Regardless of whether you love this guy and think he’s the best thing since sliced bread, or think he’s bankrupting us into socialism… chill out and enjoy this video: (in other words, I’m not trying to start an argument… just relax and learn to laugh if you get bent out of shape by anything political, please!)
Too funny!
For those who are enjoying our new President’s transformation of America, (or those informed and concerned with the long term impact of what he is doing) I thought you’d enjoy a humorous look at what experts are predicting as the Obamamobile of the future!
GM’s New Signature Car!
“The new GM (Government Motors) proudly introduces the 2010 Obama! This car runs on hot air and broken promises. It has three wheels that speed the vehicle through nauseating left turns. It comes complete with two Teleprompters programmed to help the occupants talk their way out of any taxes. The transparent canopy reveals the naive smiles still on the faces of all the happy owners.” (shamelessly copied from an e-mail forward)
Hope you enjoyed the laugh. Don’t take it too seriously people, but do think seriously about the impact of one president spending more in 100 days than ALL previous presidents combined. You can’t blame that on your predecessor.
I thought Rick Warren did a wonderful job with the inauguration prayer. He included the English version of the Jewish Sh’ma at the start and recited the name of Jesus in Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish, as well as in English at the end. I wish those who get so vile in their attacks on him and other Americans would heed his prayer. I disagree sharply with President Obama on many issues, but as an American raising a child in American, I pray for his success and that he will actually do the lofty things he states so well and perhaps be more influenced by Godly people like Rick Warren than by those who try to move the tide of culture through hate and mean-spiritedness. President Obama gets a pass on many things a Republican would be attacked on (and no, I won’t mention them) but I hope that the optimism and hope he has inspired will lead him to listen and learn and govern wisely and with restraint and with an openness that may only come because of the weight that is now upon him. It’s one thing to want the job – it’s entirely different thing to have the job. And I am committed to praying for him and our nation in the months and years ahead. I’m hoping he surprises me and lives up to at least of little of the hype.
In case you missed it, here is Rick Warren’s prayer followed by a video:
Let us pray.
Almighty God — our Father. Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, ‘Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.’ And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.
Now today we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King, and a great cloud of witnesses, are shouting in heaven.
Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice-President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.
Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom, and justice for all.
When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.
And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes — even when we differ.
Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all. May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation, and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day, all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.
We now commit our new president, and his wife Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.
I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life — Yeshua, Isa, Jesús, Jesus — who taught us to pray:
Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. – Amen.
First of all, congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama.
I won’t even pretend to imagine the significance and impact of Obama’s election to my African American friends and all those who never thought they’d see the election of an African American to the highest political office in world. It is a great testimony to the progress of America and especially to the color blindness of young Americans who, if they do consider race, lean more toward supporting minorities than fearing or resisting the progress of fellow Americans who are different than they are. I sincerely am happy for our nation in the sense that the election of Barack Obama proves that indeed any one can become President of the United States no matter their race or background, and that, in and of itself, is a good thing – and I am proud to live in a country where the People choose their leader and the transfer of power, even in a fiercely fought election, is peaceful. America continues to be the grandest experiment in human history.
Indeed, Obama was unstopable in this election. While I never gave up hope, and did my little part to support Senator McCain, I felt in my gut that Obama’s election was inevitable. His combination of his political skill, the nations appetite for “change” and the fear brought on by the financial crisis came together to bring about not only a historic election because of his race, but an incredible rise to power of a very unknown man whose many weakness were largely considered irrelvant by a nation blinded by a message they wanted to hear. The reasons Obama won are varied. On one hand, I think race was a huge factor. For a some what positive reason: America was eager to ease its collective conscience by electing a black president. On the negative side, Obama out-spent McCain and that was possible in large part due to him breaking his promise to accept public funds, but I’m not sure that really made the difference. There are many reasons and explanations, but I think at the end Obama won for ONE REASON: His Message of Change. That message was more important than the facts. The concept of “Change” was more important than even the details of what kind of change he would bring. Our nation wanted change at any cost. No one knows what they cost will be, or whether it will be a welcome cost or not.
For all the things that concern me about Obama, what he did best was set himself up as the American Hero – the Right Man at the Right Time. He was eloquent. His sweeping themes and wonderful sounding generalities were music to American ears. Unfortunately, he was never specific, but ironically, even when he was, no one cared. When he slipped and alluded to “spreading the wealth” people didn’t care. When he admitted he wants energy costs to “skyrocket” people didn’t care. When his associations and mentors were shown to be radical and even anti-American, people didn’t care. They liked the Message of Change without little consideration of what that “change” would be. It’s actually quite puzzling or impressive depending on how you look at it.
