Not NOW, not Ever

I saw a letter from the National Organization of Women on the Team Sarah website recently, in which this group has come out publicly in endorsing Obama and, more importantly, smeared Sarah Palin (I have included a copy of the letter at the bottom of this post for everyone to see it for themselves). Now, I have never paid attention to this organization, or their movement, so I really had no idea about who they are, or whom they represent, other than in the most general of terms. But I was so outraged by this letter that I decided to go find out what I could about their organization.

What I discovered is that, for all their bluster and self-acclamation, they really are just another fringe group, a small, but well organized (and highly motivated, like so many on the left) bunch of women's-libbers who are stuck in the bra-burning 1960's. On their website, they state that they have 500,000 donating members, and chapters in all 50 states. That sounded like a lot of women until I went to the last Census report and found that there are 140 MILLION females in this country. Suddenly, this organization looks like the Branch Davidians down in Texas a while back. And like the Davidians, they probably shouldn't be ignored, because they have the potential to be dangerous.

These kinds of groups, like the Left in general, are only successful because they are great at getting attention. That, and their members devote a lot of spare time to their cause, not unlike sports fanatics, NASCAR fans, gun enthusiasts and fishermen. Each of these groups has a huge number of people who like the particular hobby, but very few who live and breath for it. The liberals are like that too. Very few of them actually spend much time getting involved in their cause, but they like the message, or more to the point, they like the idea of something for nothing, reward without effort, and someone taking care of them so they don't have to do much except nod their heads when prompted.

So, the NOW organization is dangerous. They are vocal and get the attention of the media, thereby making it look and sound like they represent the majority of women when, in actuality, they represent about .0035 of one percent, or one female out of every three hundred females in our Country! Where do they get off with this bunk?! They represent virtually nobody!

I think that it is high time that we the people stand up, shake off the shackles of complacency, laziness and fear, and start standing up for what we believe in. We have been sitting on our hands, or our tongues, while these little factions with their special interests have been screaming at the tops of their lungs, getting support from the other little pods of oddballs around them, forcing one thing after another on the majority, while we just sit quietly, hoping to avoid their wrath by not making waves. Well, what do you think it is that they are doing? Making waves of their own, that's what!

Look, if we don't start standing up for our beliefs, we will soon be outlawed in our own country. I don't mean that like it might sound, but seriously, where will this end if we don't start demanding majority rule? Will we wait until the liberals shut down conservative talk radio? Will we wait until our public schools make being non-gay socially unacceptable? Or, will we finally stand up and say "wait a minute" when the liberals start outlawing our churches if we don't allow same sex marriages to be performed in them?

How far are you, personally, going to allow this to go before you finally stand up for yourself? For your family? For your children?

Here is the disgusting letter from NOW:

The National Organization for Women has endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket for just the reasons listed below. They usually do not endorse, but in this case believed it was absolutely necessary to take a stand. if you agree, please pass this on.

Subject: Women and Sarah Palin

Friends, We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate that has a real possibility of becoming fact. Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech, gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-(and possibly first)-most-powerful person on the planet.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and altogether devastating choice for Vice President. Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and from which we've so demonstrably benefited.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

If you agree that Palin is an irresponsible, even dangerous, choice for VP, please consider participating in this drive.

Gentlemen, send this to the women you know and care for. I know it's tough to understand the way this choice is impacting women, but I have never seen so many women so outraged, angry and distraught in my entire life. We'd like our voices heard. If you agree, PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY! If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously. Stranger things have happened.
******

I love the closing line,"stranger things have happened". It's like they already know that they are merely a fringe group and that there aren't enough of them to do anything about Sarah, so they are asking for help from 'gentlemen', their sworn enemy, to help them now. Hysterical!

And my favorite part; "this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship,". If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black! Here is what Webster's online dictionary has as a definition of the word partisanship:
2 a: a member of a body of detached light troops making forays and harassing an enemy b: a member of a guerrilla band operating within enemy lines

Enough said, right? To coin a phrase from the last time citizens in this country stood up to terrorists, another fringe group, "Let's roll people!"

That's reality from my backyard.

The time is now

Isn't it frustrating to sit in front of the television these days? First one candidate, and then the other, telling us that he or she, not their opponent, is the right person for the job. When they are done, we get to see the propaganda for all the ballot initiatives, in their commercials. No matter where you turn, you get bombarded with, first one side of an issue, and then the other side comes on with their take on things. It is easy to see why so many people tune out, just waiting for this whole election mess to be over.

I think that the people who are in charge of these things actually count on a certain portion of the citizenry to give up, to give in to the impulse that it's just a big mess. People have said to me, "Hey, it doesn't even matter what I think or do anymore." Voter apathy is becoming more and more of a problem. Here we are, at the crossroads of our future, and I keep running into people who just don't care anymore. "It makes my head hurt", someone else said to me. My wife is so sick of hearing about all this stuff that she just wants to fast forward to November 4th, so she can go to the poll and cast her ballot and be done with it. I wish it were that easy.

