I can't help myself...

This next week during my spring break, my family and I are traveling to a place I've longed to go for some time now. We will be visiting Washington DC. I am extremely excited because we will get to see all the sights, monuments, museums, etc. Walking in places where excellent men and women trying their best to establish and serve a country meant for freedom and awesome things. N0 matter my thoughts or rants about current political practices, next week I will almost certainly be in a never ending state of euphoria, punctuated by the fact that I get to share it with my family. No doubt, my little daughter will know that we are in an important place.
There is one thing that sets this trip above almost anything else that we could be otherwise doing...the National Archives. We will be able to see the original Constitution of the United States of America. As I sit here writing this I find myself fighting back tears as I find myself every time I hear the document well referenced in the past year or so. Trying to prepare myself for that moment is proving difficult as I am not sure how I will react. I'm not sure that sobbing quietly in the National Archives is allowed. I guess we will find out.
The more that I have been thinking about the Constitution and what it means to me and my life I've been pondering what it means to live as one devoted to the Constitution. I know that most members of the government take oaths to defend the Constitution but I feel that most don't have any clue what that means. I recently came across an article by Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Constitutionalist party candidate for President. He, in Jeff Foxworthy-like style, shares his thoughts on the matter as You Might Be a Constitutionalist If...
Here is some of what he says.

1. You might be a Constitutionalist if you believe that elected leaders should really obey the U.S. Constitution.

2. You might be a Constitutionalist if you believe that before the United States invades and occupies another country, Congress must first declare war.

3. You might be a Constitutionalist if you believe the federal government should live within its means, like everyone else is forced to do.

4. You might be a Constitutionalist if you think that taking away people's liberties in the name of security is neither patriotic nor does it make the country more secure.

5. You might be a Constitutionalist if you would like to see politicians be forced to abide by the same laws they make everyone else submit to.

6. You might be a Constitutionalist if you understand that we have three coequal branches of government that are supposed to hold each other in check and balance.

The rest of the article can be found here and I believe he does an excellent job of examining the Constitution and enumerating its precepts. I hope you will all take the time to read the article and the Constitution for that matter, if for no other reason than it is of importance to me.

Government Spending, Rhetoric, and Porn, Oh My!

Recently I've seen some pretty upsetting things come up in the media that I wanted to expand my thoughts on. The first of those is this article found on MSNBC. The main thrust of the article is that Obama realizes that the debt is huge and growing, but that he is going to put us more in debt to "stimulate the economy". We should all be grateful though because he isn't going to spend the $1 trillion some analysts told him to spend, instead the bill will only be around $800 billion. I always find government price tags to be of extremely questionable integrity. The good of the article is that the President-Elect does acknowledge that there is a problem with the mounting debt. I do hope to see the government do something to tackle to problem, though I doubt that a stimulus plan will help either the economy or the debt.

Those who loved the sound of much of what Obama said during his campaign should love this next tidbit. Sometimes I don't think politicians realize the power they hold over the American public, particularly the ones in high profile positions such as Presidential candidates. Some would probably find it odd that people voted for them based on the campaign promises that they made. "I want to be realistic here," Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped." I would hope that would cause some doubt among his followers. He promised to do something and now is saying it can't be done in the timeframe he desired. The reality is that most of it will never be accomplished. Politicians should choose realistic goals instead of overinflated ones that will get them elected.

The last thing I hoped to mention here is just an interesting thought that should make Americans a little more leary of the economic bailouts that are being doled out like halloween candy. This article lets us know that another industry is searching for a bailout, I would assume more for the reason that "everyone else is doing it". The Porn makers of the US want a handout as well. To most Americans this will hopefully illustrate the futility and idiocy of handing out taxpayer dollars, mind you those taxpayers are not buying the products offered by those companies in the first place, to save companies the government feels needs saving.

What does it really cost?

