Mr. Romney's RNC Speech

Mitt Romney accepted the Republican nomination last night and gave an outstanding speech that moved the crowd and gave hope for the future.

During last night’s speech Mr. Romney shared a very personal and touching story about his parents, and the impact of their love had on him.

“Mom and Dad were married 64 years. And if you wondered what their secret was, you could have asked the local florist – because every day Dad gave Mom a rose, which he put on her bedside table. That’s how she found out what happened on the day my father died – she went looking for him because that morning, there was no rose,” he told the crowd, notably moved.

“My mom and dad were true partners, a life lesson that shaped me by everyday example. When my mom ran for the Senate, my dad was there for her every step of the way. I can still hear her saying in her beautiful voice, ‘Why should women have any less say than men, about the great decisions facing our nation?’
“I wish she could have been here at the convention and heard leaders like Governor Mary Fallin, Governor Nikki Haley, Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Kelly Ayotte and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,” he said.

For me this part of the speech moved me. To be honest I’ve always thought of Mr. Romney as a robot someone who lacked human emotion but last night he came across as a real human being. He gave by far the most personal speech he’s ever given; he invited viewers to see pictures he’d rather not share. He stepped out of the boardroom and into the living room. Mr. Romney got emotional at a time when you thought his instincts would tell him to stiffen up and build a corporate wall. If he’d all the other things – the economic plan, the specifics, the details. It would have made him look less human and more like an android.

The night wasn’t perfect.

Clint Eastwood was talking to a chair …. …

Hope & Change ...... for the worst

Hope and change – Change for the worst.

96% of African Americans in 2008 overwhelmingly voted to elect the first African American President. Barrack Obama. President Obama was to usher in a new era of hope and change to the African American community. Now almost four years later President Obama has done nothing to improve the way of life among blacks as a whole. Statistics show life has regressed for African Americans under Mr. Obama.
As of June African American unemployment rate is a staggering 14.4 % with Latinos/Hispanics having a rate of about 11.0% , while the unemployment rate for whites is 7.4% , compared to the rates of December 2008 the month before Mr. Obama took office. Whites were unemployed at the rate of 6.6%  and Latinos/Hispanics were at a rate of 9.2% while blacks had an11.9% of unemployment basically one out of every seven African American is unemployed.

Under Obama, the African-American community has fewer jobs, with those who have jobs often making very little, and an increasing number of families with no place to live -- facts that should cause African-Americans to wonder what they voted for in 2008.

Were the economic catastrophe not enough, the first African-American president in the history of our nation has also failed miserably in using the bully pulpit of the presidency to help cure the social ills that are destroying the black community.  Some of those include:
Fewer than 40% of black children live with both parents.
Black children are seven times more likely to have a parent in prison.
Over 70% of black babies are born to unwed mothers.

During his nearly four years as president of the United States, Barack Obama could have used the bully pulpit of the presidency to make a real impact on the black community and address the underlying problems within it.  Obama appears to be a happily married man and is raising two young daughters.  He and his wife Michelle could have invested time and resources in helping to reverse the negative sociological trends present in the black community, and they may have had some success.  But they have done little.  If they would have spent time in black communities around the nation, imagine how young African-Americans could have been influenced and inspired not to have children out of wedlock and to remain married with their spouse.

Sadly, come November 6, Election Day, no doubt African-Americans will again cast nearly all their votes for a man with whom they share color but who has done nothing to help them economically or socially.  It is that which is even more disappointing than his presidency.

And yes, I voted for Mr. Obama back In 2008.

Isn't Marriage ........

“Marriage” isn’t about love.

You can be in love and not be married.

You can be married and not be in love.

“Marriage” isn’t about sex.

You can have sex and not be married.

You can be married and not have sex.

“Marriage” isn’t about children.

You can have children and not be married.

You can be married and not have children.

“Marriage” isn’t about religion.

You can be atheist and be married.

You can be married without a preacher.

“Marriage” isn’t about rings.

You can wear rings without being married.

You can be married without exchanging rings.

Marriage is legally only about property, citizenship, kinship and inheritance. The marriage license is an application for State and Federal benefits granted a specific class of people. All arguments about love, romance, reproduction, religious dogma, and tradition and family values are personal baggage and cultural ignorance of the legal fiction called marriage. Religion doesn’t own marriage. The State does it.

