I am Joe

Tip o' the Hat to Iowahawk.



I am Joe.

I am just another American with the usual bag of hopes, fears, strengths, and flaws.

I am Joe.

I am an American who wants to succeed or fail through my own work.

I am Joe.

I am an American who still believes in the First Amendment, in citizens participating in the political process, in expressing disagreement with others' ideas without becoming disagreeable about it.

I am Joe.

I am an American who believes that I have the right to ask tough questions of those who seek my vote, and that it's utterly reasonable to expect serious answers to those tough questions.

I am Joe.

I am an American who now wonders if my disagreement with The One, Barack Hussein Obama (PBUH) will someday result in a howling cybermob demanding my scalp.

I am Joe.

I am an American who now wonders if my disagreement with The One, Barack Hussein Obama (PBUH) will someday result in the press spending 48 hours to dig up every last bit of possibly-embarrassing information on myself, my wife, or my daughter.

I am Joe.

I am an American who has just discovered that, in Iowahawk's immortal words, "Web 2.0 turned into Berlin 1932.0."

I am Joe.

And if the fact that I am Joe offends you . . .

Bring.

It.

On.

I am Joe.

Signs of a witch-hunt continue...

Today's Wall Street Journal has an editorial that should frighten any American who is concerned about the direction this country is headed.

Should Obama be elected, it is becoming increasingly likely that in order to sell retreat in the global war on terror, he will proceed to turn those who carried out a reasonably successful policy into criminals. He has to. There will be no other way to sell a return to the failed policy of treating terrorists like your garden-variety thugs.

He won't come out and say it...

...but Barack Obama seems to be admitting that perhaps things are not as rosy in his Presidential campaign.

Why? He's trying to sell people on winning the Presidency without Ohio and Florida.

That's a total of 47 electoral votes.

If Obama's having to go to a Plan B in two of the critical swing states of the last two Presidential elections, then he's got a problem.

The coming witch-hunt...

It seems that now, we have Obama promising a witch-hunt.

As I said back in April, the man is a pyromaniac.

Unless, of course, it is just empty rhetoric.

Why Obama can't unify America...

Barack Obama has been painted as someone who can unify the country. However, reading a report from Eve Fairbanks on The Stump, one must have doubts about his ability to do so. Adding his latest priest problem, one can arguably wonder if it's just lip service.

Now, I know I complained about the Huckabee campaign's exploitation of anti-Mormon bias. But comparing Obama's church to Romney's church is like comparing apples and carrots.

You see, as Lowell Brown at Article 6 Blog points out, comments like those of Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright just don't happen over Mormon pulpits. And this is despite the fact that unlike African-Americans, Mormons were the subject of an extermination order. In my years of attending church, I only recall hearing my church leaders make one statement on an issue of the day - and that was to oppose the establishment of a state lottery in Virginia. Not even gay marriage drew that sort of comment - at least as far as I can recall.

And this is why Obama will not be able to unify. Because, fundamentally, to unify the country, he has to believe it's worth his effort. And to have sat in a church where "God damn America" was preached for twenty years, to have surrounded himself with people who believe that "America is the greatest sin against God" speaks volumes about how he views this country. It is fundamentally divisive.

Obama will only give us a more divided America. He may not have meant to, but his poor judgment of the character of those he chose to surround himself with twenty years ago will have that consequence.

"Christmas in Cambodia" every day!

That's what Barack Obama seems to be giving us these days. While some are outraged, I think the best medicine here is laughter.

Yes, I do think it's hitting the level of comedy. Besides, Obama's expecting an angry attack. Laughing at him will throw him off kilter, and might provoke a more... useful response.

Unpatriotic Conservatives, 2008 style...

In 2003, David Frum wrote a brilliant takedown of anti-war conservatives. It pulled very few punches, and laid out a compelling case that they were clearly .

Today, though, there is a new batch of unpatriotic conservatives who are perfectly willing to sell out our troops by sitting out 2008 - perfectly willing to let Obama win, despite the deleterious effects he will have on the country. If there are better words than unpatriotic and selfish, I'd like to hear them.

Quite frankly, they are going about immigration all wrong. We do have some problems, particularly with gangs and drugs. But how do we deal with that aspect of border security when we waste our time raiding meat-packing plants and construction sites? We don't. But it provides plenty of bloody shirts for people like Michelle Malkin to wave in the immigration debate.

But when they will, through their inaction, elect someone who is likely to surrender in the war on terror, someone who is stupid enough to meet with people like Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions, and someone who will likely appoint Supreme Court justices who will be more inclined to engage in judicial putsches on issues like gay marriage, it's time to call them out.

What is truly the most important issue facing America, immigration, or the war on terror? I think most Americans would argue the latter. Holding our troops hostage over immigration is despicable, and it will not win friends.

Doomsday Strategy

AJ-Strata discusses Hillary's latest comments, and is well worth the read.

That said, it's a very interesting strategy... one that could very well sink Obama in 2008.