So over the past month the Obama transition team has done nothing surprising to me keeping to their own for appointments to cabinet positions. All of that does not bode well for the battle cry of "Change". If you choose the people we all knew you would choose, we're not going to believe that something different is coming. I've already talked about my feelings on his pick for Secretary of State so we can move on.
Recently my wife and I began to talk about the inaguration that is forthcoming. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this one. Obama has chosen to be sworn in on the Lincoln Bible which is perhaps an interesting commentary on the beginning of rights for blacks in this country. Then he chose Rick Warren to give the invocation and all hell broke loose. This might be the first sign of change in the administration, though the though did cross my mind that he might have just wanted someone famous to do it. For those who do not know Warren he is an uber-conservative pastor of his own church that he started from the ground up a while ago. He is incredibly popular, even hosting one of the presidential debates during the campaign. So, why is an ultra-liberal asking an uber-conservative to pray at his inaguration? I mean, it's his party, he can do whatever he wants. He either thought it a good move to get conservatives to watch the celebration, or it might even be an attempt to get conservatives to like him more. Or with my previous theory of it being a quick choice of someone famous. Who knows, but we will see what happens here soon.
The other big issue surrounding the swearing in of Barack Obama as President of the United States is the price tag on the party. Originally the budget was set at 15 million dollars, which I thought was outlandish, but then again I am used to the government putting a huge markup on all they do. Then came the real kicker for me when Congress was asked for 15 million more!!!! Now, even if this is a historic event, to which more people than normal are going to come. And even with the need for more police and public transportation. Can we not throw a party for the incoming president with less than 30 million? Why the inflated price tag? It reminds me of the stimulus packages where the bill was such that if you split it up equally for every tax-paying adult in the nation it came to something over 100 thousand dollars and instead each person got less than a thousand. Where does all that extra money go? Is our government really that inefficient? Then should follow the question, if our government is so inefficient, why do we let it continue to be so? It is not the only way and can be changed with a little concern and effort on our part.
So beyond the Saddleback controversy and whether Warren will pray in the name of Jesus Christ, there is still not much to inspire confidence in change with the Obama presidency. If I am missing something, please let me know as I would be happy to post something that proves myself wrong.

Here it comes...

I've held off writing anything about the new developments in the life of the President-Elect until now. I thought that I should write considering the new incoming Secretary of State. I found it very interesting that many thought of putting an Obama-Clinton ticket together. It seemed like a doomed idea to put two people who thoroughly trashed each other in the primaries together on the same bill. One of the things that Obama specifically attacked was the foreign policy experience of his former opponent. So now that is going to be her business in the new American government. I know that I am not fond of Obama, something everyone is aware of, but I am not even having to try to find this a poor choice. Anyone else have thoughts on this matter and/or any other of Obama's appointments?

The United States is ready for Change!

That word. Oh, how I have come to loath that word during this election. It is not that I do not believe that change is a good thing. Nor is it that I don't believe that change can come from someone who I fundamentally disagree with. My main issue is that it was thrown around with reckless abandon and was never accompanied by a clear plan to actually evoke change in this country.
So, while I congratulate Barack Obama on an excellent rhetorically driven campaign, I remain sceptical as to any real change occuring in our nation.
Many find that with the elections over, there is no reason to continue to follow politics. It is the lull between elections. I highly disagree. I plan to look for that "change". It may happen and I hope that people pay attention to it.

I also hope to begin a series of posts about the Constitution. As I am doing my own research, I plan to write about my findings here to give people a better idea of why I am so enamored with a document written over 200 years ago. I also welcome suggestions for posts that people would like to get my take on. I am very good at sharing my opinion as you all know.

Today is the day!!!!!!

Just wanted to make one more appeal to reason. Today is election day. Get out and vote. That is one of the most important things that you can do as an American citizen. Even better, take a pocket copy of the Constitution with you to read while you wait in line. Then vote what you believe, not what others want you to believe. Don't vote for someone you don't agree with, or vote for someone just to keep another person out of office. Vote what you believe. That is all that is required of us on this magnificent day!!

Less than a week...

Everyone is writing about this. We've got less than a week to go till the 2008 elections. I just want to say that it doesn't look good for the Constitution. Our founding document is being totally ignored and in some cases thrown in the dirt. The principles in the Constitution are sound, simple, and true. Not to mention that they can save our country.
I really just wanted to tell everyone out there that has not voted early to take the next week and really think about this. Read the Constitution and decide where you want our country to go. And as always, vote your beliefs, not your party...they probably aren't the same thing.