What could be more obvious?  John McCain has been given a HUGE gift by Barack Obama.  His selfishness and poor judgment have left the door wide open for Republicans.

The woman who nearly beat Barack Obama in the primaries was not even given a chance to be considered for the vice presidential spot.  She was not even considered, nor vetted.  That means that there are literally millions of angry women out there, and quite frankly they should be angry, that have been given the cold shoulder by Obama's team.  Even though it was one of the closest races in history, ego won over common sense.  Common sense would see to tell you that if you won half the votes and your opponent won the other half, that person should be the vice-presidential nominee.  But of course things are not as simple as that and emotions and fears won over common sense and good judgment.

John McCain in recent days has initiated an all out push for Hillary's voters, including television spots and what have you.  The only sensible thing for McCain to do now is to pick a woman for his VP, and he will have Hillary voters by the droves!  There are certainly loads of potential candidates to choose from, the trick will be finding one that adds more than the Hillary vote, perhaps a state in the toss-up column as well would be nice.

10.  Only politician around that will make Obama look intelligent.
9.  Barack has lost his mind!
8.  Insures the ticket is as liberal as it can get.
7.  Wants the world to know he is the farthest thing from the New Democrat standard that Bill Clinton set.  Daily Kos, Move On, are you listening?
6.  Will insure the goofy old white man vote!
5.  Will transform into an Obama worshiper (even though his past statements say otherwise - think Joe Lieberman and Al Gore...)
4.  He voted against the war - oh shoot - screwed that one up!
3.  He wants to divide Iraq into 3 states - now there's an idea Obama wishes he had first... not!
2.  His name looks good in blue, just enough color to fade into the background so as not to upstage his highness, Barack Obama.
and the number 1 reason Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate...
1.  His name fits perfectly below Obama on the signs, exact right number of letters!

If I hear it one more time I will scream!  The Democrats lined up today to tell the majority of the American people (76% including 71% of Democrats) that it is just not worth it to start drilling, because we will not see any affect on the price of gasoline for 10 years.  Give me  a break guys, I know you think you are smarter than everyone else but that is just plan dumb.

I hate to keep using analogies but that is like saying because I won't get a degree for 4 years I'm not going to bother going to college.  For real, what could be more ignorant.  I'm sorry for going off but this just defies logic.  Even Democrat's constituents are losing patience with this nonsense, instead agreeing with Republicans that we need to do more drilling while at the same time developing alternative energy sources.

New Jersey Democratic senators today stood on their shore and rubbed it in the face of their constituents that more drilling wouldn't do any good for 10 years.  Tell that the people shelling out almost double at the pump!

I have to give shout out to one Liberal Democrat - Abercrombie from Hawaii who now strongly favors offshore drilling.  There is at least a shred of sanity in the otherwise insane Democrat political party.

This week both the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign accused each other of flip-flopping on important issues.

Beginning with McCain, who accused the Obama campaign of flip-flopping and going back on their word to accept public financing.  Barack Obama, of course, had previously committed to accept public financing if he were to become the Democrat nominee.  He did this in writing and also verbally.

Also this week, the Obama campaign accused John McCain of flip-flopping on the issue of drilling for more oil and the oil restrictions in place.  McCain previously opposed offshore drilling but has now made the decision, in light off the current situation, to support it.

Seems cut and dry to the Democrats, McCain flip-flopped.  The problem with the stance the democrats are taking is that they are sending the message that once you make a decision; you must stand by that decision forever no matter what the circumstances in the world at the time.  Hello?  Anybody with an ounce of common sense or some experience in management at all can tell you that you MUST change your decision as conditions dictate it!

As an analogy – because we decide not to do business with Iran because they are a state sponsor of terrorism, does that me that we will never again do business with them in the future, even if they reform their ways?  Of course not.  Decisions change and should change based on the current situation facing a leader.  John McCain was faced with the question – “how do we deal long-term with $4.00 + per gallon gasoline and other energy needs.”  This new reality caused a change of heart, and a good one at that.

By contrast, Barack Obama changed his mind about accepting public financing when nothing in the environment had changed.  You could say the fact he was raising mega-millions caused him to change his mind, but he knew last year that one of the campaigns would be getting large amounts of donations, who is he trying to kid?  There is nothing in the political environment fundamentally different today than last year.

The lame excuse coming out of the Obama camp is that they need all of this money to fight the attack ads from the 527 groups – as if these groups only exist on the Republican side – give me a break.  The 527 groups existed last year when the great Obama decided to accept public financing.  It was political promise to demonstrate his commitment to try and reform the campaign finance system.  The sight of money has caused his change of heart, pure and simple.

