Escaping Obama....NOT!

Today I worked on my quilt for Kathy most of the day. I am coming along nicely. However, because I was working on it I also listened to a lot of talk radio too - Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boortz, Bret Baer, Glen Beck.

I finally watched Obama's speech last night (a tape delay) but I was so frustrated with it I felt I could fly. I felt he was condescending, arrogant, angry, "in your face." And I felt like he lied and taunted and even tried to intimidate us as conservatives and as Americans. And to make matters even worse I felt like I was being treated as a little kid, with no brain or experience, and I was being lectured to. He was petulant and petty, contentious and contrived. All in all - I thought it was awful.

So today - I didn't escape Obama either. His speech filled the airways, as well as the commentary. And the more I listened the more frustrated I got.

Over the course of the last year the only thing that has given me any solace where Obama is concerned is that it has felt as if the American people have wakened from a deep slumber and are rising to a sense of urgency as we watch the wholesale destruction of our country unfold. That has been inspiring. But last night I watched with alarm, realizing that many people were fooled by the oratory and rhetoric a year ago - and all he is doing is trying to repackage the same policies in more oratory and more rhetoric - and I wonder how many will be deceived again.

I have thought some about the presidents that I remember over the course of my life - Eisenhower - I was too young to know much - he was president and I was taught to respect the office.

JFK - it was exciting to have a young family in the White House. I remember my dad taking us (my brothers and I) to see his motorcade when he came to Salt Lake (for what reason I have no clue). I, like all of America at that time, remember clearly where I was and what I was doing the day that he was shot. I grieved with the rest of the nation and for his family. As I have gotten older and more has come out about him I find I have little respect for him.

Johnson - I appreciated that he seemed to provide a steady hand during a very difficult time. Again, I was too young to know or care much about his policies, agenda, or efforts.

Nixon - he was the first president that I ever voted for. I wasn't happy about some of the things that he did and we went through some very difficult times with him as president...but at least he did the honorable thing and resigned rather than drag the nation through heck.

Ford - I have no idea what he really stood for - but I admired him. He seemed to genuinely have the good of the nation at heart as he tried to navigate the difficult situation that he and we were in, as Americans.

Carter - I remember feeling like I needed to run for the hills with my little family when he was elected. As it turns out, I wasn't too far off. He was totally inept and incompetent. I believe he was honest. But the policies and principles he stood on drove our economy into economic chaos and made us the laughing stock of the Arab world - in fact - I believe that his response to the hostage situation is, in some measure, responsible for the daring of the terrorists today.

Reagan - my favorite (at least in my generation LOL). The liberals and press hated him. They hated that he knew what he stood for and was able to articulate it to us, the American people, and that we were with him. They hated his confidence that "right makes might" and that he was acting on deeply held principles that could not be swayed by the winds of punditry. Carter had made me recognize that I needed to pay attention to what was happening in the political arena but Reagan made me proud to be an American - to be "the shining city on the hill." He inspired me to think deeply about what it means to be an American, what we stand for, and on the principles we were founded on. It was at this time that President Benson urged every family in America to study the constitution and to teach it in our families - and the church even published a pamphlet/manual to help us.

Bush, Sr. - was kind of the "heir apparent." I think he handled things beautifully with the gulf war - but then got bogged down trying to get along with the liberals - it was infuriating as he should have known better.

Clinton - at least somewhat of a centrist Democrat. Totally immoral. A liar. Disloyal. But, pragmatic enough move to the center. I think he believed he had the answers for the country - but more than anything I believe he wanted power, prestige, privilege, and popularity. But I don't think he wanted to harm our country - although I could argue that some of his policies did just that. But he also did some good - like welfare reform (I know that the Republicans forced his hand - but he could have vetoed it and he didn't). On a cultural level he did a lot of damage.

Bush, Jr. - I think history will vindicate him and he will become one of the top presidents. He was mocked for being religious and he, too, tried too often to get along with the liberals, to set a new tone. It was a noble idea but the liberals' idea of getting along was to do what they wanted. In many ways he was much more liberal than I - immigration is a prime example. However, I can't think of anyone that I would have rather had at the helm after 9-11. He devoted everything to the cause of defending us and helping us get back on our feet, and I am deeply grateful to him for that.

Obama - I really believe that he is an Anti-Christ. I believe our nation is in deep peril and that he is a part of the "secret combination" that exists and is seeking to destroy our freedom that President Benson warned us about. I don't think we have any clue about how far reaching and how deeply this goes...but I think we are in real trouble, and have been for some time. At one of the town halls this past summer one of the ladies got up and said that they had "awakened the sleeping giant." I remember Wanda calling me and as we talked she said that she identified with that woman. It has given me great joy to see how seriously our family has taken the threats that they see. It isn't easy, especially with young families and jobs and callings and school - but we can't afford to not inform ourselves and to recognize what is at stake and then to act. I don't know where all this will go or where it will end - but this I do know - his policies are evil - they threaten to destroy our agency and will make us miserable. He, and others of his ilk, are seeking to destroy our country, our constitution, and our way of life. And many of our people have been and continue to be deceived. And, sadly, the antidote to all of this is the gospel - and I say sadly because it appears that religion, God, Christ, the 10 commandments, everything sacred and holy is being mocked, ridiculed, and dismantled in order for debauchery, immorality, dishonesty, and every other impure practice to be instituted. Sadly because without principles of righteousness guiding the actions of our citizenry our constitution will fall of its own accord - Thomas Jefferson said that it was made only for a moral citizenry. As our society declines you can see our legislatures trying to make laws for every action - agency declines as our morality does.

So - what is the answer? Obviously we need to vote. But I believe that we must be more involved than we have ever been - we must stay informed, understand what is being legislated, pray for the wisdom and guidance to see and understand that which is good and bad. Then we must do all in our power to make that which is good popular and that which is not good unpopular (according to ETB). We must study the constitution and our scriptures. We much teach them to our families. And we must be willing to open our mouths about the gospel and to set examples that make others want to be a part of us.

I have marvelled at the outpouring of outrage over the last year as we have recognized our peril. I have also marvelled at how many of the people are women. I think too often politics have been left to the men - this isn't meant to disparage men - just to say that our (us women)inclinations are not always macro in nature. Too often we're just not interested, or we don't understand it, or have no context, or get mixed up in the rhetoric and can't see the logical outcomes and dangers. We are busy and our natural focus is on our immediate (micro) needs and the needs of our families and the ones we love.

Ironically, I believe that we are much more persuasive than we know or believe and that we have the power to move mountains if we will just do it. President Spencer W. Kimball has said, "Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days...will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that they are seen as distinct and different - in happy ways- from the women of the world." Could it be that we can help save our constitution and our country and help prepare our world to meet our Savior all in one fell swoop? I think so. This is not going to be finished when Obama is gone - we're going to need to be engaged for a long time - but we can do it - we must do it!