Random Crazy Stuff III

I did NOT sleep well and have made some DUMB mistakes so far today. I also haven't really blogged in three days due to my crazy weekend. Therefore, I'll do a "Random Crazy Stuff" for today.

Politics:

• If you care to see John McCain's opposition research for Mitt Romney, you can find it here.
  
  
• Vox Day reminds us of the sheer insanity of our Foreign Policy. He also injects some logic into the right wing response that killing Iranian civilians is somehow not terrorism.
  
  
• It's always frightening when a Federal Judge doesn't seem to understand the Constitution.
  
  
• Mitt Romney is going to have his fair share of problems rallying the conservative base in the general election. This article is just a glimpse of that.
  
  
• Newt Gingrich want to colonize the moon. No. . . you read that right.
  
  
  
  
  
• Ron Paul had a good response to this:
  
  
  
  
• If you are on Twitter and you aren't following this guy, you are doing it wrong.
  
  
  

Christianity:

• Tim Challies has another phenomenal info graphic.
  
  
• We have a new king. *sigh*
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Eddie Long felt need to apologize to the Jewish community for that little stunt. Too bad he also didn't feel the need to repent before God.
  
  
• Good to know that Cripplegate supports my viewpoint about Christ in the Old Testament. Also, my pastor is currently preaching about Christ through the Old Testament.

Miscellaneous:

• This movie looks frightening. Also very important.
  
  
  
  
• I'm pleased to link The Summer Book Company in my "People/Organizations I Support" section. They have some of the best Homeschool stuff out there.
  
  
• The Giants won. Yay. This Steeler fan dislikes the Patriots. However, I'd take 9 more Tom Brady Super Bowl MVP's to never see that ABOMINATION of a Super Bowl Halftime Show again.
  
  
• Speaking of the Halftime show, Barnabas Piper (Son of John Piper) had the TWEET OF THE YEAR (!!!)
  
  
• Be sure to follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, and subscribe to this blog!
  
  

Lot's of stuff coming this week once I get some sleep. Until then. . .

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The Aftermath of South Carolina

First of all, thank you for sticking around while I had some down time on the blog. I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days. I'm feeling better now and as you can see, I'm back at it today!

Good Day All!!

Ok, first of all. . . WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED??

Newt Gingrich, South Carolina. . . you're serious? Newt "The Playboy" Gingrich? Did you guys lose your minds down there?

Let's break this down. . .

I wrote on Friday:

Despite the 11th hour spin job by the Republican Establishment Media, Newt isn't going to be able to get out of this one. Christian conservatives aren't going to vote for this guy. Enough people will be slow to come around that Newt will still have a good showing, but he won't touch the 31% he was seeing in the polls yesterday.

He finished with 40.4%. Second place was Mitt Romney with almost 27.8%. That's 68.2% of the most conservative, Chrisitan influenced Republicans in the nation that voted for a man who wants to have an open marriage while betraying conservative principles throughout his career, and a Mormon who is clearly saying what he needs to say in order to get elected.

I have to tell you, I'm stunned. And angry.

This tells us that we simply can't count on Christians to think Biblically. The Republican Establishment Media (Limbaugh, et. al.) went into mega spin mode for Newt and tried to do a lot of damage control. I didn't think it would work, but. . . it did. Christian voters listened to Rush and Hannity. They ignored the moral principles of Scripture.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised in a state that boos the golden rule.

It seems that most were swayed by Newt's response during the CNN debate the evening that the news came out of his marriage infidelity. For the record, here is that response:



Keep in mind that that response was CHEERED by much of the Republican Establishment Media. They whipped up the base to see this as an attack against "Newt the right wing hero", instead of an expose' of a dirty old hypocrite. Newt led the charge to impeach Clinton for receiving oral sex in the White House and has consistently lectured America on the need for traditional marriage and traditional families. . . all the while leaving his wives while they lay on their deathbeds and fantasizing about open marriages.

Newt's hot temper is on display here. He starts off with his smarty pants answer of "No, but I will." Then he goes into how "appalled" he is. He finishes up with how despicable the question is.

The guy sure does have courage, I'll say that. To say that a question about his outrageously immoral behavior is despicable is, well, let's just leave it at courageous. . . in that completely non-heroic sort of way.

Stunned. I am absolutely stunned. When my children ask "Dad, when did you lose faith in America?" I'm just going to play them that video. . . or this one.

Anyway, where does this leave us?