Think about it: Come June 3, Hillary is likely to emerge with a slight lead in the overall popular vote. She will have won a large number of the major primaries. And, of course, there are two large delegate-rich states which she won, but which will probably not have a single delegate.

Once the delegates are denied, Hillary will refuse to endorse Obama. She and her supporters will very publicly sit on their hands. She will simply state that she cannot support the disenfranchisement of Michigan and Florida. Obama, of course, will have to find some way to mollify her - and in doing that is going to reinforce the perception that he's a bit of a wimp.

Eventually, when the damage is done, Hillary will graciously (yeah, right) stand aside for Obama and watch him lose. She will then run in 2012 on an "I told you so" campaign.

Understanding Hamas...

It seems Barack Obama says he understands Hamas's view.

Given his statements, I have to disagree.

If someone truly understands Hamas, they would not be opposed to letting Israel do some serious ass-kicking.

Wright's stuff bites Obama again...

Jim Geraghty reports on another sermon.

Now this shit is pissing me off. And not just because Wright's sermon is aiming right at those who serve this country (in my immediate family, that includes a brother-in-law and my father).

The fact is that there are huge differences between America's defenders and al-Qaeda. Don't get me wrong, our guys have bad moments at times. But for us, the bad moments are the aberration from a norm.

Anyone who is trying to equate the two is either stupid, holding a reckless disregard for the truth, or just flat-out unpatriotic.

And let me make a wild-ass guess: Barack Obama didn't hear that sermon, either.

Obama promises witch-hunt...

Read it and weep.

I think we now see Barack Obama's version of restoring America's image.

The man is playing with fire.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, You're an Idiot

Well, Senator Rockefeller (Moron-WV), an Obama supporter, really put his foot in his mouth this time:

In the Charleston Gazette Sunday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, who has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that Sen. John McCain "has a temper" and, according to the story, "believes McCain has become insensitive to many human issues.

"McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."

OK, in order:

1. McCain was an attack pilot, not a fighter pilot. Big difference. Fighter pilots make movies. Attack pilots make history. Properly utilized, fighter pilots kill other fighter pilots. Properly utilized, attack pilots kill governments.

2. McCain was an attack pilot long before precision-guided munitions were in use; he had to fly close enough to well-defended targets to risk getting his ass shot down, which explains why his ass WAS shot down.

3. McCain endured five years as a POW without any idea of when--or IF--he would be released. He declined an early release offer as part of keeping faith with his fellow POWs. He probably cares more about people than you do, Senator Rockefeller. Frankly, your remarks make me wish that stupidity were physically painful; we'd have a whole lot less of it.

How'd he do?

Not too well, if you believe the Rasmussen poll.

Obama's speech handled the Wright controversy about as well as the Denver Broncos special teams unit handled Devin Hester last November.

And like Hester with just enough space, McCain seems to be breaking away for a big one.

Reading suggestion for Barack Obama...

Eli Lake's January 2007 article is well worth the read.

In fact, Barack Obama should have read it before he spouted off on McCain today.

Money quote:

An American intelligence official said the new material, which has been authenticated within the intelligence community, confirms "that Iran is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups." The source was careful to stress that the Iranian plans do not extend to cooperation with Baathist groups fighting the government in Baghdad, and said the documents rather show how the Quds Force — the arm of Iran's revolutionary guard that supports Shiite Hezbollah, Sunni Hamas, and Shiite death squads — is working with individuals affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna.

Another American official who has seen the summaries of the reporting affiliated with the arrests said it comprised a "smoking gun." "We found plans for attacks, phone numbers affiliated with Sunni bad guys, a lot of things that filled in the blanks on what these guys are up to," the official said.

A gaffe was made, but not by Barack Obama.

Walking the Walk is more important than Talking the Talk...

Remember the whole Don Imus controversy?

Well, it seems that back then, Barack Obama had no problem calling Imus out over his comments (which were nowhere near as bad as Jeremiah Wright's).

But when Wright preaches "God damn America" and calls Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice a skeeze (Rice's bio, by the way, shows that she had it much harder than Obama did), Barack Obama asks us to understand why he cannot disown the guy.

Barack Obama looks more and more like he is either a hypocrite, or a man so averse to confrontation that he will always look for an easy way out. Neither thing is good in a President.

Ultimate verdict: No Sale.

Barack Obama's big speech today was to try to put the Wright thing behind him. Or that is what he was hoping.

It didn't fly with me.

In essence, he flunked on two counts:
Strike one:

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

What Obama says may be true, but Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Hitler created the autobahn. But we still view both men as bad guys.

Had I heard some of the crap over the pulpit in my ward, I'd have walked out and found a new ward - while going to the stake leadership to explain exactly why I was doing so. I wouldn't hesitate to tell the speaker that he or she was in the wrong. If necessary, I'd stop going to church for a while.

Strike two:

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.

