Election Day

I voted for Hughes, Andrzejewski and Plummer.

5th District Primary Results

U.S. House - District 5 - GOP Special Primary

571 of 578 Precincts Reporting - 99%

Name Party Votes Vote %

Pulido, Rosanna GOP 979 25%
Hanson, Tom GOP 844 21%
Anderson, David GOP 705 18%
Bedell, Gregory GOP 661 17%
Kay, Daniel GOP 372 9%
Stewart, Jon GOP 365 9%

Source

I Laugh Every Election Day When I See This

This is so we know how to fill out the ballot. I had my cellphone with me this time so I took a picture when I voted this morning.

Republican Candidates for the 5th District

I'm Representive-less at the moment since Rahm Emmanuel took the job with Obama in Washington. We're having a primary election for the spot in March and the general in April.

There are 12 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and 5 Green Party Candidates. With the exception of a few signs in front of houses, I haven't seen a whole lot of info on these Republicans. So I'm taking a look at their websites.

Tom Hanson

This is the first Republican candidate on the ballot. I popped in on his website, and the first thing I see is "Liberal Republican". Well, I'll just say that if I wanted a liberal Republican I'd vote for a Democrat, even if a liberal Republican is the only one that had a chance.



I did take a look at his positions and I will be passing on him.

Abortion Debate
I favor the rights to abortion and will vote for restrictions that are permissible under Roe vs. Wade

Marriage Debate
I favor the idea that same sex couples should be allowed to enter into a legally binding agreement that guarantees them similar benefits as married couples.

The next candidate is Jon Stewart, well at least the first thing on his website isn't Liberal Republican even if there is a picture of him with John McCain.

I'm a little nervous with a couple of the bullet points he has on the front.

The Jon Stewart Guarantee:

• To work steadfastly with President Obama to change our country
• To be fiercely independent in Congress
• Eliminate any contact with lobbyists
• To help my constituents' voices be heard throughout Washington
• Lower taxes for the middle class
• To provide universal, affordable health insurance to Americans
• To change the way Washington works and operates

My fears seem to be justified, I go to his positons and there they are...

• Affordable health care for all Americans
• Protect a woman's right to choose
• End the war in Iraq
• Legalize ALL undocumented, law abidding immigrants

I'm going through these candidates as I write this, I hope that at least one will be worth voting for, even if he doesn't win.

Greg Bedell for Congress

This site is a little more difficult to navigate. It looks like the same format as Team Sarah, although I don't have a problem with Team Sarah's layout, I'm having a greater difficulty in finding out his positions. In his bio Bedell says:

Mr. Bedell, 49, said he is running for Congress to support a return to Republican fundamentals. His campaign is focused on developing creative solutions to the current challenges citizens face – solutions grounded in traditional Republican beliefs of fiscal responsibility and strong national security.

Sounds good so far, but what about the social issues? I had to do a search to finally get to where he stands on abortion.

Abortion:
Pregnancy is an extremely personal issue for a woman. I know the decisions relating to pregnancy and parenthood are rarely taken lightly. My wife and I have two children and I have witnessed the amazing changes, challenges and joys only she could feel. Seeing for the first time the ultrasound pictures of my daughter profoundly affected me; there, inside my wife, was another human being.

I understand that pregnancy forever changes a woman’s life. But, the change is the creation of life and I am opposed to ending it. We must educate to prevent unwanted pregnancies. We must recognize the real life difficulties and emotional dilemmas that woman face and with this understanding help them and provide assistance to those who want to have their babies but fear the costs and consequences of pregnancy and parenthood.

We must do all that we can to decrease the loss of this new human life. I will oppose any effort to permit the barbarous practice of late term abortions, except where the life of the mother is demonstrably at risk. And, I will oppose government funding of abortion.

But, in those instances where a family is faced with the horrible choice of saving the child or the mother, I can only stand by the choice I would make and that is to save the woman I love.

And on gay marriage

Civil Unions:
I am committed to Civil Unions and according to gay and lesbian couples the rights and responsibilities of two people united under the law. These loving relationships must be recognized. A compassionate society should do no less. I do not agree, however, that these unions should be called a marriage which, in our society, is the union of a man and a woman.

Well, he's better than the other two thats for sure, but still really not where I am.

