Note: I didn't feel like re-reading this post for typos or grammar mistakes, so I apologize in advance for any you may find... There's a lot of passionate stuff here that I really didn't feel like going through more than once. It's long and I doubt anyone will read it, but oh well! It had to be said.

So this is floating around... Howard Stern aired some clips of questions being asked of random people on the streets. They go up and ask if they're for Obama or McCain and if they said Obama, then they pulled a fast one to see if people knew what they were talking about. What they did was ask if they supported Obama's claims to do various things, only those claims were things McCain wants to do. The best part is when they're asked if they support Obama's pick of Sarah Palin and they're all like "oh, definitely!" To me, though, I could tell they were clueless when it came to the policies... You can just tell by their voices that they had no idea what they were just asked, but they knew they liked Obama for whatever reason, so they covered themselves as best they could... But it was a trap and made them look like utter fools. Here's a YouTube audio clip, if you want to hear. Sad thing is, this really doesn't surprise me.

Absolutely amazing. Like I said... Doesn't surprise me in the least bit. These are people who just can't be troubled to look into anything, and if they do, they don't use any form of judgment for themselves, they just repeat the Democrat party spew and determine things with their emotions. For instance, I skimmed over a blog post that started off saying they voted for Obama because "he looked more presidential" than McCain. Oh yeah, that's a prime qualification right there. He LOOKS presidential! Right-o! The post just went downhill from there and dredged up all the party's tripe about how McCain is lying about Obama's affiliation with Ayers and how he's not really a Socialist.

I mean, if you did ANY research into this on your own, you'd find out that someone's lying, and it's not McCain. I already covered some information that pegs Obama as being a member of the New Party, the Socialist party of America. Remember that post? But no, they take the bait, hook, line and sinker, and run with the lies that the Obama campaign is billowing to poorly cover his butt. It doesn't help that the mainstream media is so far in the tank for Obama that they can no longer see the light of day. That might also be why they're ignoring the fact that the Communist Party of the United States is endorsing Obama as their candidate. What the heck? (Note: I figured I would link to the blog I found it on, but if you want to go directly to the party's article, here's the link to that, but I suspect it may be removed from their site in the future.) Want me to say that again?

THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY ENDORSES BARACK OBAMA.

The very words "American" and "Communist" are antonyms! American Communist is the very definition of an oxymoron! You cannot be American and support Communism... Does nobody know what Socialism and Communism is anymore? Where are the days where we were smart enough to know threats to the very heart of our existence and not be afraid to fight it? If anyone, for any reason, tries to explain this away as a non-issue is, to be perfectly blunt, a naive idiot of epic proportions. The more I read about the un-American background of that candidate, the more I'm inclined to think that voters for that candidate are equally un-American. How can you be so diluted as to think none of this matters? How can you be so stupid to think that we can somehow pull off Socialist or Communist ideals that have repeatedly failed over the course of human history? We're Americans because we never bought into all that... We're the greatest country on the planet because we never bought into all that. And now people are ready to embrace the very definition of un-American because... Why? I honestly don't know.

You ask them why and they'll stumble and stutter around or flat out deflect the issue and twist it around into something negative about McCain. "Well, I'm voting for Obama because he won't give tax cuts to companies going overseas!" Yeah, get an economics book before you try to use that argument, okay? Companies are going overseas because taxes are cheaper over there... Raise taxes here on companies leaving and they'll just leave faster. That's absolutely brilliant! Lower taxes on companies and they'll all move back to where they'll have to pay less. It's not rocket science! Why can't people understand the basic principles of capitalist economics?

I could go on and on and on, but it wouldn't do any good. The Democrats are going to cover their ears, hum loudly, and go vote early. After all, what they ignore can't actually be true, right? What they don't know can't hurt them, right? And if someone comes through with hard evidence that Obama is DEAD WRONG on an issue, they'll just pretend like it doesn't matter. What bugs me to no end is how anyone can act like this. I know some pretty intelligent people (well, they used to be, at any rate) who, at one time, would have been smart enough and objective enough to realize Obama is a HORRIBLE choice. I guess somewhere along their life, they decided to forsake everything that makes this country great. But that's what the Democrat party enjoys doing... They love to tear people down and destroy the pride in our country and bombard people with negative stories and examples of how evil this country has become. It's a complete and total lie, but a lie repeated long enough and loud enough and often enough will eventually be believed.

