George W. Bush, John McCain, and Barack Obama are three completely different politicians…

John McCain is the true bi-partisan candidate. If the American people are really desperate for a change from politics as usual, John McCain is the clear cut choice. The Obama campaign and the far left are trying desperately to portray John McCain as the same as George W. Bush. This is, of course, deception of the highest order!

Heck, the truth is many conservatives like myself wish John McCain was more like President Bush on some issues! Let’s just take a look at some of the hot button political topics that really fire people up and see where Bush, McCain, and Obama stand. On almost every issue there are three distinctly different views held by the three distinctly different men.

Fiscal Responsibility

John McCain is a true fighter against wasteful government spending. President Bush has been a huge spender; and many conservatives feel betrayed by his spending. McCain has made it one of his goals to eliminate earmarks and pork barrel spending. Under a McCain administration it seems likely that there will be a new era of fiscal responsibility and government accountability.

Barack Obama, however, believes in the same big government that has grown under President Bush. Under an Obama administration we will likely see a huge increase in both taxes and spending. Obama sounds ready to open up a giant “Government-Programs-R-Us Store” using taxpayer dollars to pay for everything under the sun! Get ready for big brother to start making your decisions for you if Obama wins.

The Environment

John McCain is a stark contrast to the Bush administration on environmental issues. To the annoyance of many conservatives, McCain is against drilling in ANWR and has voiced support for a cap and trade carbon emissions policy. This is very disturbing because it is a direct response to the man made climate change theory which seems based on junk science! McCain is not only is a staunch conservationist, he also believes fully in man made climate change. The economic implications of these views are not only bothersome but dangerous.

If you think Barack Obama is any better you had better hold your horses. He’s worse. Obama shares these same views as McCain only he would go even further to ensure the government takes away many of your freedoms in the name of this crusade fueled by wacky extreme environmentalists. Obama might try things like banning the ability to leave your car idling too long in the winter (hey it happened in Minneapolis) or outlawing SUVs or somehow attempting to control the way you set your home thermostat (his words not mine.)

The Right to Life

John McCain is OK with federal tax dollars going toward embryonic stem cell research, as is Barack Obama. This involves the process of creating life and then destroying life for medical research. This is a very disturbing position held by both McCain and Obama which is in contrast to President Bush. Bush has stood firmly in favor of protecting all human life. McCain is heralded as pro-life (and while he may be on most issues) this is not one of them. Obama on the other hand is downright pro-abortion. Obama has even spoken out against a ban on partial birth abortions!

The War in Iraq

John McCain advocated the successful surge strategy in Iraq before the Bush administration decided to go forward with it. McCain was also a very vocal critic of the Bush administration and their original Iraq strategy. While McCain understands that we have built a key ally in Iraq, for fighting against terror and tyranny in the middle east, Obama doesn’t grasp the concept and would instead abandon the region to utter chaos. Obama has said he’d gladly sit down for a face to face meeting with the leader of Iran (who has called for the elimination of Israel and the United State) but won’t visit Iraq! Obama’s foreign policy is very alarming.

Traditional Marriage

John McCain seems to be alright with civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. He has expressed that he believes they deserve the same benefits as married couples when it comes to taxes and other legal issues. While McCain says he’s against the term “gay marriage,” that may not be good enough for social conservatives. McCain is opposed to a federal amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. President Bush has been in favor of this. Bush correctly understands that activism from the bench and other political offices threaten to tear down the institution of traditional marriage, which is the bedrock of our civilization. John McCain is wishy washy on the whole matter. Barack Obama believes strongly in gay marriage and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was in favor of a constitutional amendment to protect it!

Illegal Immigration

This is the only issue where Bush, McCain, and Obama seem to all pretty much be in agreement! They all seem to advocate a pass for illegal immigrants already in the country by giving them a path to legal citizenship. This has left many Americans feeling disenfranchised. A good portion of the American population believes that illegal immigrants should be deported and have to wait in line like everyone else to apply to be a citizen of the United States.

As you can see, John McCain truly is middle of the road. He’s been labeled as a party maverick because he’s not really a Republican. He’s not really a Democrat either. He’s an independent. He’s much different from President Bush, and much different from your typical partisan politician. Barack Obama on the other hand is a far left Democrat who gives great speeches and tries to look moderate. Unfortunately, for him, he simply does not have the record to back up all his talk. Obama talks the talk, but he clearly hasn’t walked the walk. Conversely, John McCain has walked the middle of the road successfully. McCain really is the candidate of change from politics as usual.

