American Presidential Election Held... Today?

We're electing the president of the United States today. Really. From today's Detroit News:

...And the 2.88 million Michigan voters who mistakenly thought they were voting for Barack Obama on Nov. 4 were actually casting a ballot for Ida DeHaas, a 73-year-old dog breeder and great grandmother from Belmont, and 16 others who are mostly political unknowns.

It might also come as a surprise to the more than 125 million Americans who took part in the presidential contest six weeks ago that the winner hasn't yet been officially decided.

That's because the only vote that really counts is the one that occurs today when 538 members of the Electoral College gather in the 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., to vote.

[snip]

Once the Electoral College votes today -- Obama is slated to get 365 votes and Republican Sen. John McCain will receive 173 -- the results will be transmitted to Washington. On Jan. 8, Vice President Dick Cheney will open and certify the results before a joint session of Congress and only then will the president be officially confirmed. Obama will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

What exactly IS the Electoral College? According to the official website,

The Electoral College, administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is not a place. It is a process that began as part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution. The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. The people of the United States vote for the electors who then vote for the President.

Americans would benefit from a better understanding of all our national institutions and practices. Read up, kids. Then, when someone says Barack Obama was elected President of the United States on November 4, 2008, you will know better. Won't you?

Poem of Reconcilation

For my friends in the Democrat party, here's a little poem of reconciliation and unity...

Election day is over,

The talking is done.

My party lost, your party won.

So let us be friends,

Let arguments pass.

I'll hug my elephant...

You kiss your ass.

It's a JOKE people - lighten up!

More Election Analysis

Manic Street Preachers, Suicide Is Painless

An Election Post Mortem for Conservatives

Here's a very interesting video essay on the election results and what conservatives should do now, by John Galt. The guy's a thinker, not a videographer, so bear with it; his insights are worth hearing. Oh...and don't worry, 'John', your secret's safe with me!

Just because it's a great tune, here's the full REO Speedwagon "Roll With the Changes"

The Day After in America

Well, Americans have spoken and I don't quite know where to begin. Sixteen years ago I decided to put down the TV remote and get involved in politics because my country was heading down the sewer. Little did I know how much worse it would become. I never imagined the day would come when 'we', the American voters, would gleefully line up for the chance to elect a top-to-bottom roster of Socialists, but come it has.

Oh, I know. They call themselves Democrats, 'progressives'. Whatever. A Marxist by any other name is still a Marxist. It does not bode well for America. We have had ample opportunity to study the inevitable results of Marxist/statist/progressive/socialist policies by examining what has happened to Europe... but we did not. We had ample opportunity to scrutinize the ideas and opinions of Senator Obama: spread the wealth around, bankrupt the coal industry, mandate what vehicles the American auto industry must build, impose a global poverty tax on America and on and on and on, but again we did not. We emoted. We chanted. We hoped for change, and change we shall have.

The Republicans bear at least some of the blame for this national hard left turn. They didn't exactly give the people a clear contrast in ideas or actions. They did not govern with either core principles or vision. George W. Bush and his administration (with complicit Democrats) dramatically accelerated the rise of American socialism over the past few months by nationalizing the credit and banking industry, transferring billions of tax dollars to a private insurance company and ordering the Treasury Department to take over certain home mortgages. They built our nation's Marxist coffin. By electing a Marxist to the Presidency, the American people have put their country in it. That is not change I can believe in.

Today I will rest, reflect and regroup. Tomorrow the struggle begins anew, because liberty requires eternal vigilance. In the words of Ronald Reagan, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

The Moody Blues, "Melancholy Man"

Today is November 4, 2008. VOTE, America!

It's election day in the United States of America and the polls are open in the Eastern time zone. The stakes have never been higher for my beloved country. We face unprecedented challenges and a crisis of leadership (or lack thereof). I will be working the polls today and praying for divine guidance. Please, PLEASE America....VOTE - and pray. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

God Bless America, Kate Smith

URGENT: Michigan Supreme Court Campaign

UPDATE: I am reposting this today for those who haven't seen it. If you are voting in Michigan today, PLEASE read this before heading to the polls.....


In the past two weeks, I have received at least four pieces of campaign literature from the Michigan Democratic Party touting their candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court and denouncing incumbent Justice Clifford Taylor. Several of them insist Justice Taylor voted to strip Michigan residents of their hunting rights. I suspect some, perhaps many, Michiganders are receiving similar mailings, and I want you all to hear the truth about Justice Taylor before you vote on Tuesday.

