My Letter to the Editor of the Beloit Daily News

Recently, the Beloit Daily News chose to endorse Tammy Baldwin for Congress and Chuck Benedict for State Assembly.  I was not very happy with this decision.  What most upset me was not necessarily who they chose as it was about how they chose.  You can read my letter here:

http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2008/10/29/opinion/letters/let02.txt

You can also learn more about Peter Theron and Mike Hahn by visiting their websites:

Peter Theron
Mike Hahn

For Whom Shall I Vote?

On the latest Understanding Our Times broadcast, I began discussing my thoughts on the presidential race. I would like to continue those thoughts now.

I want to open this up for discussion. Here is my evaluation of some of the presidential candidates presented to us.

Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney

Pro – I respect anyone willing to forgo the two-party system
Con – Too radical on all fronts
Result - not even a possibility to get my vote

Barack Obama

Pro – Against the “war” in Iraq
Con – Radical anti-life (pro-choice), little experience, socialist
Result – not even a possibility to get my vote

John McCain

Pro – Pro-life voting record, SARAH PALIN, somewhat of a capitalist
Con – for the bail-out, pro-amnesty, radically pro-“war” in Iraq, favors stem cell research
Result – Is a possible person I could vote for

Bob Barr

Pro – Constitutionalist, most press coverage of all third party candidates, congressional experience
Con – little chance of winning, questionable pro-life stance, free trader, recanted stance on DOMA
Result – maybe a possibility, but not likely

Chuck Baldwin

Pro – Stands for everything I stand for, a committed Christian, a pastor I respect greatly
Con – no experience whatsoever, very little chance of winning, seems to have a all or nothing attitude toward issues
Result – the candidate who currently has my support

As you can see, my vote will be cast for John McCain, Bob Barr or Chuck Baldwin. So, who will I vote for. Right now, I am a bit undecided. But, here’s a few more thoughts on these three considerations:

Bob Barr – I like most of his stances on a lot of issues. However, the way he has treated Ron Paul and other third party candidates has left a bad taste in my mouth – seems to be almost elitist in that respect. I also want someone more vocally pro-life.

Chuck Baldwin – I really respect this man leaps and bounds above any other candidate. I worked hard to help him gain ballot access in MA and urged him to seek the Constitution Party nomination in the first place. However, the fact that he has no experience whatsoever makes me wonder if he can take over on day one. I am also wondering if this whole all or nothing attitude toward issues that the Constitution Party seems to take is helpful. Take abortion for example. I would favor any legislation that saves any lives. Let’s face reality – an anti-abortion measure with absolutely no exception has no chance of victory. However, we can pass some legislation that can at least save a few lives. Even Obama stated in a recent debate that he would have no problem banning all late-term abortions. If we fail to do this because we take the all or nothing attitude – we will not save at least those few children that this legislation could have helped. That does not seem very pro-life to me. And, let me add, I am concerned about the whole idea of casting my vote for someone who will not win. Will the country be better off I cast my vote for someone who will not win or if I cast my vote for a candidate such as McCain who has many faults, but at least will be a small step in the right direction. By the way, I understand the whole argument against voting for the lesser of two evils – I have made it myself many times.

John McCain – I could go on for quite a while discussing this man’s faults. I hate his pro-amnesty position on immigration. I abhor his support for the bail-out. Stem Cell support – to be honest – I don’t know much about this issue. I need to do some more research into this issue before forming an opinion. My biggest concern with John McCain is his stance on the war. It is not American to invade a county only because we think they might be capable to be a threat to us. His stance on Iran is scary. However, his pro-life stance is re-assuring. He would not even be a consideration if he were not at least pro-life and pro-traditional marriage. His choice of Sarah Palin is what I find most attractive (pardon the pun). Here is a woman who takes a 100% pro-life stance. Truth be told, I would rather be voting for Sarah Palin on the top of the ticket and not for McCain at all. Should this woman be in office, it sets her up for a Presidential run herself someday and I find that encouraging. She is a true conservative I can support.

I have to admit, ever since I began supporting Ron Paul, I have been questioning my role in the Constitution Party in general. Ron Paul is a man I support 100%. He made great waves during the primary season. Never before have I seen a man who supports my views and values get so much media attention. It was a sight to behold. But the truth of the matter is, he would not have gotten even half the exposure he received had he ran third party.