Newt has propelled himself into the top tier with the South Carolina fiasco. Ron Paul had a disappointing finish in South Carolina and is slipping from the top tier. Santorum had a better showing than people thought he would, but still it was nothing to write home about.

Going into Florida, it's a two man race between Newt and Mitt. I think Santorum will make some efforts, but he's done after Florida. Ron Paul is ignoring Florida altogether. Paul's campaign is instead focusing on the dozen or so upcoming primaries in caucus states where they feel they can do best and will score some delegates. Honestly, if that plan doesn't work, the Paul campaign is over.

Frankly, I think that is likely to be the case as I think this race will come down to Newt vs. Mitt. If that happens, Mitt will probably win as he's the only one of the two mathematically able to win (we'll get to that in a moment). Ron Paul will stay in it for a while, and he should, but unless he starts winning some elections here, he's done. Get ready for another four years of Barrack Obama. What a disaster it's going to be.

There is hope. I want to call your attention to this article. Seriously, take a few minutes and read it. Newt can't win and neither can Santorum. They know it and anyone who is paying attention knows it.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: This race is between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. BUT. . . Newt and Santorum might stay in it long enough to quell any chance of Ron Paul gaining momentum. Which is, perhaps, the point of their candidacy's in the first place.

God help us.

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39 Bloody Years

I'll dispense with my usual greeting of "Good Day" because today is not a good day.

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade that allows women to murder their children in the womb, and the corresponding decision of Doe v. Bolton that allows them to murder their children for any reason they deem fit.

39. Years.

We now approach over 50,000,000 babies being murdered in this country since the decision. . . THAT WE KNOW OF. There have been countless other abortions that have occurred under the radar through chemical means.

We live in what we like to believe is a Christian nation. Certainly, there is no shortage of data to back this up. Many polls show that most people consider themselves to be "christian". A discerning mind can look at such data & realize that such results are simply not reflective of reality. Many of those polls count Roman Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, and Mormons among those who consider themselves Christian. In reality the number is much lower than what we would be made to believe.

Nonetheless, it is still significant. There is no doubt that Christianity dominates the populace of America. As my former pastor liked to say: "Steeples dot our landscape, and yet the land is full of blood, and pornography is a $52 Billion dollar a year industry." (that last part might be hyperbole)

I have often wondered how we could let this atrocity happen for 39 years. I believe the answer is that we Western Christians are very comfortable, and comfort leads to compartmentalizing our lives. We are angry about abortion. We see that abortion is sinful. In our fantasies, we live in a world without it. Yet all of that fits into the compartment of our "religion". In a compartmentalized life, it is important to not break down the barriers between compartments. When that happens, tough choices need to be made. For example, should our time be spent doing the things that make us happy or should our time be spent living out the principles that we believe? We can see this trend in evangelism, in study, and in most other things we claim to hold in high regard.

I remind you: actions speak louder than words.

It has been the lack of action that has caused 50 million deaths. Despite the myriad of excuses that many come up with for not being involved, the fact of the matter is that most of the church is content to wave a sign for one hour on one day of the year and put a cute bumper sticker on their car, but won't dig in and do the hard work of ending the madness. Perhaps it's because some like the madness and secretly are glad it's there. Perhaps it's because some make their living on the madness and secretly hope it continues. Perhaps it's because some don't understand the madness. Perhaps some don't believe it is madness after all. Perhaps some simply do not care.


Whatever the case may be, the madness continues and will continue until the church at large does something about it.


Yes, brothers and sisters, we will always have sin with us. Yes, I agree that people murder their children because they are sinful and lost. Abortion certainly does wonders for demonstrating a need for a savior. However, brothers and sisters, it is equally sinful to allow the murder to go on while you have it in your power to stop it.


None of us, in our right minds, would allow a man to strangle a child while standing on the sidewalk. Most of us would intervene without thinking about it and make sure we did all we could to save the child. Wouldn't we say that those who speak words of displeasure at the man for strangling the child but allow the man to continue are equally culpable?

Recently Penn State University was rocked by a sickening scandal of child sex abuse. Rightly, many condemned the main culprit Jerry Sandusky. Yet, also correctly, many condemned the men who knew about Sandusky and did nothing.

We all condemn the passive and permissive people of Germany who sat idle while columns of smoke rose from the furnaces of the concentration camps in WWII. When we liberated those camps, allied soldiers marched the nearby townsfolk through the camps to see the terrible things that were done. Americans applauded this effort.


