POLITICAL CHOICES

Like most of you, I have been receiving a lot of forwards lately on matters political. Within my e-mail group are many and varied opinions. There are some die hard conservatives and some equally passionate liberals. I still count them all among my friends regardless of how misguided some are. I started trying to verify most of the forwards through snopes.com but after a while I grew weary of the effort. Now I just read them for the information and in some cases the humor.

This blog posting will serve to clearly identify my position on the coming Presidential election.

First of all, I believe all four of the candidates are people of high integrity. They are probably people that we all would enjoy having a drink with or going to a football game with. I don’t think you can rise to the position they have reached without being good people.

Secondly, none of the four would be my first choice for the office they are seeking. I believe the office of President is an awesome responsibility and very few could do the job as I would like it done. Today it would be very difficult for me to name an individual who would be my first choice.

This then is my dilemma and this is my answer. I believe Barak Obama is a socialist. I believe his vision of America is alien to mine. As a socialist he believes in re-distribution of wealth. He would take from those who have and give to those who don’t. I do not think he truly understands that the only people in this country who produce wealth and jobs are the people at the upper end of the financial scale. As a liberal, he is less willing to make the hard decisions regarding the defense of this country. He would be far more likely to reduce our military might than to add to it and make us even stronger. He would surround himself with liberal sympathizers whose interests are not the interests of America. These are people who would change America to more resemble Europe and we all know what a mess Europe has become. After all, our ancestors have already escaped there once. He is apparently not convinced that we need to get our energy house in order. He seems to be more concerned with far out environmentalists than with people traveling to their jobs or heating their homes this winter. He no doubt buys into the global warming nonsense. Finally he doesn’t believe that personal responsibility is a trait of America. Let the government take care of you. After all they know what is best. To all this I say nonsense. This is not the America I know and wish to pass on to my grandchildren.

On the other hand we have McCain/Palin. Is Palin ready to be President? About as much as Obama is ready to be President. McCain is a veteran and as such knows the true meaning of war and commitment. Obama may have read about war in a book but that is as close as he has come to this reality. In an emergency, who would you rather have at the helm of the Ship of State, a proven veteran or a neophyte community organizer? That seems pretty clear to me. Someday, when he is much older and has gained the experience of those years, Obama may well become a serious contender for the Presidency but not until he has grown a few more years.

So that is my take on this election. We have a choice. We can choose a seasoned veteran of the military and of life, or we can choose a kid with virtually no experience at anything. What I don’t understand is how is this a choice? Tip O’Neill once said “Politics ain’t beanbag”. That is certainly the case now. This election ain’t beanbag. It is very serious. Choose wisely. The country you save may be your own.

Ron Scarbro September 29, 2008