April 23, 2008, Bill Clinton arrived at Statesville High’s gymnasium around 10:30 p.m.  He was there to discuss his wife’s, Hillary Clinton’s, credibility and readiness for the democratic nomination.  He mainly discussed the issue or problem everyone desires to fix.  The economy.  He discussed Hillary plans to cut taxes for the middle/working class citizens instead of the people making over $250,000 a year, of which He and Hillary Clinton are apart.

      He then elaborated on growing gas prices.  Exclaiming that prices are incredibly high and are still on the rise, he discussed the problem that many working class citizens have.  Some get up at 6 a.m. and drive ten miles to work, and then others get up at 5:30 a.m. and then have to drive 30-40 miles to work.  They both receive the same salary but the first man has more extra spending cash.  He said the government needs to interfere with these dilemmas and help pay for some of the gas of those who drive long distances to work.

     After he said this, all around me the crowd erupted with cheering and applauding.  They were in favor of government intervention.  I am not against the government helping people pay for gas prices.  But instead of treating the problem, which is the cost of gas, we need to find a way to prevent gas prices from rising and also reduce them.  One of the ways we could do this is by boycotting the gas-stations that import gas from the Middle East.  In the 1980’s, Lindsey Williams wrote a book, The Energy Non-Crisis, based upon his eye witness accounts during the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.  He said this, “All of our energy problems could have been solved in the ‘70s with the huge discovery of oil under Gull Island, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska,” Williams said. “There is more pure grade oil there than in all of Saudi Arabia. Gull Island contains as much oil and natural gas as Americans could use in 200 years.”  We could tap into this oil and only use it for several months or a few years to prevent buying oil from the Middle Eastern countries.  Hopefully, because of this boycott and loss of money, the Middle Eastern companies would lower prices. 

     Overall, Bill Clinton used his public speaking skills and abilities to get people’s attention on Hillary.  He presented a great case for Hillary, even if I do not agree with him on most of the issues.

The former President Clinton didn’t go into this election cycle a lot, which stunned me.  I thought he would talk about Obama and all his faults and point out how Hillary would be so much better, etc, but he didn’t.  Instead, he mainly focused on what Hillary was going to do; it was a very positive message.  There was no real cutting down of the other candidate. 

Former President Clinton did however talk a lot about economics, schools, and gas prices.  When he got to gas prices, the first thing he said was how high the cost was.  After talking about how the gas prices were devastating and how it hurt the US; he moved on to talk about a car.  He said this car, which was made in the US, gets 105 MPG(miles per gallon).  He talked about how good it was and how it would help the people afford gas and allow them to go more places, etc.  He even went so far as to explain how it worked, but when he mentioned the fact that it was $100,000, he didn’t say how the middle class people would be able to afford it.  However, he did say Hillary’s only plan to lower the price of the car was to put more money into the research of the car so that the car’s price would drop faster.  There is still the problem of when the middle class people will be able to afford the car, and when they get it, what are the gas prices going to be like then? 

I found that his speech was very intriguing and very persuading, even though I disagreed with most of it.  He spoke confidently, and almost convinced you to follow him down any path he chose to take.

DJ

The other day I attended a rally for Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with a few of my classmates. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton spoke. It was not at all what I expected.

I was under the assumption that he would talk about the current election, and about the Pennsylvania primary she had won the previous night. But the “policy wonk” side of the Former President really came out. I heard a lot about her policies and plans. He focused on the economy, education  and what she planned to do about those and other issues. That was a little hard to sit through, so late at night,(11:30) because I don’t agree with Mrs. Clinton’s plans, but it was informative.

On thing he said that really impressed me was that he said that he thought that she would be a better President than he was. She is his wife, but I thought that was very unselfish and supportive (of course it also might help her out).

So overall, it was interesting, It felt a little akward, sitting there not clapping for all her ideas, when everyone else was, but I learned a lot, and saw the former President. What more could you want on a wednsday night at midnight? Sleep.

I thought last night was the same old same old. I did not hear anything that was new or earth shattering. Clinton and Obama were both mending their mistakes and toning down their rhetoric. I also thought that Obama was not as winsome as I have seen him to be. He looked tired and Clinton looked better then him, which is rare.

 As I have already mentioned last night was lacking of anything new. But the one thing I did hear was forcefulness with which Hillary Clinton’s stated that no matter what she would pull the troops out of Iraq. She went on to say the she would stick to the plan of taking two brigades out every month no matter what the generals on the ground advised her to do. This plan of action sounds foolish to me.

