The video clip is from 2005, and Sarah Palin, who is running for governor, stands on the dais of a small church; three pastors surround her in a huddle. They are touching her shoulders, her forehead, her back. The would-be governor is stone still, eyes cast down, palms up toward heaven. The man on her left, the one touching her forehead, bends occasionally to whisper in her ear.

This is Ed Kalnins, senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God, the church Palin attended from the time she was 4-years-old until 2002. The man behind her is praying loudly, relentlessly and with an intensity rarely seen in America’s mainstream churches. This is the Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee, a Pentecostal powerhouse who has a reputation for being able to cast out demons and witches through prayer.

First, Muthee urges the congregation to pray for Palin’s success “even in the political arena … [to] bring finances her way … and give her the personnel.” And then he offers this cryptic blessing: “In the name of Jesus. Every form of witchcraft is what you rebuke.” The laying of hands on the Alaska politician, the invoking of Jesus and witches in the same sentence—what the heck is going on?

The scene has been played on YouTube about half a million times, a kind of Rorschach test for Americans of religious faith. Left-wing observers cite the clip as evidence that Palin is a right-wing Christian nut who believes in witches and exorcisms and, most probably, in crazy end-times scenarios. The right repeats its mantra about Palin’s Bible-based values, knowing that her religious background aligns her with at least 20 million of the country’s most conservative Christian voters. They know that Pentecostalism, the branch of Protestantism embraced by Muthee and in which Palin was raised, is the fastest growing religious movement in the world. Perhaps they are also aware of a recent Gallup poll, in which ++a fifth of Americans say they believe in witches.

Palin’s Christian faith is, well, a matter of faith; that her Christian resume helped earn her a spot on the Republican ticket is understood. But what does she believe about God, really? More important, how does her religious faith affect her life and inform her decision-making day to day, and in crisis? In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network last week, Palin addressed these questions but did not answer them. The governor said she prayed and that she believed that God protected America. She took a swipe at the media for “mocking God” in the campaign and then went on to say, “I don’t think that there’s anything that I can do about it, so you know, I won’t whine or complain about it, but nobody is going to convince me that my foundation of faith is not good for me and for my family. No matter the mocking, no matter what anybody says about it, I’m going to keep plugging away at this, and I’m going to keep seeking God’s guidance and his wisdom and his favor and his grace, for me, for my family, for this campaign, for our nation.”

Source:  http://www.newsweek.com/id/166215?GT1=43002

Well, last night was the final debate before the 2008 election. Obama was calm, cool and collected. McCain was in full-on attack mode and his attempts fell flat. Every time Obama spoke, McCain looked like he was about to explode. Just how many times did he say that Obama was going to “raise taxes”? It was almost comical. Obama has clearly stated many times that 95% of working people in America will have their taxes LOWERED.

McCain’s constant references to “Joe the Plumber” were an attempt to connect with the lower and middle class, but since Joe the Plumber’s TAXABLE income was more than 250K a year (this means he make much more than 250K, folks), Joe is not a member of the middle or lower class.

In the previous debate, McCain was going on about the so-called “fine” that a small business would have to pay for not providing health insurance. Obama ran out of time in that debate and didn’t get to respond. McCain brought it up again last night and Obama DID respond this time. It’s my favorite moment from the debate, the reaction from McCain is priceless.

I find it funny that McCain talks about corruption and the out of control nature of Wall Street. He says a change is needed. His party is the reason for the problems and his views are the same as theirs — no regulation.

I have gotten so sick of all of this; I cannot wait until the election is over, Obama is elected and this country starts to get back on the right track.

Found on Flickr:

“Someone stole our Obama for President sign from our yard last night. They stole nearly all the Obama signs in our neighborhood. The ones they didn’t take they spray-painted black. So I made this sign today and staked it in the yard. I fully expect it to be trashed by morning. At least they know the result of their pranks: we give more money to Obama’s campaign.”

Read related journal entry here: http://lost-angel.livejournal.com/225155.html

An awesome new addition to the Barack Obama website –  a tax calculator!

You put in your income range, number of dependents, whether or not you have childcare expenses and whether or not you are saving for retirement.  The calculator will show you how much of a tax cut you will receive under Obama’s plan and how much it will be under McCain’s plan.  This is perfect for those who are concerned that taxes will be raised if Obama is elected.  For me the difference was pretty significant. Check it out!

http://taxcut.barackobama.com/

Here’s a PDF summary of the differences between the Obama plan and the McCain plan:

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/taxes/Tax_Plan_Comparison_FINAL.pdf

Originally posted on HolyTaco.com, it’s the Sarah Palin Garbage Pail Kid card!!

After witnessing Sarah Palin in the Vice Presidential Debate last night, her game plan for the debate can be revealed:

We can only hope that her sad attempts to be “folksy”, whether it being mentioning hockey moms, saying things like “darn”, “dog gone it”, not pronouncing her “ings”, i.e. saying “doin’” instead of “doing”, doesn’t charm people into making a stupid decision. She’s trying to be George W. Bush all over again. She DID do better than she did in the Katie Couric interviews, but she didn’t answer questions, made a lot of false statements, and in many cases just said whatever she wanted to say.

Calling John McCain an agent of change is ridiculous as he is and has been for deregulation, which got us into the mess this country is in. Calling McCain a “maverick” would have been true a few years ago, but he is not a maverick any more and has been voting the same as Bush for a long time. He basically sold himself out in an attempt to gain the White House. I do respect his service record, but he is so out of touch with what this country needs. The pick of Palin for VP is a huge mistake for the McCain campaign as she showed last night she has no idea what the office of Vice President even means.

Joe Biden did as expected; the man is experienced and knows what he is talking about. His only blunder was praising Palin on things she did in Alaska. She did cut taxes there, but being that it was the most heavily taxed state in the US, it wasn’t doing much. Biden was smart to keep pointing out McCain’s voting record and the failings of the Bush administration. Palin and McCain are more of the same, no matter what they say.

Tina Fey is on a roll with her spot-on Sarah Palin parodies. Check this out:

Check it out, you can get a FREE Obama button from MoveOn – just go to this link: https://political.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?rc=fb.ads.nonyouth.

I need to do an in depth blog entry about Sarah Palin, but for now I need to say that I was wrong. I was thinking that the GOP picked Palin to try to grab disgruntled Hillary supporters, but the real reason they picked her was to cater to the hard-core Evangelical voters. I hope they are able to see beyond her faith and see her for what she is; an inexperienced extremist who is nothing but trouble for this country.