The Obama Campaign’s Response to McCain’s Speech

I am going to use this opportunity to pick apart Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton’s entire response to McCain’s acceptance speech tonight and leave it bare naked, on the ground, ashamed of its own failings:

“Tonight, John McCain said that his party was elected to change Washington, but that they let Washington change them. He’s right.”

The ONLY thing he got right in this entire response!

“He admonished the ‘old, do-nothing crowd’ in Washington, but ignored the fact that he’s been part of that crowd for twenty-six years…”

He failed to recognize that first, Biden has been in Washington for a decade longer than McCain and two, McCain has been fighting against Washington pretty much the entire time he has been there (just look at the many things, both great and small, that he has done to further make Congress and Washington politics more accountable to the people).

“opposing solutions on health care, energy, and education.”

I am assuming that Burton meant to say that he was opposing the WRONG solutions to these problems and advocating COMMON SENSE solutions instead. Increased health savings accounts, more drilling, increased nuclear energy development, more research into renewable energy sources, further development of eco-friendly energy to power our economy, and more choice in schools with school vouchers and charter schools. It is Obama that has opposed these measures (as a whole not just in parts) and why Burton’s argument rings hollow.

“He talked about bipartisanship, but didn’t mention that he’s been a Bush partisan 90% of the time”

I am guessing that the person deemed to be the most liberal senator in Congress (meaning he voted for liberal ideals more than any other senator) will change his ways and become more bipartisan? Especially when another person (McCain) has often times been out casted by many in his party for reaching across the aisle on key legislation that furthers the best interest of America, and obviously not his own political self-interest.

“that he’s run a Karl Rove campaign”

So what kind of campaign has Obama been running if not a “Karl Rove campaign” with his baseless attacks against the character and persona of not only McCain, but Palin as well. Burton has no right to criticize the McCain campaign in that light when they are running a Karl Rove campaign themselves.

“and that he wants to continue this President’s disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years. With John McCain, it’s more of the same.”

Is that all they have? More of the same? McCain has been the most vocal Republican critic of the Bush Administration over the past 8 years, and I just cannot see how they can completely correlate the two. I do admit that there are some similarities, but there are some similarities between Obama and Karl Marx as well, but does that mean that they are the same people (well it might actually work in my example, sorry).

“That’s not the change Americans need. Barack Obama has taken on the special interests and the lobbyists in Illinois and in Washington, and he’s won.”

Really? Is that so? Tell me exactly how this has been done. Becoming a part of the Chicago machine politics in order to get elected to the Illinois state legislature. Exploiting those ties and his links to terrorists and other unmentionables that have since been shown to be radicals within society in order to get elected to the U.S. Senate. Doing little to nothing to “take on special interests and the lobbyists” in Washington, and yet still winning what he hasn’t really fought? Sounds like he is taking credit for something he didn’t do (i.e. the vets health bill in Illinois, his uncle liberating Auschwitz, etc.).

“As President, he’ll cut taxes for 95% of all working families”

And increase the stagflation in our economy because he will increase the corporate tax rates, who will then hire less people, expand less into other markets, and give less raises due to the increased operating expenses. He wants to discourage success by taking away money from those who have worked their way up the ladder and achieved the American dream (Cindy McCain’s father comes to mind as a great example of the kind of success that can only be achieved in America).

“provide affordable health care to every American”

At the expense of small businesses that will suffer because of his stipulation that businesses must either provide health insurance benefits to its employees or else buy into the government run health care system. Sounds to me like that would be putting small businesses OUT OF BUSINESS (the largest sector that employs in our economy today).

“end the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas”

What Obama needs to talk about is decreasing the world’s second highest corporate tax rate so that there will be less incentive to ship jobs overseas. Globalization is not something that Obama can hide America away from. We must adjust to the new competition from overseas and develop new jobs and industries that remain here in the U.S. instead of trying to gain back the old jobs that are gone for good.

“and eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years.”

It sounds to me like an all-inclusive plan (Obama’s plan, minus the windfall profits tax, but plus the nuclear energy development and more domestic drilling) sounds like it would bring energy independence to the U.S. a lot quicker than a pick and choose type plan (that would inevitably cost the consumers more in the long run than they would save because the oil companies would pass the costs onto the consumers…basic economics).

It appears that the Obama campaign was so taken back by the effectiveness of McCain’s speech, and the stark difference in tone with Obama’s speech (even CNN admitted that it had more details on issues and little to no attacks on the opponent, as opposed to Obama’s), that they had to resort to fabrications and lies to slander a great speech that really struck to the heart of every American in a call for American unity (not just Democratic unity). I am sorry for the length, but I felt compelled to address every bit of his response so as to not appear to give credit to any of it (because no credit should be given where credit is most certainly not due).

