11 Million Views -Iraqi Veteran on YouTube Excellent - you must see it!
“The day we lose our will to fight is the day we lose our freedom.”
11 Million Views -Iraqi Veteran on YouTube Excellent - you must see it!
“The day we lose our will to fight is the day we lose our freedom.”
Thursday sent us to North Carolina, another battleground state that touches our border. I wrote Stressed by Election 2008? Top 11 Things You Can Do To Gain Control & Make a Difference in Election 2008 and then sent it to half my address list. It was not perfect, but it was out, prayerfully to get in the hands of a million people who will actually TAKE ACTION!
We then headed out over the Blue Ridge, alive in the shimmering fire of autumn glory, to Asheville for the day. It took us about an hour and half to get to the NC Republican Headquarters, located at Asheville Victory Office 16 Regent Park Blvd, Suite I Asheville, NC 28806 (919) 866-2130, right next to Sam’s Club. (there might be more than one - but this is where we are - literally across the street from Sam’s Club)
Trudy Hutchison is in charge of Asheville and I have never seen a more organized, well run office in 24 years at this! Trudy and her volunteers are AMAZING! The office is filled with political posters, full of energetic folks calling, with the coolest technology! Gone are the lists of phone numbers that you ratchet through with highlighters and dial yourself. Instead, it is VOIP phones, lists where you punch in a 6 digit code, their number pops up, you dial, then if they don’t answer, you transfer it to “leave message” and the phone does it.
And they have a full spread of food- arranging AM treats, lunch, and dinners. It is amazing!
Asheville was crowded when we got there shortly after lunch, with phones buzzing with folks from all over. Several came in from Memphis to work NC (that is at least an 8 hour drive and they put themselves up in a hotel - no FREE bus ride and church to stay in, oh excuse me, parsonage, like Obama’s people get). People were from South Carolina, Georgia, TN and North Carolina. Asheville is a continuous flurry of well organized activity, with clear cut goals. 8000 phone calls a day. Mid afternoon - we were at 3500 calls. They NEED volunteers.
Emily and I had 3 hours at the Asheville office, since we had to be back to Gray to facilitate the Financial Peace Class at 6:30.
We made 300 phone calls in those three hours.
My shy 14 year old daughter, who HATES to talk on the phone, grabbed a phone. She has spent a day seeing what Obama is offering and is passionate about McCain (and Sarah!) I encouraged her that she WOULD stumble through those first few calls, and it was okay, to keep going. She persevered for three hours! Call after call. She got a lot of live ones - and spent a lot of time actually talking to people.
She was hung up on, screamed at, and abused by Obama supporters. One Obama supporter began screaming at her that “Obama is the prophet, he is the PROPHET and he is going to CHANGE things…he is
the PROPHECY. The men in
Or we may well get what we deserve.
Emily found it scary hilarious, but scary – the implications. She was shaking afterwards. It shatters your composure at times. Everyone had had similar phone calls – they all encouraged her and we had a break and went on. Then there are the great calls – the folks who will tell 20 of their friends and have their whole family voting GOP. They encourage you to go on. Our goal, to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, be kind no matter what they say. And to keep going. Keep trying to stem the tide. You can stop, or run away – but this is the world our kids are inheriting. We choose to stand.
Obama told his campaigners (see video) where he tells them TO ARGUE AND GET IN YOUR FACE. On the campaign trail we are seeing it, from sea to shining sea. In 24 years of campaigning, I have never seen anything like it. Stem the tide now. We will reap what we sow.
We highly recommend volunteering at the GOP in Asheville NC in the next few days!
Wednesday morning, we headed to the Faith and Family Rally in Abingdon Virginia, about an hour away. We came to hear Governor Mike Huckabee speak, and then planned to work all afternoon in VA to get out the vote.
Gov Huckabee was incredible, as always. He is the warmest, nicest man. We met him going in the door, and he is just a regular guy. Eyes curl up and twinkle when he greets you, strong grip on a handshake. He truly seems to be a decent guy.
