define: Jared Barden

The old saying goes, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” Nowhere was that more evident this past week than at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO.

Of course I’m talking about the speeches of both Hillary and Bill Clinton during the convention. They both gave good speeches highlighting how ready Obama is to be President, how great he is, how he’ll change our country, etc. etc. etc. Funny thing is that just months ago they were pounding away at the fact that he was inexperienced and not ready to be President. Even his running mate for Vice President, Joe Biden, pounded away during the primaries on Obama’s inexperience, but now he believes everything is fine?

If you really believe that Hillary and Bill Clinton truly 100% support Obama for President, I think you might getting the wool pulled over your eyes. Here’s why. If Obama wins in November, Hillary can’t run for another 8 years. Unless he totally screwed up his first term, I highly doubt she would run against him as the incumbent President, so that puts her next opportunity at 2016. That puts her at 69 years old at that point, which is still 3 years younger than John McCain.

Seems to me that while the Clintons publicly profess that they want Obama to win, I can’t help but wonder if they would secretly like McCain to win, which gives them another shot in 2012, where Hillary would be the favorite due to Obama’s failed Presidential bid.

Either way, it’s going to be an interesting couple months.

We just returned from Williamsport, where we watched Ben Stein’s new documentary, Expelled, with our friend Mara.

I didn’t know too much about the movie, but I did know that it was supposedly in support of Intelligent Design, and I like Ben Stein, so I figured it would be a good time.

I was definitely not disappointed. Well, at least not totally. I was kind of hoping Ben would take more of a side/stand than he did, but that is his prerogative.

I won’t really get into the whole Intelligent Design vs. Evolution debate, because for me there isn’t much of a debate. I believe in Intelligent Design, but I also further believe in Creationism. Do animals/species evolve over time? Sure they do. It would be silly to think otherwise, but did we all come from single-celled organism in some cosmic soup? Highly unlikely.

What I wanted to touch on were some of the explanations offered by prominent Evolutionists as to how life might have begun.

1.) Molecules attached themselves to inorganic crystals and somehow formed life.

Wow. That’s about all I can say on that one. I’m pretty sure that takes more faith than believing that God created life.

2.) There is a possibility of an Intelligent Designer out there, but it must have evolved from somewhere, and then evolved enough to create life in our own universe.

Another far-fetched one it seems. And this was mentioned by one of the world’s foremost Evolutionsts - Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. Frankly, that explanation seems a little delusional to me, but that’s just me.

No matter what you believe on this issue, I hope we can all agree that debate should not be stifled, as is apparently happening in academic institutions at all levels across this country. That is truly a shame. Voices from both sides of the aisle should be heard, and then people should be able to make their choices from there.

Senator Jim Webb convened the United States Senate for a whopping 57 seconds today in order to prevent any recess appointments by President Bush.

Our tax dollars, hard at work, keeping the Senate “open” to prevent appointments. What has politics in this country come to?

And I know that Republicans do/have done the same sorts of silly things before, but this just seems a bit much to me.

I’m just curious why it’s alright for Jesse Jackson to criticize Barrack Obama’s response to the student beatings in Jena by saying that Obama is, “acting like he’s white.”

Imagine the shoe being on the other foot and some outspoken, conservative, white person (insert your favorite conservative political pundit here) said that a leading Republican candidate for President was acting, “like he’s black,” in regards to a given situation. Can you imagine what sort of outrage there would be to these “racially insensitive” remarks? Guess who would most certainly be publicly outraged? You guessed it - Jesse Jackson.

Things like this boggle my mind.

The resignation of Senator Craig this past weekend got me thinking about political hypocrisy and how rampant it is in America.Now, I don’t condone what Senator Craig allegedly did in any way, shape, or form, but I do find it interesting that he had to pay such a high price for his actions. It wasn’t all that long ago that the President of the United States admitted to having an affair, with an intern, and he was basically slapped on the wrist (so much for that vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Mrs. Clinton). Now, you could argue the legality of the President’s actions (and other alleged actions against other women) until you’re blue in the face, I think we can all agree that it wasn’t the wisest action. Still, the President escaped pretty much unscathed.Fast forward to 2007, where Senator Craig is forced to resign for actions that belied his espoused beliefs. How many countless times have we seen public figures mess up and we’re told how we need to forgive them and help them change, get better, etc. I didn’t hear too much of that kind of talk regarding Senator Craig over the last week.Senator Craig probably did the best thing by stepping down and hopefully dealing with the ordeal he has put himself and his family through. It’s just interesting to see how things play out depending on what political party you belong to.