Rosanna Pulido: Conservative for Congress: Common Sense for Illinois District 5

Well thats more along the lines of what I like to see. She doesn't have a lot of her positions up, but she is against illegal immigration and is pro-life.

Pro-LifePosted by tech On February - 8 - 2009One of the measures of a more highly civilized society, is its attitude towards its weaker members. If the poor, the sick, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the helpless are not protected, the society is not as advanced as in a society where they are protected. The more mature the society is, the more there is respect for the dignity and rights of all human beings. The function of the laws of the society, is to protect and provide for all members so that no individual or group of individuals can be victimized by another individual group. Every American has a vital stake in what value system is adopted towards its weak, aged, cripple, it’s helpless intra-uterine members; a vital stake in who chooses life or death.

Do we accept killing a human being because of a temporary, emotional upset? All obstetricians and gynecologists know of many cases where the mother, be her single or married, has spoken of abortion early in the pregnancy and later on, has confessed her gratitude to those who have not performed the abortion. On the other hand, we have all seen women what have been troubled, consumed with guilt and Depression following and because of abortion.

Abortion hurts women!

She is the best one for me so far.

Daniel Kay for Congress

His site is under construction right now, he has a bio page up with information about him, but not really his postions. He says:

With over 6,300 bills introduced to the 110th congress, it would be impossible to elaborate on enough issues. In a nutshell, the district is highly diverse and all parts of it need attention, not just those in the city limits as were the policies of the previous 2 5th district representatives in congress. Much effort had been placed to modernize O'Hare airport to bring in line with others around the nation, however, the majority of the airports viability is in freight and cargo. The infrastructure including federal highway US 12/45, which are vital to the success of the airport and surrounding rail yards, are in gross neglect. Recently the Mannheim Road bridge over the O'Hare rail yard was closed due to the frost heaves launching vehicles onto black ice and causing them to spin out. Because this road doesn't link the airport with downtown Chicago directly, the communities affected didn't have the ears willing to listen. Fairness to all is my basic doctrine. From Lake Shore Drive to County Line Road, and from Lake Street to Touhy Ave. all need their voices heard in Washington.

I will have to look back at him before the election to see what he has to say about the issues that are most important to me.

Finally, Dr. David J. Anderson

He is very outspoken about corruption in Illinois, which is admirable. My personal opinion of what he has written on his site is that he admires BO and agrees with him on various positions to different degrees. He really doesn't include any of his positons on the social issues. Like Daniel Kay I will have to look back before the election to see if he has added anything.

Based on what I have seen so far though, Rosanna Pulido is the best candidate for me.

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles.

The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.

The President-elect has already failed that test miserably.

The American people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion. They never have and they never will. The coming four years will see a widening gap between the people and their President on this fundamental issue. As Americans come to know how extreme his position is, the intensity of the struggle to protect these children will only increase.

The pro-life movement has made significant gains in the courts and in the law in these last eight years. For the next four, the movement will work to prevent the erosion of that progress.

It would be a serious mistake for people to think that this election means the pro-life movement has no political power. All politics is local. Political power is about people. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was once told that given the political realities, civil rights legislation would be impossible to pass. “We’ll just have to see about that,” he replied. And the civil rights movement was born, stirring the hearts of the people to lead the nation to the victory of justice.

So it is with our movement. The vast majority of Americans are pro-life. They will fight abortion on the local level, opening pregnancy centers and closing abortion mills, activating their Churches and educating their children, proclaiming the message in the media and demonstrating in the streets. The pro-life movement is winning this battle in the hearts and minds of the American people, as opinion polls show and as the shrinking number of abortion mills and abortion providers prove.

Political races are always a swinging of the pendulum. As soon as you win, you begin to lose, and as soon as you lose, you begin the ascent again to winning. In the next two election cycles (2010 and 2012) the pro-life movement will make up for political ground lost in this one.

It is all right to be disappointed at the end of an election season, but one must never walk away. Amidst disappointment is abiding hope in America, where everything remains possible, and where a new chapter of the pro-life movement has just begun. The efforts that were made, and the sacrifices endured in this election season made a difference, and we will build on that difference to see another day when the work and the ballots of pro-life people will dismantle the Culture of Death. We will keep marching toward that pro-life America we seek, and won’t stop until we get there.