What I like about Barack Obama is his claim to be open to new ideas and to working with both parties to find solutions. I will pray it is true. I live in his home state of Illinois which is riddled with coruption. Our last goverenor is in jail, and our current one appears to be headed toward being in the next cell over. Obama has never even spoken against Illinois coruption, let alone done anything about it. He has never gone “across the aisle” to accomplish anything, and voted “present” often when a bill was contraversial. He has no executive experience, and now has the highest executive office in the country. It’s really rather amazing. I have to admit, as a campaign “executive”, he got it done. But I do hope that he has painted himself into a corner where he has to live up to the retoric and perhaps he actually will do some of the things he has so eloquently promised. If he does, he’ll earn my respect as a leader. Right now, my respect is limited to what he accomplished for his race and his party. As President, there is much more to accomplish.
One of the things that concerns me about Obama is that no one seems to know this guy. Even Democratic political pundits are now saying they have no idea how he will lead. Will he lead as the most liberal President ever? (He was the most liberal senator.) Will he lead center-left since he has a democratic majority who will want to finally push its agenda. Or will he lead center-right, which is how he campaigned stealing many Repiblican themes – many of which he and his party were against before he was a presidential candidate. I find it amazing that even those who supported him, don’t know how he will lead. Yet they voted for him. Even Obama, in his own book, described himself as a “blank page” upon which people can write whatever they want to believe about him. You got to hand it to him, he is a master of being, not whatever he thinks people want to be, but being vague enough that you can think of him being whatever YOU want. Only time will tell what he actually does. You can’t vote “present” when you are President. He will have to take some stands.
Another thing I do like about him, is that he does seem to move slowly. Hopefully very slowly. But he has really painted himself as a centralist while his opponents have created a lot of fear around him. (and I think the fear is fair) I already think he is smart, if he is wise he will realize that his opponents are eager for some “I told you so” moments, and the best thing he can do for long term success is rob them of those moments, and live up to his retoric and promises to work together, to lower taxes, to reduce energy dependance, to win the war in Iraq, etc. If he does that, it will be good for America. If those were campaign talk and he leads as he used to vote (or not vote) and as his Democratic party used to vote, it will hurt our country.
Obama revealed a lot about America. His election shows just how badly our country wants change – and a lot of that desired change is change away from Christian ideals. How are we going to deal with that? In a godly way? I think this election, and how we deal with defeat, will tell a lot about us to a watching world.
Let’s be godly in how we handle the fears that Obama stirs up in Christians. Let’s be honest, when we’ve had Presidents we liked, it has never helped the cause of Christ as much as we hoped or thought it would. Lives are only changed when they encounter Jesus Christ, and that can happen in any country, in any political climate, and under any President. Amen?
SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN?
A lot of people “believe” in Obama… or believe in the “Change” he promises to bring. My biggest concern with Obama is not his belief babies born alive in a failed abortion should be killed or left to die. (and he does, don’t buy the rewriting of history going on). It isn’t his economic philosophies, though they are scary. It isn’t his anti-American statements and associations. (I think being President will cure him of his anti-American setiments.) It isn’t higher taxes, even though they are coming. (I won’t enjoy saying ‘I told you so’ but its inevitable now.)
My greatest concern is actually a secret hope. The concern is that too many people are looking to government to solve their personal issues so they will give too much power and control to the government that in turn will end up choking our economy and undermining our freedom even as it sincerely tries to help Americans. In the end, Democratic policies tend to hurt the very ones they are seeking to help by creating dependency, stiffling freedom, frustrating entrepreneurial spirit, burdening small business, and growing bureaucracy and with it taxes.
Why is this concern also a secret hope? Because I hope that more and more people (Christians included) will finally realize that our hope can’t be in government, it must be in God. Government can’t create the security it so often promises, God can. Govenment can’t create opportunity, God can. Govenment can’t solve the problems that ail our world, God can. Government can’t meet our needs, God can. Government can’t provide our financial needs, God can. Government can’t give us purpose, God can. Government can’t give us Hope, but God can.
And finally, no government or president can bring Real Change, or “Change you can Believe in” but God can.
While I still believe that Christians MUST stay engaged and ought to be the voice of Truth, morality and for the unborn, our energies most be primarily engaged in building the Kingdom, not our nation. Christians ought to vote – and I know many did. Now we must vote with our feet by going where God calls us to go. Vote with are hands by helping our neighbors. Vote with our mouths by sharing the Gospel. Vote with our wallets by financially supporting our church, missionaries and any ministry we can that is helping to reach the lost or further the Cause of Christ.
Best case scenario – Obama surprises those of us who opposed him, and things get better and the resulting econompic growth will help churches and the Great Commission.
Worst case scenario – things get worse, but as a result more people turn to God. After all, the Church has always grown more during times of distress and persecution.