I guess there's one good thing for conservatives that could come out of an Obama election. After we enter the Second Great Depression and our military is pulled back in defeat and our taxes and unemployment are skyrocketing and deadbeat welfare leeches are lined up waiting for their next free check paid for by the Joe the Plumbers of the country... When we are no longer the strongest and greatest country on the planet, and illegal immigrants are overrunning our nationalized healthcare systems and international trade has ground to a halt after Obama dismantles NAFTA and we have all our weapons confiscated and religious organizations are treated as poorly as any other small business... When America has been flushed down the toilet because nobody wanted to be called a racist, all of us conservatives can point at you liberal Democrats and say "We told you so! We were right all along and you didn't listen!" It'll be too late to do anything more than that.

I apologize for the morbid post, but I had to spill it somewhere... I'm getting sick of all the factless, air-head reasons on why people are voting for Obama. I know I can scream until I'm blue in the face and am so hoarse I won't be able to speak for weeks and nobody will listen because that's the way liberals are, but it still makes me sick that someone in the United States could think someone like Obama is a good direction for our country. Literally, it makes me sick to my stomach that someone could throw everything away for empty promises by someone who's skin happens to be black. ("OMG, I can't vote against him or I'll be a racist!") But because I'm the kind of guy who will shout from his soapbox until the second coming of Christ because he knows he's right, I'll keep shouting about how horrible Obama is for a president and how insane everyone is for voting for him. I don't care if that makes me "arrogant" or "rude" or "racist" or what have you... It's the truth, and the truth hurts, so they say.

But I agree with what Sarah Palin said to Dr. Dobson (of Focus on the Family) in response to a question about how the polls affect the morale of the campaign:

"To me, it motivates us, makes us work that much harder," Palin said. "And it also strengthens my faith, because I'm going to know, at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4. So I'm not discouraged at all."

I'm sure people all over will extrapolate this to mean that Palin thinks she's the "right thing" for America because she put it in God's hands. Nothing farther from the truth... I mean, sure, all of us Christians (at least the ones with their heads screwed on straight) think she is, by far, one of the best leaders to come along, but what she means by that is that no matter what happens... If she's elected or if Obama is elected or if a third party rises up... No matter what happens, it's all in God's hands and that nothing will happen that He hasn't planned to happen. This is why I, for one, will not be out in the streets with any rioters if Obama happens to win the election. I realize that even though he's the worst candidate we've had in the history of this country, he was elected for a reason and, according to the Bible, in Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

But don't you think for an instant that it gives you a free pass not to vote or to vote for Obama. Whatever happens will happen for a purpose and for an ultimate good for those that love God and are following his will, but we cannot sit idle and wait for it to happen... We need to get out there and do what we know is right! But if Palin should lose, and the Republican party takes the opportunity to reject conservatism, and all manner of horrible things happens as a result of an Obama presidency, I will take heart knowing that it's happening for a reason and is all according to a divine plan.

No Sarah Palin rally this week, so I have remembered to find a video for this week, hooray! This week's video is a classic... At least to me. Phox gave this to me a very long time ago and it was one of the reasons I actually created a YouTube account. (So I could rate it and favorite it so I could find it easily in the future.) Since nobody has bothered to show me videos since the first week, you're all stuck with my own picks! (Which, to be honest, is really quite surprising... People usually inundate me with crazy videos that I'm always being forced to watch, but as soon as I actually encourage it, they stop. Story of my life!)

I now present to you: How NOT to enjoy a banana... Set to the title music of Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

So there are rumblings of Sarah Palin being so diluted as to proclaim that the Vice President has the right to preside over the Senate and essentially lead it. This surfaced briefly during the debate, during which Joe Biden almost exploded on the spot when she said it and he claimed that this was a recent idea developed by the "dangerous Dick Cheney" and that the Vice President is strictly there to aid the President in the Executive branch. For all you elite news media reporters and all you Democrats who scream that Cheney and Palin are overstepping their bounds, I have a news flash for you...