Homeschooling was well represented in Abingdon, and we enjoyed listening and getting excited about the election. Nothing like a rally of the literal faithful to encourage you to GET OUT THE VOTE!! It was truly inspiring.
Emily and I left the rally, grabbed a terrific lunch at Wildflour Bakery off Exit 19, and headed to the Washington County Republican Office at 903 E. Main Street, Abingdon, VA. Zach Holder is in charge and his number is 202-380-5361 and his email is zrholder@gmail.com.
We walked in and said we will do whatever you need! A party was going out knocking on doors to get out the vote and we went. Derek Pepin, husband of local Fox New anchor Rebecca Pepin had been covering the VA countryside to get the vote out. Emily and I went with Derek (in seperate cars) to canvas neigborhoods. Derek was great - I hope this is right, but he flew helicoptors in the Army, worked as a police officer, and has been a local Med Flight pilot for years in this area. He has taken time off to campaign full time, since this election is so important. Passionate about national security, he told us about Rebecca’s book, Face of Freedom, written about “America’s Fallen Heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan.” All proceeds go to help wounded veterans.
We took campaign literature, and were all festooned with McCain Palin shirts, buttons and stickers. There was no question what party we were from and who were supporting!
Our first live home ended up being an ardent Obama supporter. There was a huge Obama sign in between two houses, and ended up being hers. We strolled through the beautiful historic neighborhoods of Abingdon, zig zagging between ardent Republicans, and quite frankly, angry Dems. The Obama supporters were nasty. It was stunning. I have worked 6 campaigns and NEVER have witnessed the absolute rage that is being shown in this one. But this is to be expected, when your candidate openly tells you to get angry and “GET IN THEIR FACES” this is what we saw.
Stunning.
After the historic section, we moved on to the country, climbing magnificent hills to gorgeous homes with stunning views of the Virginia mountains. When you are out with a helicopter pilot who medivacs people into local hospitals, you find out what every mountain top is. We traipsed through hollers and over hills, were greeted by friendly dogs and families excited to cast their votes. We also had doors slammed on us and people screech.
We spent about 4 hours out in the field.
When you are out talking to the faithful, it encourages you. When you are talking to the undecided, you hope to make a difference. When you talk to the fervent Obama supporters, you try to show the love and compassion of Christ, and you are often rebuffed and treated abusively.
We were invited into one home, as friendly as could be (normally we just stand at the door) and walked in. Well after 5pm, dinner was on and it smelled heavenly. We began with our questions…would you mind telling us who you are voting for…. They immediately went cold and said emphatically “NO, who I vote for is MY business and I am not telling YOU.” Welcome us in, all but invite us to dinner, then refuse to talk. It was strange.
All in all, it was a freezing time, great exercise, through some beautiful areas, the crispness of the fall leaves echoing against the green countryside, with the blue mountains in the distance. You start out with hope and excitement, and by the time you get back to the campaign office, you are tired and hungry and just feel worn down. It is a battlefield out there. People are tired of this election. Sick of hearing it. Obama supporters are angry - just like he told them to be. It is a weird election. Have not seen one like it.
But Virginia is a battlefield. It may well determine the course of this election. And it is worth going out and freezing as we climb hill and dale, fighting for the candidate we believe in. It is worth it to leave my red state behind and drive an hour away.
Besides, gas was $.20 cents CHEAPER in VA. So it was technically free!
There is a phone bank to man in Abingdon, calls to be made, doors to be knocked on. You can make a TREMENDOUS difference in a battleground state! Go help today - somewhere - anywhere! Help take America back.
It is Halloween week. For some in West Hollywood, it is a time to decorate the yard with an effigy of Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin hanging from a noose. Lest you worry about the rest of GOP ticket, John McCain is coming out of the chimney surrounded by flames (any fighter pilots been shot down by enemy fire?)
