Hi Joe & Everyone
I am passing this email onto you for your (everyone's) consideration as you make your choice for the next President of the US. Thank you.
This is very well written and I recommend everyone take a little
time to read this entire write-up. You won't be disappointed!
Dear Friends:
My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign, Illinois.
I'm 46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small
business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don't consider myself to be
either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican
or Democrat. I don't believe there are 'two Americas' - but that every
person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if
they'll just work to get there - and nowhere else on earth can they find
such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are
legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of America first.
The purpose of this message is that I'm concerned about the future of
this great nation. I'm worried that the silent majority of honest,
hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too
long.
Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics.
They go about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and
doing what they can to maintain the good life. They vote and consider
doing so to be a sacred trust. They shake their heads at the political
pundits and so-called 'news', thinking that what they hear is always spun
by whomever is reporting it. They can't understand how elected
officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork barrel spending. They
don't want government handouts. They want the government to protect them,
not raise their taxes for more government programs.
We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders.
It's a privilege to do so. I've never found a candidate in any election
with whom I agreed on everything. I'll wager that most of us don't even
agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time.
So when I step into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast my vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I've hired a lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that's what an election
is - a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for me?
Whom can I trust to do the job right?
I'm concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply
don't get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can't explain, and calling it 'change'.
Change what?, I ask.
Well, we're going to change America, they say.
In what way?, I query.
We want someone new and fresh in the White House, they exclaim.
So, someone who's not a politician?, I press.
Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we're voting for Obama, they state.
So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has
enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education,
raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news and win his
party's nomination for the White House - that system's all wrong?
No, no, that part of the system's okay - we just need a lot of change.
And so it goes. 'Change we can believe in.' Quite frankly, I don't
believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me. In recent
months, I've been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they're
voting. I live in Illinois, so most folks tell me they're voting for
Barack Obama.
But no one can really tell me why - only that he's going
to change a lot of stuff. Change, change, change. I have yet to find one
single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man
is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful
nation on earth - other than the fact that he claims he's going to implement a lot of change.
We've all seen the emails about Obama's genealogy, his upbringing, his
Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let's ignore this for a
moment. Put it all aside. Then ask yourself, what qualifies this man to
be my president? That he's a brilliant orator and talks about change?
CHANGE WHAT?
Friends, I'll be forthright with you - I believe the American voters who
are supporting Barack Obama don't have a clue what they're doing, as
evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them I've spoken
to can spell out his qualifications.
Not even the most liberal media can explain why he should be elected. Political experience? Negligible. Foreign relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one. Someone who wants to unite the country? If you haven't read his wife's thesis from Princeton, look it up on the web. This is who's lining up to be our next First Lady? The only thing I can glean from Obama's constant harping about change is that we're in for a lot of new taxes.
For me, the choice is clear. I've looked carefully at the two leading
applicants for the job, and I've made my choice.
Here's a question - where were you five and a half years ago? Around
Christmas, 2002. You've had five or six birthdays in that time. My son
has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a
half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep.
6,000 meals, give or take.
John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North
Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.
When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to
be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held
longer than he should be released first. Did you get that part? He was
offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and
torture began.
Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a
foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your
fellow man? I submit that's a quality of character that is rarely found,
and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.
Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military
service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to
denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man.
A graduate of Annapolis, during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now
serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq. Barack Obama is fond of saying 'We
honor John McCain's service...BUT...', which to me is condescending and
offensive - because what I hear is, 'Let's forget this man's sacrifice
for his country and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some more
about change.'
I don't agree with John McCain on everything - but I am utterly convinced
that he is qualified to be our next President, and I trust him to do
what's right.
I know in my heart that he has the best interests of our country in mind. He doesn't simply want to be President - he wants to lead America, and there's a huge difference.
Factually, there is simply no comparison between the two candidates. A man of questionable background and motives who prattles on about change can't hold a candle to a man who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from the Navy in 1981 and elected to the Senate in 1982.
Perhaps Obama's supporters are taking a stance between old and new.
Maybe they don't care about McCain's service or his strength of character, or
his unblemished qualifications to be President. Maybe 'likeability' is
a higher priority for them than 'trust'. Being a prisoner of war is not what
qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America -
but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.
Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking
Americans to say, 'Enough.' It is time for people of all parties to stop
following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep America
first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a dialogue
with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they're voting for, and why.
There's a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to
all of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a
man who knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want
a man who puts my family's interests before any foreign country.
I want a President who's qualified to lead.
I want my country back, and I'm voting for John McCain.
Joe Porter
*******************************
An added note.... recently my cousin was visiting from Texas. I knew
that she had been for Hillary, and now since a vote for Hillary was no longer
an option, I wondered if she was going to cross over with her vote. At a
family gathering on the 4th of July, I asked her, 'Since you can't vote
for Hillary, who are you going to vote for?' She smiled and answered, 'Obama.'
I asked why, and she said, 'Because I like him.' But what are his
qualifications for being President of the United States? ... and she
repeated, 'I like him.' End of story.
I was flabbergasted. 'Because I like him' is a good reason to vote for homecoming king, not for President of the United States. I have the feeling that there are so many others out there,... thinking, smart people, .. who are for Obama for the most shallow, not thought-through reasons.
He speaks well, he is articulate, he has very good writers and handlers.
But he really has no track record....or perhaps to be more accurate, his Senate track record is so far out in left field that he has left the stadium and is in the Starbucks across the street. He's an unknown factor.
There are huge red-flags that are being ignored.
This is scary. ...and what also upsets me is that I will only
pass this on to friends that I'm sure agree with me, because my friends
who don't go ballistic when they hear the truth.
We really need to be on our knees about this coming election.