.  Honestly, does anybody care?  When I choose a presidential candidate, I vote on the person who I beleive is best for the country; not who some senator thinks is best.  Also, do endorsements help, or hurt a candidate?  If I disliked a senator, and he came out and supported the candidate I supported, I would have to think about my decision again.  I just can’t wait until the primary season is over, and we can get to the “real election season.”  It’ll be interesting to see what happens in November.

Don’t know if you heard this one; but the other week a man was driving his truck when he struck and killed a dog.  Of course the dog died, and the owners were left to grieve its loss.  Instead of the driver apologizing to the family and sending his condolences, he is suing the family for damages to his truck.  Kind of makes you glad to me an American, huh?

There’s a new study out there that says that conservatives are happier than liberals.  This isn’t the first year; it has been many years now.  Why is this though?  Why are conservatives happier than liberals?  If you go on some of the websites, liberals announce that conservatives are ignorant, are rich and don’t have to worry about things, or drink Jesus juice.   Wrong. Conservatives better themselves by trying to advance in their careers, work harder to provide for their families, and trust that they have control of their futures.  Liberals believe that the government controls their futures.  Because of this they are unhappy.  You can’t rely on the government to make things happen, you have to rely on yourself.

People just don’t know how to drive in my city.  I was on my way home when a car accelerated, and pulled out in front of me.  After cutting me of he slowed way down; causing me to virtually come to a complete stop (I was on the freeway).  After waiting a little; I decided to attempt to pass the car on the right, but another car decided to merge into that lane and go the exact speed as the car I was trying to pass.  Why do drivers do this?  If you are going the same speed as another car; just speed up to pass him, and then pull over to allow other cars to pass you.  It was just a frustrating end to a frustrating day.