While McCain is the bi-partisan candidate, it remains to be seen if this is attractive to the American people. McCain runs the danger of alienating conservatives who find him too liberal. McCain also runs the danger of falling victim to the outright lie by far left liberals in the media who label him as another Bush.

Most people agree that the majority of Americans are moderates. If that moderate majority turns out to vote, John McCain should win in a land slide. However, if the vote is comprised more of activists on the far left and far right, McCain will lose in a land side. That’s my theory at least.

There are two possible exceptions with this theory. One exception involves the moderate American public being tricked into believing that John McCain really is just like George W. Bush. Personally, I think American voters are smarter than that. The other exception involves the far right sucking it up and voting for John McCain simply because he’s not Barack Obama. The latter is a conundrum I debate internally on almost a daily basis.

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Drill here, drill now. Rising gas prices are the fault of big government. (Revisited)

***Update 6/11/08: The media has already begun portraying Republicans as the reason why gas prices are the way they are. The blame “Big Oil” argument is in full swing after Republicans in the senate blocked a plan to place windfall taxes on America’s oil companies. Don’t be fooled by the media! Democrats and liberal Republicans are to blame for our oil problem. It’s time for big government to quit trying to solve the problem and get out of the way of private businesses who will gladly drill for oil in America, gladly build nuclear power plants, and gladly build coal power plants and explore coal to oil.***

I usually try not to let the high gas prices bother me personally, but after moving across the country recently, I can’t help it any longer. It’s getting on my nerves! It’s doubled in a year.

Why is this happening? America needs to cut it’s dependence on FOREIGN oil. That means replacing it with AMERICAN oil. Drill here, drill now. How simple is that? It’s real simple. Unfortunately the federal government doesn’t do simple. We need to drill for oil in Alaska, off the coasts, and everywhere else imaginable. We need to do it right now! Heck, come drill in my back yard!

President Bush is willing to allow oil companies to drill, but the Democrat controlled Congress won’t budge. There are too many Democrats and RINOs running the show. These folks believe the answer to our gas prices can be handled by government. The truth is we need to get government out of the way! It’s time to get rid of drilling restrictions. It’s time to get rid of nuclear power plant restrictions. It’s time to allow more coal plants so we can look at coal to oil. For goodness sakes, why won’t the people in Washington get a clue? Get out of the way of the American people. Give us energy freedom! There is plenty of demand, we just need to allow private businesses to go do the work! You better believe they’re ready to do it too. Think about it. You would have more businesses making money, which then create more jobs, and you would inevitably cut the cost of gasoline at the pump by flooding the American market with more oil supply. How in the world could that not help our struggling economy?

Now should these private corporations develop energy in an environmentally friendly way? Absolutely. But, for crying out loud, let them do business! I’m convinced that the free market could solve this gas price crisis!

I hear a lot of arguments about what’s going on with our gas prices. The “big greedy oil company” argument simply doesn’t work. Sure these companies are in business to make money, and sometimes they may be greedy. I can assure you the record price at the pump problem isn’t the oil companies greed though. The problem is a lack of oil supply. Think about it. When America refuses to take advantage of it’s own natural resources we are in essence starving ourselves to death! The federal government isn’t allowing us to use our own resources. That is absolutely insane! Imagine the government deciding not to let us harvest our own wheat because some kooky environmentalist thinks we’re harvesting wheat irresponsibly. So suddenly we’re forced to import wheat from some other country when we have an abundance right here in our own back yard!

Big government is the problem, not big oil!

Another commonly used argument is that we are too addicted to oil in America. You hear this one a lot. It’s all your fault for consuming so much! Shame on you! You’re the one who has done this to our economy! That is also crazy talk. American consumption has remained relatively constant over the last 25 years. American consumption is not the problem. Supply is the problem.

We have been depending on foreign oil supplies. With developing nations like India and China suddenly consuming more of this foreign oil themselves, there is a lot more stress on the market. Suddenly we’re competing with India and China and the nations we buy our oil from are free to up the price because the demand is so great. They say, “Hey American’s still need oil and they’re not going to stop buying it, why do we care about the price?” If we started drilling in ANWR and off the coast of California right now we’d probably scare these people to death! They might actually be worried about losing our business down the road and oil prices would probably drop a bit. So would gas prices!