Anything in the middle – keep your main focus on your walk with God, your family, being a light for Truth in our world, and praying for our nation.
Obama will soon be walking into the White House. As Christians we will need to stay engaged to seek to protect our freedom and help keep America a place where God is honored and glorified and where “In God we Trust” still rings true.
But more important is who sits in the ‘Oval Office’ our our heart and our homes.
Does OUR LIFE reflect, “In God We Trust?” Does our life honor God, honor life, and reflect the Truth we claim to believe in?
Let’s pray for our nation and pray for President Obama. He certainly needs it.
May God Bless America… but may we bless God in how we live for Him.
(I figured that title would grab the attention of my readers!) You have got to read this parable that clearly explains the US tax code, and what Obama is planning to do with his “tax cut for 95% of Americans,” 40% of which do not pay any income tax.
But first, the story:
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. ‘Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share’?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so -
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar,
too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of GeorgiaFor those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, or will not understand, no explanation is possible.
I am amazed at how many people are for Obama IF they understand his position on taxes and what he will do to our economy with a most-likely liberal Congress and House. It will be the first time in over 40 years that the White House and Congress/House will be controlled by the same party, and the anti-business / pro-high taxes / bigger government party. His rhetoric not only doesn’t match his record (never once voting for a tax cut and 94 times for a tax increase or against a tax cut) but his math doesn’t add up, or results in socialism. Again, for those willing to look beyond the eloquent rhetoric and look at the man’s real record, writing and the philosophies of those who he names as his influences and mentors in his extremely short political carreer.
FACTS:
There is a lot to like about Obama – but his economic plans for our country are disasterous. Imagine if you ran your home the way Obama wants to run the country. The government can try to “bail out” others, but who bails out or “rescues” the governemnt when it goes awry? YOU. The taxpayer.
You now work from January into July just for all the taxes you pay, income tax, state taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and taxes included in the products you buy and services you use. And Obama wants you to pay even more. Your “fair share.”
Anyone who votes for him can’t complain later when the tax man comes and the economy suffers – your vote is surrendering your wallet to more government control and more of your hard earned money going into the sink hole of the US government.
A vote for McCain/Palin isn’t the solution to everything – but it is the best way to hold the greed of the federal government and keep more taxes at bay for at least four more years.
Please vote, and vote Republican.
Sincerely, your fellow tax paying American.
(Click image to see full size)
While I am not Catholic – I have great respect for so much that the Catholic Church has done and stood for. While theologically my saving faith is in the person of Jesus and not the Church, when it comes to what is at stake in this political season, I find the following video from CatholicVote.com to be right on:
I am tired of hearing Christians say they aren’t going to vote for one reason or another. ANY REASON NOT TO VOTE IS A LAME REASON. Hey, I’m in Illinois, voting Republican is a “waste” of my vote, but I vote because I am an American and many have died to give me that freedom.
Be American and VOTE. I don’t even mind if you vote for the man I think is the worst possible leader for our nation. I will still applaud you for voting. We are both Americans after all.
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who’s hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Obama and his bid to be our president. The old rancher said, “Well, ya know, Obama is a ‘Post Turtle’”.
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a ‘post turtle’ was.
The old rancher said, “When your driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a ‘post turtle”.
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor’s face so he continued to explain. “You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, and he doesn’t know what to do while he’s up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put him up there to begin with”.
I know I am late, but I wanted to post this testimony from Tony Snow for my own keep-sake. Tony was a powerfully articulate speaker (my favorite Rush Limbaugh substitute) who was appreciated and admired by friends and foes alike. I learned so much from him about how our country works. He made me proud to be an American and understood the issues of today better than most and supported his positions with facts and logic instead of just angry emotion like so many of his opponents. And he was always upbeat and positive and respectful. Below is his testimony as he was dying of cancer. (FYI: the same cancer that took my mom at the same age: 53. Way too soon for both of them.)
Tony Snow’s last televised briefing. Photo by Getty Images
This is an outstanding testimony from Tony Snow, President Bush’s former Press Secretary, and his fight with cancer. Commentator and broadcaster, Tony Snow, announced that he had colon cancer in 2005. Following surgery and chemo-therapy, Snow joined the Bush Administration in April, 2006 as press secretary. Unfortunately, on March 23, 2007, Snow, 51, a husband and father of three, announced the cancer had recurred, with tumors found in his abdomen, – leading to surgery in April, followed by more chemotherapy. Snow went back to work in the White House Briefing Room on May 30, but later resigned, ‘for economic reasons,’ and to pursue ‘ other interests.’
Tony Snow’s Testimony
(prior to his death July 12, 2008)
‘Blessings arrive in unexpected packages – in my case, cancer. Those of us with potentially fatal diseases – and there are millions in America today – find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will. Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence ‘What It All Means,’ Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations. The first is that we shouldn’t spend too much time trying to answer the ‘why’ questions: Why me? Why must people suffer? Why can’t someone else get sick? We can’t answer such things, and the questions themselves often are designed more to express our anguish than to solicit an answer.
