Stupid Fat Hobbit

If the Washington Redskins win their last home game before election, it means the incumbent party will get to stay in the White House.
Since 1936, except for 2004, the outcome of that game has correctly predicted the winner of the race. For superstitious John Kerry supporters, the Redskins’ defeat in that contest was reason to celebrate. Equally superstitious backers of President Bush had cause to worry. The Redskins lost to the Green Bay Packers in the 2004 tilt, but Mr. Bush won, anyway! This year, the Skins are home to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Monday Night Football the night before the election.

If this is not a reason to support the Washington Redskins, then nothing is…

Well, I knew it would have to happen someday. About 25 years ago, I had an enormous amount of work done in my mouth to repair years of the ‘old silver fillings’ that I had acquired. The dentist told me that in about 10-12 years I would need to get a few crowns because of the damage I had done to my teeth. Last week I went in for my normal semi-annual cleaning and was told that I indeed finally needed to get my first crown and today was my lucky day.

First, let me tell you I am a dental wimp! Just the sound of that high-speed drill makes my teeth start aching and I absolutely hate the feel of the cold water against my teeth. So the thought of spending an hour and a half in the dental chair while he grinds one of my teeth down to a stump was not a pleasant one. After explaining to the nurse and dentist at least sixteen times how much I hated them, I took out my iPod, cranked up Rich Mullins as loud as he would go and told the nurse to tap me on the head if they needed to get my attention.

If you’ve never gotten a crown before (thank God I didn’t need to get the root canal), they literally grind your tooth down to a weird sort of square shape. I asked the dentist if he’d ever seen ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ because that’s what my tooth felt like when he was done. I was thrilled by the effectiveness of the pain killers though and the only time the drill bothered me was when he put this huge honkin’, massive bit on the end of his drill and slooooowwwwlllyyyy roughed up the surface of the tooth. This bit felt like I was driving my car down a gravel road with no tires. And the sound was HORRIBLE!

But then they did one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. They dropped this waxy looking stuff into the mold they had taken of my teeth earlier and had me bite down on it. 3 minutes later, my temporary crown was ready to be trimmed down and polished. It was really neat the way the waxy material formed and hardened in the little tray in my mouth. (hey, it’s the small things in life that bring me joy).

Then they had to super-glue it to the stump in my mouth but for the most part that went off without a hitch. It was kinda funny the way the dentist told me “Make sure, if it falls out, you call right away and get it back in here immediately so I can glue it back on.” Like it was the wing of his favorite model and he was going to be very protective of it. I thought Doc, the odds are if the stupid thing falls out, it’s going to be a couple of days before I get it back and by then I probably won’t want it glued back into my mouth. But that’s probably too much information for most of you…

Anyway, in two weeks I get my permanent crown and then I’ll be a permanent king. Bwah hah hah!

Dear Undecided,

I don’t know how to break this to you but the election is less than a week away. I mean, I’m a procrastinator but what on earth are you waiting for? Is it so hard to find a candidate who aligns with your personal values? Let me see if I can help you by providing the following quick quiz:

1. Do you believe that abortion on demand is a good thing?
2. Do you believe that all of the illegal immigrants in this country should be given amnesty and full citizenship with benefits?
3. Do you believe the Federal Government should be in charge of and pay for your health care?
4. Do you think that all of the states should have to acknowledge marriage as between any two people no matter their gender?
5. Do you think we should eliminate about 25% of our current military and withdraw all of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan immediately?
6. Do you believe our border with Mexico is not that important and can be left alone?
7. Do you believe that people who currently pay 60% of their income in taxes could stand to pay a little more?
8. Do you believe all of the tax cuts of the past 8 years were a mistake and should be repealed?
9. Do you believe that judges and justices should be allowed to legislate from the bench rather than just enforcing the laws which are already on the books?
10. Do you believe that businesses should be forced to hire based upon race, gender, and sexual orientation until specified quotas are met?
11. Can you pronounce the phrase “Trillion Dollar Deficit”?

