How words can be a bit deceptive

Go visit this site, just to see how easy it is to manipulate words and meanings to create an image of someone that simply is not accurate.

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/. I wanted to punch through a window after reading this last night. Obama's folks have set up some nice Dobson vs. Obama comments into simple columns that make you think that they actually have relevance to each other. Here is my favorite:

JAMES DOBSON: Claim #5
“I'd just like to ask your viewers if they've heard a single comment made by the three Presidential candidates on any occasion that even mentioned the well-being of this most basic, social institution (family)” (CNN).

BARACK OBAMA SAYS:
“Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation… But if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing – missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it” (Father’s Day Speech, Apostolic Church).

First off, let's look at the timing of the statements. Dobson's comments came when there were still 3 candidates left in the race, so this statement was made prior to June 7, 2008, when Hillary withdrew from the race. Obama's comments came at a minimum 8 days later, on June 15, 2008, when he was speaking to a Father's Day crowd at a Chicago church. So what does that prove about Dobson's statements in the past? Its easy to throw up a statement after the fact and claim that has been his position the entire time!! But what do I know. Obama's only been doing this the whole campaign.

Now let's analyze what Obama said. He claims the foundation of families are weaker because of missing fathers. But how do his policies reflect that statement? He doesn't believe in empowering families, he believes in empowering government. More social programs, more taxing, more government powers to wield, creating even more of a nanny state than we already have now. He is enabling family and individual dependence on government rather than self-reliance. And if our government can solve all ills, why would anyone, fathers included, want to take any responsibility for their actions? Hell, the government can fix it, I don't have to. He is not enabling family development, he is disabling it.

You can argue that these social programs and his other "change" mechanisms will provide relief to those in need, but sometimes the struggle is what makes us the best that we can become. Its a father's duty, not the federal govt's, to provide for their families, and fathers and husbands need to feel the urgency in that. I am embarassed for Obama and his crew that they think that they can throw statements up like the one above and we will all just believe because we are supposed to. This man is a manipulator of our ill-informed society that believes everything it hears.

Oil and Gas and the mania

As gas prices hover around $4/gallon, this is all anyone is talking about. News updates every 15 minutes on the radio, commercials on tv, news events, and the like. Everyone is railing on the oil companies and their "excessive" profits. And to be honest, I am tired of it. Tired of the bill I pay every time I fill up, and tired of the constant whining of everyone about the prices. The media feeds us that we can't get by like this, and that oil companies are the enemy here, so we should just put a new tax on them. Let's look at that option.

Oil companies on average gain about a 9% profit margin, which is average for any Fortune 500 company. They make more money, but they are spending more money to make it. And don't forget that many, many pension and 401k plans are heavily invested in these companies. These 401k's represent Middle America, guys like me and you that are not ultra-rich CEO's. So the company has a fiduciary duty to shareholders to earn a solid profit and keep the stock price stable and growing. So if we cause "Big Oil" ( I hate that term) to fail, then we are hurting not just the oil companies, but all of us with our funds invested across these companies. But Obama and Hillary keep pontificating about how bad they are.

Our biggest problems are not the oil companies, they lie in the fact that our entire economic delivery is based on a product that we have to import from other countries. We have to become energy independent, with both oil and new technologies. We need to drill for more domestically, and we have the technology to do this efficiently without destroying vast amounts of our environment. And for the record, I don't care if we cause the destruction of one species. Our planet is in a state of constant chaos, not equilibrium, and our impact on that is not measurable, but that is an argument for another post.

Dobson v. Obama, Round One

Ok, so its been a few weeks. Lots of things keeping me from putting pen to paper, so to speak. But this topic just gets me fired up.

So there is a little feud brewing between James Dobson and Barack Obama, and it seems that Dr. Dobson has been highly critical of Obama's view of Christianity, or should I say spirituality. Obama claims to be a man of faith, and I am not in a position to judge that. But I do have a problem with his desire to translate spiritual issues into a "universal language." Does he really believe that he can heal the divide between religions that have been waging war on each other for milleniums? I don't think so. All I think he is doing is pandering to as many voters as possible, especially those who think Christians are fundamendalists and backwards. I am not a theological expert, so I am in no position to preach from a soap box here. I just have no confidence that Obama is honest in his "preachings." When it comes down to it, there is very little common ground between religions. We can choose to live in peace and harmony when able to, but we essentially have severe differences that one man cannot mend. And this universal language he is preaching is synonymous with appeasement, which history shows has a very low success rate, regardless of the topic.