ceiving hundreds of video submissions, the DNCC announced five finalists last week and invited members of the YouTube community to vote for their favorite. Thousands answered the call in recent days. Each of the five finalists' videos can be viewed at demconvention.Representing varied areas of the country, the other finalists were Cathrin Winsor from Temple, Tex.; Timothy McDonald from Traverse City, Mich.; Morgan Harper from Atlanta, Ga.; and Brian Beach from Dayton, Ohio. The videos were selected based on their creativity, originality and persuasiveness. Democrats appearing in these videos include an Iraq war veteran, college students, a first-time voter, and a young boy with a teddy bear.YouTube is the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos.About the DNCC:The 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee is the official arm of the Democratic National Committee responsible for planning and organizing the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. www.demconvention.com.Paid for by 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc. www.demconvention.comNot authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: Photo: cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/DNCCLOGOSource: 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee CONTACT: Jenni Engebretsen, Damon Jones, or Natalie Wyeth,+1-720-362-2006, all of the 2008 Democratic National Convention CommitteeWeb Site: demconvention-------Profile: My Profile 1
In a comment on this post, I said that evangelicals believe that individuals coming to faith in Jesus on an individual basis was the only thing in the world that mattered, and that they can't conceive of a Christian society, only Christian persons. I thought I should expand on this while it was fresh in my mind.The idea about people coming to personal faith in Jesus on an individual basis has always been the core theological principle of evangelicalism, stemming largely from John 3:3 which says "Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" This is usually taken to mean that in order to be a Christian, to be saved through Jesus and go to heaven, you must have a personal, conscious conversion experience; being baptized as an infant and raised in a Christian family or Christian culture, and always having more or less assumed that you believed Christianity, is not enough. Despite this emphasis on an individual's personal relationship with Jesus above all else, for a long time evangelicals did accept the idea of a Christian nation, society, or culture, if only because of some vestigial, received traditional wisdom they had never thought to question despite the fact that it wasn't found in the Bible. Or at least, they were neutral or apathetic toward the idea of a Christian nation, society, or culture.Now, however, the younger generation of evangelicals is becoming antagonistic to the idea, because it's counter to the prevailing principles of liberalism in our society, and it's not found in the Bible. In fact, in the Bible, the early Christians are described as having been a persecuted minority who were imprisoned or killed for their beliefs. This leads to an identification of Christians with other "marginalized" groups, the definition of "  marginalized" being the one used in modern liberal society: blacks, immigrants, women, homosexuals, etc. There are still some young evangelicals who believe in the older, James Dobson-  esque vision of America as a Christian nation, but to the extent that they do, it's out of a naive belief that the principles of traditional American civic life can be derived from the Bible just as being born again can.An interesting result of this naivete is what happens when evangelicals succeed in converting nonwhite, non-Western immigrants, so praised as "vibrant" and "diverse" even by evangelicals, to Christianity. Many evangelicals are excited by the prospect of nonwhite immigration, because it presents an opportunity for making converts and bringing about the Revelation 9 vision of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language praising God together. These "conservative" evangelicals are unprepared for what happens when they do so, however; they thought that converting such people to evangelicalism would also mean converting them to a white, Western, traditional American cultural identity as well. Instead, what you get when you convert liberal non-Westerners to evangelical Christianity are liberal, non-Western Christians--people who, as I have seen in my personal life, see no conflict between considering oneself a "Bible-believing, born-again Christian" and voting for Barack Obama, supporting socialized medicine and affirmative action, and endorsing or promoting all manner of other typical left-wing views.
  culpeperopening  Hope to see you there!Obama for AmericaIf you cannot make it to this event but would still like to support Barack, you can make a donation here:
Venezuela Pledges Strengthened Alliance with Bolivia Following Morales Referendum Victory (Venezuelanalysis) August 11, 2008  2004 Democratic Party Dirty Tricks in Oregon and Beyond (Scott L. West, SC) August 13, 2008  Amazon Rainforest Threatened By New Wave of Oil and Gas Exploration: Vast swathes of the western Amazon are to be opened up for oil and gas exploration, putting some of the planet’s most pristine and biodiverse forests at risk. (The Guardian UK) August 13, 2008  Schwarzenegger’s Wage Cuts Condemned: Unionists having been protesting against the decision by Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to cut the wages of more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of US$6.55 per hour, alleging he must do so because the state legislature has not passed a budget. (Green Left Weekly) August 9, 2008  Shell Rebuked For 'Greenwash' Over Ad For Polluting Oil Project: The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell misled the public about the green credentials of a vastly polluting oil project in Canada. (The Independent UK) August 13, 2008  RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, WITH THE IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR AND TENT STATE UNIVERSITY, HOST THE “TENT STATE MUSIC FESTIVAL TO END THE WAR” DURING THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION: Rage Against the Machine has joined forces with the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Tent State University to perform as part of the “Tent State Music Festival to End the War” on Wednesday, August 27 at the Denver Coliseum. They will join the Flobots, The Coup, State Radio, and Wayne Kramer. Doors open at 9:30 am, show begins at 11 am. Tickets are free and available by lottery. (TentState.org) August 2008  The Nation Magazine and Buyers Remorse Over Obama (Counterpunch) August 14, 2008
From Chicago's own Sun Times columnist...good one from Mary Mitchell.  Latest smear against Obama an abominationBook exploits racial fears, hate in effort to scare white Americanews/mitchell/1107452,CST-NWS-mitch14.article