Is there something to the argument of staying in the GOP and furthering the Ron Paul revolution? I think maybe so. Let’s face reality – what have modern third parties actually accomplished? Should I go back to the GOP, I still support the legitimacy of third parties and would fight for their right to be included in the mainstream – as in the debates…

Well, these are a few of my thoughts. In the words of Bill O’Reilly – what say you?

10-25 Program Update

I orginally I intended to air audio from a presidential candidates forum I hosted at the high school I teach at, but the file did not upload on time.  So instead, I began discussing the candidates in the race.  In the midst of this rant, I took a phone call from a Ron Paul supporter who was tired of all the negative campaigning and the overall ignorance of the average voter.

Presidential Candidate Forum

Recently, I invited representatives from several presidential campaigns to take part in a candidate forum for my high school government students. Those who accepted my invitations were representatives from the campaigns of Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin. Listen in on this informative discussion.

Broadcast – Understanding Our Times

Website – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes

You can join us live Saturday evening at 6:00 pm EST, or download the broadcast in mp3 format at a time more convenient for you.

Rock County Christian School to Host Candidates’ Forum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND DISTRIBUTION

 

Rock County Christian School to Host Candidates’ Forum

 

Rock County Christian School is hosting a candidates’ forum featuring local representatives of several Presidential campaigns.

 

Where:
Rock County Christian School
916 Bushnell St  
Beloit, WI  53511 

When:
Thursday, October 16 at 8:10am

 

Contact Information:
Kevin Thompson – Government Teacher

608.365.7378 
kthompson@rccs.us

 

Rock County Christian School is honored to host a Presidential Candidates’ Forum on Thursday, October 16 at 8:10 a.m.  Representatives from each different presidential campaign have been invited to attend.  Our goal is inform students of the importance of informed voting and to make them aware of the crucial role of young voters in our political system. 

 

Confirmed guests include:

 

Jeff Schultz – Republican Party Candidate John McCain
Tiffany Henry – Democratic Party Candidate Barak Obama
Briana Nestler – Independent Candidate Ralph Nader
Robert Bellard – Constitution Party Candidate Chuck Baldwin
Joseph Kexel – Libertarian Party Candidate Bob Barr

*Other candidates and parties were also invited but have yet to confirm their appearance.

 

The forum will feature a two minute opening statement from each representative and will be followed by questions asked directly from high school students.  The goal of this event is a cordial discussion of the issues and topics important to young people today.  Moderating the event will be RCCS’s new government teacher, Kevin Thompson. 

 

“It is important for these young people to realize the issues at stake in this election are issues that directly effect their lives right now,” said Mr. Thompson.  “Once they see that their voices are being heard by the political establishment, our hope is they begin to take their role in this process seriously and encourage others to do the same.  That is how real change begins.”

 

Rock County Christian School exists as a coeducational college preparatory day school that encompasses preschool through 12th grade. The school is operated by a nonprofit, interdenominational, evangelical Christian parent support organization and governed by an elected school board.  Learn more about RCCS by logging on to http://www.rccs.us.

-30-

A Black Man Preaching the “White Gospel?” – An Interview with Dr. James Earls, Part 2

This week our program features an interview I conducted I few years back with Dr. James Earls.  Listen in to a fascinating testimony from a self-confessed former radical in the civil rights movement.  This week, hear how the grace of grace of God saved a man from a life of anger and brought him into the gospel ministry.  Yet, the story does not stop there.  How would “white” fundamentalism accept a black preacher planting black churches?  This is the second installment of a two-part interview.

Broadcast – Understanding Our Times

Website - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes

Time – Saturday, Octber 11, at 6:00 pm EST/5:00pm CST

Length – 30 Minutes   

Call-In Phone Line - (347) 945-7171

You can join us live Saturday evening at 6:00 pm EST, or download the broadcast in mp3 format at a time more convenient for you. 

“Understanding Our Times” is an interactive, live Internet talk-radio show that focuses on current events from a distinctly Biblical worldview. Host Kevin Thompson offers listeners timely discussion of meaningful issues with a variety of different guests each week. Callers are encouraged to call (347) 945-7171 to listen or ask questions. The stream and archives are available at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes. The show is live every Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/ 3:00 p.m. PT. The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio.