Now we have the death camps in American cities. So typical of the American culture of putting on a good face, we call them "Women's Health Centers" and "Family Planning Clinics". They give out free birth control, and balloons for the kids! They march in our Labor Day parades throwing candy and handing out their pamphlets about how they are going to help you. All the while the butchers they employ poison wombs with saltwater, &/or tear a child limb from limb inside the womb. Some insert surgical scissors into the back of a child's skull, then vacuum the brain out collapsing the skull. Afterward they dispose of the remains in dumpsters, or they sell the bodies to scientists to be experimented on.

Even typing it makes me sick.

A country that gave many American lives to free Europe from the grip of a genocidal maniac has too long harbored it's own version of genocidal mania. A mania that has had it's grip on America for 39 years.

39 bloody years.

It is well past time for the American Church to shake free of it's slumber and put a stop to this. No more can we sit calmly in our pews singing our songs of the "Sweet by and by". No more can we chalk up this tragedy to simply a manifestation of sinfulness in man while ignoring our own sin of apathy. No more can we choose to not love our Pre-Born neighbor. Wake up America! Wake up American Christians! Your day of infamy has come.




Here are five things you can do in the 40th year of abortion to put an end to this tragedy.

1. Preach the Gospel. Spend time each day tell those who do not believe that they are in desperate need of a Savior. Abortion exists in a culture of sin, in a culture that tolerates sin. We ought to impress upon those around us how intolerable sin really is and help them to see the Savior they so desperately need.
   
   
2. Pray. Then pray some more. Commit to it.
   
   
3. Shut off you TV, turn off your video games, and put away your idols. Too much of modern Christian's time is spent in recreation. Ask yourself, does it glorify God to consume 14 hours of TV a week and another 10 of video games? Couldn't we at least give half of those times to preaching the Gospel or standing in front of an abortion clinic talking to the women who want to kill their babies? Join a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Start a pro-life campaign to make people see abortion for what it really is. Stand in front of an abortion clinic. Join a group dedicated to stopping abortion and be a blessing to them. And join a REAL group that does something REAL to end abortion. Not some group that has luncheons and banquets and gives out stupid awards all the time or runs weak ads on the Christian stations. Get to the muck and grime of abortion. Contact these people for more information.
   
   
4. Settle for nothing less than a declaration of Personhood in the laws of your state. If your state has a pending amendment to declare personhood, then get involved and get behind it. If it doesn't, call your representatives until you do.
   
   
5. Vote Ron Paul. Seriously. The guy has been trying to overturn Roe v. Wade for years. A Ron Paul presidency would give you the ability to fight this issue in your state and to prosecute abortion under your laws. Neither the State nor the Feds could stop it. Ron Paul is the only consistent pro-life candidate to run for president since Roe v. Wade and he has the track record to back up his claims. A Ron Paul presidency would do wonders for this battle in the United States.
   
   

Above all, stop being fooled and stop acting foolishly. We aren't going to end abortion simply because we want it to end. It will take hard work and more importantly, SMART work to get it done. It will also be one of the most important things you will ever do with your life.

Godspeed.

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South Carolina Preview

Good day all!

The third primary of this early election cycle is upon us. After a week of debates and campaigning, the Evangelical Christian dominated state of South Carolina will vote tomorrow for who they want to represent the Republican Party in 2012.

And what a week it's been! Two debates, two candidates drop out, a tawdry sex scandal ripe for the media circus, and major moves in the polls. Let's break it down.

• First of all, the debates. This is the Evangelical Bible Belt right? So the golden rule ought to play well down there, right? WRONG!
  
  
  
  
  
  So let me get this straight South Carolina, and for that matter the rest of the American Christianity. . . The Golden Rule applies when you are interacting with another individual. It applies when you are interacting with a group. It applies when your group is interacting with another group. But when your country interacts with another country, the Golden rule is nowhere to be found?
  
  Seriously?
  
  See, that video is a microcosm of what is wrong with American Christianity. American Christianity has become a social club on Sunday. Largely (and I admit this is a generalization) Christians don't want to put their beliefs in action. For most Christians, God is sovereign over how they spend their Sunday morning, but not sovereign over their minds, over their emotions, over their behavior in the workplace, nor or their choice in the voting booth. We've become like the Laodiceans in Revelation 3. It would be a useful exercise for Americans to concentrate on Revelation 3:14-22, especially Rev 3:16.
  
