Obama on Christianity
So what does Obama really believe? Let him speak for himself, from a Chicago Sun-Times Interview.
OBAMA:Right. Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.
And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.
GG:The conversation stopper, when you say you’re a Christian and leave it at that.
OBAMA:Where do you move forward with that?
This is something that I’m sure I’d have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell.
GG:You don’t believe that?
OBAMA:I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell. I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity.
That’s just not part of my religious makeup.Part of the reason I think it’s always difficult for public figures to talk about this is that the nature of politics is that you want to have everybody like you and project the best possible traits onto you. Oftentimes that’s by being as vague as possible, or appealing to the lowest common denominators. The more specific and detailed you are on issues as personal and fundamental as your faith, the more potentially dangerous it is.
GG:Do you believe in heaven?
OBAMA:Do I believe in the harps and clouds and wings?
GG:A place spiritually you go to after you die?
OBAMA:What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, the aligning myself to my faith and my values is a good thing.
When I tuck in my daughters at night and I feel like I’ve been a good father to them, and I see in them that I am transferring values that I got from my mother and that they’re kind people and that they’re honest people, and they’re curious people, that’s a little piece of heaven.
GG:What is sin?
OBAMA:Being out of alignment with my values.
GG:What happens if you have sin in your life?
OBAMA:I think it’s the same thing as the question about heaven. In the same way that if I’m true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when I’m not true to it, it’s its own punishment.
Pelosi’s Big Wind
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently called congressional Republicans who want up-or-down drilling votes “hand maidens of the oil companies.” Let’s call Pelosi what she is: House girl of the Big Wind boondogglers.
Though she seemingly backtracked on labeling drilling a “hoax” this week, Pelosi refuses to consider GOP energy proposals that don’t include massive government subsidies for so-called eco-alternatives that have never panned out.
Which brings us to Madame Speaker’s 2007 financial disclosure form. Schedule III lists “Assets and ‘Unearned Income'” of between $100,001-$250,000 from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. — Public Common Stock.
As reported on dontgomovement.com, Speaker Pelosi bought between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in Pickens’ CLNE Corp. in May 2007 on the day of the initial public offering:
“She, and other investors, stand to gain a substantial return on their investment if gasoline prices stay high, and municipal, state and even the Federal governments start using natural gas as their primary fuel source. If gasoline prices fall? Alternative fuels and the cost to convert fleets over to them become less and less attractive.”
CLNE also happens to be the sponsor of Proposition 10, a ballot initiative in Pelosi’s home state of California to dole out a combined $10 billion in state and federal funds for renewable energy incentives — namely, natural gas and wind.
Methinks Madam Speaker doth protest too much by calling others in the pocket of “big oil”, while she has vested interests in something else.
And what about the citizen Pelosi holds hostage to high gas prices? She won’t even allow a vote or debate on the issue, instead taking a vacation (but has time for TV interviews). Here’s a novel idea, get back to Washington and do your job.
Is it any wonder Congress under Reid/Pelosi has the lowest approval rating …. ever (in single digits) — much less than half of one of the most unpopular presidents ever. Pelosi has been saying Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices. Where is it? Will it materialize after her vacation? What is she waiting for?
So much for leadership. But of course, if someone has a financial interest in a certain outcome, nobody should be surprised if they don’t represent what the vast majority of citizens want.
Beware – Global Cooling is Coming!
Remember years back the big fear was a new ice age? Recently the frenzy has been global warming — the ice caps are melting, polar bears dying, worldwide floods, doom doom doom, and so on. But the Chicago Tribune reports this current decade is the *coolest* since 1930.
Global cooling anyone? Let’s all buy a hummer so we don’t start an ice age!
August is the wettest and often the muggiest month of the year. Yet, summer heat continues in short supply, continuing a trend that has dominated much of the 21st Century’s opening decade. There have been only 162 days 90 degrees or warmer at Midway Airport over the period from 2000 to 2008. That’s by far the fewest 90-degree temperatures in the opening nine years of any decade on record here since 1930.
And Speaker Pelosi won’t open drilling because she wants to save the planet from global warming? Yeah, right. Once again, the do-nothing Congress lets down the American people by pushing their own agenda instead of citizens’, who want to increase energy production and develop alternatives. Drill here, drill now, pay less.
Get back to Washington and do your job. The American people are canceling their vacations while Congress takes a break.
Obama flip-flops Again (this time on Oil)
Here’s what we said on July 15:
… we’ll predict (if the polls continue to slide away) Obama will flip-flop on increased gas production soon — with something like “It’s what I’ve been saying all along, we’ve got to increase supply to lower prices”. As McCain and Obama are now tied nationally, the gas price issue will continue to create problems for Obama — especially as Obama’s policies (if enacted) make the problem worse. If the polls continue to move away from him, he’ll be forced to once again flip-flop for political expediency (“that’s not the drilling I remember”).
And lo and behold, the savior of the world flip-flopped again, just as we predicted. The polls continue to slide away, and he’s now for increased drilling. Surprise! It’s Change!
Could it be because the vast majority of the country wants to increase energy production at home he’s flip-flopped again?
Add the drilling flip-flop to flip-flops on gun-control, FISA, public campaign financing, visiting the troops, Jerusalem and Israel, and so on, and it’s quickly apparent Obama is just your basic old-school politician (but lacking experience) — been there, done that.
There’s nothing magical at all, just someone who will say anything to get elected, and if elected, will make the situation worse from his inexperience (when someone can make Hillary look good by comparison … ).
Of course, calling him a flip-flopper implies he actually held a position to change. Some of these involve changes (oops, “clarifications”) within a day or two.
So is Obama actually learning about these situations he was previously unaware of, and changing his views (in which case he lacks basic experience), or is he just changing for political expediency to help the polls?
Either way, it’s bad.
Constitutional Conservatism 