Its Show Time…

Yes, finally, we have gotten our show time settled!  We will air the Understanding Our Times Internet radio broadcast each Saturday evening at 5:00pm (CST).  I would prefer something a little later, but I think this is the best time slot that is available to me.  If this time does not work for you, remember you can always download each program in its entirety immediately after the broadcast has concluded.  Thank you for your understanding.

MFI Comments on CT Marriage Ruling‏

Another e-mail I received, this time from the Massachusetts Family Institute.

For immediate release
October 10, 2008
Contact:  Lisa Barstow (617) 480-1719 | lisa@barstowcom.com

One More Court Thwarts the Will of the PeopleCT Supreme Court: Third to Approve Same-Sex Marriage

 

Woburn, MA – With its ruling today, the Connecticut Supreme Court, by the slimmest of margins, voted to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Not satisfied with the decision by the state legislature to provide Civil Union rights to same-sex couples, four unelected judges have found a right to marry in their state constitution that was never visible before.

“It has become a predictable pattern:  disregard the voice of the people and charge headway into redefining an institution that a clear majority of Americans, including both parties’ presidential nominees, want protected as the union of a man and a woman,” said Kris Mineau, President Massachusetts Family Institute.

Massachusetts Family Institute led an effort to put a question on the ballot in Massachusetts asking the voters to decide on the definition of marriage.  The state legislature voted against allowing that question to go to the people.

“It’s tragic that our democracy has been made irrelevant simply because some judges cannot be impartial and overcome their own ideological preferences,” Mineau added.

My thoughts:

Ok, this is part of the problem.  Mr. Mineau, I appreciate your stance for Biblical marriage, but you clearly do not understand how our government works.  We do NOT live in a democracy, as you claim.  We live in a constitutional republic.  Second, we have more than just two parties!  There are more voices out there than just the Republican and Democrat!  Quite frankly, those two voices are just lighter shades of the other.  Sure, they are slightly different – but boy, do they sure blend together well in harmonious pitch!  Now, more than ever, do we need to hear from more just the same old groups.  I am proud to be a member of the Constitution Party.

Again, part of what has led us into this mess is massive misunderstanding of how government is supposed to work.  America, it is time to wake up before it is too late!

Connecticut Judges Rule in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage

I just recieved this e-mail from the Christian Law Association.  Sad news, but not surprising. 

In a surprising vote earlier today, Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of allowing same-sex marriage, making it the third state to allow this union, following Massachusetts and California.

Eight same-sex couples had filed suit after being denied the right to marry under the current law. A divided state supreme court overturned the appellate court decision, claiming that the 2005 civil union laws passed in Connecticut did not warrant the same protections or status that traditional marriage offered.
 
Although a state-wide vote could overrule this decision, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is not confident it would work. “I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision — either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution — will not meet with success.”
The court offered these three major reasons for its decision, which are large jumps in logic from the U.S. Constitution:
 
         1.  The state was discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
         2.  Sexual orientation is a quasi-classification which deserves heightened judicial scrutiny.
         3.  The state did not provide sufficient justification to deny same-sex couples this right.
 
According to Attorney David Gibbs Jr., “These kinds of judicial decisions attack the very foundation of traditional marriage. Gay marriage is a social experiment that has never been tried in the history of the world.”

Because this decision was based on Connecticut’s state constitution, this ruling cannot be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

My thoughts:

When I left Massachusetts the first time, they approved homosexual marriage.  And now since I left Connecticut they too have approved homosexual marriage.  I may never leave Wisconsin now so I can make sure this trend does not continue…

But on a serious note, once again we see activist courts gone wild.  When will we ever wake up and realize COURTS DO NOT MAKE LAW!!  My first day teaching American Government this year, I told my high school students that while some may consider this subject boring, our country needs them to understand these principles.  Decisions like this get by the American public because we allow the courts to legislate from the bench.  Our ignorance is their licence.    Decisions such as this is price we pay for apathy.

A Wasted Vote

Chuck Baldwin
October 10, 2008

When asked why they will not vote for a third party candidate, many people will respond by saying something like, “He cannot win.” Or, “I don’t want to waste my vote.” It is true: America has not elected a third party candidate since 1860. Does that automatically mean, however, that every vote cast for one of the two major party candidates is not a wasted vote? I don’t think so.

