J's Cafe Nette

Archive for June 19th, 2008

The following are the most recent national campaign ads the two presumptive presidential nominees have approved for distribution.

First, John McCain’s ad which began airing this past week:

Now Senator Obama’s ad which will begin airing on Friday:

Now, if you knew absolutely nothing about these two individuals would either of these ads sell you on their capacity to hold the Office of the Presidency?

While the current President may not be popular according to the polls, he does have those who have remained loyal to him. Is it in John McCain’s favor to continue to remind those in that category that he bucked President Bush so often in his 8 years in office?

It is fine that the Senator stood on principle and held to his beliefs, however, his attempt to convince voters that he was far brighter than a sitting president is presumptuous to say the least.

This particular ad offers no solutions and does not introduce the candidate in a way which, at least in my opinion, would convince those on the fence that he is the best man for the job.

On the other hand, the ad produced by the Obama campaign puts him right in your living room. Putting all the politics aside, it leaves you with a knowledge of the mans life.

Many could probably relate to the short story he tells. Working class parents, financing their own way through college and strong family values.

Again, if you knew nothing of what has transpired in the lives or politics of either man, which would you choose just based on these ads?

Just one opinion and a little advice (while I appreciate it makes absolutely no difference what I think) for John McCain.

We all know of your military service and sacrifice and it is admired.

You have made it clear more than once that you think you have had many ideas which you felt were superior to that of President Bush and your GOP colleagues in the Senate.

But, and this is a big but, you still have not found a way to “connect” with a vast majority of voters. You have not yet managed to get into our living rooms. Don’t address us as your “friend” but rather as citizens who deeply cares about this election.

As for Senator Obama, he has had the fortune of the press giving his candidacy a great tailwind but I believe there is something larger than that afoot.

People seem to have grown very weary of the old school politicians, those who have been in power and in so many eyes have in one way or another failed the general public.

Many in the electorate seem delighted with the new voice, new face, new rhetoric. Few are reading between the lines yet many understand that in campaigns much is said which will never again come to the surface when a nominee sits in the big chair.

We still have a way to go and maybe the debates will offer a better understanding of each of these men.

At least I hope so.

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This may be the first pledge Obama has broken but he’s not president yet. Usually they wait until elected to show their true colors.

In a web video to supporters — “the people who built this movement from the bottom up” — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, announced this morning that he will not enter into the public financing system, despite a previous pledge to do so.

“We’ve made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the general election,” Obama says in the video, blaming it on the need to combat Republicans, saying “we face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system. John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. And we’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations.”

In November 2007, Obama answered “Yes” to Common Cause when asked “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?”

Obama wrote: “In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. My proposal followed announcements by some presidential candidates that they would forgo public financing so they could raise unlimited funds in the general election. The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

How many more promises will he break before the election? How much money does one man need to become president? Apparently Obama thinks it’s more than $84 million. Don’t you think a man who cares so much about the plight of the poor would redirect those donations to the poor he claims to care about? Nah. This is politics and they all lie. It’s just that usually they expose their lies after the election.

Let’s see if the presidency can be bought once again. Senator Obama, you are a disgrace.

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In a speech in Springfield, MO, yesterday John McCain called for the nation to get back into the nuclear power business and find a way to make coal cleaner.

Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds “to make clean coal a reality,” measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

In a second straight day of campaigning devoted to the energy issue, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also said the only time Democratic rival Barack Obama voted for a tax cut was for a “break for the oil companies.”

McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation’s annual electricity needs.

“Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over thirty years,” he said. “And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone.”

Even so, he said he would set the country on a course to build 45 new ones by 2030, with a longer-term goal of adding another 55 in the future.

“We will need to recover all the knowledge and skills that have been lost over three stagnant decades in a highly technical field,” he conceded.

My husband worked for a nuclear power plant for over 20 years, and we know how safe it is. We have at least three nuclear power plants almost in our backyard and I live in no fear of them.

If we can get the politicians to agree to allow more nuclear energy we can take care of our electricity needs. The same thing for coal if we can find a way to make it cleaner, but you know what? When I was a girl everyone burned coal and somehow we all lived through it.

If we can get the federal politicians and the state officials involved we can drill for oil 50 miles off our own coasts and in ANWR. In fact, those in the ANWR region would love to have us drill there. It may be “pristine”, but who gets to see it? The caribou will survive as the area being talked about is about the size of South Carolina and ANWR is much larger than that.

We have taken going green to the extreme, while those who espouse its values are using more and more energy than before. I read just yesterday that, despite trying to “green up” his house, Al Gore is using 10% more energy than he used last year. And he’s the world face of conservation. If memory serves me he is using as much energy in one month at his house as 20 houses would use in a month.

For just him and Tipper? They must have one heck of a Christmas display in December!

It may seem like it, but I’m not picking on Al Gore. As far as I’m concerned he’s yesterday’s news, but for a man to accept a Nobel Peace prize, grammy and Academy Award by espousing energy savings it just seems a bit hypocritical to me.

Let’s listen to what McCain says and try to implement it instead of talking it to death. This applies even if Obama is elected. We have an energy crisis in our country and it is not caused by our President. It has been caused by past congresses, governors and presidents. The game is up and people are having to choose whether to stay warm, drive to the grocery store, or even get groceries because some nut has convinced the farmers to grow corn for ethanol, which is even more expensive than gasoline.

It’s time for us to be Americans and stand up to the challenge. We can do it!

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Whenever I hear of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas I’m always skeptical. Here’s the main reason:

A long-sought truce between Israel and Gaza militants went into effect early Thursday, with the aim of halting militant attacks and a bruising Israeli blockade that have made life unbearable for people living on both sides of the border.

A day of intense Palestinian rocket and mortar fire and Israeli air reprisals on Wednesday underscored just how fragile the Egyptian-brokered agreement would be. Hamas security reported that the Israeli navy fired four shells into the waters off Gaza City after the truce began; the military had no immediate comment. Hamas has run the territory since seizing control a year ago.

It seems to me if someone is going to have a truce and announce it days ahead of such truce, the parties involved would stop killing each other when they’ve announced they are going to have a truce. It’s a goodwill gesture.

But Hamas isn’t as interested in a truce as it is in having the time to get stronger so they can attack with impunity once they have restocked their supplies and opened their supply lines again.

Israel is an island unto itself in that region; surrounded by enemies on all sides with the exceptions of Jordan and Egypt, and in my opinion, if push came to shove Jordan and Egypt would go against Israel once again.

The other day I received an “urgent” mailing requesting money of course. $144 to be exact. I don’t know the person who sent the letter, although I have heard of some of the people on the board of prayer warriors.

What made me throw it into the trash was a sentence that went something like “We must not let these people stop God’s prophecy regarding Jerusalem.” Pretty strong statement, but if it’s God’s prophecy that Jerusalem will not be divided again (and it is) how is any man or any amount of money going to stop it?

We have prophecies in Ezekiel telling of a big war in Israel; so bad that God does intervene so Israel isn’t destroyed.

I pray for peace in Jerusalem every day, as instructed by the Lord, but I also know certain things will come to pass over which no single human being has any control. I don’t consider the anti-Christ to be human, nor his false prophet.

I’m considering a trip to Israel in March, but I’m carefully considering it since my husband has bad legs and doesn’t want to take a chance of blood clots on such a long journey.

If I don’t make it this time I will probably never get to see it in this lifetime, but I know I will dwell in the New Jerusalem after that.

Always be a friend to Israel and you will always be blessed for it, but don’t do it just for the blessing; do it because it’s the right thing to do. Shalom!

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