The bible says “the love of money is the root of all evil” and Barack Obama and company have fallen hook, line and sinker into the trap.

The larger issue that we must face here is that there is a time when it makes good sense for a leader to change his mind, for the good of the country, based on a change in the environment.  And then again there are times when changing your decision shows your innermost character.  The American people should take note.

Today a spokesman for Barack Obama stated clearly on a T.V. news program that people making less than $50,000 a year need not pay any taxes.  That is the Illinois senator's plan for taxation policy.  At that moment I felt like a foreigner listening to the policy debate in a socialistic society.  What gives someone the right to decide during a presidential campaign who should pay taxes and who should not?  How is it fair that people making under $50,000 a year pay nothing while those making over $50,000 carry the entire burden of the United States government?

The medium family income in the U.S. is currently just over $50,000 so we will basically have 2 Americas, as John Edwards would say, those who pay taxes, and those who vote for Democrats.

One of the biggest travesties of our day is that we have a government, led by the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Democrats in the U.S. Senate that have lost their minds and don't give a flip about the people they are supposed to represent.  I mean really, give me a break, they sit around bloviating while the price of gas continues to rise and rise.  And her we sit, on plenty of oil to make America self-sufficient for its energy needs.

The Democrats in Congress however don't see it that way.  They continue to bury there heads in the sand, led by their environmentalist whacko friends who don't have a clue what to do to get us out of the mess we are in.  When are the American people going to wake up?  When will we start caring about each other instead of just ourselves?  "What's in it for me?"  "I need a hand-out" is what Democrats think they hear.

But let's be clear, here's the message we need to send to Congress:  "Start thinking with your head and take care of your own people!"  Alternative fuels are fine but they are nowhere ready to take the place of oil.  If the Democrats don't wake up to this fact very soon they should be tossed out just as quickly as they came in.

And to our Republican friends, the same message - why aren't you shouting this from the housetops???  This is a winning message in the fall.  Make a second Contract With America and keep your word this time!

Allow me, “a typical white person,” a moment to gloat on how right I was last week when I wrote about what a mistake it was for Obama to make his infamous speech on race.

Just to be sure we were paying attention, Barack continued to fan the racial flames this week when he placed a stereotype on white America and that we have a “reaction” to what we don’t know.  Come to think of it, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.

Maybe having a reaction to the unknown means that we don’t just take things at face value.  Maybe it means that even if someone looks and sounds good we’re still not sure about them and what they stand for.

Yeah, maybe it’s a good thing to know more about a person before we trust them.  Come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing that we learn more about people like Barack Obama before we vote for them to become the next president of the United States.

You never know, we might find out that instead of being a uniter, he is really just a far left wing liberal in the mold of George McGovern.  Yeah, maybe it’s a good thing that should check people we trust them with our vote.

One of the defining statements of today's message by Barack Obama in explaining his feelings on the subject of race and his former pastor, the Rev. Wright, Obama made an incredible statement that stuck out in my mind: "Race is an issue America cannot afford to ignore right now."

That one statement signifies everything that is WRONG in America today.  That one statement defines the problem of race in America today.  Instead of focusing on each other as human beings, the democrats want to continue focusing on people according to their race.

What is wrong with saying “race is an issue America must set aside right now?”  “Race is an issue America must IGNORE right now.”  Dr. Martin Luther King had it right when he dreamed of a “color blind” society.  One that judges people “not on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.”

In that point of view, Rev. Wright’s character must be closely scrutinized.  His words should be examined not as a “black preacher” but as a preacher – swiveling his hips on stage as he makes a plug for the political candidate of his choice.

We pick our pastors and spiritual leaders.  They are not our family.  They must earn our respect and expect to be chastised when they err from the faith.

Obama’s attempt to navigate himself out of trouble today just opened the wounds of bigotry our country is trying so desperately to close.  He missed a golden opportunity to rise above race; instead he jumped into the fray headfirst.

Now that President Bush has signed into law the infamous Stimulus Package that will send checks to Middle and Lower income families, it becomes clear that about 43% of taxpayers will be paying off debt with the money, a recent survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers confirms.

Now how is this fair?  In essence I am paying off that debt through the taxes I pay to the U.S. government.  What kind of Socialist society are we becoming?  Why should our tax money be redistributed for others to spend or pay off debt?  This plan has made it clear of the direction our society is heading, as both Democrats and Republicans buy votes by redistributing wealth, with nobody even interested in stopping them.

It is unseemly for a democratic government to take this approach.  But our elected representatives don’t care what I think or those like me; it’s too close to election time for them to even think twice about voting against this.  The only question and argument on their mind is how much they can get President Bush, once perceived as a conservative president, to sign off on before the checks go out!  The vote was 81 to 16 in the Senate and 380 to 34 in the House of Representatives.  You don’t get more lopsided than that!