In the first place, a wasted vote is a vote for someone you know does not represent your own beliefs and principles. A wasted vote is a vote for someone you know will not lead the country in the way it should go. A wasted vote is a vote for the “lesser of two evils.” Or, in the case of John McCain and Barack Obama, what we have is a choice between the “evil of two lessers.”

Albert Einstein is credited with saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. For years now, Republicans and Democrats have been leading the country in the same basic direction: toward bigger and bigger government; more and more socialism, globalism, corporatism, and foreign interventionism; and the dismantling of constitutional liberties. Yet, voters continue to think that they are voting for “change” when they vote for a Republican or Democrat. This is truly insane!

Take a look at the recent $700 billion Wall Street bailout: both John McCain and Barack Obama endorsed and lobbied for it. Both McCain and Obama will continue to bail out these international banksters on the backs of the American taxpayers. Both McCain and Obama support giving illegal aliens amnesty and a path to citizenship. In the debate this past Tuesday night, both McCain and Obama expressed support for sending U.S. forces around the world for “peacekeeping” purposes. They also expressed support for sending combat forces against foreign countries even if those countries do not pose a threat to the United States. Neither Obama nor McCain will do anything to stem the tide of a burgeoning police state or a mushrooming New World Order. Both Obama and McCain support NAFTA and similar “free trade” deals. Neither candidate will do anything to rid America of the Federal Reserve, or work to eliminate the personal income tax, or disband the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Both Obama and McCain support the United Nations. So, pray tell, how is a vote for either McCain or Obama not a wasted vote?

But, back to the “he cannot win” argument: to vote for John McCain is to vote for a man who cannot win. Yes, I am saying it here and now: John McCain cannot win this election. The handwriting is on the wall. The Fat Lady is singing. It is all over. Finished. John McCain cannot win.

With only three weeks before the election, Barack Obama is pulling away. McCain has already pulled his campaign out of Michigan. In other key battleground states, McCain is slipping fast. He was ahead in Missouri; now it is a toss-up or leaning to Obama. A couple of weeks ago, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida were all leaning towards McCain, or at least toss-up states. Now, they are all leaning to Obama. Even the longtime GOP bellwether state of Indiana is moving toward Obama. In addition, new voter registrations are at an all-time high, and few of them are registering as Republicans. In fact, the Republican Party now claims only around 25% of the electorate, and Independents are increasingly leaning toward Obama.

Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is headed for an electoral landslide victory over John McCain. John McCain can no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton.

I ask, therefore, Are not conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain guilty of the same thing that they accuse people who vote for third party candidates of doing? Are they not voting for someone who cannot win? Indeed, they are. In fact, conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain are not only voting for a man who cannot win, they are voting for a man who does not share their own beliefs and principles. If this is not insanity, nothing is!

So, why not (for once in your life, perhaps) cast a vote purely for principle! Vote for someone who is truly pro-life. Someone who would quickly secure our nation’s borders, and end the invasion of our country by illegal aliens. Someone who would, on his first day in office, release Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean and fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Someone who would immediately, upon assuming office, begin leading the charge to dismantle the Federal Reserve, overturn the 16th Amendment, expunge the IRS, and return America to sound money principles. Someone who would get the US out of the UN. Someone who would stop spending billions and trillions of dollars for foreign aid. Someone who would prosecute the Wall Street bankers who defrauded the American people out of billions of dollars. Someone who would work to repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and stop the NAFTA superhighway. Someone who would say a resounding “No” to the New World Order. Someone who would stop using our brave men and women in uniform as global cops for the United Nations. Someone who would stop America’s global adventurism and interventionism. Someone who would steadfastly support and defend the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

“Who is this person?” you ask. Go here to find out:

http://www.baldwin08.com/

As John Quincy Adams said, “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

*Disclaimer: I am currently a candidate for President of the United States on the Constitution Party ticket. My official campaign web site is located at:

http://www.baldwin08.com/

© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show  “Chuck Baldwin Live” and is the Constitution Party nominee for President in 2008.  learn more at www.baldwin2008.com

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state.