First Lady Pat Nixon

Everyone that knows me knows that I admire President Richard Nixon. So I recently purchased a book titled “Pat Nixon” by Julie Nixon Eisenhower and this year would mark the centennial of Mrs. Nixon’s birth. And this is what I have to say on Pat Nixon:
Pat Ryan didn’t have affirmative action that got her into an Ivy League college even if her grades were not good and got her a big scholarship. Her grades were great but she didn’t have affirmative action. She didn’t have anything given to her because she was a woman.
She had to work for everything. Her mother died when she was 12. She had to take care of the house. That’s a job. That’s a real job. She was a retail clerk, an x-ray technician, a janitor sweeping floors at a bank, a Hollywood film extra. She worked. She later said that she didn’t have time to day dream. She was too busy working. Her father died when she was 17. She didn’t inherit money. She had to work. She had to work. And this was during the Great Depression.
I keep saying this because this is what America used to be: Young men and women worked.  That was what life was. Not asking the government to do things for you.
Most people don’t know this, but Mrs. Nixon fought against racial prejudice all her life. She didn’t see color or race. She saw the human heart underneath.
When Mr. Nixon gave his famous Checkers speech he said Mrs. Nixon did not have a mink coat. What she did have was “respectable Republican cloth coat… and I always tell her she would look good in anything”. Mrs. Nixon didn’t show off like other first ladies.
Mrs. Nixon became the Vice President’s wife in 1952. She travelled all over the world to advance the causes of peace and freedom with Mr. Nixon. She went to dangerous places and got rocks thrown at her and had demonstrators spitting at her car in Venezuela. Nothing stopped her from working for peace and for the cause of freedom.
By 1969 Mrs. Nixon became the First Lady of the United States. She was the hardest working First Lady of the Century. With a strong emphasis on volunteerism, something I strongly believe in and advocate. She stated, "Our success as a nation depends on our willingness to give generously of ourselves for the welfare and enrichment of the lives of others." She travelled all over the world, shook millions of hands, and went to places like Africa where no first Lady had ever been before. Went to Vietnam and became the First lady to fly over a combat zone. She went with President Nixon to Moscow to seek to end the Cold War. She went to China and charmed Chou En-Lai. She came back with two giant Pandas and a new world order that gave promise of a generation of peace. That was always President Nixon’s and Mrs. Nixon’s dream and goal.
Then came Watergate and the worst smears ever against President Nixon and Mrs. Nixon. She and her husband still had to work. Saving Eretz Israel and building a foundation of peace in the Middle East. Creating arms control with Russia. Making the world a safer, more plentiful place. the greatest peacemaker ever to occupy the White was made to leave over something small and trivial.
I admire Pat Nixon for her dedication to country, her strong work ethic, her advocacy of volunteerism and personal diplomacy and most of all her commitment to her to her husband and family.

Spiritual renewing – inspired by Rev. Helen Jackson (My granny)

   Ever since I've been a little boy I've always remembered my Granny saying and preaching about "Create us a clean heart and renew the right spirit". With today being her 82nd birthday, I thought what better way to honor her would be to write about what she has taught me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

We can't clean ourselves. Instead we must draw near to God and ask Him to do the cleansing. Spiritual cleansing requires deep cleaning -- it is housekeeping that goes beyond what others see and hear. It's a cleansing from within -- inside and out. As your heart gets clean, your language should follow. This is not just talking about bad language, but also negative talk and pessimistic thoughts that contradict the Word of God and faith. This includes the challenge to stop complaining.

Take out the Garbage – This is one of the biggest areas of struggle for most of us.  Removing the garbage from our minds, garbage in equals garbage out. We must feed our minds the word of God instead of the garbage of this world.

Repent from Hidden Sin – Clean out your spiritual closets: Hidden sin will destroy your life, your peace, and even your health. The Bible says to confess your sin – tell someone, and reach out for help. When your spiritual closets are clean, the heaviness from sin will lift.

Release Unforgiveness and Bitterness – Get Rid of old Baggage: Any sin will weigh you down, but long kept unforgivness and bitterness is like old baggage in the attic in the attic you just can’t seem to part with. You are so familiar with it you don’t even realize how it is hindering your life.  Therefore … let us strip off every weight that slow us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress … (NLT) Hebrews 12:1 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, braving and slander, along with every from of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Involve Jesus in your Daily life- Let the Son shine in: What God wants most from us is a relationship – friendship. He wants to be involved in the big and small moments in our life. Open your life, let the light of God’s presence shine into every part, and you’ll have no need for a yearly spiritual cleanse. Instead experience daily, moment to moment renewing your spirit.

Happy Birthday Granny 

Quickie: Memorial Day!

In honor of Memorial Day I would like to take this time to thank the troops past and present for their dedication and sacrifice for this great country. And thank their families for the sacrifice that they make. Their heroism and courage allows for freedom and democracy to spread. so that one day all people may be free from tyranny and oppression. I continue to ask God to bless this great country that I love so much and to watch over the troops and their families.

Gay marriage, abortion and the independent voter

Apologies to the extremist on both sides on the political spectrum, the latest Gallup poll on abortion shows just how pragmatic American Voters can be when it comes to social issues. 
This may come to news to the extremist special interest groups on both sides of the political aisle. After all these organizations have made a good living through the years pushing their own brand of morality on American voters. These advocacy groups have also contributed to the toxic environment by simplifying every issue and demonizing every opponent.
Few issues have divided America than the abortion and gay marriage. And yet Americans are now declaring independence from rigid agendas by heading in the opposite ideological   directions in these two heated debates.
Recent surveys show voters are becoming more progressive on gay marriage. The divide and conquer strategy that worked my party back in 2004 will never again be as effective as it was during the George W. Bush’s reelection campaign.
At the same time polls are showing that voters are becoming more conservative on abortion.  Even though most believe abortion should be legal in some cases.
So what does it mean? Attitudes on abortion are changing, but not overnight and the same is true for gay marriage. President Obama is likely to lose the swing state of North Carolina because he came out in support of marriage equality.  Republicans are just as likely to lose suburban women and other swing voters if they go too far on abortion in the next few months, The GOP presidential primary campaign underlined that fact in bright red ink earlier this year.
Still attitudes are changing on both issues. And the extremist on both sides will soon find themselves out of touch and stuck in the dark ages.