Well first I want to thank you all for your warm words of encouragement-I do appreciate them, I just hope that I as get closer to my dad's age, that I will turn into a a jaded individual and loose my love for Free Speech which includes sharing your faith-whatever that maybe.
Dad, there is no one more for Freedom of Religion in this country then me. But with this freedom comes the ability to voice, share, and speak about what it is you believe in. I have had to fight this very same issue with many of my co-workers who feel the same way you do: That religion should not be expressed, voiced or discussed when talking about politics. Now granted I'm still a young pup and missed out on the whole civil-rights movement of the 1960's but doesn't that view sound a little like censorship and actually infringe on freedom of speech and religion?? I mean why is it that whenever a non-Christian politician talks about their religion or beliefs there is never a strong up-roar??? But when we "Super Christians" actually discuss our faith whether at a rally or during a speech, we get such a backlash and the first thing people bring up is separation of church and state?? Which by the way I didn't hear any mention of a "One faith/religion" White House in any of the candidates speeches this week. Yes they mentioned their "Faith". People must have faith in something. John McCain mentioned that he places his Faith in this great nation, in America. As far as Palin-I haven't really read up on her comments about the Pipeline being God's will or something so I can't comment on that. But I just think it's funny when people of Faith get up and talk about it-people forget the real issues and focus on their religion/religious background or whatever.

Secondly, I would like to turn the focus to McCain's speech-unfortunately I feel asleep last night at Mom & Dad's house so I missed it last night-But with the great innovations of MY generation I was able to watch it this morning at the Fire House curtousy of MSNBC's web site. I forgot to mention last time that one of my favorite movies is Top Gun and love that McCain's opponents call him a Maverick! Suits him well. But anyway, I thought that McCain started off very well pointing out that Obama and his supporters have much more in common then they lack-mainly that they are Americans fighting for what is best for America-it just so happens that what McCain is fighting for will actually help this country instead of making him look good! I loved when McCain stated "Friends don't get deterred by the ground noise & the static."-->Yes he is a veteran, yes he is war hero, yes he's Republican but as he said, "I hate war, it's terrible-beyond imagine." We need a country that is both safe & secure-but also is not afraid to fight for what is right. I've been saying it for years that us (present company not included) Dumb, Fat, Lazy, Wealthy Americans need to open our eyes and see that there are others who need help besides ourselves, not just in this country but abroad. And as the wealthiest country, the most democratic country in the world, I think we have a duty, no-obligation to help those who can't fight for themselves. Toward the end of his speech McCain put it best when he said: "Friends if you have problems with our country-make it better: Join it's ranks, enlist in the military, become a teacher, invest in change, etc". All too often we see people who like to complain but aren't do anything about it. I love my dad don't get me wrong-and yet he complains a lot about a lot. And yes Dad you have done a lot to help fight the addiction of drugs and alcohol and I commend you on this-but if you don't like the lack of good education, political education and historically correct history lesson-volunteer. I guess it's easy for a person to say these things-but actual implementation is hard to come by. I guess it's a shame I don't volunteer in my community as a Fire-Fighter helping those in need when the government comes up short, or volunteering to help with Hurricane relief when the Dems and Barack want to "wait and see what they need". I mean it isn't like I put others first and work as a Paramedic, concerned with actual front-line health care of our citizens instead of proposing a government run-health care. Listen if the government can't get the war in Iraq right why are we going to allow them to control a Health Care system that directly affects our families??? It's also a good thing I don't volunteer as a Youth leader in my church-a Christian Church that believes in a strong Faith in God-by educating the next generation of believers, with ideas of Love for our fellow man, Forgiveness & acceptance of other people and their religion, a sense of hard work and strong beliefs....Oh wait I do do all these things-and why because I agree that promises are promises; that sometimes watching the devastation of a fire at a local neighborhood on TV might make some of us sad-but we do nothing, or that when we saw the horrible destruction of Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago from our living rooms and still many of did nothing. And Yet there are still of us who complain about right-wing, radical Christians with their strong views of faith and absolutism-but who never really take time to read the Bible, or join in a modern discussion with religious leaders or sit in on youth events where the next generation if being educated on the do's & don't's when sharing and speaking about our beliefs.

I reiterate McCain's call: if you don't like it then Fight with me, Fight with me, Stand up and fight. This country cannot begin to change when all we do is sit on our butts and complain. Lastly, I would like to leave you with what I think is the strongest belief in my life and something that John McCain decided to close with in his speech and that is that nothing brings greater happiness in life, than to serve a cause greater than yourself. So stand up and fight-if you don't like something about this country-change it. If you don't like the politics in Washington--nows your chance. Vote for someone who will bring about change, by placing the spot-light on America and her citizens, not for someone with the same: Me First, Country Second, do nothing crowd! Vote for someone who has consistently been a servant for the last 20 years-maybe not always perfect, but a servant first, last & always. Change is coming to Washington, Reform is coming to Washington, History in the making is coming to Washington---McCain and Palin are coming to Washington!!!