  
• Rick Perry ended his campaign on Thursday. The one thing I can say about Rick Perry is that the guy was the only Presidential candidate in recent memory that overwhelmingly proved he wasn't capable of being President. The guy was a terrible debater and unable to think on his feet. He again and again demonstrated a complete inability to grasp the issues facing America today. There is hope for the American electorate yet, I suppose, as we watched Rick Perry burst onto the scene on the day of the Iowa straw poll only to precipitously drop into relative obscurity with each and every dumb gaffe and demonstration of his less than stellar IQ.
  
  
• Speaking of a less than stellar IQ and relative obscurity, John Huntsman dropped out earlier in the week. I ask this in all seriousness: What in the world was the John Huntsman campaign about? He completely ignored Iowa, concentrating on New Hampshire. While in New Hampshire he tried to showcase his libertarian roots. Yet, every time someone asked him a tough question, he turned the question into a story to tell that not only didn't answer the question, but didn't even address the point!
  
  "Mr. Huntsman, you want to run against President Obama, but you accepted his invitation to serve as his ambassador to China. Can you tell us why you would choose to work with the Obama administration despite your desire to end it?"
  
  "Well, when I was ambassador of China, I saw this country from a different prospective. When I looked this country, I saw that it was the greatest country in the world! It is full of hardworking and patriotic people who want to see success for all people everywhere."
  
  Seriously.
  
  
  
• Who benefits? Perry dropping out probably benefits all the others equally. Perry's base of support might have been the most vanilla and uninspired base of any candidate ever. I wouldn't be surprised if half of them forget to vote on Saturday. Huntsman, despite his endorsement of Mitt Romney, should help Ron Paul a little bit. Last time we talked politics, I said that I though Huntsman would help Ron Paul in a big way. I no longer think that it will be huge, but I do think it will be helpful nonetheless. Huntsman is endorsing Romney because he wants a position in the cabinet if he wins. Huntsman attracted leftist libertarians as a large part of his base. Libertarians are not going to support Romney, and if they support anyone, they'll support Ron Paul. It's a shame that they have to be leftists, but the Paul camp will take every vote it can get.
  
  
• The polls have been interesting. Romney was pushing 40% on Monday and has dropped steadily after a week full of negative ads targeting him. Meanwhile, Newt is said to have done well during the first debate and rose steadily throughout the week making this a real race at the top. Personally, I think that Newt's debate performance was more hype than anything. Rush Limbaugh (the king of the Republican Establishment Media) fell all over himself to tell us how Newt Gingrich was exhibiting conservatism in the debate. I love how we're supposed to all believe that a guy who rattled off some talking points is suddenly the conservative Messiah despite a career of stabbing conservatives in the back.
  
  Meanwhile Ron Paul and Rick Santorum have been battling for third place. It seems Ron Paul has it according to the polls. Not good news for Rick Santorum.
  
  
• Newt Gingrich wanted to have an open marriage with his last wife. Yes, you read that right. ABC aired the report last night about how the marriage broke up. It seems that Newt wanted to have a mistress on the side and so he went to his wife and asked if they could have an open marriage. She said no and the marriage ended.
  
  Good grief.
  
  It's funny that the party that is supposed to stand for family values still tolerates a guy like this. The Republican Establishment Media is falling all over itself defending Newt today. Newt himself is trying to play hardball by painting it as a vicious attack by the left wing media to take down the conservative in the race. I'll say it right now, it's not going to work. Herman Cain tried the same thing and it didn't work. Newt Gingrich is done, and if he's not then Christians ought to leave the GOP with all haste. It will have shown itself once and for all that it does not reflect our values.
  
  
• So what do I think is going to happen? I think Mitt Romney will win but like Hillary Clinton in 2008, the "inevitable" facade is starting to crack. He'll not have a good showing. Most people won't talk about it, but he will show that he just can't appeal to anyone beyond a certain group of Republicans.
  
  I also think that second place is up for grabs. Two phenomenon are in play here. First is Newt's open marriage. Despite the 11th hour spin job by the Republican Establishment Media, Newt isn't going to be able to get out of this one. Christian conservatives aren't going to vote for this guy. Enough people will be slow to come around that Newt will still have a good showing, but he won't touch the 31% he was seeing in the polls yesterday.
  