-Young Conservative

Obama Chooses Biden For Running Mate…My Farewell Address

I signed up to receive an email revealing Obama’s running mate in the race for the presidency, and saw at 4:31 AM that he chose Sen. Joe Biden to fill that slot. The first thing that I thought about was Sen. Biden’s comment about “on the job training” and his racist gaffe included in the video below comparing the two running mates in a gaffe competition:

I thought that this video demonstrated why Sen. Obama is no good at all with speaking when he is not in front of a teleprompter and why he has consistently denied the McCain campaign’s multiple invitations to join Sen. McCain at town hall meetings. The great speaker is once again shown to be just a great reader and a phony.

Then, after remembering Sen. Biden’s criticism of Sen. Obama for not having the needed experience for the job, I was reminded of Sen. Obama’s own words after he was elected U.S. Senator for Illinois:

Sen. Biden was an interesting choice for vice presidential candidate, but this choice also highlights Sen. Obama’s need for experience within a potential administration and the fact that he has none. In choosing Biden as his running mate, Sen. Obama is also trying to draw some more foreign policy credentials into his side of the race since Sen. Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This choice highlights many of Sen. Obama’s weaknesses, and it will be interesting to see how this may be used against him in the future of this race.

Sorry that this has taken me so long to get out, but I lost power due to Tropical Storm Fay and was unable to make this as breaking news as it could have been.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say good bye, at least for now, as this will be my last post for a while. It has been a pleasure writing for this blog, and I hope that it is able to continue to remain strong throughout this upcoming year. I will have no time to post due to my studies at law school, but will try as much as possible to read what others have to say. May the fight for truth continue on, and may liberty and justice be the driving force behind all decisions that we make. God Bless and farewell for now.

C.J. Rivenbark

a.k.a. “Young Conservative”

Uncovering Media Bias: NBC

Once again, we as Americans have to suffer through the obvious infatuation that the media has with Sen. Obama, and their covert (not really) agenda to get him elected to the Presidency. Andrea Mitchell, an NBC chief correspondent, said the following on Meet the Press yesterday:

“The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 8/17/08)

In response to this outrageous, unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sent a letter to the President of NBC News requesting a meeting with him to discuss concerns about the abandonment of objectivity at NBC. Within the letter, he criticized Mitchell for her actions and vociferously defended the fact that Sen. McCain was in his motorcade in a green room without any media feed on the way to the event. Below is an excerpt from the letter in which Davis called Mitchell out on her lack of journalistic objectivity:

Instead of trying to substantiate this blatant falsehood in any way, Andrea Mitchell felt that she needed to repeat it on air to millions of “Meet the Press” viewers with no indication that 1.) There’s not one shred of evidence that it’s true; 2.) In his official correspondence to both campaigns, Pastor Rick Warren provided both candidates with information regarding the topic areas to be covered, which Barack Obama acknowledged during the forum when asked about Pastor Warren’s idea of an emergency plan for orphans and Obama said, “I cheated a little bit. I actually looked at this idea ahead of time, and I think it is a great idea;” 3.) John McCain actually requested that he and Barack Obama do the forum together on stage at the same time, making these kinds of after-the-fact complaints moot.

This has become an increasingly evident example of media bias with not only Andrea Mitchell, or NBC as a whole, but pretty much all major media outlets as evidenced by the New York Times publishing the same smear propagandathat the Obama campaign has tried to put out. I am glad that the McCain campaign is finally taking the fight to the media with this and calling them out on their lack of objectivity in reporting on this election.

I refer you back to my previous posts uncovering media bias to demonstrate the continued Obama campaign influence in media coverage: The Media’s Love Affair With Obama, Media Bias Strikes Again: CNN, and A Rare Departure From Media Bias. I hope that Rick Davis is successful in his meeting the NBC President, and that this sets the stage for more objective coverage of both candidates so that we as voters no longer have to suffer this intolerable bias towards lifting up Sen. Obama as the Messiah of us all.

-Young Conservative

Obama Attacks Justice Thomas on Experience?

On Saturday at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, Sen. Obama ironically validated the criticism that has been brought against him time after time when he criticized Justice Thomas for not being experienced enough for the Supreme Court. When asked by Pastor Warren of the Saddleback Church which Supreme Court Justices he would nothave nominated to the bench, Sen. Obama responded as follows:

“That’s a good one. I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don’t think that he, I don’t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation. Setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretation of a lot of the Constitution.”

