A Wasted Vote

Many of you have already seen this, I am sure. However, I just ran into this sentiment again in an email discussion with a former mentor of mine. She felt compelled to remind me that we have a two-party system and I will be wasting my vote if I don’t vote for Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama. So, anyone who votes for the candidate(s) that lose wasted their vote? Anyway, I saw this and thought it was timely!

by Chuck Baldwin

When asked why they will not vote for a third party candidate, many people will respond by saying something like, “He cannot win.” Or, “I don’t want to waste my vote.” It is true: America has not elected a third party candidate since 1860. Does that automatically mean, however, that every vote cast for one of the two major party candidates is not a wasted vote? I don’t think so.

In the first place, a wasted vote is a vote for someone you know does not represent your own beliefs and principles. A wasted vote is a vote for someone you know will not lead the country in the way it should go. A wasted vote is a vote for the “lesser of two evils.” Or, in the case of John McCain and Barack Obama, what we have is a choice between the “evil of two lessers.”

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. For years now, Republicans and Democrats have been leading the country in the same basic direction: toward bigger and bigger government; more and more socialism, globalism, corporatism, and foreign interventionism; and the dismantling of constitutional liberties. Yet, voters continue to think that they are voting for “change” when they vote for a Republican or Democrat. This is truly insane!

Take a look at the recent $700 billion Wall Street bailout: both John McCain and Barack Obama endorsed and lobbied for it. Both McCain and Obama will continue to bail out these international banksters on the backs of the American taxpayers. Both McCain and Obama support giving illegal aliens amnesty and a path to citizenship. In the debate this past Tuesday night, both McCain and Obama expressed support for sending U.S. forces around the world for “peacekeeping” purposes. They also expressed support for sending combat forces against foreign countries even if those countries do not pose a threat to the United States. Neither Obama nor McCain will do anything to stem the tide of a burgeoning police state or a mushrooming New World Order. Both Obama and McCain support NAFTA and similar “free trade” deals. Neither candidate will do anything to rid America of the Federal Reserve, or work to eliminate the personal income tax, or disband the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Both Obama and McCain support the United Nations. So, pray tell, how is a vote for either McCain or Obama not a wasted vote?

But, back to the “he cannot win” argument: to vote for John McCain is to vote for a man who cannot win. Yes, I am saying it here and now: John McCain cannot win this election. The handwriting is on the wall. The Fat Lady is singing. It is all over. Finished. John McCain cannot win.

With only three weeks before the election, Barack Obama is pulling away. McCain has already pulled his campaign out of Michigan. In other key battleground states, McCain is slipping fast. He was ahead in Missouri; now it is a toss-up or leaning to Obama. A couple of weeks ago, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida were all leaning towards McCain, or at least toss-up states. Now, they are all leaning to Obama. Even the longtime GOP bellwether state of Indiana is moving toward Obama. In addition, new voter registrations are at an all-time high, and few of them are registering as Republicans. In fact, the Republican Party now claims only around 25% of the electorate, and Independents are increasingly leaning toward Obama.

Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is headed for an electoral landslide victory over John McCain. John McCain can no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton.

I ask, therefore, Are not conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain guilty of the same thing that they accuse people who vote for third party candidates of doing? Are they not voting for someone who cannot win? Indeed, they are. In fact, conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain are not only voting for a man who cannot win, they are voting for a man who does not share their own beliefs and principles. If this is not insanity, nothing is!

So, why not (for once in your life, perhaps) cast a vote purely for principle! Vote for someone who is truly pro-life. Someone who would quickly secure our nation’s borders, and end the invasion of our country by illegal aliens. Someone who would, on his first day in office, release Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean and fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Someone who would immediately, upon assuming office, begin leading the charge to dismantle the Federal Reserve, overturn the 16th Amendment, expunge the IRS, and return America to sound money principles. Someone who would get the US out of the UN. Someone who would stop spending billions and trillions of dollars for foreign aid. Someone who would prosecute the Wall Street bankers who defrauded the American people out of billions of dollars. Someone who would work to repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and stop the NAFTA superhighway. Someone who would say a resounding “No” to the New World Order. Someone who would stop using our brave men and women in uniform as global cops for the United Nations. Someone who would stop America’s global adventurism and interventionism. Someone who would steadfastly support and defend the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

“Who is this person?” you ask. Go here to find out:

http://www.baldwin08.com/.

Grim Thoughts / Musings on Kids

I responded to a friend’s email about politics the other night with a hugely negative overtone. As I went on and on about how neither major presidential candidate will be able to get the US out of the mess we are in, I realized how depressing it would be to read. So, I ended up by attaching some smiling pictures of my kids – including one of my youngest sitting in a pile of spices that he had emptied out of an almost full container of parsley (or was it oregano?). I listed a few things about each kid and finished with some thoughts on what keeps me going.

So, first some required reading:
- How did we get into this mess?
- One person’s opinion on what is coming.

Now, what I ended on, my kid notes – edited slightly for privacy.
Child #4 says only, “DaDa,” but understands quite a bit of what is said around him. He is a climber and has a habit of climbing chairs and other furniture to get at things he shouldn’t be into.

Child #3 continues to be quite verbose and is showing a memory just as impressive as Child #1′s at the same age. Her mind works at levels I had not imagined a two year old’s could.

Child #2 continues to be my artistic, imaginative, and soulful child. She is a girly-girl (always wearing a dress) but also the one who searches out every bug/worm/insect and animal within sight.

Child #1 is a leader (although not always a good one) and a great helper. She loves to go for bike rides with her dad and play with the oodles of children on our block.