These are the items on which the Presidential candidates differ the most dramatically.
If you answered “No” to any of these questions, you should vote for John McCain on November 4th.
If you answered “Yes” to all of the questions, Barack Obama is the man for you.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Human Events dot Com

I’ve not discussed this with you guys before but I am a moderator for an afternoon prayer group that we call the “Parking Lot Prayer Group” at our school. Every school day, I spend a little time in the adoration chapel writing a prayer and then, about 15 minutes before school ends, I invite the parents in the parking lot to stand and pray together. We have jar that we put prayer intentions into and about 25-45 people on average who attend. Anyway, last week one of the parents in the group suggested that we have a day of fasting and prayer in opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act and for the Pro-Life movement. I was able to receive approval for this and we will be holding this special day tomorrow, Wednesday October 29, 2008. We have several events planned including two complete Pro-Life rosaries that will be prayed at 10 AM and 2 PM.

I’m sure that most of you are not in the Woodbridge, VA area but I would invite any of you to participate by offering up a day of fasting and prayer on your own. If you have never fasted in prayer before, let me just say it is one of the most inspiring forms of prayer that I have ever found. The mortification of the body is a special form of prayer that most of the Old Testament prophets, and Jesus Himself used to gain control over evil spirits and show a special form of love to God the Father.

All I can say is WOW! Our priest spoke this weekend about right to life issues and how Catholics are mandated by their claim to be a Catholic to vote for life. He spoke of several things, not just Roe v. Wade and the Freedom of Choice Act but he talked about how we need to stop crisis pregnancy at the source and how we have to do everything in our power to help those in crisis pregnancy situations.

His arguments were very compelling. He spoke about how some laws were inherently bad and we recognized them as such. So, slavery was bad and no reasonably intelligent person would agree today that ‘a person should be allowed to choose whether or not they should own slaves’. He spoke that way in regards to spousal abuse also, so that no reasonably intelligent person would agree that ‘a person should be allowed to choose whether or not they can beat their spouse’. Yet we are willing to engage this same type of conversation about the murder of unborn babies. Like me, he followed the abortion argument to it’s logical conclusion (and then some) which is to say “Where do we stop?” There are some countries that are already arguing for and promoting euthanasia as a means of allowing people to die with ‘dignity’. He asked, “why stop there?”; what about the infirmed?, those born with debilitating diseases?, teenagers that we just can’t control? (he got a chuckle for saying this but I’m not sure that was his intention). One more statement that he made was important I think. He said (to the effect of) that the country is responsible for making laws but it is up to the Church to be a moral compass for the country. People didn’t just start believing slavery was bad, the moral climate of the country got to the point where everyone, not just those deeply involved with their church, began to realize that slavery was bad because all men are created equal. Many people died bringing this to fruition and there are still people out there who believe they are better than others strictly because of their race but that is certainly not the pervasive feeling throughout the country.

I believe that abortion is the same way; most people understand that murder is bad but they allow themselves to be bullied into believing that the unborn are somehow not human. Because they do not fall into the ‘viable’ category they are somehow not human yet if you wait a little while, would they somehow be something else? If you apply the scientific process what would you conclude? Every single time in human history when a human egg and a human sperm have united, they have produced a human child. Not 10%, not 50%, not 99.99999%, but 100% of the time. So the argument moves to ‘when does the sperm and the egg become a child?’ This is the argument I like the most because not too long ago, we did not have any real evidence. Today however we know that immediately after the sperm and the egg unite, the new life begins; the cells start splitting and (though it may not yet look like it) little Tommy or little Janey is on the way.

So what exactly are we left with in this whole Pro-Life argument? I’ll tell you. We are left with those who have the courage to stand up for what is right and have an open, honest debate with the pro-choice people. It’s not our job to try and understand what the other side is saying. It is not our job to agree that sometimes, just maybe sometimes, there is a valid reason for aborting a baby. It is our job to present a reasoned, well thought out argument for the sanctity of all life not matter what state it is in.

What about the safety of the mother? Come on Hobbit, you have to agree that if the doctor says the mother will die delivering this baby, we should be able to abort the baby. NO I DON’T! I cannot give life to anything therefore I should not be willing to take life from anything either. One of the arguments in this case is that “we cannot be sure that the sperm and egg are a life”. If we cannot be sure it is a life, it stands to reason that we cannot be sure it is NOT a life. Which side makes more sense, allowing it to grow and see if it becomes a life or killing it, ensuring that we will never know?