Read the Constitution.

Behold, Article 1... The Article discussing how the Legislative Branch functions. For those of you too clueless to understand what the Legislative Branch is, that's Congress. The House and Senate. They work entirely differently than the Executive Branch, which nobody on either ticket has any experience in except everyone's favorite Sarah Palin, might I once again point out. In this article, under Section 3, which discusses the Senate, are these two little gems:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

Why, will you look at that! It looks like the Constitution itself says that the Vice President is essentially the President of the Senate! It also looks like officers are only appointed for when the Vice President isn't around. The position is quite clearly spelled out in the Legistlative Article. Hmm... Weird. I thought Joe Biden and the Democrats said Dick Cheney INVENTED this preposterous idea? If the Vice President wants to, they can run the Senate themselves, but they can't vote unless the Senate is perfectly split on an issue, which doesn't happen very often. The fact remains: The Vice President is allowed, by the Constitution itself, to essentially "run the Senate", like Sarah Palin is saying.

If we proceed further down the article, we find, in Article 2: Section 1, which describes the Executive Branch, this little bit that also mentions the Vice President:

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected...

Hmm. The Vice President is mentioned in BOTH branches. Could this, in some way, insinuate that the Vice President is PART of both branches? That it can assert power in both branches? You know, I think it does! But who do we believe, folks? Do we believe someone who's been in government for what? 30 years? 40 years? Do we believe Joe Biden, the very definition of "Washington Elite" who has all this "experience" and yet can't be bothered to check the single most important government document we have? Or do we believe that "silly, backwater" Governor from a State that's "barely a state" who seems to know exactly what the Constitution says? Hmm... I think I'm going to vote for the person who shows Constitutional knowledge. You know, I think I'd vote for someone like that every single time!

But remember, folks... Joe Biden is the experienced one on their ticket! Hahaha... God help us.

This whole fake problem with Sarah Palin reeks of people who aren't bothered to go see if she's right, but they're going to say she's wrong anyway. In fact, the article I saw was headlined "Sarah Palin: dumb and dumber". How mature. All these Democrats and reporters who think this is something to use against Sarah Palin are like little children who cover their ears and sing songs and think that if they don't read the Constitution, it might as well not be there to adhere to. Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, who thinks this is something that shows how inexperienced Sarah Palin is? Anyone who says that is, to be perfectly honest, a clueless moron who has no right criticizing anyone. But we all know the Democrats and media are already clueless morons who have no right criticizing anyone, but that doesn't stop them from shooting at Sarah Palin through their own feet.

And now for the first and third thoughts!

First Thought:

I'll bet nobody remembered, but I forgot to do the weekly video like I promised to start doing last week. Yeah, I forgot until Saturday, but I have a great defense: I was working on attending a Sarah Palin rally that was taking place about an hour away from my house. I went to wait in line for tickets on Wednesday and subsequently forgot about doing a video. Yes, I did manage to go to the rally on Friday and I got lots of photos and got my own video of her talking, but the footage was taken with a home video camera, without a tripod, zoomed in all the way, so it's very shaky and I probably won't get around to digitizing it any time soon, but I have managed to download all kinds of local TV news clips and will be posting those sometime soon, including one particular snippet that shows yours truely in line at about 11am. Attending the rally was probably the single most exciting thing I've done... Seeing as how I don't get out very often. I'm working on a post, but something like this takes a while.

