But don’t question their patriotism:

…Not present, or at least not singing the National Anthem at the rally was Londonderry senior Zach Bencal.

Bencal, who sings the anthem for a number of school events and is actively involved in local community theatre, had been contacted by the Obama campaign to sing the anthem. He agreed to do so, then was told later in the evening the anthem had been scratched from the program. Bencal said he was told by the campaign the decision was a simple programming change to make room for another speaker.

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” Bencal said.

Sandra Abrevaya, communications director for the Obama campaign’s Manchester office, confirmed the choice had simply been a last-minute scratch from the rally’s program, which included the Pledge of Allegiance…

“Last minute scratch from the program” would more normally, in America, be excluded – perhaps – some down-ballot candidate. Memo to Team Obama: the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner are vital parts of any campaign for President of the United States. All the time and everywhere.

Its like we’ve now got a chance of electing the anti-patriots to the White House…

Interesting:

John McCain’s peace summit visit to CBS’ “Late Show” gave David Letterman his highest viewership in nearly three years.

The Thursday night telecast was seen by 6.5 million viewers, and received a 1.7 rating in the adult demo. That’s the largest audience for the show since December, 2005, when Oprah Winfrey appeared. “Late Show” also topped Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” (4.6 million viewers) by 43%, and Leno had Joe Biden as a guest.

“Can I give you an answer?” says McCain when ribbed about his previous appearance cancellation. “I screwed up.”

When you couple this with the rather large and enthusiastic crowds being drawn by both McCain and Palin, I begin to perceive an enthusiasm shift – could be that GOPers come out to the polls as they did in 2004, and markedly failed to do in 2006. If the GOP has a 2004 turnout, coupled with McCain’s appeal to moderate Democrats, then the results on November 4th could make for a lot of very, very depressed MSMers…

A correspondent to NRO’s The Corner:

…the way the pro-Obama media and bloggers, and Obama himself, have responded to Joe has got me nearly shaking with rage. They are attempting to destroy a man — a private citizen — who had the audacity to ask The One a question. Mind you, Joe was on his front lawn playing football with his son when Obama strolled up to give him his hopenchange spiel. Obama approached Joe, not the other way around. And Joe asked Obama an honest question. And Obama gave him an honest — and very, very revealing — answer. Again, mind you, the embarassment was on Obama’s end, not Joe’s. It wasn’t a gotcha question.

And yet, for that Joe is being pilloried, every aspect of his private and professional life being sorted through and exposed. To prove … what? What does that have to do with Obama’s answer? What does Joe’s situation have to do with Obama’s philosophical answer — that he wants to “spread the wealth”? Obama’s answer goes down the memory hole while the nation concentrates its fire on obliterating Joe the Plumber.

It’s sickening, it’s maddening and it’s downright chilling.

Sorry for the length. But I am just SEETHING.

Michael Barone warns of a coming “thugocracy” if Obama is elected, and in these hate filled actions against private American citizen who just happened to ask a man a question we can see the sort of suppression via intimidation we’ll get under an Obama Administration. Liberals and leftists just don’t like free speech – they want us to shut up and allow them to do as they wish. They’ll tolerate a few tame conservatives who will make erudite statements about the errors of liberalism but never actually stop it from advancing, but when it comes to people who don’t want to be shackled to the liberal plantation, they just want us to get lost.

Could there be a backlash coming? A rising up of the Average American against an MSM and socio-economic elite which is determined to install Obama? I think so – whether it will be enough, at this late stage, to derail the Obama Express remains to be seen…but we’re seeing the Great Awakening; the understanding by millions of Americans that liberalism and the left don’t wish us well – that they don’t want a pluralist America where we argue things out and reach a compromise solution. The understanding is dawning that liberalism wants it all, and wants it for good.

UPDATE: Another example of the hatred on the left:

While the Democrat-leaning media continues to scare undecided voters with bedtime stories about some mythical angry McCain supporter whom nobody has seen, here is a real district attorney’s complaint documenting an unprovoked assault by an enraged Democrat against a McCain volunteer in midtown Manhattan: “Defendant grabbed the sign [informant] was holding, broke the wood stick that was attached to it, and then struck informant in informant’s face thereby causing informant to sustain redness, swelling, and bruising to informant’s face and further causing informant to sustain substantial pain.”…

…The overly formal document doesn’t mention this important detail: the victim was a small, quiet, middle-aged woman wearing glasses, and the attacker was a loud, angry man who went into orbit at the mere sight of McCain campaign signs.

