Earlier this year, while still in the primary season, I must admit that I was not particularly fond of either Barack Obama or John McCain. Obama's extremely liberal view on abortion, especially partial birth and live birth abortions, sickened me and McCain seemed a bit too moderate for my conservative taste. Living in southwest Florida and feeling the negative effects of illegal immigration caused me to label McCain's proposed amnesty programs as way too lenient and detrimental to America's financial well being.
So I performed my due diligence to determine the lesser of what I considered two evils. With a voracious appetite for reading, I devoured as much news as I could on both candidates. And now I must finally admit that the more I learn of John McCain, the deeper my respect grows for the man, and the more I learn of Barack Obama the more apprehensive I become.
John McCain stands today as one of America's great heroes. He's been tried and tested and never once failed his country. Descended from a long line of warriors, McCain draws from a heritage that few may claim. His grandfather served in the Pacific commanding aircraft carriers during World War II and proved himself one of our country's fiercest leaders during adversity. McCain's father served as Commander in Chief, Pacific during the Viet Nam conflict. McCain followed in their footsteps into a Navy career. As a naval A-4 aviator, he was gunned down over Viet Nam and lived five long years as a prisoner of war. He survived two broken arms and a broken leg, repeated torture, tropical disease, and two years of solitary confinement to arrive home not a bitter and broken man but a stronger one, more mature and more in love with his country. After painful rehabilitation for injuries that had not been treated and torture suffered, his body once again became useful enough to regain flight status and complete a military career although you can still see him wince from pain when attempting to lift his arms. After retiring a captain from the Navy, he continued serving his country by serving two terms in the House of Representatives and now four terms in the Senate. McCain has fought corruption in government, especially pork barrel spending during his entire career and is a man who can be trusted. He's drawn much executive experience as military leader and realizes the demands placed upon Commander in Chief. He attributes a strong faith in God for surviving many of life's difficulties. John McCain definitely has the ability to run our country.
On the other hand, Barack Obama remains an enigma. He attempted to conceal or seal many of the records from his past including birth certificate, travel documents and passports, and school transcripts. Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to Stanley Ann Dunham and Barack Hussein Obama, although others including his paternal grandmother claim that he was born in Mombassa, Kenya. His parents divorced after two years and his mother soon remarried an Indoenesian national, Lolo Soetoro. Apparently (although the record is sealed) Mr. Soetoro adopted young Barack and the family moved to Jakarta where Obama attended school under the name Barry Soetoro. His school records from Jakarta state his religion as Islam and his citizenship as Indonesian. Obama's mother sent him to Hawaii at the age of ten to live with his grandparents where he attended a very exclusive private school. He graduated and attended Occidental College in California before transferring to Columbia University, another elitist school. The summer between schools he travelled on an Indonesian passport to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister then on to Pakistan and India. At the time Pakistan was on the U.S. no travel list and also forbade non-Muslims from visiting the country without prior diplomatic approval. After graduation Obama worked in Chicago as a community organizer before attending Harvard law and eventually practicing and lecturing back in Chicago. He then served in the Illinois Senate before running in 2004 for the U.S Senate and now in 2008 as a presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
During his career, Mr. Obama has kept company with some rather unsavory characters. Frank Marshall Davis a communist party leader in Hawaii served as a mentor to Obama during his teenage years. Obama launched his political career from the living room of Bill Ayers, a domestic terrorist who once planned to bomb both the Pantagon and White House. He was counseled for twenty years by Jeremiah Wright, a bigoted and racially devisive pastor in Chicago. Black Muslim leader Louis Farakhan proclaimed Obama the next messiah. Behind the scenes manipulator and billionaire George Soros has dumped million of dollars into the Obama campaign.
McCain counts as his friends two fellow prisoners of war, and fellow legislators like Joe Lieberman and Joe Biden. With the exception of the Keating five scandal, there is no other blemish on McCain's professional record and little controversy.
Fellow Americans, we may not have now and may never have the perfect candidate running for President of the United States but if you need to put your trust in a man capable of leading this country through a miserable economy and and a war on terrorism and defeat partisan politics, there is only one logical choice and that is John McCain.
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