Random Thoughts on the Election

As today is Halloween, perhaps it comes as no surprise when I admit the possible outcome of the upcoming election scares me. I'm old enough to remember the unrest of the 60's, the feeding frenzy surrounding Watergate, Gerald Ford being laughed at by the media because he wasn't the most graceful of men. I remember my concern when Jimmy Carter ran for president because I wasn't convinced he had the experience or the mettle needed to run this country. I remember the fall of our embassy in Iran and all those nights we listened to Nightline, hoping against hope to hear that our hostages had been released. Ronald Reagan proved to be a strong president. Bill Clinton proved you can get away with a lot if you look good and are a persuasive speaker.

I might not have liked all those presidents, or the ones I haven't named. I'll be honest, I disliked a number of them. But none of them scared me the way the possibility of an Obama presidency does.

I've already blogged about some of my concerns, specifically the loss of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. So I won't spend much more time on those topics. However, I feel I must point out that Obama's use, or misuse, of the media reared its ugly head again earlier when his campaign informed reporters from three major newspapers that they would not be allowed to continue traveling with the candidate on his jet as of Sunday. It seems there is just too much demand for seats as the campaign comes to a close. Surprisingly, these reporters work for the Dallas Morning News, Washington Times and the New York Post, all major papers. Not so surprisingly, those same papers had editorial boards that endorsed John McCain. So sorry, you don't toe the line, you get punished, no matter how impartial your reporting might be.

My two biggest concerns about an Obama presidency center on the lack of specifics re: Obama's economic policy and foreign policy (which I'll address in another entry later). It's all well and good to say you're going to cut taxes for 95% of Americans and lower spending. It's great to say you're going to go through the budget line by line and throw out whatever doesn't work or doesn't fit your plan. The problem is the actual feasibility of it all.

There is no question that the military will take a huge budget cut if Obama is elected. That scares me, given the state of the world we live in right now. But he doesn't seem to care. However, any funds taken from the military won't be much more than a drop in the bucket when it comes to the rest of the budget. Also, considering he has talked about having a "national police force" -- and I won't begin to tell you how I feel about that. I'll leave it for another blog -- that will have to be budgeted for. Where will that money come from?

When asked for specifics, we get generalizations. Worse, of late we're hearing phrases coming from him about the redistribution of wealth. When did it become the duty of this country, a country built on the premise that any man or woman could work hard and become successful, to say, "sorry, you make too much money and have too easy a life. So we're going to take what you've worked hard for and give it to someone else." Nothing more. That isn't something that builds confidence, at least not in my mind. I'm not talking taxes. I don't like them but they are necessary. But when a man wanting to be president talks about the "redistribution of wealth", all my alarm bells start ringing.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Obama doesn't mean to take money from those who have and give it to those who don't. The problem is, I don't know. He hasn't explained. Instead, he's made jokes about John McCain calling him socialist because he shared his sandwich as a child. Again, no details, no explanation, just plenty of attempts to deflect the questions with a smile and a laugh.

We need a President who will tell us his goals and how he plans to achieve them. We need a President who understands there will be hard questions to ask and answer, and who won't punish those who are brave enough to ask those same questions. We need a President who values the Constitution of the United States, especially the Bill of Rights, and who will fight to preserve it. John McCain has proven he will defend this country. He has served with honor and bears the scars. He has stood against his political party when he felt it was wrong. He has shown the character and determination necessary to lead us in this time of national and international crises. Barack Obama has yet to show that to me, not when he has a voting record resplendent in its number of non-votes, refusal to take the hard stand against the majority and, most especially, when he has yet to truly outline what he stands for and how he plans to implement it.

Tuesday is election day. If you haven't voted yet, please, do so then. Vote your conscience. Vot for what will be best for this country. Vote.lol