I read a quote attributed to James Cromwell. I looked up the original source, just to make sure it was true, but it doesn’t really surprise me that much.

The quote goes thusly:

I can’t handle living in the United States of America when I know the last two elections were rigged, and that we were denied our right to vote, where we live in a country where 32 per cent of the people vote and even those people’s votes don’t count, and the people who should really have a stake, kids, don’t have a say at all – people of colour, very little to say, unions, practically nothing any more … we’re losing our jobs …

I’m not even sure where to start on that one. Let’s go from the beginning.

1.) Do you really have proof the last two elections were rigged? Beyond a reasonable doubt? I, and I’m sure my fellow Americans, would love to see that proof.

2.) 32% of Americans vote. That’s a sad statistic, but to somehow say that is America’s problem, I don’t buy that. If people would take their responsibility seriously and get out and vote, we wouldn’t have this issue. If you don’t vote, don’t complain, that’s always been my stand.

3.) Yes, kids can’t vote. Are you seriously suggesting that we let 5 and 6 year old kids vote? I doubt it, and I think James was just trying to hype up his point, but that is a ludicrous statement. We have rules set in place for a reason. To say, “here Timmy, I know you’re only 6, but go vote for the next President,” seems more than slightly bizarre to me. Chances are Timmy would say, “what’s a President?”

4.) People of color have just as much to say as anyone else. They get one vote, the same amount any one of us gets. Let your vote be heard, even if you think it doesn’t count. If everyone thought that way, we would have some serious issues on our hands.

5.) I’m not entirely sure that unions having nothing to say is such a bad thing. I’ll be honest. I don’t know a lot about unions and how they work and they’re whole purpose, but a union not having too much to say (in regards to political issues, NOT work-related issues), might not be a bad thing.

Having now heard how Mr. Cromwell feels about the good old U.S. of A. I’m surprised that he agreed at all to appear on 24, which by the way, is one of my favorite TV shows. Of course, James does play Jack’s crooked father, so maybe that is some sort of statement for him. Who knows.

I am all for freedom of speech, but these kind of hyped up accusations drive me bonkers.

I’ve been watching some of the State of the Union address tonight, and there was a comment President Bush made and a Democratic reaction that stunned me.

If you’ve ever watched a State of the Union address, then you know that it can seem like an up-and-down clapping fest. When President Bush says something Republicans like, they stand, and the Democrats will stand I think when they feel like they have to. That may be a little cynical of me, but that’s the way it seems.

Which brings me to a comment and reaction. The comment went like this…

For America, this is a nightmare scenario. For the enemy, this is the objective. Chaos is their greatest ally in this struggle. And out of chaos in Iraq, would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens… new recruits … new resources … and an even greater determination to harm America. To allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of September 11th and invite tragedy. And ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for America to succeed in the Middle East … to succeed in Iraq … and to spare the American people from this danger.

Did Nanci Pelosi shoot of her chair like she did after some of the President’s statements. No. Did almost a whole half of the room leave their chairs at all after this comment? No. That’s sad.

You see Democrats in congress say they want to win the war. President Bush just said that winning the war in Iraq is critical to our nation, which was followed by silence on the Left. So, I guess they want to win the war, but only if it is won their way. Why can’t we just win the war? Why the stubborness?

It is critical that we succeed in Iraq. It is critical that Iraq becomes a free and stable country. It is critical that terrorism is halted. Has the President done everything correctly in handling this war? Of course not. Mistakes have been made. War is not easy. We shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that it is. What is important is that we make progress, and end this war as quickly as possible, so that our loved ones can come home, and so that our world is a safer place.