Priests for Life

No Matter Who Wins

NO MATTER WHO WINS....

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?

(Amen!)

Talk To Your Parents About Voting for Obama

I don't know if its just my bias or what, but the Obama campaign seems to do a lot of creepy things, especially involving children in their campaign. Kids are going to get involved because of their parents, but the Obama campaign really seems to be trying to harness kids.

Talk to your parents, change the world

Are you sure if your parents are voting for Obama?

If not, you may be the only person who can convince them. If you haven’t already, it’s time for you to have “The Talk” with your parents and other family members.

And tell all your friends to do the same!

If I had kids the last thing I would want to hear coming from them is why I should be voting for Obama.

Do’s & Don’ts

Do share your personal reasons for voting for Barack Obama;
Do have confidence -- your opinion matters to people who care about you;
Do read up on Barack’s positions on the issues you know matter to them;
Do find a good time when both you and they will be open to a conversation;
Do talk to them in person if you live nearby, or on the phone if you don’t;
Do ask your friends to talk to their parents and grandparents as well;
Don’t worry about knowing everything about policy positions before you have this conversation;
Don’t feel defensive. Stay calm, cool and collected;
Don’t wait until the last minute -- it might take a few conversations for you to convince them, so start as early as possible;
Don’t catch them at a bad time -- make sure you have their attention and enough time to have a conversation.

What could be worse than having the kids trying to convince you to vote Obama? Having them trying to convince you on more than one occasion.

Ideas to Get the Conversation Started
Approaching your parents about who they are voting for can be intimidating if you’ve never talked about politics with them before. But this campaign has been built by supporters sharing their stories about what inspires them and why they want to see change in this country. Here are some ideas for ways you can talk to your parents about why you support Barack:

Call or ask in person if they saw the debate and what they thought about it.
Tell them why you are voting for Obama and why it’s important to you.
Print out for them information on some issues you know are important.
Share Barack's speech from the Democratic National Convention or Meet Barack, a video about who Barack Obama is, where he comes from, and what his values are.
Email them and tell them why it's important to you that they vote for Obama.
Think about their perspective. If they are Republican, or are concerned about Barack’s policies, think about where they are coming from and what makes them think the way that they do.

I'm at work so I can't watch the video, I'll check it out when I get home, but I'll include it here - I'm sure its... great.

A Call for a Rosary Novena

A
Call
for
a
Rosary
Novena

By
Fr.
John
Corapi

www.fathercorapi.com


Among
the
most
important
titles
we
have
in
the
Catholic
Church
for
the
Blessed
Virgin
Mary
are
Our
Lady
of
Victory
and
Our
Lady
of
the
Rosary.
These
titles
can
be
traced
back
to
one
of
the
most
decisive
times
in
the
history
of
the
world
and
Christendom.
The
Battle
of
Lepanto
took
place
on
October
7
(date
of
feast
of
Our
Lady
of
Rosary),
1571.
This
proved
to
be
the
most
crucial
battle
for
the
Christian
forces
against
the
radical
Muslim
navy
of
Turkey.
Pope
Pius
V
led
a
procession
around
St.
Peter’s
Square
in
Vatican
City
praying
the
Rosary.
He
showed
true
pastoral
leadership
in
recognizing
the
danger
posed
to
Christendom
by
the
radical
Muslim
forces,
and
in
using
the
means
necessary
to
defeat
it.
Spiritual
 battles
require
spiritual
weapons,
and
this
more
than
anything
was
a
battle
that
had
its
origins
in
the
spiritual
order—a
true
battle
between
good
and
evil.


Today
we
have
a
similar
spiritual
battle
in
progress—a
battle
between
the
forces
of
good
and
evil,
light and
darkness,
truth
and
lies,
life
and
death.
If
we
do
not
soon
stop
the
genocide
of
abortion
in
the
United
States,
we
shall
run
the
course
of
all
those
that
prove
by
their
actions
that
they
are
enemies
of
God—total
collapse,
economic,
social,
and
national.
The
moral
demise
of
a
nation
results
in
the
ultimate
demise
of
a
nation.
God
is
not
a
disinterested
spectator
to
the
affairs
of
man.
Life
begins
at
conception. This
is
an
unalterable
formal
teaching
of
the
Catholic
Church.
If
you
do
not
accept
this
you
are
a
heretic
in
plain
English.
A
single
abortion
is
homicide.
The
more
than
48,000,000
abortions
since
Roe
v.
Wade
in
the
United
States
constitute
genocide
by
definition.
The
group
singled
out
for
death—unwanted,
unborn
children.