  Ron Paul might be able to grab second place. If he does, he will put an end to the competition below him. The sooner he does, the better chance he has of beating Romney. The second phenomenon in play is Paul's ability to score more votes than he gets in the polls. I haven't been able to explain this yet, but in Iowa and New Hampshire, Ron Paul finished with more of a percentage than he was polled to finish with in those states. In New Hampshire it was as much a 12% higher in some polls, and 8% higher in most polls. If Paul can tack another 8% to his 15% average in South Carolina, he'll finish in second place. The question will be if enough Newt supporters will go to him as the anti-Romney.
  
  
• I also think that Santorum is done. This was supposed to be his bread and butter state. Santorum paints himself as the social conservative in the race. The guy every God fearing American can trust. He's not and once you look past the facade, you see that. Americans are beginning to see our debt and budget as a moral crisis AND they are (in smaller numbers) starting to tire of rhetoric without teeth. Santorum isn't the answer to that problem, HE'S PART OF THAT PROBLEM. He's terrible on fiscal issues; voting to raise the debt ceiling 5 times, voting for unbalanced budgets, voting for war after endless war pushing us further into debt and despair. All the while telling us how pro-family and pro-life he is and yet doing nothing to show us. Santorum is being exposed for the fraud he is. If he can't win one of the most socially conservative states in the union, then what can he win? He's done.
  
  Which leaves us to what this race is, and always was . . . Ron Paul vs. Mitt Romney.
  

I'll have a recap of the results and analysis on Monday.

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New Hampshire - The Aftermath

Good day all!

Mitt Romney, as I (and anyone with a brain) expected, won the New Hampshire primary last night. Ho-hum.

Here's what no one is telling you. Mitt Romney UNDERPERFORMED. That's right, he didn't do as well as he needed to do to solidify himself as the consensus candidate. What is clear is that he won. He dominated the election and won a majority of registered Republicans voting in the open primary. He did poorly among independents and democrats voting in the primary and did not significantly increase his support from 2008. All of this tells us what I've been trying to tell you on this blog: Mitt Romney is not going anywhere, he simply has a large base of support. Oh, it's very large, I admit. Large enough to win a Republican nomination, but not nearly enough to expect any outcome other than getting completely crushed in the general election. Republicans better start asking themselves if this is the guy they REALLY want to beat Obama. Maybe it is. Maybe they don't mind Obama after all, considering they're throwing their weight behind the Republican clone of Obama.

It's interesting to note that the large base of support for Romney IS mostly republicans. As of this writing, Glenn Beck's lackeys and Rush Limbaugh are falling all over themselves to praise Romney for his speech last night. They make no mention that much of what he said, he obviously doesn't believe. To those who pay attention, much of Romney's words seem strange in light of his affiliations, actions, and past statements.

This is quickly becoming a party that has a hard time differentiating itself from the Democrats. The Democrats love Barrack Obama. The Republicans love Mitt Romney. You tell me the difference.

Also, as expected, Ron Paul finished in second place. What was not expected was how well Ron Paul did. Coming into the day, Paul was falling in the polls. He was estimated to finish with around 17% and some polls even had Paul finishing third behind Huntsman who was supposedly "surging". Instead, Ron Paul became the clear cut second place finisher with less of a margin between he and Romney than was expected, and a sizable lead over Jon Huntsman.

In other words, Ron Paul did surprisingly well and as a result has a tremendous amount of momentum going to the South. The next two primaries will be interesting. Paul is not polling well. He is well behind people who did way worse than him in New Hampshire and Iowa. The Paul campaign needs to make some moves. They need to have "surprising" finishes in South Carolina and Florida. They need to maintain their momentum.

Third place was Jon Huntsman. Huntsman has poured MONTHS, and almost all of his money, into New Hampshire. He moved his national campaign headquarters to New Hampshire in an effort to plant his flag in the state. And he finished in third place with most of his support coming from Democrats. Jon Huntsman said all of the right things about this being a slingshot to the south (where he's struggling for a single percentage point in every poll) but I've got news for the former Obama ambassador: It's over.

Fourth place was a virtual tie between Gingrich and Santorum. Gingrich has had two completely terrible performances. He's done and should have already dropped out. The problem is that he's on a mission to destroy Romney. He'll stick around a while, continue to disappoint in the polls and eventually fade into the sunset. As for Santorum, he can't compete in states like New Hampshire where there aren't a heavy amount of Evangelical Christians and social conservatives to rally behind him ("WHY" they rally behind him is anyone's guess).

Rounding out the field was Rick Perry whom many were surprised to learn still believes he can win the nomination. Bye bye Rick.