The result of 8 years of lies coupled with the left’s usual Leninist rage over dissenting opinions. The lies about GOPers make us appear worthy objects of hatred, the leftwing insistence that dissenting voices be suppressed creates a situation where a man goes on a rampage.

There is a limit, leftwingers, and you are fast approaching it. As a rule, we don’t care what you say as long as you’re not hurting anyone, damaging property or blocking traffic. We demand the same consideration from you.

As the campaign to restore marriage in California looks ever more like its headed for victory, it seems that those who think tolerant, diverse gay marriage a good thing are starting to act more and more like the little fascists they actually are:

This past Sunday, a parishioner at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Modesto, California was attacked while helping promote Proposition 8, which will define marriage as only between a man and a woman in California. According to promoters of the initiative, the assault is part of a “wave of violence” throughout the state.

Jose Nunez, 37, was waiting outside of St. Stanislaus for Mass to finish so he could distribute yard signs to Prop. 8 supporters when he was approached by an opponent of the initiative.

The unidentified man grabbed about 75 of the “Vote Yes on 8” signs and ran. Nunez then spotted the man trying to throw the signs over a wall and approached him.

When he got nearer, the man shouted, “What do you have against gays!” to which Nunez replied that he had nothing against gays.

When Nunez attempted to take the stolen signs from the assailant, the man punched him. The blow sent Nunez to the hospital, where he received 16 stitches for the wound below his left eye…

…In an interesting twist, Jose Nunez is originally from Mexico but just became a U.S. citizen two months ago. He will be voting for the first time in November. Nunez is also active in his parish as the Grand Knight of the St. Stanislaus Council Knights of Columbus, an organization that has contributed more than $1 million to the campaign for Prop. 8.

The attack has not lessened Nunez´s support for Proposition 8.

“The other side wants to intimidate us, but we can’t stop standing up for traditional marriage,” he said. “I may be bloody and bruised, but I’m not giving up. Protecting traditional marriage is just too important for our kids,” added Nunez, who is the father of three children, ages 9, 5, and 3.

Can’t help but make the side point – our immigrants from Mexico are almost all Catholic with a sprinkling of Evangelicals…hard working, law abiding and socially conservative. The are prime GOP targets for recruitment in the culture war, and we’re worse than fools when we go about the immigration debate in a heavy handed manner. Just remember as we justifiably insist that our borders be secure, our immigration laws enforced and illegals brought into the legal immigration system that most of the illegals are good people who want a better life and are willing to work very hard for it.

Anyways…

When the book Liberal Fascism came out, our liberal friends were outraged. Part of the liberal claim to fame is that they are invariably against fascism and fascist methods. But in this we see the essence of fascism – the determination that only one point of view be allowed in service of a supposedly vital social goal. I’ve also read a news story recently of massive hatred directed at a hotel for daring to put up a McCain sign, with the locals essentially saying that they shouldn’t have to deal with depictions of opposition viewpoints. For all too many modern liberals, the very concept of free flowing political debate is outrageous.

This is what we are actually arguing about in Campaign ’08 – what sort of America we wish to live in. Do we wish to live in an America where freedom is the order of the day, or an America where we are all to be proctected from the risk that we’ll hear non-liberal voices? Whatever Obama may think he wishes to do, what the practical effects of his victory will be is a definitive turn away from freedom and towards totalitarianism. We’ll have an America where porn is ok, but Rush Limbaugh is only allowed if he’s immediately countered with a liberal no one actually wants to hear.

Make your choice, fellow Americans – and choose wisely.

Could be the start of a national trend:

Joe the Plumber, of Knoxville, that is, says he’s less concerned about whether he gets a tax break if his customers still can’t afford to hire him.

Still, Joe Shanks, a licensed master plumber and owner of Joe’s Plumbing Service in the Cedar Bluff area, has followed the presidential campaigns the same as his much-quoted counterpart in Toledo, Ohio, who questioned Democratic Sen. Barack Obama over his proposed tax hike for those who make more than $250,000 a year.

Shanks said his business, which he jointly runs with his wife, Catherine, doesn’t earn the couple nearly that much income.

Especially lately, with business at about half what he usually handles, thanks to a flailing national economy that has left would-be customers skittish about hiring him.

“I can’t make money right now,” explained Shanks, who’s been in business for 25 years. “I’ve had to lower my prices just to get the job. I’m going for that cheap dollar – I have to.”