No
other
issue,
not
all
other
issues
taken
together,
can
constitute
a
proportionate
reason
for
voting
for
candidates
that
intend
to
preserve
and
defend
this
holocaust
of
innocent
human
life
that
is
abortion.


I
strongly
urge
every
one
of
you
to
make
a
Novena
and
pray
the
Rosary
to
Our
Lady
of
Victory
 between
October
27th
and
Election
Day,
November
4th.
Pray
that
God’s
will
be
done
and
the
most
innocent
and
utterly
vulnerable
of
our
brothers
and
sisters
will
be
protected
from
this
barbaric
and
grossly
sinful
blight
on
society
that
is
abortion.
No
woman,
and
no
man,
has
the
right
to
choose
to
murder
an
innocent
human
being.

May
God
grant
us
the
wisdom,
knowledge,
understanding,
and
counsel
to
form
our
conscience
in
accordance
with
authentic
Catholic
teaching,
and
then
vote
that
well‐formed
Catholic
conscience.


Please
copy,
email,
link
and
distribute
this
article
freely.


God
Bless
You

Fr.
John
Corapi

www.fathercorapi.com


Father Corapi's Website

The Catholic Vote

Spirit & Life®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)
Human Life International e-Newsletter
Volume 03, Number 39 | Friday, October 24, 2008
.................................................................................. www.hli.org
The Catholic Vote

I have been asked by many people to help clarify Catholic teaching on exercising one's voting rights, especially with respect to the abortion issue. There are many candidates across the nation running on many issues, and Catholics are trying to sort through them all, so I will state the Church's position as unequivocally as possible for the education of the faithful and not as an endorsement of any particular candidate or candidates: true Catholics are not "single-issue" voters - we are principled voters. That determines which candidates we give our vote to and it determines the state of our souls after we vote.

With respect to the abortion issue, the principle in question is the moral impossibility for a Catholic to cooperate in an act or an institution that is "intrinsically evil." Now, something that is "intrinsically evil" is not just a bad thing - it is a heinous thing, trumping all other moral considerations, and we can never legitimately commit the act ourselves or approve of it in anyone else. Casting a vote for a candidate who forcefully advocates the killing of innocent unborn babies shows approval or unacceptable toleration of that heinous crime against humanity, and Catholics can never do it in good conscience. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls such an attitude and action "formal cooperation" in evil (#2272). This does not mean that I commit the evil myself. It means that I agree with it and have made it possible for a person in public office to continue and/or advance that evil in my society.

Formal cooperation in the evil act of another is a sin, and depending on the gravity of the person's evil act, formal cooperation in it can be a mortal sin. Since procured abortion is an intrinsically evil act, and all promotion of it fits into the same moral category, voting for a person who forcefully advocates it must be a mortal sin. Add to the sin of formal cooperation in evil the sin of disobedience to legitimate Church authority. To date the USCCB and more than a dozen US bishops and state bishops' conferences have clarified these principles for Catholics, and their teachings couldn't be clearer.

Further, add the sin of scandal that a regrettable number of priests and religious are giving by their appalling disingenuousness about Church teachings both in and out of the pulpit. Catholic parents and teachers equally give scandal when they do not teach their children the principles that undergird moral behavior or properly form their consciences according to the Truth that is in Christ.

Some ask if a Catholic may vote for someone whose policies would advance an agenda that is mostly in line with the Catholic Church's teaching? Also, what if the Catholic disagrees with the candidate's position on abortion but still wants to vote for this candidate for other reasons consistent with our values? Here the Church uses the term "proportionate reason" to indicate that there must be some kind of balance in the candidate's position that indicates it is likely that a greater good would be accomplished for society despite the evil he or she advocates. Proportionate reasoning usually has to do with positions that are not intrinsically evil in themselves or that, if they are, would constitute such a minimal part of the platform that they would be "outweighed" somehow in the grand scheme of the candidate's public service. According to the above principle, however, the degree to which the candidate would promote something as heinous as abortion can literally nullify all the other "good" that he or she would do for humanity! When the fundamental right to life is denied in society, all other rights and goods are therefore threatened. The very moral foundation of a people is eroded. So the answer has to be no, it is not legitimate to disagree on abortion and still vote for a radical abortion candidate.