So what did we learn? Well one thing that we learned was that none of the candidates, outside of Romney and Paul, can compete on the two spectrums of the Republican party. Iowa is a social conservative haven, Romney and Paul finished first and third respectively. New Hampshire is home of the Rockefeller Republicans, Romney and Paul finished 1 & 2. No one else can claim this.

The question then becomes, can Ron Paul continue this trend in a place like South Carolina, dominated by the Evangelical right, and Florida, dominated by the aging and government dependent pseudo-conservatives. He needs to find a way. If he can, he goes on to be THE alternative to Romney. If not, he's another among the pack that wish they could beat Romney.

Some final observations:

• Romney is running a "play not to lose campaign". His speech is highly polished, sound bite ready, and designed to be a rehearsed event. He knows he's ahead and doesn't want to make THE mistake that will be exploitable enough to make him vulnerable.

• Paul has a lot of negatives and a lot of positives to the average Republican. I watched CNN last night and was fascinated by the instant focus group analysis they had running during the speeches (great chants by his supporters, by the way). Paul had the highest highs and the lowest lows during his speech. The highs? Ending the Fed, talking about freedom, and his jabs at the main stream media. The lows? All foreign policy.

• No one in South Carolina, according the to the CNN focus group, was at all interested in Santorum, Gingrich, or Huntsman. The dial didn't move one way or the other for a bulk of their speeches.

• Someone needs to challenge Romney on his record. Frankly someone needs to challenge ALL of them. The primary has become about mud slinging and demographics. It's stopped being about ideas. Someone needs to go into these debates and say "I promise to do 'this and this and this'. Why won't you guys make a similar promise?" and then point out that their records show why. Only one guy, really, has that kind of leverage. The question is. . . will he use it?

I hope so.

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New Hampshire - 2012

Good day all!

The New Hampshire primary is today. I thought it would be good to preview this race and see how those who are going to be stories in New Hampshire stack up.

First of all, it is a forgone conclusion that Mitt Romney will win the race. He'll come out of it today not only with the most votes, but also the most total delegates (which is what really matters). The real question for Mitt is how good is good enough in New Hampshire. Right now, Real Clear Politics has Romney winning by 20 points in their polling average. Let's not kid ourselves, that's a complete victory. If he wins by that or more, he'll emerge as the clear front runner.

Can we pause for a moment and ask ourselves why in the world the Republican party at large is supporting Mitt Romney? If there is one thing that annoys me to no end about the GOP is its propensity to talk like conservatives and then act like democrats in the voting booth. In 1988 and 1992 it was George H.W. Bush, in 1996 it was Bob Dole, in 2000 & 2004 we had Bush shoved down our throats as a conservative despite his reputation as the moderate's moderate, and in 2008 we had, of all people, John McCain who spent of his time making deals with Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry.

Now we have Romney. The architect of Obama Care. The tax raiser. The big government spender. The world government advocate. The cheerleader for Wall Street Bailouts. The former governor who appointed mostly liberal judges. The welcome wagon for illegal immigrants. The man who takes advice from THIS GUY. The guy who supports strict gun control. The man who brags about being more pro-choice than Ted Kennedy. The lobbyist's best friend. The property of the banks.

That Mitt Romney. All of this proves is that the GOP at large is no friend of Christians, no friend of conservatives, and frankly. . . DESERVE WHAT THEY GET. Most of all, it proves that they aren't conservative.


Second Place is likely to go to Ron Paul. He's not going to win this one, but he can still do some damage. Although I don't think he can take advantage of the system to get an extra delegate or two, I do think that if he finishes closer than the polls, he'll continue his good momentum coming out of Iowa. Unfortunately, he is going to do terribly in South Carolina. If the election were held today, he'd finish a solid fourth place behind Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich. The word out of the Paul campaign is that they are planning a major push in Florida. At this point, it's not looking great for the Paul campaign in Florida.

However, Gingrich, Perry, and Huntsman are still in this race. I'd like to point out that Perry and Huntsman don't have enough support to get on the ballot in some states, and Gingrich is done. He might have a last stand in South Carolina, but he's not going to win. The word on the street is that it's personal for Gingrich and he wants to destroy Romney. It's just a matter of time for Perry and Huntsman who should fold up the tent any day now.