Two men, “partners,” put it up “all in the spirit of Halloween.”
I have never seen an election that was uglier, in attitudes of the people. Are we not all Americans?
Is it not a CRIME, a threat to our national security, to wrap a noose around a mannequin dressed and coifed as our VP contender? Is it not a “hate crime” for two openly gay men to lynch a VP candidate who is a strong Christian?
The two “partners” have received national attention and a visit from the Secret Service, which decided there was no threat. They had their 15 minutes of fame (or couple of days) and advanced their liberal agenda with a snarky smile. As late as Wednesday, ‘the homeowners still maintained it was a harmless Halloween work of art and vowed the effigy would stay up “until Saturday.”‘
After a chat with the mayor, they decided to take it down. One article said it had been up for several weeks.
Works in liberal California, in gay West Hollywood it is just fine.
But in Kentucky, when students at KU took their cue from the famous “partners” in liberal CA, and hung Democratic Presidential nominee Obama from a noose, they landed in JAIL. Jail. Stupidly, they responded to the CA display with a similar one. And did not get adoring media attention, and frolicking Secret Service visits that deem it okay. They got jail.
UK Interim Police Chief Joe Monroe said the men “expressed remorse for a stunt that had gotten out of hand.” How thoroughly DIFFERENT from CA, where the “partners” thing it is a spiffy little thing they did, finding it humorous and all in good fun.
America are you watching? If you are liberal you can do what you want to conservatives.
Will the hate crimes legislation work for persecuted conservatives, Republicans and Christians?
These college boys f
Stressed by Election 2008? Top 11 Things You Can Do To Gain Control & Make a Difference in Election 2008
The goal of this email is to go viral. I am sending it to almost 2000 people, between Yahoo Groups, homeschool groups and friends. I am posting it on all of my blogs.
The Goal – get 1 million people working NOW in the next 6 days to turn this election around.
The polls are tightening - we can absolutely do it! This email/blog post will begin with you…will you choose to send this to your Yahoo Groups, your friends and post it on your blogs? If the 2000 people who originally receive this send this to 20 people, or 200 people, or all of their Yahoo Groups, we can make a huge difference!
Many of us are stressed by Election 2008. The minutes drip by as we agonize over the most important vote in our lifetime. A charismatic candidate with unlimited money and liberal ideas veering off toward socialism vs. the POW fighter pilot who has taken on the establishment, balked both parties, relentless about national security and supporting our troops, realizes that energy is a top priority and had the courage to ask Sarah Palin to join his ticket. Both are fallible men who make mistakes. Neither is perfect. Quite frankly, neither is my first choice.
In the balance hangs life as we know it. Constitutional rights. The right to bear arms (fall is deer hunting season where we live). Freedom of speech. Freedom to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, without fear of “hate speech” editing our Bibles and our pastors.
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19 NASB
Freedom to worship. Freedom to work hard, prosper without “redistributing the wealth.”
Will we follow the Bible or man? Will we vote for “Change we can believe in?”
Wish you Could DO Something? Not Sure Where to Start?
This is the 6th presidential campaign I have worked on. The best thing about working a campaign is the assurance that YOU did all YOU could do to make a difference! That is truly satisfying! We can all do one of the top 10 – many of us can do all 10!
Top 11 Things You Can Do To Gain Control & Make a Difference in Election 2008
1. Call battleground states from home! Go to www.JohnMcCain.com. Enter the site. On the right hand side you will see buttons that allow you to volunteer from HOME or WHEREVER you are right now! Press on “Make Phone Calls.” You will hear a message from Senator McCain. Follow the directions (I had to register, just adding in my name and email etc). The campaign will then give you an easy telephone script and a cycle of 40 names to call. Each new number has a screen that you quickly fill out. Calls are simple and fast to make. You can do 40 calls, 5 at a time, throughout the day, or all at once. I did laundry, cooked dinner, and taught school while making calls. So far this week, I have been calling
Tips for making phone calls:
2. Allow your older teens and children to make 40 phone calls. Larger families can rotate it through family members, so the phone is going non stop. Idea: while we adore our younger children – voters might not. Prayerfully use good judgment here. We love our kids and all of their triumphs – but voters may not find a child as charming as we do.