So what can you do? First and foremost, you need to educate yourself on the issue so that you can make an informed case for life. Secondly, you need to vote pro-life. This is not me speaking to you, this is Pope John Paul II speaking in Evangelium Vitae that the single most fundamental right of the human being is the right to life and that no government or power be allowed to create any law which would subvert that right. All Catholics must and all Christians should be compelled to vote for the candidate who will uphold the right to life. This has nothing to do with what you think is correct or, more importantly, what your conscience is telling you; this has to do with fundamental truths and, perhaps, the reason why we are Catholics in the first place. Sometimes, it is important for us to rely on those whose job it is to educate us in our morality. In this case, it is Pope John Paul II; a man who almost all religious leaders considered to be fundamentally grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ! He is telling us that this one subject is more important than anything else to mankind. It is THE foundational principal upon which all other moral decisions depend! Vote pro-life and then follow up to ensure that your candidates are keeping their word.

Okay, so I’ve been serious all week (in all facets of life father, husband, teacher, technology, religion) so I decided I needed a break and I started flipping through the movie channels. Have any of you ever seen the movie Contact. I know that June Cleaver has because Matthew McConaughey is in it and she is the queen of all things Matthew. But for me, Jodie Foster is in it. Now, any boy who was born in the 60′s and didn’t fall in love with Jodie at one time or another is just a flat out liar. I’ve never, ever thought about shooting the President but I used to wonder what a date with Jodie would be like (long before the press figured out I’m not her type). So anyway, I’m thinking to myself that this would be a good movie to watch since I haven’t seen it in a long time and I remembered enjoying it back then. So I sat right down on the couch with my beer and pretzels and watched the whole movie and man do I have to tell you, this is not one of the best movies that either of these actors has ever done.

Now Matthew is not ever going to be placed in the same category as the great Shakespearean actors but he’s not bad and hey, you get to look at him which, I’M TOLD, is not a bad thing. And then there’s Jodie Foster, she’s been doing this acting thing for a while and she’s got pretty good acting genes and she’s got two Academy Awards and if you’ve ever seen “Nell”, you know she can act. And Tom Skerritt who I love is there but Jiminy Cricket the acting in this movie is atrocious! I’m telling you, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was spending time with Jodie Foster, I could have turned the TV off and went to bed at any point after the opening scene. I think the only redeeming performance in the movie was David Morse as Jodie’s father. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen this guy do a bad scene and let me tell you, he has had plenty of opportunities. He’s a character actor (like Gene Hackman used to be) who has to do 40 movies to get the money and respect that Matthew gets for showing up at the beach for his morning workout. Look at the list of movies and roles he’s performed and you get the impression he could do almost anything.

So if you really, really, really need something to do one day; find this movie on one of the free channels (no, don’t pay for it) and sit down and watch. Otherwise, there could be grass growing or paint drying somewhere that will get you through that lazy winter afternoon…

Well I was all set to go back to writing funny, pithy little snide comments and remarks when I got an e-mail from a very good friend of mine. It seems that this abortion issue is just getting worse and worse. I really wasn’t planning on spending another post on the subject since MOST of you agreed with the position and the few dissenters did not seem to be so much pro-abortion as ‘seeking the right time that abortion could be abolished’. But that all changed with my quick edumacation today. It seems that my buddy Barack Obama is very excited about becoming President so that he can sign into law the bill (S. 1173, H.R. 1964) called “The Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) and as originally written was designed to codify** the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. For me, that would be enough to say “No”; however as the bill has gone through the lawmaking process, it has picked up and (more importantly) dropped some very interesting (read alarming) verbiage.

**Codification is when existing laws and their amendments are rewritten so that they are no longer chronological but placed within their branch of law and the meanings of the decisions and amendments are ‘interpreted’ by those who write the bill. In this case, several pro-abortion Senators’ have taken the liberty of interpreting the decisions for us.

So, without sugar-coating anything, here are the ‘rights’ that Barack Obama wants to give to pregnant women and take away from unborn babies.