Third Thought:

So! I know of people, lots of people, who claim to be "independents". They may be registered Republicans or Democrats or true Independents, but they all adhere to one idea: They don't vote for parties, they vote for people. Alright, I respect that. All these people claim they don't vote for parties, but then, suddenly, this "early voting" phenomenon hits the masses and the parties encourage people to vote early to "beat the crowd". What's worse is that people buy into this. Nobody's exempt from this, okay? I want this to be perfectly clear. Democrats and Republicans both push for people to vote early and I will say the same thing to both side, whether they're voting for Obama or McCain: DON'T VOTE EARLY. Do not vote three weeks ahead of Election Day for the sake of convenience. Why? For this one simple yet vital reason: It ain't over 'til it's over. Period. The media lies out the wazoo for their chosen one, the polls all show only what they want to show. You KNOW how it is. Anyone who thinks the mainstream media and the polls are unbiased this year is simply a moron. If you're a moron on purpose, I'm disgusted with you. If you're a moron because you're not paying attention, I'm ashamed of you. Get in the game and look at what's happening. As things come down to a wire, more and more sensational articles are released, commercials get tougher, campaigns fight harder and lots and lots and lots of stuff comes out. It ain't over until it's over. It's a fact that polls are designed to sway early voters one way or the other, but in an effort to save face and prove that they're "accurate", the closer it gets to election day, the more accurate the polls will be so they can point back and say "look how awesome we were."

Fact is this, folks: If you truely voted for the person over the party, you would wait until Election Day to cast your vote, period. You would wait and see what comes out in these final days. I mean, hey! It's started to leak out that Obama has not actually presented a legal US Birth Certificate. The fact that his campaign keeps trying to avoid the accusation instead of actually showing everyone that Obama is a Constituationally legal candidate tells me that something's up. There's a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against him that's trying to get to the bottom of this. You don't hear about this in the media, but it's happening, nevertheless. Absolutely anything could come out about either candidate in the next couple of weeks and it could radically change the way you would vote. The fact that you vote early means simply one thing: You don't actually care about the person, you only care about the letter following their name. By voting early, you tell everyone that you don't give a crap about what could come up in the following weeks. You tell everyone that no matter what happens, you will always vote for that R or that D. Which is, in itself, entirely understandable. I mean, I don't make any bones about it that I'm a Republican and I think that the Republican party stands for the most of what I believe in and I'm far more likely to vote Republican than Democrat. But I would also not vote early. Don't get it confused with Absentee voting, either... This is Early Voting.

Like I said, strictly voting for parties isn't the problem here. It could be a problem, but that's not what I'm pointing out. I'm pointing out the fact that I know so many people who say to my face that they don't care about the parties... They care about the person running. But then they go and vote early without waiting for the campaigning to be over. That proves to me that they looked me in the face and lied. You would never vote this early unless you resigned yourself to the good ol' idea that "no matter what happens, I'm voting for this party". Absolutely anything about come out about any candidate as long as campaigns are still running, but you voted early because you don't care about that. I won't mention names, but rest assured there is more than one name, and if you want to put your own name to it, then fine, but I will neither confirm nor deny any name in conjunction to this post. I know you all know who you are and I'm very disappointed.

What people will sacrifice on the altar of convenience. Which leads me to a related point. In addition to the whole early voting fiasco, I'm also incredibly disappointed with anyone who supports Obama for one simple reason: His stance on abortion. People will all the time throw out "OH! But there are more than just one issue to think about!" Yeah, I agree with you there, but there are some issues where a candidate with good character, principles and morals can be correct on and the very same character, principles and morals will naturally apply the best decisions on other issues. Case in point: Abortion. If you would have asked me last year what I thought about abortion, I would have said "I don't know, I don't think about it." If you would have asked me earlier this year, I would have said "No abortion except in cases of rape and incest." If you ask me what I think about abortion now? "No, no, N-O, NO, period!" There are so many things to disagree with Obama on, but his stance on abortion is the first and final straw when he's voted so many times to stop health care for babies born after a failed abortion. That's about as evil and disgusting as it gets. (Plus, he lied about it during the third debate, but nobody cared.) He constantly shows his disdain for innocent life under any circumstances and people always jump on the bandwagon when people go for the full ban on abortion and scream WHAT ABOUT RAPE AND INCEST YOU HEARTLESS MALE! Well, let me first assure you that my own mom (who is, in fact, a woman) agrees completely with me and instilled in me these ideas, so it's not that I'm a man and can't understand, it's the fact that I honor all human life.