3. Join the 72 Hour Program. Sign up at http://www.johnmccain.com/72hour/ by clicking on your state. If you live near a battleground state, click on it too, if you would consider crossing the border to help!
4. Find your LOCAL Republican headquarters at www.rnc.org and volunteer in your state. Google it, call around your town or county to find out where your election office is. Go down and volunteer. You can:
5. Give grace ~ the last few days of an election are crazy! They want your help, but may not get back to you in a way that makes you feel wanted. Realize that all McCain/Palin staffers, RNC folks are swamped and exhausted at the end of the campaign. They need you and want you – but may not be able to go out of their way to let you know. The competition has a much better ground operation in place along with unlimited funds and people. The RNC is working twice as hard with a fraction of the resources. BE AGGRESSIVE in finding the RNC. Go the extra yard to find them and be gracious when you do!! I cannot underestimate the exhaustion they feel at this point of the game.
6. Make goodies for a campaign office! Campaign offices scrape by hoping to make it to Election Day with enough toilet paper. There is no budget for bottled water, snacks, lunches, dinners, treats. Visit your local campaign office and determine what is needed, than take it. Have the kids make muffins and bring coffee in the morning, bring a crockpot of soup and sandwiches at lunch, make pizzas or finger foods for dinner. Bake brownies, cookies, cupcakes or treats. Take fresh fruit and nuts, or veggies with dip and bring them down. Take iced tea, sodas, or drinks or buy readymade stuff. Pleas remember whatever serving items are needed for your snack – they probably won’t have them on hand! Commit to take a treat per day – or coordinate with your homeschool group to bring snacks in the AM, lunch, PM.
7. Ask your local campaign office WHAT THEY NEED and do it! It might be pencils and paper, food, someone to clean the bathroom, or volunteers! Be a servant this election.
8. Volunteer in a battleground state! We live TN, but live an hour from NC and an hour from VA. TN is solidly in the red (although 30% of the evangelicals voted Democrat in the primaries) We are rotating between these two battleground states and volunteering a day in one, a day in the next. Yes – this costs more gas and time (but hey – gas is $.20 cheaper PER gallon in one state, making my trips “free!”) This election is worth it!
9. Send your testimony out on why you are voting Republican. Write a quick email and press send! What you say may make a difference in an undecided voter. From national security to religious freedom to the right to bear arms – what you say is important!
10. Help this email go VIRAL! Send The Top 11 Things You Can Do To Gain Control & Make a Difference in Election 2008 to 20 friends, all of your Yahoo Groups, your homeschool groups and post it on your blog. Or send them to my blog www.ThePrudentWife.com/blog where they can read and click live links!
11. Campaigning Counts AS SCHOOL! It is more important than any book you can read or worksheet you can complete – get your kids learning about the election process now!
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO is Pray! Pray! Pray! The single most important thing you can do this election is to PRAY for our nation. Visit www.Precept.org to view America At the Crossroads.
You can make a TREMENDOUS difference this election if you put wings to these ideas and act. Don’t sit around stressed for another moment! Choose an activity a day – or two or three and go for it!
If you are tempted to do nothing, know that the Obama campaign is paying for a BUS to pick people up in
You can do this!
Lisa Baughn www.ThePrudentWife.com/blog
Copyright 2008. Permission is granted to post this article on blogs and websites, as long as it is copied IN FULL with author’s blog listed.