So because he was not an experienced enough jurist at the time for that elevation, you felt that he should not have been nominated. Hmmmm. That is interesting. It seems that you have just provided the same argument that conservatives have been using against you, Sen. Obama (of course switch the jobs and names). I am so glad that both candidates decided to go to this event, because it provided a chance for the American public to see beyond Sen. Obama’s rich rhetoric and get to know the real Obama. It was an opportunity for Sen. Obama to speak from his heart and mind rather than a teleprompter, and what was revealed demonstrated why he is definitely not right for the job.

In a Wall Street Journal editorial, the records of the two men are compared to see who was more qualified for their respective elevations.

By the time he was nominated, Clarence Thomas had worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s office, served as an Assistant Secretary of Education, run the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sat for a year on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation’s second most prominent court. Since his “elevation” to the High Court in 1991, he has also shown himself to be a principled and scholarly jurist.

Meanwhile, as he bids to be America’s Commander in Chief, Mr. Obama isn’t yet four years out of the Illinois state Senate, has never held a hearing of note of his U.S. Senate subcommittee, and had an unremarkable record as both a “community organizer” and law school lecturer. Justice Thomas’s judicial credentials compare favorably to Mr. Obama’s Presidential résumé by any measure. And when it comes to rising from difficult circumstances, Justice Thomas’s rural Georgian upbringing makes Mr. Obama’s story look like easy street.

Oh the pain...the suffering

On a bit of a more humorous note, I wonder if Sen. Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s only African-American jurist will draw more criticism from the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Maybe the reverand will threaten cutting off something else of Obama’s. Ouch. I quiver just thinking about it.

-Young Conservative

Oops I Did It Again…

I cannot believe this news about Obama pressing the wrong button multiple times when voting as a state senator in the Illinois legislature. He has two buttons to choose from, “Yay” or “Nay,” and he chooses the wrong one. This is just outrageous to think that a person wanting to be our next president cannot even press the right button. I can just see the story unfolding now:

February 1st, Washington D.C. President Obama (I know scary thought already) is told that the nation of Iran has invaded Iraq to establish an extended theocracy that includes all of the Shi’ites in Iraq. They have also fired their nuclear weapons at the nations of Israel, Italy, and Germany. President Obama is given a key pad with the access codes for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Everything is punched in and ready to go. He now has the option of pressing two buttons: “Fire” or “Abort.” Next thing you know the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff comes in and says that it was only a drill and that everyone has done a great job. President Obama wipes off his forehead and reaches down to abort the nuclear weapons launch. However, instead of pushing “Abort,” President Obama presses “Fire” and next thing you know all of the world’s nuclear missiles are fired at each other in retribution for the acts of the United States. Nuclear winter ensues and 80% of the land on this earth is deemed to be uninhabitable. A press conference is convened in which President Obama gives a stirring speech demonstrating his mastery of rhetoric: “Oops I did it again everybody, I pressed the wrong button.”

Oops, is it too late to CHANGE my selection?

I know that this was a scary story to get through, and I hope that you do not have nightmares tonight because of it, but it could become reality someday if Sen. Obama has that kind of power.

-Young Conservative

Freedom Is NOT Free

I just saw this video on the Surge of Veterans for McCain blog and thought that it needed to be repeated on ours. This video, by Lizzie Palmer, is a tribute to all of our brave men and women in the armed forces who sacrifice themselves daily for the cause of freedom. It is also a tribute to the many who did not get to make it back home to their families alive. They are the true heroes of our great nation. Please continue to remember our soldiers, pray for their safety and for the comfort of their families in their absence.

-Young Conservative

Rated “F” For Failed Congress

Above is a funny video produced by the National Republican Congressional Committee highlighting the failed policies of a Democratic controlled Congress, and the fact that Speaker Pelosi is willing to stare right into the eyes of 73% of Americans and tell them that she will not allow a vote on the offshore drilling that they support.

However, the Democrats have come up with a solution to the energy crisis as described by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) during a speech on the floor of the House. It is sad that the solutions that Democrats want to use to solve our energy problems are to control every aspect of our lives instead of opening up the means to be able to fully exploit American innovation through drilling here at home and further developing our alternate energy technologies. May we never experience a day in the America that liberals wish to fully create.