Second, I want to say that I'm against abortion even in those two cases, which will also most likely merit me a glorified entry on Fundies Say The Darndest Things. If you look at it that way, you're going to annihilate an innocent life due to the actions of one of their parents, plain and simple. "Oh, your father was a criminal so we're going to suck your brains out." I agree that rape and incest are the two most evil and revolting things anyone could ever do but I don't think the solution should be another evil and revolting thing, do you? Yes, the woman has been the victim of an evil crime, but, then again, so has the baby. The baby is entirely innocent of anything the criminal has done, but you're going to END ITS LIFE and slap the criminal in prison for a month and then let him out on parole or bail. Yeah, that's the perfect way to deal with the situation. Man, get your head screwed on straight. The baby is innocent. I can totally understand if you don't want it and if I were in that position (of course, as the husband of a wife who was, God forbid, a victim) I probably wouldn't want the kid around as a constant reminder, either. But you know... Adoption is an option. Seriously. For crying out loud, people, if you change your mind and don't want the baby, or you were the victim of such a horrible crime, you have no right to end the baby's life! You should be treating the woman and baby with utmost care and compassion and put that criminal slimeball on Death Row without bail, and I'm dead serious. Death penalty for these low lifes who think they can get away with crap like this. Nobody ever has the right to end an innocent life... We have everything backwards. Kill the innocent and think we can rehabilitate the guilty scum. Absolutely revolting.

Which leads me back to Obama. How can anyone in their right mind support a guy who supports the offing of innocent children? Even after they've been born? I'm sorry, but that's just demonic. That's disgusting. That's downright sick. None of these words convey my feelings very accurately... I'm apalled at what Obama thinks just on this one issue, and I'm apalled at people who vote for this guy because of it. As I said, people with the capacity to make such an abominable decision on this issue have the character, principles and morals (or lack thereof) to be wrong on just about every single other issue out there. If someone can be so shameless in professing the support of this tripe, they're going to be wrong on just about everything else. It's in their person... It's their whole approach to life in general. And then there are the people who overlook this because Obama is going to promise them what? Cheaper health care? How utterly selfish and distasteful. Yes, there are other issues, but there are none more important than the Constitutional right of life, which expands to all humans, embryo or adult.

By the way, may I point out to you that your own VP Candidate Joe "Gaffe Machine" Biden says that he believes that life begins at conception... That moment where cells start to divide? But he's willing to overlook this little detail and still support abortion. You don't even need a conservative blog to tell you this, it's on the Democrat pride and joy The New York Times itself. That's right, folks. Joe Biden thinks life begins at conception, but is willing to forsake his belief and support abortion... He, by his own admittance, agrees that abortion of any kind is murder, plain and simple, but he'll overlook that just for you and your precious altar of convenience. How absolutely loathesome. What's more? Nobody cares!

Oh, but they DO care that someone who honors all life to the extent that they want to ban abortion. That's right, I'm talking about John McCain and Sarah Palin. For some bizzare reason, people are ghastly afraid of someone who honors ALL life, but are embracing Barack Obama and Joe Biden who are so much the opposite that they'll let babies die after they've been born simply because the parents don't want them. And all you early voting non-partisan people voted for Obama/Biden. I think very, very poorly of that decision and you have a lot to explain... Except there isn't anything you can say to convince me that what you did was in anyone's best interest. You pretty much just tossed yourself in a hole and buried yourself as far as I'm concerned. All because you blindly voted for a party that supports this vulgar behavior.

And that concludes my showertime speculation.

Haven't had one of these in a while... I think it's time for another SHOWERTIME SPECULATION! To be honest, though, this is my second thought, but it got to be soooo long that I decided to compile it into a single post, with my first and third thoughts in a following post!