On a personal note - may I just say for a minute – I understand busy and stressed. As I write this, we just downsized into a home 1/3 the size, house not together yet, summer wardrobe not switched for winter and the cold has set in, I was in a car accident and go to the Dr 3x a week in a lot of pain, my husband works for a company that is downsizing and expects to be laid off at any moment, he is applying for jobs everywhere, we homeschool and to top it all of – I will know for sure if I am prego on Election Day. We are the prototypical family this election! So we understand stress, being tight on funds, no time, physical limitations, etc! You can still DO this!!! Your kids can still do this! You can make a tremendous difference – no go email this to your whole list and ACT!
If there are mistakes in grammar – forgive me! Emily and I have to get to liberal Asheville (Obamaland) and work and get back to TN in time to lead Dave Ramsey’s
Please leave it in it’s entirety and take this email VIRAL! Send it NOW!
LisaB! in TN
Have I got some recipes to share with you! We made the most amazing things this week…..
Will post later!
Sometimes our family situation is EXACTLY what this election is all about. We are the typical American family. We were in a house that we bought when things were good, that lost value, our mortgage payment was too high, job on the line, waiting to be fired. Three years ago we were self employed, making good money and with no worries. Today, we are a financial mess.
Sometimes I wonder if the Lord did not allow us to make the choices we did, to put us in the position that we are in, so that we can effectively minister to other families in similar positions.
Dave is about to lose his job, has been for 3 months. His company is downsizing, not doing well. 300 employees are now 180. Black Friday comes each week. Every single Friday we wait in breathless anticipation to see if he will lose his job. He is on salary, but he is still giving it his all. Working until 7pm and then coming home, remoting in and doing hours of work. The IT department was told to reduce by one.
Meanwhile, in the spare moments we have, we created a resume and portfolio to apply for jobs everywhere.
Stressful.
We just downsized our home, after almost a year on the market - the albatross is gone.We are so excited to be living within our means - and ready to attack the debt snowball. It took us a year to get to this position. We were looking forward to the obedience of the move allowing us to really focus with gazelle intensity and pull ourselves OUT of debt.
Yet there was another twist and turn of life and we are left wondering. Will Dave lose his job? Will he get another job? Can he make as much as he makes now? In this economy, with companies shutting their doors in our area, closing forever, will he make enough to pay the bills, let alone work on that debt snowball we had hoped to knock out.
Business debt still looms. We didn’t get the $700 billion bailout. We are just Main Street - literally - who has to pay off their debts.
And we just want to be free.
So Lord, help us to not dissolve in fear at what is going on, and to go forward. And Lord, please help us become an encouragement to someone else in this long, drawn out story. Take the pain we have lived through these last few years, and through honestly sharing our story, let us encourage others. Help us remain thankful for your bountiful provision.
Our most sincere desire is to encourage others, as we work through this difficult time! We can do this.
With the economy in a wild sway, the stock market bouncing up and down, escalating prices at the grocery store and gasoline pump, homeschoolers are finding their budgets pinched more than ever. Most homeschool families are single income families.
How do you provide the fun “extras” that homeschoolers love to do? Well, how about a column full of fabulous freebies for homeschoolers! And I have even put this on my blog so you can just click and go www.ThePrudentWife.com/blog
Sign up for a weekly email at Jim Erskine’s site, full of fabulous freebies at http://homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/ Jim offers all sorts of weekly freebies! Jim also runs http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/ offering great recordings. You are sure to love the stuff he has on his sites.
We have bought literally dozens of
Free books anyone?? 514 free children’s books can be found at http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbytitle.php Henty books can be found at http://henty.ae6gn.com/ Project Gutenberg has http://www.gutenberg.org over 25,000 free books waiting for you to download.
Free writing forms about at http://www.zaner-bloser.com/zbfontsonline/index.htm
How about trying some free recordkeeping software at http://www.homeschooltracker.com/ which will help you track grades!
Homeschool Helper Online has a cornucopia of things including of free homeschooling unit studies and lapbooks, free homeschool worksheets, notebooking pages and coloring sheets, free character studies, free computer lessons and other homeschooling helps at http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/index.htm
Enjoy Unit Studies found at http://happyhomeschool.familyclassroom.net/Archives.shtml or www.homeschoolshare.com along with lots of other free goodies!