I thought that some things that Hillary and Obama said tonight in their debate were very interesting.  I would like to hear anything that you thought were interesting in this debate.

One of the things that I saw was how Hillary was saying that she would find tax cuts for people with less than a $250,000 income.  I just thought that that specific amount was actually a lot.  I mean I wouldn’t exactly say that the middle-class makes $200,000 a year.

I also found it interesting how they are both saying that the believe in the people’s right to keep and bear arms.  However, earlier in this election they were both for gun licenses.  I think that they have realized that more people are for less gun control than for more gun control.

What are some things that caught your attention?

I just finished watching one of CNN’s political podcasts and in it they were talking about the Democratic candidates faith and religion.  They said that one thing the Democratic party is really going to go after this year is the religious voters.  They know that they have a significant say in this election.  I found it very interesting when Hillary said, ” I have had the experiences on many, many occasions where I felt like the Holy Spirit was there with me as I made a journey.”  Then Obama says, “Religion is a bulwark, a foundation when other things aren’t going well.  That’s true in my own life through trials and tribulations.

The podcast also gave some statistics from the last election.  It said that Bush won 78% of white evangelical/born again voters over Kerry’s 21%.  Bush also won 61% of voters who attend church weekly to Kerry’s 39%.  These statistics make me think that the only reason Obama and Hillary are talking about religion is because they want to get some of the religious voters.  I don’t think that they are very sincere.  I think they’re just saying these things to try and help themselves out, not because they actually have these feelings or had some of these experiences.  I would like to know what some of you feel about this.

Hi Everyone.  Very good posts, and great discussion.  Keep it up! 

What do you think about Pertaeus’ and Crocker’s testimony on the Hill?

Hi Everyone.  Here is an article by CNN Contributor, Roland Martin about Faith and Politics in the current election cycle.

Take a look!

  Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr was born on September 22, 1941.  His father, Jeremiah Wright, Sr., was a Baptist minister who preached and taught at Grace Baptist Church in Germantown, Philadelphia from 1938 to 1980.  His mother’s name was Mary Henderson Wright.  Later in life, Jeremiah Wright, Jr. married a woman named Ramah Reed Wright, and he now has four daughters.

   Jeremiah Wright, Jr. is the pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, which is a megachurch, containing 10,000 members,  residing in Chicago, Illinois.  He began preaching there in 1972, and retired from being the senior pastor of that Church in 2008, after being there for 36 years.

  Trinity United Church of Christ is a very interesting and very different church.

  The Church’s 10 point visions are as follows:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

  The church goes on to say this, “We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent.”

   The Church also believes, “W.E.B. DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going to be the problem of the color line.  He was absolutely correct.  Our job as servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ.”

 Jeremiah Wright, Jr. who is pastor of this Church said this, “God Bless America, no, no, no.  But God damn America.”  I find it ineresting that Barack Obama was a member of this church since the 1980’s and had Jeremiah Wright Jr. preform his marriage ceremony.

   Brian Ross and Rehab El-Buri quoted Obama when he said this, “I don’t think my church is actually particularly controversial.”  Obama said, “Rev. Wright ‘is like an old uncle who says things I don’t always agree with.’”

   A member of Wright’s church said this, “He, Rev. Wright, has impacted the life of Barack Obama so much so that Obama wants to portray that feeling he got from Rev. Wright onto the country because we all need something positive.”

  Should a person who has been exposed to this kind of teachings be allowed to be president?  No matter what and how Obama tried to defend his participation with his former pastor, he was still influenced by Jeremiah Wright.

Hello

When I examine my own faith, I don’t want it to be like Barack Obama’s. His is full of contradictions.

My faith is not based on what people think of me, but on what I truly believe. We have people dying in Iraq because they will not disown their country to escape hardship. and there are people dying in China because they will not give up their faith to escape trials. And we need a President like that. We do not need a President who changes what he believes to fit the moment 

 These things we have pointed out on the blog (among others) are great proofs that Barack Obama should not be president. We can’t have a President who says one thing, and then his actions prove something else. 

Recently the media has been talking about Barack Obama and some controversial things his pastor has said. Obama says that he completely disagrees with what Rev. Wright has said. Yet, he has stayed in that church for over 20 years. That doesn’t sound like he really disagrees with his pastor. It would be dangerous to have a president who would change his beliefs just to please others.

Clara