I think that Paul's campaign is hoping to be the guy who stays around long enough to pick up the pieces. Cain's departure helped him. Bachman's departure has helped him a little. Huntsman's departure will help him in a HUGE way, and Gingrich's people hate Romney. If Santorum falls. . . and he will. . . Paul could be in a position to have enough delegates to force a real convention in Tampa. But he HAS to start winning.

Third place will probably go to Huntsman, although I wouldn't be surprised if he finished with less than the polls are giving him. Huntsman doesn't matter. He's poured everything he has into New Hampshire and he'll barely finish in third.

Fourth place is where the race gets interesting. Santorum is riding high coming out of Iowa. He is the darling of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and most of all Glenn Beck. If Santorum, who has had a new influx of money from his new found popularity can't beat Gingrich, who is reeling, then this will mark the beginning of the end for Santorum. The death blow will come if Santorum loses to Gingrich in a state that is supposed to be his bread and butter: South Carolina.

If I had to guess right now, I'd say it's going to be Romney vs. Obama in 2012 with Obama winning in a landslide. But it's not over yet. The reason Romney would be defeated in a landslide is because no one outside of his 20% of Republicans like him. That means there are 80% of republicans out there who are looking for someone else. It's time the Paul campaign capitalized on that. Sure, not all of them will support Paul, but most of them should. The question is: "will they?"

I'll have a recap tomorrow. We'll get back to some other topics after that, and then we'll have a discussion on this blog amongst us brothers and sisters in the Lord as to why we ought to support no one except Ron Paul in 2012.

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Random Crazy Stuff - I

Busy day today, so a bunch of quick hits. Enjoy the weekend.


Good day all!

This might be the only series I ever do on this blog; a series of random stuff that I noticed throughout the week that caught my eye. Stuff that's not important enough to stand alone, or is silly, or just something a little interesting.

At any rate, enjoy:

• Rick Santorum doesn't even have the support of his entire family. Stunningly good article from a guy who has a lot to lose.

• Absolutely LOVE this song:

I can already tell those guys are going to be one of my favorite bands. Found them on Pandora too. Love Pandora.

• By the way, I was in an Indie Rock band at one point in my life. We were called No Longer Micah and you can find some of our stuff in the new "Recommend Listening" box on the right. I'll have to remember to tell you about it here someday. I know that at least one of those guys reads this blog (Hi-Ya Peter!), so maybe we'll do an interview or something. I also still play music in the worship band at my church. A ministry I greatly enjoy.

• This. . . oh my goodness. . . THIS. . . there are just no words. Terrible is not strong enough:

*shudder* Don't say I didn't warn you.

• To cleanse your brain from that monstrosity, I give you a nugget of awesomeness from Cripplegate. You WILL be convicted. If you aren't reading Cripplegate everyday, you are missing out.

• Ron Paul is surging in New Hampshire. I've said it once, I'll say it again. This is a two-horse race. Romney vs. Paul. The establishment vs. freedom. The banks vs. the people.

• My prediction for the NFL playoffs this weekend is Cincy, The Steelers, The Giants, and New Orleans. I'll offer some thoughts on this year's version of "The greatest playoffs in the world" on Monday.
  
  

• My prediction for the NFL playoffs this weekend is Cincy, The Steelers, The Giants, and New Orleans. I'll offer some thoughts on this year's version of "The greatest playoffs in the world" on Monday.

Have a Good weekend!

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Ron Paul finishes third in Iowa

Good Day all!

If you've known me for more than 30 seconds, or if you have actually visited this blog, you know I'm a huge fan of Ron Paul. The reasons are numerous, and I one of these days I'll write a "why you should vote for Ron Paul" post.

Last night was the first real test of the campaigns. Mitt Romney won with 25%, just 6 or 7 votes ahead of Rick Santorum (also 25%). Ron Paul finished third with 22%. The rest were all so far behind that it's not worth mentioning. For those who think it matters, Newt Gingrich finished fourth with 13%.

I am disappointed, encouraged, and optimistic about the future of the Ron Paul campaign. Here's why ...

REASONS TO BE DISAPPOINTED:

• We lost. Plain and simple. There's no way to look at it other than Ron Paul didn't get enough votes to win this race.
  

• Rick Santorum came out of nowhere and captured two key elements that SHOULD be supporting Ron Paul; 1) Homeschoolers and 2) Evangelical Christians. It is yet another example of Christians allowing Glenn Beck and the media to do their thinking for them. To believe that Rick Santorum supports homeschooling and, as a Roman Catholic, Evangelical Christian values is an absurdity that could only happen in 21st century America. And yet, here we are.