Want to try your hand at notebooking? This site has lots of free ideas just waiting for you. http://www.notebookingpages.com/index.php?page=Free-Homeschooling-Resources
Wanted to try Lapbooking but not sure how? http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
Some favorite science resources can be found at Bill Nye http://www.eyesofnye.org/ and the Free Science Experiment of the Week at http://www.krampf.com/news.html
Math resources include http://www.freemathworksheets.net/ and http://www.livingmath.net/
Everyday homekeeping ideas about at my website www.ThePrudentWife.com full of great FREE ideas for your home to help you save time, money and sanity.
Now, reading this it all sounds wonderful, but who wants to go to all that time, trouble and effort to completely TYPE all of these from a magazine into a browser? Well, to make your life easier, just go to my blog at www.ThePrudentWife.com/blog for live links where you can just click and go!
Enjoy the freebies!
Lisa Baughn at www.ThePrudentWife.com
To save time, money and sanity visit www.ThePrudentWife.com full of great FREE ideas for your home!
Download http://www.starfall.com/n/N-info/download.htm
Writing forms http://www.zaner-bloser.com/zbfontsonline/index.htm
http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/
TOS Freebie Friday newsletter http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php
http://store.doverpublications.com/ lets you have samples of some books
http://www.homeschooltracker.com/
http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/
http://www.notebookingpages.com/index.php?page=Free-Homeschooling-Resources
Free Henty books http://henty.ae6gn.com/
http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/
Best online children’s books http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbytitle.php
Unit Study http://happyhomeschool.familyclassroom.net/Archives.shtml
Lapbooking http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/index.htm
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/
It isnt free, but www.LivelyLatin.com is only $20 for first year and $20 for second year Latin, with access forever
http://www.nps.gov/learn/curriculum.htm
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl
Bill Nye http://www.eyesofnye.org/
http://www.hslaunch.com/mypage/
http://www.howtoteachscience.com/freestuff/index.html
http://www.preschoolexpress.com/pattern_station.shtml
http://www.livingmath.net/images/spacer.gif
http://www.teachinglearning.com/free-teaching-ideas.php
http://www.coloringbookfun.com/
http://www.creativity-portal.com/
Online Math Textbooks http://www.math.gatech.edu/~cain/textbooks/onlinebooks.html
Classical music http://www.classicalarchives.com/ 5 free downloads a day
Soap homemade http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/proverbsmama/496438/
Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
By Orson Scott Card
Editor’s note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.
An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:
I remember reading All the President’s Men and thinking: That’s journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.
This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.
It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.
What is a risky loan? It’s a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay.
The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can’t repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can’t make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.
They end up worse off than before.
This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.
Furthermore, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were making political contributions to the very members of Congress who were allowing them to make irresponsible loans. (Though why quasi-federal agencies were allowed to do so baffles me. It’s as if the Pentagon were allowed to contribute to the political campaigns of Congressmen who support increasing their budget.)
Isn’t there a story here? Doesn’t journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren’t you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?
I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. “Housing-gate,” no doubt. Or “Fannie-gate.”
Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.
As Thomas Sowell points out in a TownHall.com essay entitled “Do Facts Matter?” ( http://snipurl.com/457townhall_com] ): “Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury.”
These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was … the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was … the Republican Party.
Yet when Nancy Pelosi accused the Bush administration and Republican deregulation of causing the crisis, you in the press did not hold her to account for her lie. Instead, you criticized Republicans who took offense at this lie and refused to vote for the bailout!
What? It’s not the liar, but the victims of the lie who are to blame?
Now let’s follow the money … right to the presidential candidate who is the number-two recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.
And after Freddie Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae who made $90 million while running it into the ground, was fired for his incompetence, one presidential candidate’s campaign actually consulted him for advice on housing.