First, you should know something about my perspective. I am a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, a 'charter' member of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners and a member of the Second Amendment Sisters. For many years, I have worked with other gun-and-hunting rights groups, hunt clubs, gun ranges and sportsman's clubs to preserve and protect our gun and hunting rights. I participated in drafting the Michigan concealed carry statute that was ultimately passed and is now state law. This is not an issue I take lightly. Trust me, I would not consider voting for a Supreme Court Justice who devalued my rights, and I will be voting for Justice Taylor.

In December of 2006, the case of Czymbor Timber vs. City of Saginaw was appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court after being heard by two lower state courts. In June of 2007, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the lower court's rulings, which effectively allowed the City of Saginaw's ordinance banning discharge of firearms and bows within the city limits to stand. Justice Taylor voted with the majority.

They found that Mr. Czymbor had

"not made the requisite showing that their property is a hunting area established under” part 419 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.41901"

and also that

"...the administrative rule promulgated by the DNR to administer part 419, 2007 AC, R 299.3048, pertains only to townships, not cities..."

The majority concluded that the ball is really in the DNR's court.

Certainly, if the DNR no longer wishes to acquiesce to defendants’ antidischarge ordinance, it is free to take the necessary steps to amend its administrative rules to conform to the view it urges in its briefs.

It may not, however, simply ignore the language of MCL 324.41901 or the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act.18

By failing to act, the DNR relinquishes its authority over the City of Saginaw with regard to hunting and discharge ordinances. The plaintiff can be granted relief by the DNR if it chooses to follow the procedures necessary to assert its authority. This is a 'strict' reading of Michigan law.

The people who are angry about this ruling would have Justices Taylor, Markman, Corrigan and Young ignore state law to find in their favor. There are even some so-called 'conservation' and 'sportsman's' groups opposing Justice Taylor over this vote! They want an activist, legislate-from-the-bench court...but only when it suits them. We can't have it both ways. We either hold to a strict interpretation of the law or we don't.

Justice Taylor has always been very clear on his judicial philosophy: the law says what it says, and he applies it accordingly. If 'we', the citizens of Michigan, don't like the way a law is written, the remedy for that is through the legislature.

I hope this adequately explains the issue, and I ask you to please join me in supporting this fine man for reelection to the Michigan Supreme Court.


In a related story:

The Democrats are also running a VERY disingenuous television ad about Justice Taylor, claiming he was sleeping during a trial. While making GOTV calls yesterday, several volunteers spoke to voters who believed the footage used in the spot was actual video of Justice Taylor nodding off behind the bench. Of course, this was the intent. If you, or anyone you know, has fallen for this hoax, please pay careful attention to the ad next time. In tiny print near the bottom of the screen is the word "Dramatization". The man in the ad is an actor. Even Geoffrey Fieger, who despises Justice Taylor and says so often, will not claim to have seen him sleeping during the trial - and he was in the courtroom!

By all means, cast your precious vote for whomever you choose, but PLEASE make your decisions based on fact, not emotion or partisan rhetoric.

A Prayer for America

This arrived in my inbox today. I wish I had written it, but I didn't. I don't know the 'Jo Ann' to whom it is attributed, but I could not have said it better myself. God bless Jo Ann, and God bless America!

America stands at a crossroads, not just politically but also spiritually. The current election cycle is nothing less than a battle for the very soul of our country. The discerning among you already know this to be true. The deepening political polarization we have witnessed in the past few elections is merely a symptom of an ever-intensifying spiritual polarization, as the battle lines between the righteous and the wicked are drawn with increasing clarity. The stakes are enormous, whether politically, economically, morally or in terms of our physical security. We are about to step off in a direction that could very well lead to our destruction as a nation — and so many millions are blind to this reality.