Second Thought:

To change the subject entirely, I've been thinking lately about end of the world. It's not something I obsess over a whole lot like a lot of other Christians seem to do, but I just wanted to pitch something out there for all you folks that feed off the sheer fundamentalist conservatism of people like me. Basically this: The Rapture. For those who don't know what that is, exactly, the Book of Revelation in The Bible is dedicated to a vision had by someone named John which is basically a giant prophecy of the end of the world. One of the key things in the book is the "Rapture", during which all true Christians are divinely taken off the planet so that Satan may use the remaining days to work his final evils to take as many humans as possible with him to eternal damnation. (Remember folks, Satan was already crushed and defeated when Jesus died and rose from the dead. The only thing left for Satan to do is take everyone else out with him... He's running one giant suicide bombing.) Without getting too much into it, the only thing holding God back from letting the world fall one final time is the fact that there are good Christians still here. But at some point, enough is going to be enough and He will take us all away and effectively remove the barrier stopping the final fall of mankind.

Okay, now... That was only the background to my thought. See, I'm not what people have started to call "Rapture-Ready". I don't go looking around for it and waking up each day expecting it to happen and I don't obsess over it day in and day out. Sure, it's something I realize will happen sooner or later and maybe not even in my lifetime (though I seriously doubt that) but I don't go around every corner in life expecting it to happen. I've seen people who do that and, to be honest, it irritates me. There are people like my Great-Grandma who were passively ready for the Rapture, which was always comforting somehow, but then there are people who just talk about it constantly and somehow seem to be actively looking for it. I dunno... I don't get it. But I realize this: Revelation says that the Rapture will happen when everyone least expects it. With the state of the world right now, everyone seems to be expecting it. To me, that just seems to scream "not going to happen yet". It'll happen in a time of peace and prosperity when nobody expects it. To get political for a monent, everyone thinks that Obama is going to usher in a new low to the country and everything's going to come apart at the seams and it will be a prime time for a Rapture. While I do think Obama is going to utterly destroy the fabric of this country if he's elected, I don't think it's going to be a time "primed for Rapture", because if he does become President, the last thing to happen is peace and prosperity. We're talking Second Great Depression if he gets in office... Not exactly a peaceful and prosperous time.

That being said, I do sometimes wonder what might happen after a Rapture. Think about it! The single most motivating event to sway people to accept government control is what? A catastrophe. After the Rapture, Satan will work overtime to hurtle the world toward its final demise. Revelation talks of a single, massive, one world government that will be corrupt at its core with the Anti-Christ at its helm, performing feats of wonder to convince the world that he actually is God. In the current state of affairs on this fair planet, a one-world government is not something that will ever happen. Some countries seem to be primed for it, but places like Russia and the United States and China just don't currently seem to be the type of countries to give up their power and submit to a global government. Not yet, anyway. There'll be what the Bible calls a "3 day fire war" (which, back then, I'm sure John didn't know what the heck he was seeing, but we all agree today that he witnessed a nuclear war). Of course, that's after the Rapture. The Rapture seems to be the catalyst for all these things to happen in a rapid chain of events. By referring to the history of our country, we can see that a catastrophic event is all that's needed to spur people to panic and to embrace something that might not be the best course of action. And that leads me to my thought:

What will happen the split second AFTER the Rapture? What will the planet do when millions upon millions of humans vanish in an instant. Think Left Behind series... Normal people doing normal jobs. People cooking, driving cars, flying jets. Poof! Gone! Instant panic. This wouldn't be isolated to a single area, it would be the entire planet. Mass, global panic. But there's going to be an explanation... I can't imagine what that explanation might be, so I enjoy trying to come up with examples. The top of my list, however cliche, since I can honestly think of nothing else, is "alien abduction", "attempt at population control", or "those dumb Christians organized this to freak us all out". It sounds insane, but, seriously, how many people do actually believe in sentient life outside our solar system? Would it really be so far-fetched to think that'd be an explanation for mass disappearances? With the cavalier attitude taken toward human life and the climate of this planet, would it really be so far-fetched to think officials might try to cover it up by saying they chose the least fittest to survive in an effort to save the planet? With the cynic nature of humans today, would it be so crazy to insinuate they'd think we all disappeared voluntarily? Who knows! There might never be an official adopted explanation and it might all be left up to the individual to come to terms with. But! I have a NEW idea for why people may vanish!