If that presidential candidate had been John McCain, you would have called it a major scandal and we would be getting stories in your paper every day about how incompetent and corrupt he was.
But instead, that candidate was Barack Obama, and so you have buried this story, and when the McCain campaign dared to call Raines an “adviser” to the Obama campaign — because that campaign had sought his advice — you actually let Obama’s people get away with accusing McCain of lying, merely because Raines wasn’t listed as an official adviser to the Obama campaign.
You would never tolerate such weasely nit-picking from a Republican.
If you who produce our local daily paper actually had any principles, you would be pounding this story, because the prosperity of all Americans was put at risk by the foolish, short-sighted, politically selfish, and possibly corrupt actions of leading Democrats, including Obama.
If you who produce our local daily paper had any personal honor, you would find it unbearable to let the American people believe that somehow Republicans were to blame for this crisis.
There are precedents. Even though President Bush and his administration never said that Iraq sponsored or was linked to 9/11, you could not stand the fact that Americans had that misapprehension — so you pounded us with the fact that there was no such link. (Along the way, you created the false impression that Bush had lied to them and said that there was a connection.)
If you had any principles, then surely right now, when the American people are set to blame President Bush and John McCain for a crisis they tried to prevent, and are actually shifting to approve of Barack Obama because of a crisis he helped cause, you would be laboring at least as hard to correct that false impression.
Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That’s what you claim you do, when you accept people’s money to buy or subscribe to your paper.
But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie — that the housing crisis should somehow be blamed on Bush, McCain, and the Republicans. You have trained the American people to blame everything bad — even bad weather — on Bush, and they are responding as you have taught them to.
If you had any personal honor, each reporter and editor would be insisting on telling the truth — even if it hurts the election chances of your favorite candidate.
Because that’s what honorable people do. Honest people tell the truth even when they don’t like the probable consequences. That’s what honesty means . That’s how trust is earned.
Barack Obama is just another politician, and not a very wise one. He has revealed his ignorance and naivete time after time — and you have swept it under the rug, treated it as nothing.
Meanwhile, you have participated in the borking of Sarah Palin, reporting savage attacks on her for the pregnancy of her unmarried daughter — while you ignored the story of John Edwards’s own adultery for many months.
So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?
Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?
You might want to remember the way the National Organization of Women threw away their integrity by supporting Bill Clinton despite his well-known pattern of sexual exploitation of powerless women. Who listens to NOW anymore? We know they stand for nothing; they have no principles.
That’s where you are right now.
It’s not too late. You know that if the situation were reversed, and the truth would damage McCain and help Obama, you would be moving heaven and earth to get the true story out there.
If you want to redeem your honor, you will swallow hard and make a list of all the stories you would print if it were McCain who had been getting money from Fannie Mae, McCain whose campaign had consulted with its discredited former CEO, McCain who had voted against tightening its lending practices.
Then you will print them, even though every one of those true stories will point the finger of blame at the reckless Democratic Party, which put our nation’s prosperity at risk so they could feel good about helping the poor, and lay a fair share of the blame at Obama’s door.
You will also tell the truth about John McCain: that he tried, as a Senator, to do what it took to prevent this crisis. You will tell the truth about President Bush: that his administration tried more than once to get Congress to regulate lending in a responsible way.
This was a Congress-caused crisis, beginning during the Clinton administration, with Democrats leading the way into the crisis and blocking every effort to get out of it in a timely fashion.
If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe — and vote as if — President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie.
If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats — including Barack Obama — and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans — then you are not journalists by any standard.
You’re just the public relations machine of the Democratic Party, and it’s time you were all fired and real journalists brought in, so that we can actually have a news paper in our city.
This article first appeared in The Rhinoceros Times of Greensboro, North Carolina, and is used here by permission.
Can the Bible help you budget? 3:01
A Georgia minister recommends the Bible as a financial handbook. CNN’s Betty Nguyen has more.
Wow - can you believe CNN put this out there?