As I observe popular attitudes and watch the public opinion polls, my heart grieves for our nation. We have abandoned the principles upon which our nation was founded, principles which in turn were anchored in the person and principles of God. The wicked grow ever more powerful and influential. Once respectable journalistic organizations have degenerated to little more than propaganda organs for the political left. Godly leaders who can rise up in defense of righteousness and our God-given liberties seem nowhere to be found. As a nation, we have cast God out of our thinking. The murder of the unborn is championed in the streets and in the courts. Homosexual ‘marriage’ is trumpeted as a constitutional right and as the sign of a so-called progressive culture. Sexual immorality, drug abuse, violence, idolatry, pornography, and a host of other sins have overtaken us. As a nation we either justify these things or, at a minimum, turn a blind eye to them. And God’s people have certainly not been immune from these things.

Now we stand ready to reap the fruits of our national godlessness. God sometimes judges sin by giving people over to the very things they desire and allowing the natural consequences to play out. However, as the wicked gain the upper hand in the halls of power, all of us of whatever political leaning will experience the predictable consequences.

So where does that leave us? Current polls indicate that the left is in position to seize decisive control of our entire political system, including all three branches of government. They stand to take the White House , both houses of Congress and, by inevitable extension, the courts as well. If that happens, they will take the country hard to the left in a way from which I do not believe we will ever recover. Socialism, moral libertinism, contempt for the sanctity of life, and increasing efforts to stifle political dissent (and I would add, to silence biblically-based ‘hate speech‘) are sure to follow in short order. If God severely judged Israel for her wickedness, who are we to expect differently?

‘If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ What can we do to prevent the unmaking of America from happening right before our eyes?
We can call upon the name of the Lord, who is rich in mercy and mighty to deliver His people. We can pray along with the psalmist that the designs of the wicked and the oppressors would be thwarted by the hand of God. We can pray that God would lift the evident blindness that has gripped our nation, and that He would grant widespread repentance. We can pray that only the most godly men and women would be elected to lead this nation, and that they would lead in righteousness. We can pray that such righteousness would again exalt our nation as we return to the Lord in humility and repentance. We can pray that, regardless of what happens on November 4, the people of God will manifest ‘the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ’ in ever increasing measure.

To that end, I am asking every believer in Jesus Christ to set aside Monday, November 3 as a day of fasting and prayer. I would urge you to review the prayer of Daniel on behalf of his people in Daniel 9:3-19, and to pray that way for our nation. And finally, I would ask you to distribute this call to prayer as widely as possible so that the greatest number of people would lay hold of the throne of grace all at once. It may be that God will show mercy to America, that He will shed His grace on her once again.

Amen, Jo Ann! Please pray for our nation, her leaders, and her deliverance on Monday as we prepare for historic elections on Tuesday.

Michigan is 'Stuck on Stupid'. Are You?

John Tomlinson of the Flint Journal thinks Senator John McCain pulled out of Michigan because voters here are "stuck on stupid". He has a point.... [Links added by me ~ Ed]

Why did Sen. John McCain pull out of Michigan? Knee-jerk voters.

A new Rasmussen Poll said 59 percent of Americans believe our legislators are so inept, they'd vote to replace the entire Congress. I bet the other 41 percent live in Michigan .

Maybe McCain pulled out because he found us so stuck on stupid, he decided to go to where people would listen.

He realized what we all realize. Voters in Michigan vote for the same person decade after decade, even after that person proves to be the worst imaginable one for the job.

According to the 2008 University of Michigan Millennium Report, Detroit is now the poorest city in America. Yet its residents, knowing the devastation firsthand, continued to vote for Kwame Kilpatrick like he was Coleman Young.

Or take U.S. Sen. Carl Levin. According to the report, Michigan is 46th in the nation at getting federal tax dollars back as budget expenditures. The Keynesian multiplier, a way to calculate the economic effect of this shortfall, says this had three times the effect of the auto industry contraction on our state's economy.

Further, we only get back 92 percent of federal taxes on gasoline purchased in our state. The shortfall, about $90 million, which should go to repair Michigan roads and bridges, gets spent in other states.

Why? Because Levin, whose responsibility it is to oversee getting that money back, is so busy trying to affect the surrender of U.S. forces to al-Qaida in Iraq , he doesn't have time to help Michigan. Yet this fall, he's going to again win by a landslide. Name the last great thing he did for the people of Michigan. I can't. Can you?

According to the report, Michigan has become, under the last eight years of Democrat leadership, including representation at the state and federal levels, all of the following:

50th in the nation in personal income growth.

50th in the nation in its unemployment rate.

50th in the nation in employment growth.

50th in the nation in the Index of Economic Momentum.