I’ve got an environmental kook friend who chastises me about my views a lot. He recently told me that he thinks gas needs to be even higher than it is now. He believes we’ve got it too good right now. He reminds me of the typical liberal who likes to blame America first, hates the idea of the free market economy, and is willing to let people suffer economically to impose his warped view of societal morality.

Unfortunately my friend is not alone. A lot of the people we have in Washington are the same way. If we let the liberal Democrats and even some of the moderate-left Republicans win big this election cycle we’re in for plenty of bad news with our economy. It makes sense. If, down deep, you don’t like America and you don’t like our system of government, why wouldn’t you want to see it crumble? They believe it’s a necessary sacrifice toward building a Utopian socialist society. It’s too bad none of these nuts have learned from history. The Soviet Union and Communist China should be evidence enough that this kind of society just doesn’t work. Never mind that. They’re more than willing to try it again and take down America in the process!

So let your voice be heard. Sign the petition to drill here, drill now. Tell your friends. Flood Washington with phone calls. We did it with illegal immigration and we can do it when it comes to energy independence!

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How liberal is Barack Obama? Some House Democrats won’t even endorse him!

The great facade, that Barack Obama is different from your typical partisan politician, is crumbling. We already know Obama was rated as the most liberal senator in Congress. Now fellow Democrats are speaking out about how liberal he is and refusing to endorse him!

(CNN) — On the same day Democratic leaders stressed party unity after the drawn out primary fight, one congressional Democrat said Tuesday he will not endorse Barack Obama’s bid for the White House.

Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma’s lone Democrat in Congress, told the Associated Press Obama is “the most liberal senator,” and said he has to listen to the wishes of his own constituents.

“We’re much more conservative,” Boren said of his rural district which stretches across the eastern part of the state and borders Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.

“I’ve got to reflect my district. No one means more to me than the people who elected me. I have to listen to them,” Boren added. His congressional office confirmed the accuracy of the quotes to CNN.

Boren also said Obama’s record “does not reflect working in a bipartisan fashion.”

When a Democrat denounces Barack Obama for being too liberal, you know we’re in for trouble if this guy gets elected! Check out this investigative report by CNN on Barack Obama’s down and dirty campaign tactics he used when first getting into politics in Chicago.

When you add these details to the people Obama associates himself with (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, and others) the Audacity of Division becomes clearer and clearer!

Barack Obama is not about hope, and the only change he’s about is radical left wing socialism.

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Farewell Minnesota!

I just wanted to take a moment to say goodbye to all my good friends in Minnesota and share some thoughts…

I really enjoyed my time in Minnesota, despite the unfortunate circumstances at KNSI in St. Cloud. I will fondly remember my time in the state. I originally moved to Minnesota for a news director job at KNSI. That eventually led to a position as a conservative talk show host. I loved hosting the show and will always be grateful for that opportunity!

My wife and I spent a year and a half in Minnesota. We were able to forge life long friendships with a number of people in St. Cloud (you guys know who you are and we will forever be grateful for your friendship).

I was able to plug into politics and the blogosphere in Minnesota and get to know some great people like Leo Pusateri, Michael Brodkorb, King Banian, Gary Gross, the guys at True North and others. I was able to get to know local political leaders like Steve Gottwalt, Josh Behling, Jeff Johnson, and others. I had the opportunity to get to know, and be represented by, one of the most solid conservative leaders in Congress, Michele Bachmann. I was able to meet and interview Governor Tim Pawlenty, Senator Norm Coleman, and others.

I was humbled by being elected as a delegate to the CD6 GOP convention and the state GOP convention. I’ll truly miss the political atmosphere in Minnesota. It really is unique on both sides of the aisle! I hope to bring some of that energy and passion with me wherever I go from here on out.

Right now, we’re relocating to my home town of Kansas City where we have family nearby and have some roots. I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’ll try to keep everyone up to date on the blog.

I’ll miss the beautiful summers, the low humidity, and all the wonderful lakes. I won’t miss the negative temperatures in the winter and the snow that stays on the ground for 6 months, but I will miss the hockey! It’s too bad I never got to go ice fishing or snowmobiling. I guess I have some things to do when I visit! Most of all I’ll miss the people and the friendships we were able to make in Minnesota. Thank you for welcoming us and allowing us to become members of your community.