May a Catholic vote for an "imperfect" candidate if the radical abortion candidate is worse? The Church says yes, but only if the vote is not expressed as an agreement with the "imperfect" elements of the candidate's policies and only if the vote is intended to limit the evil that other candidate would inevitably do.

It is truly regretful that we have gotten to the point where we might have to surrender some of our basic values in the voting booth because we have not successfully insisted on the very best candidates for public office to serve the common good. That is a discussion for another day, but I anticipate that if Catholics do not assert Catholic values forcefully in elections and public policy from here on out, we may be faced in future elections with no choice whatsoever that can morally satisfy the Catholic conscience. Heaven help and guide us all on November 4th.

Sincerely Yours in Christ,


Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

I'm Voting For McCain

McCain has not been one of my favorite people, I have a lot of problems with his policies. But faced with the choice of an Obama presidency I know who I'm voting for. I base this decision on basically two things: abortion, and foreign policy.

I don't like McCain on a lot of issues, but I know he loves this country. Not to sound like a campaign slogan, but I know he will fight for us because he has fought for us.

He may not be the most pro-life candidate ever, but Obama is the most pro-choice candidate ever. Fr. Pavone has said that if Obama wins we will see every pro-life victory washed away.

I like Sarah Palin. I know she's pro-life. I know she's more closely aligned with the things I believe.

Earlier in the election I thought about voting for a third party candidate (like Alan Keyes). Its appealing to me because I live in a navy blue state my vote doesn't matter so much. But my vote for a third party candidate doesn't translate into anything, its not doing anything to stop a radical like Barack Obama from getting into the White House.

In the primary I had originally supported Senator Brownback. He was one of the first, if not the first, to drop out. I loved him especially for his pro-life stedfastness. He endorsed McCain. At the time I didn't understand it. Actually I still don't understand it, at the time McCain's campaign was failing. But McCain pulled it out.

Charles Krauthammer wrote this column which I heard read on Rush today, reprimanding certain conservatives who have flipped to Obama.

Today's economic crisis, like every other in our history, will in time pass. But the barbarians will still be at the gates. Whom do you want on the parapet? I'm for the guy who can tell the lion from the lamb.

Just One Judge

Just One Judge

Senator Government

The folks over at Conservababes have been making up Obama posters. There were quite a few good ones, but this one is my favorite.

St. Barack Obama?

Poor St. Martin de Porres.

Votive Early, Votive Often [Mark Steyn]

A reader took this picture today at a street fair at Hayes and Octavia in San Francisco, of all places:

Mark Steyn

Bitter American

Voting for Vitae

Fr. Pavone is on a roll today.

Voting for Vitae

One of the most striking, bold, and sobering paragraphs ever written about the impact of abortion on the common good is the 20th paragraph of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life). It is a great antidote for the thinking that says we can elect a “pro-choice” candidate because “their other positions are good.” It’s easy to start counting the positions we think a candidate has “right” and see what candidate has the greater “sum” of right answers or “Catholic” answers. But that’s a very superficial and flawed way of doing moral analysis. It’s like saying to a supporter of terrorism, “I disagree with you on the one issue of terrorism, but what’s your health care plan?”

Paragraph 20 of Evangelium Vitae starts by showing the radical and practical impossibility of living with the implications of “pro-choice.” The same illusion that separates “choice” from the demands of respect for life is the illusion that makes us think we can separate other “rights” from the right to life. But human rights are integrally interconnected. Take away the basis for respecting life and you’ve taken away the basis for all human rights. As the Pope says, “At that point, everything is negotiable, everything is open to bargaining.”

The Pope then takes aim at the idea that if abortion has been legalized according to proper democratic procedures, then that’s all that matters. He says, “The appearance of the strictest respect for legality is maintained …. Really, what we have here is only the tragic caricature of legality; the democratic ideal, which is only truly such when it acknowledges and safeguards the dignity of every human person, is betrayed in its very foundations: How is it still possible to speak of the dignity of every human person when the killing of the weakest and most innocent is permitted?”

