In a speech to ministry students Sarah Palin stated that the United States deployed our troops to fight in Iraq on “…a task that is from God.” George W. Bush once said, “I believe God wants me to run for president,” then later said, “God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.” Well then, I say it’s high time that this god guy starts chucking in some much needed cash to fight it. Since he hasn’t sent a flood to wipe out Baghdad in some Sodom and Gomorrah type disaster, or sent any kind of heat storm that melted al Qaeda terrorists in their tracks, I think we should at least be requesting some assistance. I don’t know, maybe a hundred and fifty billion dollars so we don’t have to borrow more from China. Or maybe he could give back the thousands of troops that Bush and Cheney gave away. Maybe this miracle worker could perform a limb regrowth on even one vet who now controls his wheelchair with his tongue.

I understand that he’s a busy guy, what with having to tend to boxers knocking out their opponents, and helping receivers snag touchdown passes. I understand he has a full plate in keeping holy that first commandment “Thou shall not kill”… wait… I’m sorry, scratch that. Regardless, since the guy tasked us with a war in Iraq, at least he could act as the project manager, and pay his employees with some added benefits. Maybe put up an invisible wall to deflect the next detonated IED, or better yet, detonate it while its being planted. Whatever he, she, or it does, it needs to do something fast, because Sarah Palin also said that building a natural gas pipeline through Alaska “…is the will of God.” She is now adding more to his plate, and if I’m right in believing this god has truly poor time-management skills, we’ll see a gas pipeline being built through Alaska before any alternative fuel research is funded, before our children can be treated in a hospital without having their parents lose their home in paying for it, and before our troops ever make it home to their own families.

In his speech tonight, presidential candidate John McCain told the nation that he does not work for special interest, but if you look back less than a month ago, when he told America that he plans on giving $150 billion in tax breaks to oil companies, I have to scratch my head in wonder. With oil companies who collect tens of billions in profits each year, and who have paid large sums of money to etch McCain’s policies, it is only obvious that he not only works for special interest, but is truly owned by special interest.

John McCain is truly nothing more than your cookie-cutter Washington politician who pays lip service for votes. Reading a teleprompter full of words without substance, promises without any plan to fulfill those promises, McCain went back to repeating the lies his Vice Presidential pick, Sarah Palin, was advised to say. McCain repeated Palin’s bleatings on how Barack Obama will raise taxes, after he proposed to cut taxes. McCain told America that his opponent will grow the federal government after Obama pledged to cut federal spending and get rid of the waste in the inflated department. He even told us that Obama wants to entrench beureaucrats after the Democratic presidential candidate offered his position back to the people.

McCain told us that he won’t give billions of dollars to countries that don’t like us, yet he proposes spending hundreds of billions for an indefinite occupation of a country that doesn’t like us. McCain made a lot of promises tonight. He told us that he’ll work for us, but his policies reflect only the want of the few. His predecesor and policy maker, George W. Bush, told us that John McCain went against public opinion in his support for the war in Iraq, and said it as if going against public opinion is a good thing. Mr. McCain, we the people are your boss, and the public opinion is what you should base your policies on. You claim to be the man to change Washington politics, but in reference to your own party, during your own nomination acceptance speech you told us, “… we let Washington change us.” Since you truly don’t believe in “country first”, but are only following the teleprompter your advisors have setup for you, it is no wonder that you’re owned by special interest, and have to decide to remove your Republican hat for a day to become American in the face of a natural disaster.

Yesterday John McCain decided it would be best if he acted like a ‘prepared for the worst’ and ‘compassionate’ presidential candidate, when he decided to cut four and a half hours out of the opening night’s events at today’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. In setting the stage to take full credit for life-saving measures in the areas in the wake of Hurricane Gustave, even after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s ’stay behind and your on your own’ evacuation message, John McCain chartered a jet to fly home Republican delegates from states along the Gulf Coast, and announced that his acceptance speech may come from the hurricane threatened region. It would only add to his costume as a person caught in the thick of the devastation, filling sandbags, or swimming a wheelchair bound woman through the floodwaters. He would pretend he loves America, our people. Like Bush in Katrina’s wake I’m sure they’ll advise McCain to roll up his sleeves, to give off the appearance he’s working to save our citizens.

I say all this with a bit of a forked tongue because during his announcement his true colors became a beaming beacon when he said, “I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Americans, not as Republicans.” This statement shows that McCain, like Bush and Cheney, ordinarily hold Republicans in a brighter light than all other Americans. It proves that John McCain holds his party before the country, and that his slogan “Country First” is just another burp of lip-service.

Most Americans would like to believe that a potential president would keep all Americans in mind all of the time. Of course, there are always decisions made that will carry a negative effect for some. It is with no doubt that those Americans getting the raw end of the stick should at least be considered if not given concessions, regardless of which party holds the power. A president can never please everyone, but they should not be allowed to forego trying. To have to pledge to set aside party politics long enough to act as an American shows us all how little John McCain thinks about the citizens of our country.

Carrying on nearly 90% of George W. Bush’s failed policies, McCain would be as detrimental to our nation, and in the case of the war in Iraq, McCain’s policy is somehow even worse. John McCain’s plan to continue spending nearly ten billion dollars a month to occupy Iraq against the will of the newly installed Iraqi government, along with his energy policy that even his V.P. pick, Sarah Palin – the Alaskan who holds her states interests over the common good in believing we should not invest a dime in alternative fuels before opening ANWR for further oil consumption, admitted is worse than Barack Obama’s energy policy, are only two points that prove McCain should stay with Arizona and his Republicans, than continuing on with four more years of the same nightmare that Bush plunged us into. He proposed taxing Americans 150 billion dollars to give to oil corporations in the form of tax cuts, and has proposed spending zero on alternative fuel sources. His plan to continue the corporatist methods of the current administration is the plan of dolts, and no, he’s not the kind of guy you can have a beer with. He’s the kind of guy who at one time disagreed with nearly half of Bush’s policies, but has crumbled under the heavy thumbs of the corporations who have basically told him ‘you’ll do what we want you to do, or we’ll hold back funding for your campaign,’ and since has adopted nearly 90% of Bush’s policies.

If John McCain’s vice presidential pick in Sarah Palin is a Republican slap to the face of all women, McCain’s “Country First” is a slap in the face of all Americans. Unless, of course, his idea of “Country First” means America being run by party affiliated corporations as opposed to us, the people – the people who own the government, and who pay them to run our nation properly and fairly, since all who pay for their services have a vested interest. Though it’s apparent that John McCain believes Republicans are more important than all other Americans, since he has to pledge that he’ll hold all Americans in mind for a day, and if need be throughout the entire Republican National Convention. Thanks John… What a guy!