This happened because we will not change. We're now below Mississippi and still falling. How long will it be before Detroit begins to envy Beirut? Thanks to our legislators, we have nothing on the horizon to stop this free-fall.

Nevertheless, we're voting for Barack Obama. We want the guy who, while getting enormous amounts of cash from Fannie Mae, second only to Sen. Christopher Dodd, helped block the 2005 Fannie Mae reform designed to prevent the current collapse. Just as an aside, McCain sponsored that bill.

But don't worry, with McCain gone, we'll keep voting Democratic like always, and everything will be just hunky-dory. Yes?

Can the rest of America learn from Michigan's mistakes? Of course. Will it happen? We will know on November 5th. In the meantime, if you want to see what liberal, socialist, redistributionist schemes will do for your country, look at my state. Then remember that Barack Obama has been taking advice from our socialist, Canadian Governor Granholm. If you like the economic misery of Michigan, you can have it nationwide; just vote for Obama.

Obama's Friends May Influence Voters, Media Not Asking What Needs to be Answered

Macomb County, Michigan is considered a bellwether for Presidential elections; we draw national attention every four years. This election cycle, every major national news organization and quite a few international ones have been crawling all over our cities and towns, trying to assess the mood of 'average' Americans.

Despite the recent pull-out of the McCain/Palin campaign and polls showing Senator Obama with a lead as large as 16 percent in the state of Michigan, one thing seems clear from our perspective. McCain can win. He can win Macomb County. He can win Michigan. He can win the presidency. The polls cannot be trusted. Yesterday's Macomb Daily editorial expresses it very well:

Obama's friends, not racism, may influence vote

Democrat Barack Obama has opened a five-point lead over Republican John McCain in a composite of national polls with less than a month to go before the presidential vote.

Of course, given the Electoral College, it will be how the candidates do in individual battleground states that will determine which candidate wins the 270 votes needed to gain the White House.

Here are composite polls for those states from the nonpartisan web site, realclearpolitics.com:

Michigan: Obama 49.1 percent, McCain 42.1

Colorado: Obama 48 to 44.

Ohio: Obama 48.9 to 45.1

Florida: Obama 48.4 to 45.3

Nevada: Obama 49.3 to 47.5

Missouri: Obama 47.8 to 47.5

Virginia: Obama 49.9 to 45.1

So Obama is leading in the states that will decide this election, according to pollsters. But in each of these states, undecideds total somewhere between 4 percent and 9 percent of those surveyed.

And there's Obama's problem.

In the primaries — the Democratic primaries against Sen. Hillary Clinton — Obama led in polls in New Hampshire 38.3 percent to 30 percent for Clinton. He lost that election, with Clinton winning 39 percent of the vote and Obama 36.4 percent.

In California, polls showed him up 44 percent to Clinton's 42.8 percent. Clinton took 51.9 percent of the actual vote, and Obama won 42.3 percent.

In both cases, undecided Democrats broke almost unanimously for Obama's opponent.

Much has been made in this election cycle of the so-called "Bradley effect," named for the failed gubernatorial run of Los Angeles' African-American Mayor Tom Bradley in California in 1982. Polls showed him far ahead, but when it came time for voters to cast ballots, they didn't vote the way they told pollsters they would, instead casting their ballots for his white opponent, Republican George Deukmejian.

Many analysts have interpreted this phenomenon as evidence of deep-seated racism in America. But another interpretation, and one we think more likely, is that the media in this country have created a climate of fear in which it is better not to tell the truth than risk being seen as politically incorrect.

We've already been told by some Democrats and Big Media that any voter who doesn't cast a ballot for Obama is probably a racist.

Perhaps it isn't race at all that raises doubts about Obama among voters. Maybe it's the fact that he is the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate (according to the National Journal). Or that he has yet to adequately explain his long relationships with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, and his hateful pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, or even his good friend, the convicted Chicago racketeer, Tony Rezko.

But consider this possibility: Maybe these undecideds will decide not to vote for Obama to protest the fact that major media reporters have so far refused to ask Obama the questions that need answering.

Understand that the Macomb Daily is no bastion of right-wing, conservative opinion. This is a stunning indictment of the Obama campaign and the media from one of their own. It validates what I have been saying for some time now: Obama is not a shoo-in. It can be done, and we can do it. Yes, we can.