They are all very different from one another and challenge me to be a better person and mom every day. It is amazing to be there when your child first grasps that _all by herself_, she can figure out that certain letters strung together tell a story that is fun to read! It is rewarding to see the smile on another’s face when she ‘beats the clock’ in her oral arithmetic practice. The little impish grin on a smudged face when you find her making mud pies with your cooking utensils is priceless. And everyone should see the backward “I know I’m not supposed to do this, but I’m going to do it anyway” look that my small boy gives me when he heads towards some forbidden object or destination.

Chuck Norris only trusts Ron Paul

Chuck Norris was a huge supporter of Mike Huckabee in the Republican Presidential primary. He seems to have learned a bit since then and commented in a recent interview on the Alex Jones Show that he doesn’t know who to trust [in Congress]. Then, he says he wishes Ron Paul would go down the line of Congress-people with him and tell him who is corrupt so he could “choke them unconscious. And stick them into a pile.”

I wasn’t a Mike Huckabee supporter, but Chuck Norris did some incredibly funny YouTube ads for him. I wish Norris would have wised up sooner. For more of the interview, click here.

Perhaps the Constitution Party could talk to him about doing some YouTube ads for Chuck Baldwin, for whom Ron Paul is voting.

Show Us What You’ve Got, Sarah!

Tonight, Governor Palin, show us that you really are a maverick, a rebel, and a worker for CHANGE. When the “Do you agree with the bailout” question comes, give us your honest answer. Don’t mirror McCain. Don’t give us the line you’ve been briefed to give.

Inspire the American people.

Either this bailout is the right thing to do or it is not. (In my opinion, it is not.) All the “sweeteners” (pork) in the world are not enough to make it right.

Say that and the Republican Party may actually have its next Real Leader.

Politics Post

I wanted to give a kudos to patriotmom76′s post today on Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. I don’t necessarily endorse any of her other posts. But this one has some good points:

“Do you know how hard it is to find someone who is not a total hypocrite on the life issue?”
- YES! Mr. Obama is definitely anti-baby. Mr. McCain has been playing the “pro-life” card, but he works very hard behind the scenes to keep pro-life issues from coming to his table and he has other anti-life credentials.

“The two parties have so much in common now I can hardly tell the difference. They both want to spend us into oblivion increasing our national debt. They have no intention of abolishing the income tax and federal reserve system. One party wants more war. One wants more welfare and higher taxes. How about no more wars, phasing out entitlements, restoring our Constitutional rights, letting the American people keep more of their own money, and getting the Federal Government out of every aspect of our lives? That sounds like a good plan to me.”
- AMEN, sister!

———————–
I took this one seriously at first. Then, I started reading it. Rather humorous and sadly, too true in many aspects. Check out “Vote Republican or Democrat, Don’t Waste Your Vote on a Third Party” at Rileydad’s blog.

Politics . . . Again

So I wrote the other day that I am not happy with the direction our country is going. I have to admit that neither major political party enthuses me in the slightest. I have a father-in-law that votes one way and a father who votes another. I get into debates with both for their inability to see that your candidate should believe in the same types of things you do, not that you should vote for a candidate because of the political party they belong to.

I do a significant amount of research before I vote. Well, as much as I can with all the other things I am up to. In this case, I know I cannot vote for either Barak Obama or John McCain. Neither one matches the things I believe in or will lead this country in the direction I think it should go.

So, what are my beliefs? And who can I vote for? I am NOT going to sit this one out. My voice will be heard, even if it is a small squeek. (Remember that the littlest guy in Who-ville put the rest of the voices over the top in Horton Hears a Who!)

I believe . . .
- The (federal) government should be small at all levels. There are far too many bureaus, agencies, and offices – most of which are truly “unconstitutional.”

- There shouldn’t be an income tax. The (federal) government has a right to levy taxes, but not on my income. Stick to the constitutional tariffs.

- There should be a clear and quick process for determining if someone should be able to enter the country for purposes of living & working. Those who get turned down should not be allowed to enter.

- We should have secure borders to enforce the above process. Those who have broken the law by entering the country illegally should not be here.

- Subsidies (farm & otherwise), welfare, medicaid, medicare, social security, grants, and all other “government programs” need to be phased out.

- States (legislature, not the court system) should be able to decide their own laws – including whether abortion, same-sex marriage, or euthenasia is allowed.

- The federal government must stop sending money to the UN & other countries. They should immediately be required to be run “like a business.” With ONE SET of books and with not only a “balanced budget” but one that shows how they will get out of debt within a small and finite number of years.

- We need to get back to where religion is not the business of government. This “separation of church & state” stuff is a made-up piece of hooey. As long as the government is not setting up a “State Religion” that everyone needs to follow, let the churches (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc) do their own thing. The ACLU can pack sand.

- Get our troops back here as soon as safely possible. From EVERYWHERE. For example, we have no business still being in Germany. We need to protect ourselves, not all these other places. I’m the wife of a former military man. I’m the daughter, grand-daughter, and niece of veterans. I respect the things our troops do. I just don’t think our government should be sending them into harms way (or to a US base in a foreign country) when it is not in our best interests. We are NOT the world’s policeman.

- Get back on the gold standard for our money. It will be VERY difficult, but it can be done. Our money should MEAN something. It should be backed by something REAL.

- Government should stop standing in the way of private businesses. Remove all these tax incentives and laws about drilling in different places. If the LOCAL state or city government wants to pass a law against an oil refinery or drilling off the coast, go for it. Let the people decide. We would have a lot more “energy” and possible fuel sources if it wasn’t for the hoops that businesses have been jumping through for things as stupid as corn-based ethanol.

Gosh, I could go on and on. In the end, I have found that the Constitution Party is the closest to my beliefs. I’m going to vote third party – Chuck Baldwin for President 2008.