It is the height of fiscal irresponsibility to agree to this plan.  Instead of addressing the root cause of the problems that got us into this situation to begin with, they are now going to throw a band-aid on it so that they can say they did something to help.

The Stimulus Package does more to hurt than to help.  It adds to the budget deficit, redistributes income, and does nothing to address the behavior of financial institutions that caused this mess to begin with.

Let’s think about it for a minute.  The real problem here is that financial institutions have been going crazy lending money to people that cannot afford to pay them back, period.  The sub-prime mortgage crisis is all about banks lending money at high interest rates to risky borrowers, and then they resold these mortgages on the open market.  These same financial institutions lent money through their credit card businesses to folks of questionable credit-worthiness.  Banking 101 tells us not to lend money to people that cannot pay you back.

So now the U.S. and world economy face a financial mess brought about by these poor lending practices.  In the U.K. today, the government actually took over control of one of these lenders rather than see them fail.  Will the redistribution of wealth and government controls be the solution?  Of course not, but in the U.S. our politicians practically fell over themselves, Democrat and Republican, to vote in favor of this solution.  The presumed Republican presidential nominee, John McCain made sure he was there to vote in the affirmative.  Where is the political courage in that?  Where is the “maverick” when you need him?

John McCain knows that a vote against the Stimulus Package would mean almost certain defeat in the fall election, as the American people would not look favorable on this.  This is the case because most people do not understand the true root cause of the current problem.  Politicians would be better off explaining the cause (that is, if they know what it is themselves) rather than offering people taxpayer money as a quick fix or as President Bush called it, “a booster shot.”  Rather than a booster shot, America needs a reality shot!

The Bush Administration’s policy in dealing with Iran is exactly the right policy.  The incessant attempt by the rest of the world to avoid war with Iran by pandering to them is only a result of the intelligence failure that led us to war with Iraq.  Many nations and politicians resist every attempt to pressure Iran into becoming open and compliant with their nuclear policies.

The latest National Intelligence Report was worded in such a way as to give the world a false sense of security.  But the truth in that report is hidden by the facts. The report acknowledges that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons policy into 2003 but that program was dropped when the U.S. went to war with Iraq for fear that they were next.  What is less certain, as the report declares, is whether or not that program has been restarted.

The truth about Iran is hidden by what the world wants to believe.  Iran now claims to pursue a “peaceful” nuclear policy for energy.  But the truth is that Iran has abundant energy options including oil and natural gas, and the “need” for nuclear power is far from convincing.

The behavior of the Iranian government is hidden in a veil of secrecy that is not clear at all to the rest of the world.  And that is the point, isn’t it?  The utmost pressure should be placed on Iran until it becomes open and honest with the rest of the world as to the intent and progress of its nuclear programs.  Until that time it is entirely appropriate for the U.S. and the other members of the U.N. Security Council to vote on and install additional sanctions until they are convinced Iran is acting peacefully and becomes totally open to inspections by the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency).

The other option would be to believe the words of Iranian regime and hope that the world is not in danger from an aggressive Iran.  The closer you are geographically to Iran, the more you need to concerned.  If you are Israel, one of our closest allies, the danger is substantial.  Especially considering this is the same Iran and same leader who has threatened to wipe you off the face of the earth.

If you wait, how long do you wait?  Waiting until there is proof of a nuclear weapon is too long as by then it will be too late.  Intense pressure on Iran must be put into place immediately, for the sake of world peace and safety.  For all we know, and what we don’t know, it may already be too late.

Regardless of what happens with the outcome of the Republican nomination process, the Conservative movement will live on.  Conservatism is not based in a political party, and certainly not the Republican Party.  The movement is not based in any one candidate or person; it is not even based in the figure of Ronald Reagan, conservative as he was.

No, conservatism is a state of mind in the lives of those that subscribe to it.  It is the inherent belief that big government is a waste and that government exists only to the extent that IT can serve the people.  Conservatives don't want government to solve our problems; we know that we must solve our problems ourselves.  We don't need John McCain and campaign finance reform to tell us how much money we can spend on campaigns and when we can give and when is too close to the election that we can no longer advocate our positions.

No, conservatism insists that people take personal responsibility for their lives and that we solve our own problems as a community.  Conservatism believes in a strong military and a strong deterrent defense.  We believe in peace through strength, not pandering to those in the world we disagree with.

No matter what happens this year, conservatives will still be conservatives no matter whom we vote for, or who becomes the next president.  We'll be there to point out the good and bad in any administration, and we will only support those who truly support "life, liberty and the [independent] pursuit of happiness."