Shanks, an independent voter, said he’s supporting Republican Sen. John McCain, citing the official’s career experience in office as the deciding factor for him.

“I’d just feel more comfortable, confident and safe with McCain,” the plumber said. “McCain’s been there. Obama’s just not that experienced.”

Shanks likened the decision to a homeowner in need of a plumber – would you hire the guy who just got his trade license, he asked, or a seasoned professional?

I do wonder how many kitchen table conversations are going on around America – with Obama putting his socialist foot in his radical mouth and letting the Marxism out of the bag…and now people get to draw the stark contrast between McCain and Obama which the Obama-defending MSM have thus far prevented? I’m not of the opinion that Joe the Plumber is a game changer, but it certainly has got the conversation off of what Obama wanted it on – nebulous statements about “hope” and “change” coupled with a massive, negative ad campaign to slander McCain’s good name. We’re now actually talking about which person would be best – yesterday, in a “water cooler” debate with two friends who are Obama supporters we were actually talking up the contrasting health care plans as the Obamaniacs were finally forced to defend policy rather than just attack Bush and marvel over Obama’s rhetorical skills. Not saying they’ll change their votes, but if Obamaniacs are finally being forced to think about their guy, then there must be millions of undecided voters who are now making their final decision on the man.

And this is, really, just the tip of the ACORN/Obama/Democrat voter fraud scandal:

CINCINNATI (AP) – Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner estimated that an initial review found that about 200,000 newly registered voters reported information that did not match motor-vehicle or Social Security records, Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder said. Some discrepancies could be as simple as a misspelling, while others could be more significant.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the Ohio Republican Party on Tuesday and ordered Brunner to set up a system that provides those names to county elections boards. The GOP contends the information will help prevent fraud.

“Things already are in motion to comply,” Kidder said. “We’re working to establish these processes on how we can make this work. The computer work actually began last week.”

About 666,000 Ohioans have registered to vote since January.

Brunner previously cross-checked new-voter registrations with databases run by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle and the Social Security Administration and made the results available online, but the 6th Circuit said the information was not accessible in a way that would help county election boards ferret out mismatches.

Brunner, a Democrat, told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on Wednesday that she is concerned the court decision is a veiled attempt at disenfranchising voters. Brunner said she’ll urge counties not to force these people to use provisional ballots.

The court gave Brunner until Friday to get election boards the information but it was unclear whether that deadline would be met. The court set no penalty for missing the deadline. (emphasis added)

Naturally the Democrat is going to do everything possible to keep fraudulent voters on the rolls – such is vital to Obama’s prospects on November 4th. What fools like Brunner don’t realize is that there is just so much of this we’ll take – if the ultimate leftwing goal is a complete break down of faith in our democratic process and eventual civil war, they’re going about it the right way. And the really astounding thing is that there always has been, in this year of 2008, a solid chance even someone as leftist as Obama would win fair and square. All they’ve done is pre-taint Obama should he win.

We do need to get to the bottom of this, and that is another reason for voting for McCain/Palin – only a McCain Administration would have the courage and the desire to go after all political corruption, most especially that being done by the left.

The pro-choicers (so-called) insist we are, and in a certain sense they might be correct, but how does this play out in the real world?

A U.S. nationwide poll shows that almost all Americans thing abortion should be restricted.

The poll was conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion between Sept. 24 and Oct. 3. It aimed to enable comparisons of the views of Catholic voters with those of the general electorate.

The poll asked respondents to state which of six statements came closest to describing their opinion on abortion.

Only 8% of U.S. residents chose the statement saying abortion should be available to a woman any time she wants during her entire pregnancy.

That same percentage said abortion should be allowed only during the first six months of pregnancy. Twenty-four percent moved the abortion limit to the first three months of pregnancy.

The largest percentage — 32% — chose the statement saying abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

Fifteen percent chose the fifth option: that abortion should be allowed only to save the life of the mother.

And 13% affirmed that abortion should never be permitted under any circumstance.

The poll also indicated that even among those who describe themselves as pro-choice, 71% favored restricting abortions. Of these, 43% would restrict abortion to the first trimester and 23% would restrict abortion only to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said the poll results are “indicative of the fact that the term ‘pro-choice’ — when applied broadly — needlessly polarizes the discussion of abortion and masks the fact that there is broad consensus among Americans that abortion should be significantly restricted.”