I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is, a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out. But despite this, – or because of it, – God offers the possibility of salvation and grace. We don’t know how the narrative of our lives will end, but we get to choose how to use the interval between now and the moment we meet our Creator face-to-face.
Second, we need to get past the anxiety. The mere thought of dying can send adrenaline flooding through your system. A dizzy, unfocused panic seizes you. Your heart thumps; your head swims. You think of nothingness and swoon. You fear partings; you worry about the impact on family and friends. You fidget and get nowhere. To regain footing, remember that we were born not into death, but into life, – and that the journey continues after we have finished our days on this earth. We accept this on faith, but that faith is nourished by a conviction that stirs even within many non believing hearts – an intuition that the gift of life, once given, cannot be taken away. Those who have been stricken enjoy the special privilege of being able to fight with their might, main, and faith to live fully, richly and exuberantly – no matter how their days may be numbered.
Third, we can open our eyes and hearts. God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease, – smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see, but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance; and comprehension – and yet don’t. By His love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise.
‘You Have Been Called’. Picture yourself in a hospital bed. The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away. A doctor stands at your feet; a loved one holds your hand at the side. ‘It’s cancer,’ the healer announces. The natural reaction is to turn to God and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa. ‘Dear God, make it all go away. Make everything simpler.’ But another voice whispers: ‘You have been called.’ Your quandary has drawn you closer to God, closer to those you love, closer to the issues that matter, – and has dragged into insignificance the banal concerns that occupy our ‘normal time.’ There’s another kind of response, although usually short-lived an inexplicable shudder of excitement, as if a clarifying moment of calamity has swept away everything trivial and tiny, and placed before us the challenge of important questions.
The moment you enter the Valley of the Shadow of Death, things change. You discover that Christianity is not something doughy, passive, pious, and soft. Faith may be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But it also draws you into a world shorn of fearful caution. The life of belief teems with thrills, boldness, danger, shocks, reversals, triumphs, and epiphanies. Think of Paul, traipsing through the known world and contemplating trips to what must have seemed the antipodes (Spain), shaking the dust from his sandals, worrying not about the morrow, but only about the moment.
There’s nothing wilder than a life of humble virtue, – for it is through selflessness and service that God wrings from our bodies and spirits the most we ever could give, the most we ever could offer, and the most we ever could do. Finally, we can let love change everything. When Jesus was faced with the prospect of crucifixion, he grieved not for himself, but for us. He cried for Jerusalem before entering the holy city. From the Cross, he took on the cumulative burden of human sin and weakness, and begged for forgiveness on our behalf.
We get repeated chances to learn that life is not about us, that we acquire purpose and satisfaction by sharing in God’s love for others. Sickness gets us part way there. It reminds us of our limitations and dependence. But it also gives us a chance to serve the healthy. A minister friend of mine observes that people suffering grave afflictions often acquire the faith of two people, while loved ones accept the burden of two peoples’ worries and fears.
‘Learning How to Live’. Most of us have watched friends as they drifted toward God’s arms, not with resignation, but with peace and hope. In so doing, they have taught us not how to die, but how to live. They have emulated Christ by transmitting the power and authority of love. I sat by my best friend’s bedside a few years ago as a wasting cancer took him away. He kept at his table a worn Bible and a 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. A shattering grief disabled his family, many of his old friends, and at least one priest. Here was a humble and very good guy, someone who apologized when he winced with pain because he thought it made his guest uncomfortable. He retained his equanimity and good humor literally until his last conscious moment. ‘I’m going to try to beat [this cancer],’ he told me several months before he died. ‘But if I don’t, I’ll see you on the other side. ‘His gift was to remind everyone around him that even though God doesn’t promise us tomorrow, he does promise us eternity, – filled with life and love we cannot comprehend, and that one can in the throes of sickness point the rest of us toward timeless truths that will help us weather future storms. Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?
When our faith flags, he throws reminders in our way. Think of the prayer warriors in our midst. They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up, – to speak of us! This is love of a very special order. But so is the ability to sit back and appreciate the wonder of every created thing. The mere thought of death somehow makes every blessing vivid, every happiness more luminous and intense. We may not know how our contest with sickness will end, but we have felt the ineluctable touch of God.
What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don’t know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us who believe, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place, in the hollow of God’s hand.’
T. Snow
Posts
Comments
Kidology.org
YosemiteSummit.org
ToyboxTales.com
Latest TALK on KIDOLOGY.org New IDEAS on KIDOLOGY.org New STUFF to buy on KIDOLOGY.org