I only hope that we can overcome our political differences and come up with a solution that speeds this process along.

No, I’m not a lawyer, but some news that came across Google Reader yesterday has me concerned.

According to this, a proposed Senate bill would require, “…even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more member of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists.”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the sound of that one bit. Apparently this bill is seeing support from both sides of the political aisle.

One of the greatest features of America is our freedoms. One of the biggest is the Freedom of Speech. I should be able to say what I want to say, and I shouldn’t have to register with the government if I’m going to be blogging about governmental issues. That seems a little too “Big Brother” for me.

Perhaps this is all being blown out of proportion and we’ll all be proven to be paranoid, but it does sound suspicious.

Of course I don’t have 500 regular readers, so nothing to worry about here!

Maybe we, Republicans and Conservatives, need the Democrats to whip their respective Republican candidates around tonight and swing the balance of power on Capitol Hill.

We need to get energized and more involved as a whole. We need I think to see Republicans stand for Republican values and not be wishy washy and involved in all sorts of embarrassing corruption and moral issues. There is a lot of room for change within the Republican party, and that is a good thing. I for one would like to see more politicians who use Christians to get elected start acting out some Christian values during their time on the Hill.

Perhaps a loss this year will invigorate voters for the 2008 election. That would not be a bad thing.
Democrats, it may be your turn to call the shots on Capitol Hill. Let’s see how your plan unfolds, because I have yet to see what this grand plan is, but I know it will be different than the Republican plan. That much I’ve heard over and over.

No matter your political affiliation, I think people agree we need to return to morals in this country. I guess everyone has a different set of what they call morals, but I would like to see a return to traditional American values. Look back at the founding fathers. Look at what they had to say about God and his role in our country. It might just surprise you.

When it all comes down to it really, I know that God is in control, no matter who may be in power in Washington, and that is enough to help me sleep soundly tonight.

It is election time, and it wouldn’t be like me to not talk about something politically related. Today’s hot button issue - abortion.

Let’s start off with some “facts”. I use the quotes, because you never know how much of what you read online you can trust. That being said, here are the following facts I discovered over the last few days.

Fact #1: According to the Guttmacher Institute, 1.29 Million abortions were performed in 2002. It seems they don’t have the most recent data, but that will suffice. This comes out to an average of 3,534 abortions PER DAY for each day of 2002. Projecting those numbers of a period of 3 years, and you get somewhere around 3.25 to 3.75 million abortions.
Fact #2: According to Iraq Coalition Casualties, 2816 U.S. soldiers have been killed during the war in Iraq since 2003. This averages out to roughly 2 deaths per day during that timespan.

Combining Fact 1 and Fact 2, we have a ratio of 1767 to 1 for abortions per day vs. U.S. military deaths per day in the war in Iraq.

First of all, let that statement sink in for a moment.

I think abortion is wrong. Period. End of story. No room for debate. You will have a hard time convincing me otherwise. Danielle and I talked about it the other day. We went through the typical scenarios. What if you were raped? What if your life was in danger?, etc., etc. We came up with the conclusion that we still wouldn’t opt for an abortion. Of course this is only hypothetical and circumstances sometimes effect decisions, but we still reached the same conclusion.

It makes me so angry to think that people can justify the killing of unborn children. Please tell me how to rationalize that decision. Why is it illegal to kill a child the moment after it’s born, but you can abort a baby in a horrific fashion during the actual delivery process (aka Partial Birth Abortion)?

Sometimes the whole issue makes me so angry I can’t even think straight. I know it is an emotional issue for many people, and I do not judge people that have the decision one way or another.

I guess the point of this post is this: put some thought into why you believe what you believe? Is it because your parents do? Is it because it’s the right thing to do? Why do you believe it?

The second point is, get out and vote, but before voting, do some research at places like Project Vote Smart. This site has lots of useful information, including voting records of just about any candidate you can imagine.

Use your vote to voice your opinion. It’s pretty much the most effective tool we have to get our voice heard. Don’t become one of the people who says, “my vote doesn’t count.” If everyone thought that way, our country would be a much different place.