-Young Conservative

The Fight for Energy Independence Rages On

In an update to my previous post “Support the Guerilla Congress,” House Republicans have been gaining a great deal of press coverage in their ongoing fight to bring Congress back into session to address the issue of lifting the offshore drilling ban. As part of their fight, they have threatened a government shutdown in the fall if Congress does not reconvene to tackle this issue. Democrats were quick to fight back:

”This is a last gasp of a party without ideas, hamstrung by a politically weakened president and fully understanding that they are going to lose a significant number of seats in November,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

However, the problem is that this issue is supported by the vast majority of Americans who want to see some changes at the pump immediately and support offshore drilling. Therefore, this is not a “last gasp,” but rather a party putting forth an idea that is widely supported by the American public to increase our supply of oil here at home so that we can depend less on regimes that use some of our oil money to support the terrorists that attack us.

House Republicans continued the fight yesterday as part of the “Guerilla Congress” bringing to the forefront the lack of concern of Speaker Pelosi for the American public in this regard.

“On Friday, Speaker Pelosi turned out the lights in the people’s House,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) told reporters. “Now we’re in the midst of the ‘Pelosi Shutdown.’ She’s shutting down the people’s House, and if we’re not careful, her energy policies will shut down the economic engine of America. Republicans are saying we will not allow that to happen.”

Sen. McCain joined the efforts to call Congress back from its August recess yesterday during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. He also urged his opponent, Sen. Obama, to join him in this call after Obama changed his position on offshore drilling over the weekend. He expanded upon Republican demands for offshore drilling during that event:

In his statement on energy, McCain said the only way to address the nation’s energy needs was through an “all-of-the-above approach” that uses nuclear power, clean coal technology, and additional offshore oil drilling.

Moveon.org has joined the fight against the “Guerilla Congress” admitting that this group of brave Republicans is “getting a lot of press coverage.” The group began a massive email campaign to spread their propaganda lies and asked them to come to a 4 p.m. rally at the Capitol–something that I have yet to hear anymore about.

“Republicans have been escalating their attacks on [Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.)] and the Democrats over oil drilling, and we need to push back hard…Speaker Pelosi blocked their plan because it won’t help lower gas prices—but it will line the pockets of Big Oil executives, the same people donating millions of dollars to Republicans…But Republicans are working hard to make it seem like they’re fighting for cash-strapped commuters—and not the oil companies who wrote their plan.”

This is a futile attempt to spread lies about these individuals because America can see the truth that expanding supply will decrease the price of gasoline at the pumps. Moveon.org is trying to smear these representatives, but this is truly a “last gasp” of a [Democratic] party that has no reasonable ideas to address this issue. They also face the fact that they are criticizing their “Messi-uh,” and the Democratic standard bearer, due to his recent flip-flop over offshore drilling.

Well, I guess there is the idea that we could all keep our tires inflated to make us completely independent of foreign oil. Obama truly thought that one through. I admit that keeping your tires inflated does improve your fuel economy, but that alone will not allow us to become energy independent. That plus expanding our supply at home will. The McCain campaign has gone on a hilarious spree against Obama’s proposed solution to our energy crisis with what they refer to as Obama’s energy plan: a tire gauge. The campaign handed out these tire gauges to the traveling press corps on their plane during a recent trip and are also using this as a campaign fundraising drive, selling them for $25 a piece. It all started on Wednesday when Sen. Obama revealed his new energy strategy during a campaign stop in Springfield, Mo:

“We could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling, if everybody was just inflating their tires.”

Which drew the following response from Sen. McCain during a town-hall meeting in Racine, Wis:

“He suggested we put air in our tires to save on gas,” Sen. McCain said. “My friends, let’s do that, but do you think that’s enough to break our dependence on foreign oil? I don’t think so.”

In response to the growing criticism of his remarks, Obama signaled his willingness to make a politically driven flip-flop with respect to offshore drilling. Yesterday, Obama elaborated on this decision and even joined the other Democrats in calling for the sale of “70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks.” In response, McCain’s campaign quickly noted that Obama opposed dipping into the oil reserve as recently as last month.

“The strategic oil reserve exists for America’s national security strategy – not Barack Obama’s election strategy. The last release of oil from the strategic reserve came in response to Hurricane Katrina, but the only crisis that has developed since Barack Obama last rejected this idea 28 days ago is a slide in his poll numbers,” said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

Supposedly, Obama’s plan will end US reliance on foreign oil within 10 years, but the problem that he does not realize is that his plan will dramatically increase the cost of oil over the long run due to his windfall profits tax. The oil companies will increase the price at the pump because of their new tax and the American people will suffer because of Sen. Obama’s ignorance on the issue.