Here is the portrayal of what an Obama administration will be: He'll deny problems when they exist, allowing them to get worse. He does not have the guts to take a tough stand and risk a lot of flak from his community or political base, the Democrats who choose to blame America for the world's ill - contrast that to President Bush, who has been more than willing to anger his community and political base when he felt it was the right thing to do (prescription drugs, immigration, etc.).

Obama has missed opportunities to do so. This was his last, best chance. He did not do so, instead, he tried to have it both ways.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong-Il, Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, Osama bin Ladin, and Ayman al-Zawahiri now have plenty of reason to celebrate if Senator Obama is elected.

Obama's character was weighed today and found wanting. That's why he won't get my vote.

Obama and Romney are apples and oranges...

Given the strong displeasure that I expressed about Mike Huckabee's playing to religious bigotry to derail the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, it may open me up to charges of hypocrisy to discuss the Obama-Wright matter. Indeed, Obama has also been the subject of some nasty rumors that he is really a Muslim, rumors, which appear to have no basis in truth.

But it's a case of apples and oranges when discussing Wright and TUCC/Mormonism.

Frankly, the issue has now shifted from Wright's comments, particularly with his departure from Obama's campaign. Now,the issue is how forthcoming Barack Obama has been, and if Powerline and Rich Lowry have gotten it right, then Barack Obama appears to have tried to BS the American people.

Contrast that to Mitt Romney's handling of the Mormon question. He did not drag his religion into the campaign. Romney never tried to dissemble about it, either.

Obama's now in a lot of trouble - there is no sugar-coating this. He had projected an aura of being genuine, of respecting those who disagreed with him, and of trying to bring people together as Americans. Now, though, this image is tarnished, if not in tatters.

Barack Obama may win the Democratic nomination, but if he wins, America will be just as divided as it was before.

Jeremiah Wright, meet Fred Phelps . . .

Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America."

The only discernable difference seems to be that Freddie says "God Hates Fags" and Jerry says "God Hates Whitey."

Now, a little discussion of the relationship between pastor and his flock . . .

Once upon a time at my parish, the visiting priest started giving a homily that absolutely nothing to do with the Scripture readings. He quickly stepped into a general attack on the United States in general and the U. S. military in particular, using the typical leftist ideological cant.

I walked out of that homily--as did others. I had to really carefully examine my conscience before I went up to receive Eucharist; even then, I subsequently sought out spiritual counsel from another priest whose guidance I'd come to trust.

That incident led me to quit serving as a Eucharistic Minister at the next opportunity to do so, because I felt that I could not stand in the sanctuary before Communion--a very visible sign of unity with the priest--should that priest turn up again on a day when I had the duty. Were it to become a pervasive attitude in that parish, I would probably have started attending Mass at another parish. (I've done that before due to other issues.)

There comes a point where silently sitting in the pew becomes assent. There comes another point where sitting silently in the pew moves from assent to agreement.

If Barack Obama finds these beliefs to be worthy of associating himself with, that's bad. If he actually believes it, it's worse.

We keep hearing about "hope" and "change." Obama's pastor doesn't seem to offer either one.

Barack McGovern Obama...

Does the title sound harsh?

Watch this clip and decide for yourself.

Prima facie evidence that Barack Obama is just another McGovern Democrat. Unilateral disarmament, pacifism, and all that comes with it.

Comparing him to Neville Chamberlain earlier today is probably charitable.

More questions about Obama...

Listening to Barack Obama's recent comment on friendship with Israel, I can't help but think that we are getting an American Neville Chamberlain should he be elected.

The reason is because of who his advisors are.

Noah Pollack asks the legitimate question:

Does anyone think that if the time comes that Power has President Obama’s ear, she will advise him to do anything other than repudiate America’s greatest ally in the Middle East in favor of appeasing its greatest enemy? And here’s an even better question: Does Barack Obama have a single adviser who would tell him to do anything else?

Let's add this to that delegation to Syria led by Obama advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was most famous as Jimmy Carter's national security advisor when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan and the Iranians stormed our embassy (arguably the first overt signs of the danger we now face). Relying on Jimmy Carter's advisors should be a prima facie downcheck on national security.

This is not about Barack Obama's patriotism. As far as I know, he at least talks a good game, although methinks he doth protest too much. I certainly think it is fair to request that he explain why he accepted a contribution from a former member of Weather Underground, and that he be asked if he agreed with the comments of that supporter that were printed in the New York Times on 9/11.

He can complain about people raising this point, and can say he condemns their actions all he wants, but the fact remains that he took the money notwithstanding his objections to the Weather Underground's actions. So it seems that those actions of the Weather Underground bothered him, but not so much that he couldn't accept contributions from them. It's a lot like Michelle Malkin and some of the unacceptable rhetoric on immigration she looks the other way on.

I didn't give Malkin a pass on her questionable associations on immigration, and she's just a columnist. So why should I give Barack Obama a pass on his questionable associates when he wasn't to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC?