The following is a transcript of Paster Rick Warren’s prayer, on January 20, 2009, before President Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America:
“Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of You alone. It all comes from You, it all belongs to You, it all exists for Your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, ‘Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one’ and You are the compassionate and merciful one and You are loving to everyone You have made.
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Dear President-Elect Obama,
I would like to ask you to do something for me. No, more importantly, do something for America – become the great unifier that your supporters believe you to be.
Tremendous challenges face our nation; I pray that you will move away from your radical past and the party-politics that divide us to pursue the truth.
You have many skills and a unique opportunity in all of history. It is within your power to either drive a stronger wedge between us, or to heal the wounds of our great country and bring us all closer together.
Unify us. Help us to once again become “One Nation Under God” and the “United” States of America. If you do this, then you will find strong support even from conservative Christians.
I pray that you can be successful in this endeavor and govern for ALL the people of this land. As you align yourself with the purposes of our founding fathers and the God under which we all live, then I wish you God speed.
And may God continue to bless America.
Given Obama’s plans for significantly-increased spending, many have wondered where the new tax revenue that will be required will come from. We know about the new taxes on the “rich”, but certainly the hundreds of billions can’t all come from there.
An interview with Obama from almost a year ago tells the tale. In it, Obama talks about his energy policy and his plans to adopt Al Gore’s “Cap and Trade” system. But we should let him speak for himself:
“Let me sort of describe my overall policy… What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive if not more aggressive than anybody else’s out there…”
“Every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases that is emitted would be charged to the poluter…”
“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered power plan, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re gonna be charged a huge sum…”
Now whenever producers are taxed, these new taxes must be passed on to consumers – you and I. Since about 50 percent of US electricity production comes from coal, we’re talking about potentially huge increases in the cost of energy in the US.
So let’s be clear. Obama’s policies require not just new taxes on the rich. They are new taxes on everyone.
I hope America knows what its doing.
Barack Obama is a great orator, but do you really understand what his plans are? What about the Democratic Party? Does it really matter as long as we change from Bush’s policies?
Consider this. President Bush has some very unpopular policies, but he is also operating with both the House and Senate in control of the opposing Party. And the national media has countered Bush by being, on the whole, very unsympathetic to his agenda.
Regardless of the results of this election, Bush is out. And although John McCain has demonstrated that he is very different from Bush – if elected President he will face significant opposition to his policies. Since Congress is predicted with near-certainty to remain in Democratic hands, then President McCain will be forced to seriously negotiate and compromise with the Democratic Congress.
But President Barack Obama will have no such hedges against his power. He will operate with near impunity; all branches of government will be firmly under the control of his party – and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. And with much of the national media clearly enamored with him, will a President Barack Obama be critically investigated by the press? Has he been to date? more »»
As anyone who has been monitoring the news or the value of their 401K’s has witnessed, shock waves have been going through the U.S. banking system and economy. Home loan crisis, investment banking collapse, and what next?
Now let me be the first to say that I don’t claim to be a Prophet of God. But, with a little understanding, the current crisis looks more and more like pages from the Bible’s book of last things – the book of Revelation:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” (from Rev 18:2-3, NIV)
When you consider the origins of the fractional banking system – the interest bearing system that gives out loans repaid with compounded interest, then current events become particularly interesting. Interest bearing loans where invented in ancient Babylon! more »»
John McCain, in his acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for President of the United States at the Republican National Convention, talks about what his administration will be like.
Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans — the privilege of accepting our party’s nomination for President of the United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.
In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn’t any different. That’s a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They’re leaders of great ability, who love our country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I won’t forget.
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I have read many blog posts today on the Sarah Palin speech, from many different political spectrums. A number were critical of Sarah Palin for her attacks on Barack Obama. Many reactions were, to me, irrational.
I ask, isn’t Governor Palin allowed to respond to attacks from the Obama camp (and their surrogates) which are critical of her own experience?
Some of her critiques of Obama and the Democratic left were quite effective – and all done with humor:
- “… I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involved. I guess… a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
- “I might add that, in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they’re listening and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening. No, we tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”
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