-Young Conservative

Support the Guerilla Congress

Yesterday marked a day in history that conservatives will hopefully be proud of for many years to come. It was a day when the Republican minority stood up against the Democratic majority and said no to leaving for their summer recess without voting on the issue of energy independence. All 199 House Republicans voted against the measure to grant recess, which only passed by 1 vote. However, a group of Republican representatives refused to go home even though the microphones and cameras had been turned off. They remained on the House floor, discussing the matter with excited citizens in the Gallery as shown in the video below. You can learn more about this event and join the fight to encourage these great leaders on the Facebook Group “Let’s Rock The House! I Support The Guerilla Congress.”

In addition, the Republican Study Committee, the conservative Republican House organization, called on President Bush to convene a special session of Congress in order to address the nation’s energy crisis. Today, the President chastised the Democratic majority of Congress today in his morning radio address, marking the fourth time this week that he had called on them to vote on the issue of lifting the offshore drilling ban. I would personally love to see President Bush call an emergency session of Congress, something that the members cannot refuse to show up for, especially if he waited to do so until Speaker Pelosi had begun her vacation just to tick her off. I am sure that the American people do not want to have to wait 5 weeks for Congress to come back from their break with the likelihood of never even confronting this issue when they return.

I find it ironic that the Democrats even attacked their own, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), after he began to relinquish some of his opposition to offshore drilling with the Reid-Bingaman proposal (Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman). However, do not be fooled, because though this was a great step in the right direction, it is not enough. We need more and we need it now. In the midst of the attacks made against their own, Democrats have revealed more and more why they are not allowing a vote on lifting the ban against offshore drilling:

But Pelosi has balked at scheduling any drilling legislation for a regular floor vote because that would give Republicans an opportunity to force vulnerable Democratic incumbents to vote on difficult amendments.

Votes against expanded drilling would open Democrats to accusations that they had blocked efforts to lower record gas prices. Votes for Republican amendments to encourage more drilling, however, would anger environmental activists

So instead of being concerned about Americans who suffer from rising energy costs and ways that this burden can be alleviated, Congress only cares about themselves and their re-election hopes. This is pitiful and I hope that every American learns of this great atrocity. We cannot afford to allow politics as usual to continue in Washington with these kinds of people at the head. No wonder Congress is getting close to single digit approval rating. It is time for another conservative Revolution, and these great Republican leaders have taken the shot heard round the world to start it off.

We need to encourage these great members of the House in their battle and encourage our Congressmen and Congresswomen to jump on board and join this fight. We should also call on our Senators to do the same thing in the Senate and fight for what is right for America.

-Young Conservative

Standing Up For Freedom

President Bush met with five prominent Chinese dissidents in the White House on July 29 in an effort to listen to the concerns that Chinese have about their government’s human rights record:

Harry Wu, a critic of Chinese prisons; Wei Jinsheng, a democracy activist; Sasha Gong, a writer; Bob Fu of the China Aid Association and Rebiya Kadeer, who advocates for more protection of rights for the Uighurs, an ethnic minority in western China’s Xinjiang region.

I am personally glad that President Bush decided to take meaningful steps to demonstrate that the U.S. would like all nations to grant political freedoms to their citizenry, including those with whom the U.S. may have a strong relationship. I am not surprised by the response that Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao gave below:

By arranging such a meeting between its leader and these people and making irresponsible remarks on China’s human rights and religious situation, the U.S. side has rudely interfered in China’s internal affairs and sent a seriously wrong message to the anti-China hostile forces.

They had even stronger criticism for our Democratically controlled House of Representatives after they adopted a resolution

calling on Beijing to stop abusing citizens’ rights, to open meaningful negotiations with the Dalai Lama on the future of Tibet and to end its support of governments in Sudan and Burma. It called on Beijing to create “an atmosphere that honours the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness.”

The response by Jianchao was

“The resolution exposed the malicious intention of a handful of anti-China lawmakers to politicize, interrupt and sabotage the Games.”

Sen. McCain also received a strong rebuke from the Jianchao after meeting with the Dalai Lama recently.

Liu urged Americans to recognise that the Dalai Lama was trying to separate China and was aiming to destroy social stability in the western region “under the cloak of religion”.

They should “stop supporting and conniving with the Dalai Lama and the separatist forces for ‘Tibet independence,’” a tactic Liu said was damaging Sino-US relations.

I am glad that our government is standing up for the freedom of all people on this earth. The use of soft power, or even just discussions with people who want to push for freedom in their countries as in this case, is something that the U.S. should not be afraid to do and that those oppressive nations have no legitimate criticism against.

-Young Conservative