• Mitt Romney hasn't moved. He still has the same base of support and is heading to his home area of New England to probably solidly win the New Hampshire primary.

REASONS TO BE ENCOURAGED:

• Ron Paul finished strong. He started out a few months ago polling in the single digits and finished last night as a top tier candidate. His momentum will continue as he is the only candidate other than Romney to be doing at all well in New Hampshire.

• Romney stayed stagnant. Yes, he won. Good for him. But he didn't increase his support base with any significance. If you were to plot the support of the candidate on a map, you'd see that Romney has a flat line, Paul has a steadily increasing line, and the rest of the candidates steadily rose at one point, and then declined. It's a two horse race. Romney vs. Paul. The establishment vs. freedom. The banks vs. the people.

• Paul distinguished himself as the only unique candidate AND (& this is important) showed that that message can resonate with average Republican voters.

REASONS TO BE OPTIMISTIC:

• Wave goodbye to Bachmann, Perry, and Huntsman. Good riddance. Bachmann was war-mongering neo-con who hated freedom (voted for the patriot act, voted for big government budgets, etc.) Perry is the neo-con's neo-con and basically a carbon copy of George Bush. (We ought to adopt a policy like the Jews have with the Holocaust when it comes to George Bush. . . "NEVER AGAIN!") Huntsman is a decent guy who never had the campaign infrastructure nor the money to ever be taken seriously. I suspect Bachmann's supporters will be split evenly among Paul and Santorum, Perry's supporters will heavily favor Romney, and Huntsman's three followers will all go to Paul. But the real gold is that this will narrow the field of choices for the "undecided voters" and "independents". Paul should be able to compete there.

• Newt was dealt a mortal wound. Newt should have done well in Iowa. He didn't. His campaign isn't over, but it's close. I don't think his supporters will flock to Paul, but I don't think they want Romney. And when my next point comes to to pass, that will mean they'll have to support Paul.

• Rick Santorum is a joke, and if Iowa was happening on February 3, not January 3, he wouldn't have done well at all. Which means that after he is exposed for the fraud he is, he won't so easily gain the support of those who supported him in Iowa. I mean, this guy claims to be pro-life, yet votes for budgets that give Planned Parenthood money. then he spends all his time in the Senate campaigning for war after endless war, the Patriot act, while ignoring the Sanctity of Life act (I support war when necessary. Doing so doesn't harm your pro-life credentials. Ignoring bills that will end abortion, however DO harm them). Oh, sure, he voted for the worthless partial birth abortion ban that didn't ban a single abortion, but when it came down to doing something real to protect the pre-born, he was as useful as a democrat on that issue. Not only that, but he supported campaign finance reform, supported bailouts, supported the federal reserve, supported Fannie and Freddie. And he is the undisputed KING of earmarks. He has as much dirt as Newt Gingrich, maybe more. A few weeks of ads, debates, investigative reports, and whatnot will expose that. Now, what that does for Paul is immense. People voted for Santorum because he was touted by the Establishment (Glenn Beck led this charge) as a "conservative". When people discover he's not, they won't run to Romney, that's for sure. They aren't going to run to Newt either. Guess who's left.
  

• Romney is beatable. Absolutely beatable. His base is as strong as Paul's base, but he has zero appeal to conservatives beyond his base. He just can't break through that 25% mark and he won't because he is quite simply, a liberal.
  

• Ron Paul may have actually won the race that really matters anyway.

I think that New Hampshire will go to Romney, but I expect Paul to do surprisingly well. I also believe that things could line up well for Paul in South Carolina. It's a three horse race, and one horse (Santorum) has terrible flaws. The crowd just hasn't seen them yet.

On to New Hampshire!


UPDATE: Ron Paul is tied for first with Romney and Santorum in delegates out of Iowa. So, in reality, Ron Paul did just as well as the two winners of the Caucus, because it is the delegates that matter.

How did this happen? Well short answer is that Paul is running a smart campaign and his people are informed. They ran all over the state for the past two weeks impressing upon their local supporters that they need to STAY after the caucus meeting to be selected as a delegate. No one else really did that. So, Paul, who should probably have received 5-6 delegates, ended up getting an additional delegate or two out of the deal.

Sweet.

So, we go into New Hampshire and South Carolina in a three way dead heat.

ALSO: Bachman is out. Again. . . GOOD RIDDANCE.

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