Turnabout is Fair Play

Well, the Democrats have fallen into the carefully laid trap laid for them by the devious McCain campaign. I say, turnabout is fair play. The Democrats started this by springing their carefully laid trap on McCain back in mid-September, when he was still enjoying the Palin Bounce. That's when Secretary Paulson (a Democrat) let Lehman Brothers go under, prompting Paul Krugman to write, "Henry Paulson’s decision to let Lehman fail, on Sept. 14, may have delivered the White House to Obama." It certainly precipitated the credit crisis and prompted McCain's knee-jerk condemnations of Wall Street greed, thus diverting criticism from where it truly was merited, namely, Washington Democrats and the sub-prime culture.

So McCain fell for their ruse. It has taken him a while to get back on message, more appropriately putting the criticism at the Democrats' doorstep. Then along came Joe the Plumber, who got Obama to admit that what he was after was wealth redistribution. This prompted shocked responses from the Obama campaign and from the media in general, who argued that it was not redistribution but "tax cuts" that Obama was after. (Joe the Plumber, they claimed, was a McCain plant, a Rove ruse. If so, perhaps the monicker "McBrilliant" will be dusted off for use again.)

They argue this because they know that opinion polls decisively show that Americans favor wealth creation over wealth redistribution to deal with economic difficulty. They do not like this line of questioning, as witness the over the top response to direct questions on the subject, asked by an honest journalist by the name of Barbara West.

But now there has surfaced audio of Obama arguing in favor of "economic justice" and "redistributive justice," that the very liberal Warren Court really wasn't that liberal because it did not take the step toward this kind of justice, and that community organizing is necessary to organize power to get redistributive justice accomplished in the legislature.

How is the Obama campaign and the media going to spin this? My guess is, by ignoring it. Will they get away with it? Time will tell. I'm sure that talk radio and Fox News, not to mention the blogosphere, will do their best to get this out there. If it does, perhaps people will begin to question the content of Obama "hope and change."

What a ploy, John! Well, perhaps it wasn't in your campaign strategy after all, but it sure couldn't have come at a better time. Or in a better way. They cannot argue their way out of this, they can only hope that people will not pay attention.

The King's Heart

There is another Bible verse we should remember during this time of troubles:

"The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 21:1).

The king is the sovereign; in our Republic, it is the people who are sovereign. So, to paraphrase Solomon, the people's heart is in the hand of the Lord to turn it in whatever direction He wishes.

Do we believe that? Do we believe He can actually turn the hearts and minds of the people in the face of the onslaught of monolithic media representations?

Is there anything too difficult for God? Not according to the archangel Gabriel, this time speaking to a frightened teenager by the name of Mary: "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37).

Pray now or forever hold your peace.

Struggle in the Heavenlies

What is happening now is a spiritual struggle the likes of which we may not have seen in our lifetimes. The forces of ungodliness and overthrow, of disorder and irreligion, of Anti-Christ, are unleashed in such coordinated fashion as to be unprecedented. Therefore our calling is contrition and prayer, for if God does not see fit to deliver us from the hands of our enemies, they will conquer us.

The spiritual struggle is going on "in the heavenly places" (e.g., Ephesians 3:10) as well as on Earth. It is like what the archangel Gabriel was alluding to when he said to Daniel (Book of Daniel, ch. 9):

10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

The angels themselves were in a struggle with the political leaders of the day. And I am sure they are struggling with the forces of evil even as we speak. But our prayers are necessary, just as Daniel's prayers and confession of sin were the catalyst of Gabriel's appearance to him.

There is so much at stake in this election. Far more than mere economics. Pray for God's mercy -- we cannot hope for more than that.

Stocks Are Down...

and the polls seem to show a looming Democrat victory on November 4. Of course, the real reason stocks are down is "investors sorting through earnings reports" or some such claptrap. Ignore the elephant in the room, guys.

The Terms of the Debate Have Shifted

Finally, the political debate in an election season revolves not around the question, "who should pay more taxes," but around the question, "why should anyone pay more taxes?" In other words, the very presupposition of the inherent goodness of government action is being questioned. This seems to me to be unprecedented. That it happened only a few weeks before the election, and was precipitated by a mere citizen ("Joe the Plumber") makes it even more extraordinary. The question now is, can it be kept at the forefront of average citizens' minds? Will it make them realize that the government is not the be-all-and-end-all of problem-solving? That the game of salvation by government is a dead end? If it does, the debate which has now hit the mainstream will carry on far beyond this election season. It could signal the turning of a tide.

Was I Right or Was I Right?

Let's see, McCain scores in the debate, polls show tightening race, stock markets go up. Hmmmmmmmm.

I Do Not Wish to Tempt Providence...

but if McCain scores in the debate tonight, especially regarding connecting the ACORN-Ayers-Fannie and Freddie-Obama dots (am I forgetting anything?), not to mention calling Obama on his ridiculous "tax cut" claims, then watch for a solid stock market rally.
Investors of all people do not buy into anti-capitalist rhetoric. At least not with their money. There may be those who want a Democratic administration, but they know that their investments won't be safe, at least their stock investments. This makes such investors schizophrenic -- on the one hand wishing for something which on the other hand they know will be bad for themselves. But that's why its best to view left-wingism as a religion, an expression of faith.