The Large Hadron Collider! Yep! Sounds crazy (crazier than the Rapture itself?), but it could be just as plausible as anything else. Think of it! A giant particle accelerator designed to recreate the Big Bang. Nobody knows what will happen, and some has even postulated that it'll destroy the fabric of reality or at the very least create tiny black holes that rip the planet apart. The sky's the limit for something like this, really. But, to be honest, I don't care. I don't think anything will happen... We might learn something, but come on. This is science in the realm of trying to prove that God doesn't exist. Do you really think something positive will come from it? It reeks of RMS Titanic: "God Himself cannot sink this ship." "Oops, we hit an iceberg in that one-chance-in-a-million way that would actually sink the ship." But it gives me a new idea to add to my list of Rapture explanations, granted it'll only apply until that moment when they actually activate it, but that really would be the ultimate explanation. "3, 2, 1... LHC ACTIVATE!" Millions of people vanish. "Oops." Yep, it's crazy, and I'll probably get stuck up on Fundies Say The Darndest Things again, but oh well. The fact is, there's going to have to be an explanation for the Rapture.

Now, as a side thought, since the LHC was my main thought, I've always wondered how people will react to everyone vanishing. I mean, to me, if millions of people disappeared, I know I'm going to think "OH MY GOSH I GOT LEFT BEHIND" and I'll know for a fact that Christianity was right all along. It's not like a bunch of people vanishing is going to make me go "Hmm, now why did that happen." I'm going to know exactly what happened. (Of course, I pray I don't get left behind!) Which always begs the question: What are non-Christians going to think? The ones who don't know about the whole Rapture thing are going to be absolutely clueless, but what about people who have Christian friends and they are at least vaguely aware of the Rapture idea? I have lots of friends who are either not Christians or have fallen away and are no longer interested in being a Christian and it grieves me to no end that there's a very good chance that when all is said and done, I'll never see them again. These are people who know I'm a Christian and I've talked to them about it and it's become clear to both of us that they aren't in a state of mind to accept Christian ideas and I'm never going to forsake them, so we just accept the differences. The best thing I can do right now is try to live a good Christian life as an example to them... Granted, I do very poorly, so I'm not sure how much of a positive example I am. But at this point, it seems to me that no ground is going to be made unless there's some sort of proof for them. My friends are very intelligent and scientifically minded, and those are the hardest to convince that there is an Intelligent Design to the universe. At this point, they need proof. They're already acutely aware of what Christianity promises, but that's not enough for them.

So I always wonder... What if their Christian friends one day aren't able to be found? What if my friends someday hear about the countless missing people and I'm part of those they never hear from again? Would they then be able to make the connection and have the proof they need to take that final step? It'll be so vastly more difficult to be a Christian in those final days, but it will be entirely possible. The Rapture is the opened flood-gates to end of times, and a final warning call that people need to wake up. But like in the days of Noah and the Great Flood, the citizens of the Earth had years upon years to change their ways. They saw Noah diligently building his giant ship and they all mocked him... Until they all died. There are going to be some people who go through the Rapture and still not make the connection, whether because they're uninformed of what just happened, or because they willingly turn. I can't help but wonder how many people I know will go through the Rapture and go "FINALLY! Those dastardly conservatives are out of our way!" or go "Ohh maaan, he was right all along." At this point, I think a Rapture or something huge like that is the only way to shake my non-Christian friends hard enough to really think about it. But, you know, by then, it'll be too late for me to be there. But, like I said, they're all smart people... I'm sure they'll be able to find a Bible.

And then there'll always be those Christians who were only Christians in name and got left behind. There'll be people who study Christianity, but aren't actually Christians... I'm sure there'll be learned people who can help start up new churches in those final days, but man, will it be so vastly more difficult to be a Christian in the final days. Americans have it so easy, compared to what will happen and what is happening elsewhere. But I'll be cheering you on from where ever I'll be after I'm taken away!

(How's that for a showertime speculation?)

UPDATE 1: I've noticed that this post is becoming one of my most popular, so I decided to give you all a special treat! Apparently, the quality of the audio I recorded was far poorer than I realized, so I recorded it again into a nice, full size, stereo, 128kbps MP3 that preserves pretty much everything. Enjoy!