Along with this, he has some of the strongest words ever written about what happens when the state legalizes abortion: “In this way democracy, contradicting its own principles, effectively moves towards a form of totalitarianism. The State is no longer the ‘common home’ where all can live together on the basis of principles of fundamental equality, but is transformed into a tyrant State, which arrogates to itself the right to dispose of the life of the weakest and most defenseless members … When this happens, the process leading to the breakdown of a genuinely human co-existence and the disintegration of the State itself has already begun. To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom.”

“The disintegration of the State itself…totalitarianism…the death of true freedom.” In other words, no “common good” can co-exist with legal abortion. The very foundations of civilization break down. It sure sounds like abortion is more than just one issue among many.

Fr. Frank

Link

I’m Motivated to Vote

I’m Motivated to Vote

Election Day is right around the corner, and I’m motivated to vote and to influence many other votes. I’m motivated because voting is part of what I need to do to fulfill my life’s dream – a dream shared by many others – that abortion, the biggest holocaust the human family has ever known, will cease.

Some, even in the Church, don’t seem to get the fact that there’s no problem in society bigger than abortion. But it’s a fact nonetheless. Curiously, those who don’t seem to understand this tend to be the least willing to hear the descriptions of abortion or look at the pictures.

I’m motivated to vote, not because one election will end abortion, and certainly not because I expect our elected officials to be perfect or to do my work for me. The People of God have to do the work of ending abortion – providing alternatives, educating minds, changing hearts, changing laws. But part of that work is electing the people who will pose the least obstacle to that mission. We don’t elect people to do our work for us, but rather people who will let us do our own work. So often it’s a choice of the person who will do the least damage, or permit the fewer numbers of abortions. And to choose to limit evil is a good.

I’m motivated, because we’ve made progress. We have two new Justices on the Supreme Court who don’t believe in inventing new rights from “penumbras” – and just like in 2004, the Supreme Court is at stake again. The next President and Senate will move the Court in one direction or another.

We have also gained many new federal judges, who understand the limits of judicial authority. And we have new laws that bring us closer to the protection of the unborn, like the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and the first ban on an abortion procedure since Roe vs. Wade, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

So now it’s a numbers game. We have to spend our time and energy not convincing the one stubborn person, but reminding the many who will listen, if we simply nudge them a little and tell them who the best candidates are. We should go for the “low-hanging fruit,” those easiest to mobilize. And we should vote early. Many states allow voting before Election Day. Let’s get others to vote early, so that unforeseen circumstances don’t stop them from voting later. Let’s help the people who may need a ride to the polls. Let’s get our churches to send out reminders to vote.

Let’s also donate to and volunteer for the candidate of our choice, and let our lawn signs and bumperstickers be seen. Let’s hand out literature, make phone calls, send emails, and put links on our websites to urge people to vote the right way.

And remember, polls don’t determine elections; the people who show up at the polling places do. Let’s bring them out!

-Fr. Frank

Link

Catholic Vote

Catholic Vote

Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin

I'll have to listen to this online tonight when I get home from work, but this is just beautiful.

Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin

September 9, 2008

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?

CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?

RUSH: How about that?

CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, long-time listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: "We Love Kids with Down Syndrome." So when they pulled in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin?

CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them --

RUSH: Oh, cool!

CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter.

RUSH: Very, very, very cool.

CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, "Wow, that's awesome," because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, "Hey, can you come with us?" I was like, "Do we have a choice?"

RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.

CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, "May I hold your daughter?" and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.

RUSH: This is amazing.

CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and he thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm.

RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address.

CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush.

RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website?

CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country.

RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves.

CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country.

RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work.

CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.

RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself.

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all it's limitless possibilities.

RUSH: All right.

CALLER: That's what she is.

RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here but I'm going to put you on hold.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate it.

END TRANSCRIPT

Palin More Qualified Than Obama

Bristol, not Sarah.

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin is better qualified than Barack Obama to be president of the United States in at least one respect: Figuring out when a baby gets human rights is apparently not above her pay grade.

Maggie Gallagher

Obama's Acceptance Speech