Please Do Not Vote for Obama

I will try to make this my last political post.  I don't want to turn
off the lefterly-leaning readers of my blog too much, and I don't want
to make this into a political blog, but as we reach the homestretch, I
am more and more scared of the idea of an Obama presidency.  Some
reasons:

• Obama has shown himself to be a poor judge of personal character
  - often associating with crooks, liars, criminals, and - yes -
  terrorists.  I know that just about every politician has to sell their
  soul to some degree, but the list of Obama's questionable associates is
  far beyond the norm.
• Our government is already beyond control in size and influence,
  and every time Obama opens his mouth, he promises to enlarge it.  A
  telling point was in the first debate when asked what he would be
  willing to trim given the state of the economy.  Obama went over a huge
  list of new spending proposals, but refused to identify even one area
  where the size of government could be reduced.
• Socialized healthcare.  Everything Medicare and Medicaid touches
  it screws up.  Obama wants to give the government more control over our
  healthcare decisions.  Yes there are serious problems with the system
  now, and I don't hold the insurance companies guiltless by any means -
  but government insurance is always worse than private insurance in my
  experience.
• The danger of a one-party monopoly - regardless of who is in
  power, I am scared of having the house, the senate, the executive
  branch, and (very likely) the judicial branch of government all
  controlled by the same party - especially if the majority in the Senate
  is filibuster-proof.
• I am fearful of the plague of victimization and increasing claims
  of entitlement that are rampant and becoming more so in our society. 
  Everything about what Obama says and does indicates that he will
  continue to push in this direction, and as we separate ourselves from
  what made this country strong - individual ingenuity, character, and
  hard-work - in favor of a full day's wage for a partial day's work (or
  no work at all), we will continue to lose our edge in the world.
• Obama continually validates the rejection of personal
  responsibility.  This goes to his oft-cited ability to inspire.  The
  problem is, that when he blames our high-school dropout rates on
  schools instead of parents and the students themselves and when he
  blames the foreclosure problems on wall-street instead of on the
  individuals who made poor financial decisions, and on and on, it only
  inspires further rejection of personal responsibility for our actions.
• Obama will be tested.  For once I take Joe Biden at his word when
  he guarantees that within six months of Obama being elected, the world
  will test him.  His ineptitude and inexperience combined with his
  defeatist, appeasement mentality are perfect fodder for tests of his
  mettle.
• Obama: “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to
  make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance
  for success too. I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s
  good for everybody.”

Don't get me wrong here, I am a strong believer in helping out those in
need, in lifting up the sick and desolate, in sharing with others who
have less, in condemning greed, in supporting children and giving them
every possibility.  That is why i am a nurse.  That is why I am
religious.  That is why I give a substantial part of every paycheck
away to support charitable organizations.  I believe it is a
requirement of every moral and responsible person to help others - I
just do not believe that the government is the best - or even a good -
way to do this.  And I speak as the head of a one-income family who has received charitable aid - government and private - in the past.

To sum it all up, please take a minute or twelve and listen to what Fred Thompson has to say.  I was never a huge Thompson fan while he was running, but I identify with what he says here, especially this quote near the end:

...in
this country we have a different view.  We know that people do better
when given opportunity and responsibility.  It has to do with our view
of the nature of man.  We don't believe that man is supposed to be
kept, fed, and protected from the elements by a master.  We believe
that man was meant to be free.  Entitled to be free.  It's an
inalienable right.  Endowed by our creator.  When free and inspired,
man can achieve great things for his family, his community, and his
nation.  In fact this belief is what we built our nation on.

Okay, I will try to get back to being a nursing blog, and I'm ready to accept whatever comes, but please please please if you are on the fence and leaning Obama, keep these points in mind.