1. Federally mandate the removal of laws in place to ensure abortion facilities meet health and safety regulations.
2. Federally mandate the removal of ‘informed consent’ to abortion since these laws can lead to delay in abortion and are seen as interfering with the abortion process.
3. Federally mandate that the government may not discriminate against the funding of abortion in publicly funded programs. Our tax dollars will now be required, from the Federal level, to be available to pay for abortions!
4. Federally mandate the allowance of abortions after viability (partial-birth and late term abortions) with no stipulation for the health of the mother.
5. Allow for the removal of the requirement that abortions be performed by a medically qualified physician.
6. Removes the right of Conscientious Objection. In other words, physicians, hospitals and other medical personnel can be forced to perform or support abortions even if their moral principals are being violated.
7. Removes the rights for parents to be involved/notified of their minor daughter’s decision to have an abortion.

So what does this all mean? Well, this is the most aggressive pro-abortion/anti-life piece of legislation ever drafted. In my opinion, Articles of War have been drafted with less certainty of holocaust. This bill literally rolls back every major advance that the pro-life movement has made since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade including those that were put in place to protect the health of the mother who decides to have an abortion. According to the NOW website: [The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)] would sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws, policies.”

As of today October 20, 2008, 4,797 Americans have died in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; that’s just about 7 years worth of fighting. Senator Obama says this is too costly in lives and money. Today (and today alone) 3000 unborn children will die at the hands of abortionists; tomorrow 3000 more will die, the next day another 3000, and so on…These are not just numbers, these are lives and Barack Obama is chomping at the bit to sign this bill into law! If I knew nothing else about this man, I would tell you that you are either an idiot or you are evil if you vote for him to become President of the United States!

Perhaps you’ve heard that Nancy Pelosi is already making plans for a Lame Duck session of Congress the week following the election. If Barack Obama wins and the Liberals pick up a few more seats, they will force a lame duck session NOT to work on the economy, NOT to create an energy plan, they will meet to draft and bring forward massive amounts of medical, tax, and invasive legislation that will be ready for their new President to sign the moment he takes office. This bill is an example of their best work; they want to make it unsafe, easy and free for any girl or woman in the US to have an abortion.

If you haven’t seen this video yet (http://www.durarealidad.com/), please watch it. It was created by the man who is responsible for the movie Bella (thanks, Nicole). It is horrible and graphic and will hopefully make you sick to your stomach. If it doesn’t then you deserve the government that you will unleash upon the rest of us. One thing I do know is that John McCain and Sarah Palin WILL NOT SUPPORT this bill and they will do everything in their power to have it removed from the lawmaking process.

Pray, pray like you’ve never prayed before. Pray for John and Sarah but pray for Barack and Joe as well because if they do get elected, they WILL SEE this bill and the only thing that could stop someone from signing it into law is a conscience. Barack has not shown me one yet and if Joe has one, it is not strong enough to overcome his boss (not yet anyway).

This is really one of my favorite campaign ads for this political season. Let’s see, so his economic recovery plan has to do with taxing the people and companies that hire 95% of the private sector employees. Then he’s going to cut government spending while increasing government intervention in our lives. He’s going to force the medical industry to cut costs so that the government can afford to pay our medical costs because he’s going to nationalize medical coverage but he’s going to do this without stopping the litigation that is causing medical costs to skyrocket. Plus, the attorneys who are currently having to sue medical practices and/or insurance companies are now going to be able to sue the federal government. Yep, I’m loving the prospect of an Obama led nation…Obama-Nation…Obamination…

My favorite has to be his stance on life. When George Herbert Walker Bush ran for President, Dennis Miller who then hosted Saturday Night Live’s News segment made the statement that Bush was Anti-Abortion but Pro-Death Penalty; the punch-line was “I guess it’s all in the timing, huh George?” Now, we have a candidate who is Pro-Abortion and Anti-Death Penalty. So let me get this straight, an unborn infant who has done absolutely nothing wrong can be terminated at the convenience of the one who conceived it but a person who willingly and knowingly committed a crime so heinous that our laws would allow them to be put to death should not. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we have the right to take anyone’s life and believe that no one, no matter what the cause of their conception, crime they’ve committed, or age (euthanasia) should be put to death in any unnatural way. But hey, if I had to defend one position or the other, I certainly could find it easier to defend Capital Punishment than I could Abortion. Did you hear Katie Couric trying to rope in Sarah Palin with that lame question? “So, you believe that a woman who becomes pregnant because of rape or incest should be forced to carry the baby to term?” Hell yes; or do two wrongs now make a right in Katie’s precious little book? Let’s see, kill the unborn child and then the mother can just go on with her life and the trauma of the rape or incest will just go away like it never happened??? Please! Oh, and the abortion is not going to add any trauma to the poor victim’s life. I wish Sarah’s answer to Katie would have gone something like “Yes, and I believe that it shouldn’t be the law that the elementary school nurse has to call me to give my child an aspirin and yet is legally restricted from calling me before referring her to the abortion clinic.”