As if "We Hate The USA" wasn't awesome enough, here we have what is probably the single greatest parody of all time! This is the Obama National Anthem as presented by Glenn Beck, which is, by the way, set to the anthem for Russia, in case it sounded familiar but you couldn't quite place the tune:

If you want the MP3, I recorded it, tagged it, and uploaded juuust for you! Actually, just for me, so I could put it in iTunes and repeat it for all eternity, or at least until I get tired of it, but that's not going to happen for a long time, so it might as well be eternity! Anyway, here, and I've also provided the lyrics:

Glenn Beck - Obama National Anthem (1:20, 1.2MB MP3)

Go get Adobe Flash Player!

All hail the messiah!
Obama, Obama!
The path to the new socialist motherland!
Our savior, our savior!
Obama, Obama!
The leader more famous than Lindsay Lohan.
Bow down and praise The One!
Give him your money and your guns!
Give us a country that makes your wife proud!
Lord Barry heal the bitter ones, white and clinging to faith and to guns.
Hope for the change of the hope of the change!

My gosh, I have this thing stuck in my head so badly... I've always liked the tune to the Russian anthem ever since I heard it in The Hunt for Red October, but now it's got words I can actually understand and are absolutely hilarious, so now it's doubly addicting. I haven't decided if this is good or bad, because I can just imagine myself shopping somewhere and suddenly breaking into song, but not really realizing it? Everyone will stare at me, and I'll stare back at them, all while wearing my McCain/Palin hat, and it would be just one huge awkward moment for everyone involved.

I'd heard a snippet of a great musical piece during Rush Limbaugh commercials... I thought it was just a quick parody like he sometimes does for how own during-show commercials, but it turns out that this fellow by the name of Paul Shanklin writes a lot of the satire for Limbaugh and has apparently released an album recently with a lot of his latest stuff. One of them I recognized as the bit I keep hearing:

Paul Shanklin - We Hate The USA (2:38, 1.0MB MP3)

Go get Adobe Flash Player!

If tomorrow all of this were gone
The American way of life
And I had to start again
I'd be sure to ditch my wife

I'd thank my lucky stars
Who needs the USA?
Yeah, that flag that stand for nothin'
So we just threw it awaaaaaaaay

I'd be proud to be a Canadian
'Cause at least their health care's free
And I'd rather be an Iranian
'Cause they all hate Bush like me

And I'll gladly stand up for illegals, too
And defend their right to stay
'Cause there ain't no doubt we hate this land
We hate the USA!

Well, we all like Minnesota
But I still hate Tennessee
I could've become President
But they didn't vote for me

There's not much that we recognize
If it's b'tween New York and LA
If there's any pride left in the American heart
Then it's time we stand and say:

That I'd be proud to be a Canadian
'Cause at least their health care's free
And I'd rather be an Iranian
'Cause they all hate Bush like me

And I'll gladly stand up for illegals, too
And defend their right to stay
'Cause there ain't no doubt we hate this land
We hate the USA!

I think everyone know dat already...
Don't you?

So there you go, folks! The staff of Rush Limbaugh gave all you Obama-loving liberals the perfect alternative to the conservative "God Bless The USA" by Lee Greenwood. I can tell you that I was laughing sooo hard... Because I enjoy this kind of morbid humor. It's only so funny because it's so completely true, and you have to laugh or you'll be overwhelmed by the sheer amounts of pessimistic anti-American sentiment flooding in from all sides during this election. Hey, we conservatives can have a good time, too! (Just it gets them all how we dare make fun of them... But that makes it all the more hilarious.)

Actually, I'd like to put forward a motion to change the title and a couple lines of lyrics. I'm sure the person who suggested this would like to remain anonymous on the global scale, so I'll take up their cause! Instead of calling it "We Hate The USA", I make a motion to call it "God Damn The USA" and change the appropriate lines. Ahh, gotta love Jerimiah Wright... Remember, folks, in case you've forgotten, Obama heard this guy speak for 20 entire years of his young life. There's no way you can tell me he didn't buy into all that drivel.