Twelve days from now, we will have the opportunity to finish this mess, at least for the next two years. Twelve days people! We have a lot to do! Every one of us can do more than we have done up to now. Every one of us needs to be more bold, to be more vocal, to put ourselves out there in the crosshairs of the oppositon. We need to stand up for our candidates, get a clear understanding of the ballot initiatives in our state, and speak to our friends, neighbors and co-workers about these things. Yes it is tough to do, but the alternative will be harder to live with.

Put a bumper sticker on your car, wear a pin on your shirt, anything that you can do to start a dialogue with those whom you come in contact with. Don't be afraid! Do not shrink from this responsibility! Yes people, it is our responsibility to use our voices to affect the various outcomes of this election.

Right now, there are forces who have gathered, who are not afraid to do these things, even with people they don't know. They are mobilized for their cause. They work hard, harder than we do, to assure their victory. "They" are but a small portion of our population, perhaps less than ten percent, but they are working day and night to force their will upon us all. They have money, they have the support of the media, of Hollywood, and they are coming to your town to make you live the way they live. To have the morals that they have. To teach your children what they believe.

We cannot allow this to go on any longer. The time has come for the moral majority to take back our country. The only reason that this tiny faction has had success is because they have used our minor differences to separate us into smaller groups. To bicker amongst ourselves. There are more Christians in this country than there are of them. We outnumber them more than 10 to 1. By allowing them to factionalize us, we have become weak. Christianity is not a religion, it is all religions who's foundation is Jesus Christ. Because we each have our own distinct beliefs, does not mean that we are not brothers and sisters under the umbrella of the Gospel of Christ.

Together, we can defend our Constitution. United, we can make decisions in legislation for our country that mirror our beliefs, our morals. Together, we can elect the people who will best serve our needs and concerns and pass legislation that supports our point of view.

Join me in getting out the vote. Let's get our kind of people mobilized and out to the polls. Not everyone can get the time off work, but those that can, need to join the McCain/Palin ticket, from now until election day, to get our conservative, Christian brothers and sisters involved in our fight. Go to the website. Volunteer. Work in your community, or travel to a state where you are needed. Our voice must be heard. It must be loud. We must take back our country.

If we lose this election, we have only ourselves to blame. That's reality from my backyard.

The Mask

Halloween is right around the corner but my thoughts have been on the upcoming elections. I'm getting ready to leave for New Mexico, to help the McCain/Palin ticket get out the vote. I leave on Halloween, so that is, I guess, how I came up with this thought.

As all the little, and not so little, trick-or-treaters come and go from my door each year, I always wonder who the little guy in the monster costume, or underneath all the Dracula makeup is. I know most of the kids in my neighborhood, at least by sight, and I try to guess which one is hiding behind the mask. I get them to talk so I can have a better idea of who they are.

But each year, when I see them riding their bikes or skateboards, or playing ball in the street (we live on a cul-de-sac), and I ask them about their adventures on the previous night, I find that my ability to guess which one was what creature is way off.

Right now, as I sit on my patio listening to the desert night, I am wondering what the man who wins the election will look like after all the hullabaloo of the campaign season is over. What will he look like the day he is sworn into office? Who will he be when he steps up to the podium to address us, as a nation, for the first time? Who will he be six months later?

When I imagine John McCain there, I get pretty clear ideas about what I will see, and who he will be. When I imagine freshman Senator Obama in that setting, I get blurred vision and I find myself unable to paint a portrait of the man. I mean, what do I have to go on, really, when I attempt to put brush to canvas with him? Am I to use his vast experience in Illinois, or do I have enough information about what he might do based on his track record in the United States Senate? Um, not really. The candidates are busy putting what they perceive to be their best foot forward as they work to gain our trust, but as my father always told me when I was arguing for an opportunity to get out of the house on a Saturday night, trust is something you earn.

Senator Obama has not earned the trust of the citizens of this nation. Oh he talks the talk, he tells people who they want to hear but, like old Tom Martin, my fathers former business partner once said to me, "talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey". He saw through me back then like I see through Senator Obama now. Barak Obama talks a good day's work, but I haven't seen him do it. John McCain, while far from perfect, has a track record. He has been "over the mountain", he has walked in the boots of the ordinary man. He has put his country ahead of his own desires, yes, even the desire to live to see another day.

If I was to have the opportunity to serve my country in war, and I had the choice of one or the other candidate to go with me into the fray, it would be an easy decision. Heck, I would take John McCain at 72 years old over Barak Obama at ANY age.

This country is on the precipice of an ugly, ugly place. Most of the rest of the world hates us, at least a third of it wishes we didn't exist and, in fact, has sworn a religious oath to wipe us from the face of the earth. This fight is being brought to us, we are not the bully on the block looking for someone to torment. If we show up with a bouquet of flowers, instead of an army, and ask them if there might be some way that we can all just learn to get along, the messenger will not be coming back. Just look at the history of the world. It has happened time and again.

Remember Iran in 1979? It had already started back then. Jimmy Carter was in the white house then and Iran was NOT afraid of us. But after the election, when Ronald Reagan was voted in, suddenly Iran wanted to talk their way out of the situation. Yes Jimmy Carter was given the opportunity to receive our hostages back from the Iranians, but it was almost simultaneous with the swearing in of President Reagan, who had made it clear that, first and foremost on his agenda as President, we would be going in after our people, come what may.

That is where we stand again today. At least, that's how it looks from my backyard.