One more thing before I step off this soapbox, Whoopee Goldberg used to make millions of dollars selling videos in which she ridiculed men who had a pro-life view. She would walk up to the men and ask them “When was the last time you were pregnant?” Now on “The View”, she asks John McCain if she has to be worried about going back to slavery because of his view on strict interpretation of Constitutional Law. When was Whoopee ever a slave? About the only thing she is a slave to is that tired excuse for a hairstyle she’s been sporting for the last 35 years! Hypocrite! How do you get these jobs? Man I wish more people read my blog; I’m out of here…

I have to admit that there have been times in the past when I have looked at the ballot (probably not for a presidential election) and wondered whether or not the election was important to me or not. I am certain that karma, in all of its various disguises is catching up to me this election.
To be honest, the President is not going to be able to impact the financial situation on Wall Street too much. That is not the President’s role. There have been financial crises under various Presidents of several different political parties. The current crisis was caused by greed; plain and simple. The stock market has been overvalued for at least 9 years now and no one has really been screaming about it because no one really yells when everyone seems to be making money. Anyway, no matter how you look at it, the President is not going to fix the economic situation in this country. So what should we look at when we discuss who it is that we are going to vote for. What is the President responsible for anyway? The President is the moral compass of our country. The man or woman who sits in the most powerful seat of the most powerful country in the world needs to be one who not only has sound moral principals but also surrounds themselves with leadership that can make sound moral judgments as well. I believe that the more you’ve been through the crucible of fire, the more you will understand how to make good decisions and how bad decisions have negative impacts that you might not have thought about. I don’t believe that any candidate in the history of this great country has been ideal for the role of President. Many have been close, several have been horrible, but for me, the current election has the starkest contrast that I have seen in the 25 years I’ve been voting.

As I Catholic, I ask you to watch the following short video. It will not try to convert you, it will just ask you to vote your conscience this November.

Thank you

I am not a good secret keeper. When people ask me if I can keep a secret, my standard reply is “I don’t know, I’ve never tried”. But Debbie and I have had a secret for about a month now that I’ve been keeping from the kids. Not only have I been keeping it from the kids, I’ve been feeding them a bunch of hogwash and letting their imaginations run wild with it at the same time (another thing I am not strong at).
For a little over a month now, the kids have been knowing that we’re having guests come and visit. At first, the only clues they received were, “They haven’t been on the east coast for a while”, “They have 2 kids”. That sort of thing. As we got closer to the date (yesterday), the kids excitement started ramping up. I would say something like “they are not married to each other” and the next day Becka would have built this whole elaborate story, that she would then convey to Jeremy, about how they are divorced and how one kid is coming with one adult. It was the most fun I’ve had in a very, very long time.
Last night, we picked up Jeremy from soccer practice and went out to the airport. I stood back from the Arrivals board and checked the gate and then went and sat down in the generic, public area. The plane we were waiting for was 25 minutes early so the kids were thinking one arrival time, while the plane was actually already on the ground. There were a couple of News crews at the airport and that kept them relatively distracted for a good while as well. Finally, we’re standing along the railing watching the people exit Customs when I turn to my daughter and say, “Hey look, that woman looks like Mommy”. Becka looks at her and then looks at me and says, “Yeah, she really does”. 2 seconds went by before the light whacked her in the head like a Frisbee doing 40 miles per hour and she went “Hey, wait a second, it is Mommy”. It was the most priceless moment I’ve ever seen.
Debbie is in town for a couple of conferences with her boss and so we get her back for 2 precious weeks before she has to go back to violence and unrest. For the adults in the household, reality is way too present to let the joy be complete but for the kids, having mom back in the house is just a true happiness. We’re going to try to squeeze 3 months of the past into these 2 weeks (wish us luck) and then we’re going to have to say goodbye again for another 3 months. I am certain this new goodbye will be harder than the first but I have my wife back in my arms again and that means more to me right now that any future pain could possibly be worth.