God bless you all,

Andy Barnett

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Take me out to the ballpark, take me out to the GLBT crowd?!?

The fight to legitimize abnormal sexual behavior as an “identity” has popped up at a baseball game of all places! Two women were recently found making out and groping each other at a Seattle Mariners baseball game. They were asked to stop after at least one family complained about the public behavior to the ushers. The family was rightfully concerned about having to explain the lewd behavior to their children. Following the incident the Mariners clarified the situation.

On Thursday, after an internal investigation, the Mariners said in a news release that their seating staff had acted appropriately, and the couple was approached because of their behavior—which included “making out” and “groping” in the stands—and not their sexual orientation.

“We have a strict nondiscrimination policy at the Seattle Mariners and at Safeco Field, and when we do enforce the code of conduct it is based on behavior, not on the identity of those involved,” Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said earlier this week.

I applaud the Mariners for sticking to their guns and backing the actions of the usher (who told the two ladies to cut it out in public). However, I am disappointed that the Mariners give credibility to the notion that homosexuality is an “identity” or “orientation” rather than a behavior. This notion is hogwash! Now, it’s not politically correct to assert this; and most people today are in the business of political correctness. But the fact remains that a good chunk of the American population (and certainly those who practice traditional family values) believe that homosexuality is a behavior or a condition brought on by behavior.

Unfortunately, much like the left-wing climate change kooks, the radical homosexuals are successfully making it inappropriate and off limits to even question their prevailing progressive wisdom. Think about it for a second. Very few politicians will stand up against this “identity” notion because they’re afraid of losing power. Businesses and organizations won’t stand up against this stuff because they don’t want to alienate potential customers or donors. You’re sure as heck not going to hear anything so “controversial” in the mainstream media. Thank God Almighty for the new media. If it weren’t for talk radio, independent news sites, and blogs there would literally be no public debate on these pressing moral issues.

So let’s get back to the idea of homosexuality as a behavior. Most Americans believe it is a behavior. This is also how it has historically been seen. There are no significant scientific discoveries or breakthroughs to suggest homosexuality is something you are born with. Furthermore, Judeo-Christian principles (which have influenced our nation from it’s inception) clearly point to homosexuality as a behavior. So you’ve got history, nature, Judeo-Christian values, and a public consensus which all point to homosexuality as a behavior.

This is the reason why homosexuality should not be a protected class in America!

This is not stopping the radical progressive left. What are the liberals doing to promote their homosexual agenda? First they are successfully making it politically incorrect to even debate the subject. They do this through their control of the main stream media and public schools. Second, they are literally trying to change history books, historical documents, and monuments. Third, they are on a mission to demonize and eliminate any reference to absolute values; promoting a completely secular society. Finally, they are desperately doing everything they can to use science to justify their cause. Unfortunately, for them, the burden of proof for “sexual identity” remains to be seen. I’d love to see any conclusive evidence for “natural homosexuality.” As far as I can tell “natural homosexuality” remains an oxymoron.

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The Audacity of Division Part IV: Barack Obama is no hero, but he has the makings of a good villain!

The media thinks Barack Obama is a hero, so do George Lucas and other Hollywood liberals.

Barack Obama has willingly surrounded himself with hateful influences for two decades of his life. My friends, that’s not hope, that’s division. I know an awful lot of people of my generation who grew up without the blatant (and wrongful) racism of the past. As more and more people find out about the individuals and philosophy that has influenced Barack Obama, there is reason to doubt his character.

In fact, one of the reasons I won’t be voting for Barack Obama is because I am opposed to racism!

How radical is Barack Obama? The funny thing is that no one is talking about his record. He was ranked as the most liberal U.S. Senator. He’s further left than Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton!

He has the endorsement of abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice. Think of the damage and setbacks that will occur with the types of judges that Obama will appoint to the courts! Obama has no foreign policy experience and has made outrageous statements about sitting down with dictators and mad men while turning a cold shoulder to our allies. Obama believes in bigger government, more federal programs, and more government control of your life.

By every account, Barack Obama does not grasp national security, he does not grasp the economic crisis in America, and he certainly does not grasp the culture war crisis (the moral issues that plague our society).

P.S. Obama’s former supporter and friend, slum lord Tony Rezko, was found guilty of a bunch of crimes today. Tsk. There’s that pesky character issue dogging Barack Obama again…

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