This is the first presidential election that actually matters to me. For every other one, I was too young.Unfortunately, I don’t want to vote.I’m not particularly fond of either of the candidates. They both have some fantastic strong points, but then again, they both have some pretty terrible weak points. If we could somehow morph them into the perfect candidate, then I’d be satisfied.But I know that it’s my duty as a citizen to vote, so what do I do? Vote for a candidate I’m not particularly fond of? If I had to choose right now, gun to my head, I’d probably say Obama. But maybe that’s because my roommate is obsessed with him and has swayed me a little bit with her praise of him.As Pumpkin said, “I’m just going to close my eyes and push a button.”  germonderpop @ 12:25 pm [filed under Recent Events, Things I Don't Like tagged election, mccain, obama, presidential election, voting
As promised, here’s how I would rank the Republicans profiled in this blog according to my opinion on who would be the best candidate for this great state.A good candidate will have the energy and tenacity to run a campaign on the issues and against the opponent. A good candidate will know the issues inside and out and will be aligned with the voters on the majority of the issues. A good candidate will know how to utilize the free and paid media. A good candidate will be able to raise a ton of money as well as run a full court grassroots campaign. A good candidate won’t run from each and every battle because he will be too busy winning the war on the offensive.Before I get to my ranking, take a moment to think of a past statewide candidate that did all of the above? Oh and to make it harder, Democrats are excluded.  Non-starters  There is absolutely no chance for Iverson, Dix or Rants to make a successful run. No chance. Zip, zero, nada, no way. I just wanted to add them by name so no one thought I didn’t know they were interested.  #5 – Chuck Larson, Jr.  I’ve put Chuck at number five because he hasn’t been involved in the past few years and to be honest, when he was involved, not too many people thought highly of him outside the establishment.Chuck would make a fair candidate but with the field we have available, I just don’t see him becoming our next governor. Someday maybe, but not in 2010.  #4 – Bob Vander Plaats  If King runs, Bob is out. It may take awhile for Bob to realize this, but it will certainly be earlier than when he bowed out in February to join Nussle.BVP has a good-size following inside the GOP base and he was victorious by jumping on board Huckabee’s caucus train when he was still in low single digits. I know that had more to do with Huck than anything BVP did, but now Bob can tap into that organization.If Bob thinks the third time is a charm, he will have to add a lot more punch to his 2010 campaign. He will absolutely have to be specific on issues. He will have to tell the rank-and-file exactly what he will do with taxes, what programs he will shrink or abolish. He is going to have to become a policy wonk as well as a motivational speaker. I just don’t feel good about a third try at Governor for Bob.Bob has a role inside the GOP, but nobody can find it.  #3 – Matt Whitaker  If neither King nor Pearson give the Governor’s race a go, I would love to see Whitaker swoop in as the crusader who can clean up Iowa government. Whitaker is in the position to come in as an outsider with great experience and turn this state around. The voters would eagerly jump on board with him.Whitaker is a conservative and the rank-and-file primary voters are still enamored with his aggressive and upbeat campaign in 2002. In any role, Whitaker is a great leader for the Republican Party. Young, dynamic, and a powerful presence, Whitaker can help all of us turn the corner to prosperity.  #2 – Mark Pearson  This is an early ranking based solely on expectations. I expect Pearson will run. I expect he will stay conservative. I expect that he will be able to handle himself on the stump.With that out of the way, I expect he would be a remarkable candidate for office. He’s folksy, which is a trait Iowa voters like in their politicians. He can certainly articulate a message. Image alone can take Pearson most of the way past Culver in the polls. I also like the fact that Pearson comes from outside the political culture. Most elected officials lose their marbles within a term or two. Pearson will have a better perspective than most on the GOP bench.What it will boil down to for Pearson is, first, his willingness to take up the social conservative gauntlet and, second, King deciding against running. These two hurdles are the only things keeping Pearson out of terrace Hill.  #1 – Steve King  Conservative voters will pick King over anyone in the primary if he chooses to run. I hope he does because we want someone who isn’t afraid to fight and to stand up for what we all believe in. We are sick of watered down conservatism. It has lost us the state house, state senate, governor’s mansion, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and will probably put Obama in the White House. By now we better have learned that doesn’t work to win elections. We need to draw a bright line between Democrat and Republican. King draws that line better than anyone else in the state.King’s conservative stance will be welcomed by voters in rural areas of the state as well as conservatives in urban centers. King knows how to run a campaign better than most and has the energy to outwork any other candidate.Sure the media hates King, but name someone you know who trusts the media. After King wins the primary and Republicans across the state get behind him, you will see a tidal wave of conservatism sweep this state. Is it risky for King? Absolutely. I believe he would put the relative security of remaining in his Congressional seat behind him to run for governor and take back our state from liberal mismanagement and corruption.A commenter on this blog got it right when they said Republicans should be enthused by the quality of potential candidates we have to choose from in 2010. Looking at the list, their records, their abilities, and potential, I believe Steve King belongs at the top of the list.
This article irks me on many levels, from calling Rick Warren one of the biggest evangelical pastors, (his theology is totally unbiblical, but thats a whole other post), to the whole Obama is black thing and referring to him as a devout Christian.*sigh. But here it is, because I think we should have our eyes open this Saturday.story//nm/20080814/pl_nm/usa_politics_religion_dc
 Talk about witness impeachment on character for truthfulness. Corsi, the “author” of debunked hit jobs and fake-bestsellers “Unfit for Command” and “The Obama Nation,” buys into the whole “government responsible for 9/11″ movement. Check the clip here.
 I think an Obama win in the USA would be the final nail in the coffin for the Alberta economy. Personally I say John McCain for President, a hero to our nati