The reason I use “pro-abortion” to describe the people I oppose on the issue of abortion is because there is no other way to describe them – I wish to differentiate between fanatics and reasonable people. Reasonable people, as noted in the above article, want various restrictions on abortion from mild to strong – fanatics fight a desperate, rear-guard action to preserve a definition of legal abortion supported by only a tiny minority. There is, in the end, no real argument in favor of abortion being legal after the first trimester even if you want to take the so-called pro-choice movement’s word on what is at stake. Having no argument in favor of abortion on demand, what the pro-abortion people do is try to cast the debate in terms of “either/or” – either you back them, or you’re in favor of raped women dying in back alley abortions. The truth is a lot different.

And the people understand this – and thus we’ve seen in Campaign ’08 a strong implication that the election of McCain means a Supreme Court that will overturn Roe and thus ban abortion…even though there’s no indication that any particular judicial appointee – even of the most pro-life, conservative variety – will result in an overturning of Roe and, of course, the fact that overturning Roe wouldn’t affect the status of legal abortion in any State or local jurisdiction in the United States. The pro-abortion fanatics, meanwhile, are pinning their hopes on Obama who has pledged to sign the misbegotten “Freedom of Choice Act” which would usurp the power of the people to decide on any regulation of abortion whatsoever.

For the battle between the Culture of Life and the culture of death, the stakes are quite high this year – elect McCain, and Life will stride ahead; elect Obama and death will make the running.

Don’t go uncorking the champagne, yet, Obamaniacs:

Gov. Sarah Palin met with a group of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s former supporters Tuesday evening at a special fund-raising reception organized for them on behalf of the Republican ticket…

…Ms. Palin, along with her husband, Todd, mingled and posed for pictures with the group of about 20, before appearing at the larger finance event, which McCain campaign officials said was the last time Mr. McCain would personally appear at a fund-raiser before the election. It was also the first time the pair had appeared together for donors.

More than 1,000 people paid $1,000 each for tickets to the main fund-raiser. Nearly 250 people who contributed $25,000 got dinner beforehand with Mr. McCain.

The reception for former Clinton supporters, which also was attended by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, was spearheaded by Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a former telecommunications entrepreneur and “Hillraiser” who brought in more than $100,000 for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign; Calvin Fayard, also a former Hillraiser and longtime Democratic donor from Louisiana, and Miguel Lausell, a former senior political adviser to the Clinton campaign from Puerto Rico.

Other prominent former Clinton supporters in attendance included John Coale, a former Hillraiser, Washington lawyer and husband of Fox News television host Greta Van Susteren.

Everyone at the reception contributed $28,500 to McCain-Palin Victory 2008, a joint fund-raising committee for the Republican National Committee and several state Republican parties.

While Mrs. Clinton has implored her former supporters to back Senator Barack Obama, some still harbor ill will towards him, organizers said.

“These people want to give their vote of disapproval,” said Mr. Lausell. “This is a way they’re doing it.”

How many of these people are there? Are they actually reflected in the polling demographics? Time will tell.

First it was our glorious Marines, now it is the good people of western Pennsylvania:

Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday his home base of western Pennsylvania is racist and that could reduce Barack Obama’s victory margin in the state by 4 percentage points.

The 17-term Democratic congressman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a story posted Wednesday on its Web site: “There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area.”

Murtha said it has taken time for many Pennsylvania voters to come around to embracing a black presidential candidate, but that Obama should still win the state, though not in a runaway.

In a separate interview posted Wednesday on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Web site, Murtha said Obama has a problem with voters’ racial attitudes in western Pennsylvania that could trim his winning margin on Nov. 4.

Did you catch all that, Pennsylvanians? Obama thinks you’re a bunch of bigots who cling to God and guns, and the one of the corrupt Democrats who represents you in Congress thinks you’re a bunch of racists.

Are you going to vote Democrat on November 4th?

While Obama plays the class warfare game, John McCain lays out a plan to help actual Americans deal with the real problems of the day:

We must restore trust to our financial system. On my orders, the Department of the Treasury will guarantee one hundred percent of all savings accounts for a period of six months. This will calm the understandable fears of widespread bank failure, while also restoring rational judgment to the choices of the market.

As president, I will also act to protect investors — especially those relying on their investments for retirement. Current rules mandate that investors must begin to sell off their IRAs and 401Ks when they reach age 70 and one half years old. Those rules should be suspended to spare senior citizens from being forced to sell their stock just as the market is hurting the most…

…It is essential that we avoid an exodus of capital from the market. Senator Obama yesterday offered up a proposal that would have the effect of encouraging early withdrawal of funds from 401(k) accounts, by suspending penalties through 2009. This is an invitation to capital flight, and therefore to continued instability in the market, at a moment when exactly the opposite is needed… I will cut in half the capital gains tax on stocks purchased and held for more than a year…

…It will not be enough for the federal government to correct the excesses of Wall Street without reforming its own reckless practices.

Spending in Washington is out of control and I am going to rein it in. As president, I will veto the pork barrel special interest projects that are wasting your tax dollars, driving up our debt, and weakening our dollar. I have proposed a one year spending freeze with certain exceptions for such things as defense and veteran care. We are going to use that year to turn Washington inside out and get rid of wasteful, inefficient programs that do no one any good.

While we put government back on your side, we must reform our tax system to deliver needed tax relief to working Americans, and to create jobs. I will double the child deduction, from 3,500 dollars to 7,000 dollars. Every person in America who chooses it will receive a 5,000 dollars towards the purchase of health insurance — health plans that will be theirs to keep, even if they change jobs or move to another state. And we will reduce the federal business tax rate from 35 percent — the second-highest in the world — to 25 percent. I am also proposing today that for those who are between jobs, we eliminate all taxes on unemployment benefits. It is unclear to me why the government taxes money it has just sent you, and we should relieve this burden from Americans who’ve been hit the hardest.

Reducing business tax rates has the potential to stop and reverse the rise of unemployment, and could create millions of new jobs. Despite the frequent changes to my opponent’s tax plans in recent months — he seems to revise them with each new poll — his plan to raise taxes on 50% of small business income has survived. And even as he rails against companies that shut down their plants and move overseas, he refuses to cut the tax rate that drives many of these companies away…

…This weekend, a plumber concerned that Senator Obama was going to raise his taxes asked him directly about his plan. The response was telling. Senator Obama explained to him that he was going to raise his taxes to quote “spread the wealth around.” This explains how Senator Obama can promise an income tax cut for millions who aren’t even paying income taxes right now. My friends, my plan isn’t intended to force small businesses to cut jobs to pay higher taxes so we can “spread the wealth around.” My plan is intended to create jobs and increase the wealth of all Americans.

My plan for economic recovery does not require guesswork or blind faith from the American people. You know my record. You don’t have to hope I will do what I promise. When I say I will cut spending, you need only look at my record to know it’s true. When I say I will defend taxpayers, you know it’s true because it’s what I’ve always done. When I say I will work across the aisle, you can see it in the results I’ve delivered.

And when I say I will change Washington, you know I’ll do it, because for me change isn’t a political slogan, it’s what I’ve been doing my whole career.

This is a bold, Reaganesque plan to re-start and economy currently burdened by years of bad financial practices encouraged by corrupt Congressional Democrats – what this financial crisis really boils down to is years of Democrat back scratching between Congress and Fannie/Freddie finally coming home to roost and the Democrats sticking the American people with the bill and then blaming the free market for the problems Democrats created.

We GOPers share the fault here – we didn’t go hard enough after Democrats and their leftwing allies. People like Frank, Dodd, Rangel and the people who run groups like ACORN should have seen the inside of a jail cell years ago rather than being allowed at the pinnacle of American power and wealth. We have found out that extreme nastiness must never deter us in the future from protecting the American people – it would be worth it to lose an election after sending Frank to jail, you see? Let them belabor us on the campaign trail as homophobes or what have you – but lets enforce the laws and go after corruption everywhere and all the time. It wouldn’t disturb any of us, I think, if Abramoff and the directors of ACORN were sharing a cell, now would it?

In John McCain and Sarah Palin we have the two people who, if they win, will owe absolutely nothing to the powers that be in DC and Wall Street. The entirety of the American elite, including a selection of the conservative elite (which persons are soon to be drummed out of the club, if we rank-and-filers have our way about it) has risen as one man to defeat McCain and elevate Obama, because in Obama they see a man who will allow things to go on as they are now…with the people who are on top today being on top tomorrow and no risk of a nasty criminal investigation in to just what has been going on with the financial system over the past 10 years or so.

For the sake of our families and the economy we depend upon but, also, for the sake of our free institutions, we must elected McCain/Palin. Allow Obama’s corrupt minions four years of unfettered power in DC and the United States government will become a sick joke, and America a much weaker nation in the world, despised as a banana Republic which can be bought on the open market by the highest bidder. We have it in our power to prevent this – to rise, ourselves, as one man and tell the elites that while they have been able to fool a good number of our fellow Americans, they didn’t fool a majority of us.