Obama: Don’t “spike the football”…unless you need to get re-elected...

It was one year ago that U.S. Navy SEALs successfully killed Osama Bin Laden.  Then, about ten minutes later, Barrack Obama proceeded to take the credit.  Makes sense, after all…he did make a decision that any President with an IQ higher than a grapefruit would make…why shouldn’t he take all the credit (even though the SEALs did all the work and were the real heroes).  Then, ever one to try to ride two horses with one rear end, Obama refused to release the pictures because, and I quote, “we don’t want to spike the football.”

After that, Obama’s approval managed to creep above 50% for the first time in over a year…for about fifteen minutes (in case you’re keeping score, the President’s approval rating hasn’t been above 50% since May of 2011). Suddenly, Obama was humble…ish…about it. Then an election year rolled around. Now Obama’s on thin ice, regardless of what the Drive-By Media is telling you, with voters…left with minimal successes to trumpet when asking for a second term, the President has to bring up the one thing he managed to not screw up: the killing of Bin Laden.  

He can’t talk about the “success” of his stimulus, because there wasn’t any: Remember, if we passed the stimulus unemployment wouldn’t go above 8%...it hasn’t dropped below 8% since.  (Not to mention the only way he can claim it as a success is if he moves the goal line with “it would’ve been worse if we hadn’t acted,” even though it can’t be proven.) He can’t talk about the “success” of Obamacare: it was supposed to lower healthcare costs and instead they went up. (Also it’s about as popular as a Red Sox fan in the Bronx.)  Then there’s Obama’s billions in “Green Energy” subsidies that have done nothing to lower gas prices (but at least a lot of the companies who were invested in have gone bankrupt so there’s that). 

He can’t talk about his policy successes. So he’s got to talk about killing Bin Laden. A lot.  He’s got to go to Afghanistan and trumpet it a year later.  One can’t help but ask if this isn’t the same President who talked about not wanting to give Al Qaeda a “recruiting tool”?  Using legitimate interrogation tactics on the battlefield to save American lives (that are made to look like patty cakes by the practices of Al Qaeda) are going to be used to recruit…but not going on a celebration tour a year after the killing of Al Qaeda’s leader WON’T be?  Sure. Makes sense.

Bottom line: The President is now “spiking the football.” It’s incredibly clear why: he wants a second term…he needs SOMETHING to trumpet…and his legislative record sure isn’t it. So now it’s just fine to “spike the football.” After all, it’s all about Obama. 

Soldiers lives? Never mind, Obama has to get re-elected.  Propriety? Never mind, Obama’s has to get re-elected.  Not making a fool of yourself? Never mind, Obama has to get re-elected. “Don’t spike the football?”  Never mind (you guessed it), Obama has to get re-elected.  After all, it’s all about Obama. Not America.

hunger for what (fasting repost)

(i originally wrote and posted this to renown on September 1, 2009. Last night we kicked off 30 days of fasting at Ridge Church. Begging God to do in and through us what only He can do. i thought this would be a good time to revisit this post...)

Our lead pastor, Chris, invited some peeps @ Ridge Church to "fast" with him for 10 days.
I'm in & excited about what God will do in me during these 10 days. Chris directed us to pray/fast about 2 things over these 10 days:
1) That we would be spiritually hungry - driven to God for satisfaction like I'm driven to food.
2) For God's Glory. Specifically for God to get glory through Ridge Church. Chris has said from the beginning that he only wants Ridge to be a platform that God would stand on to spread His renown.

I want to use these 10 days to develop my "Theology of Fasting" - I didn't have much of one before starting this. And I think it will help me immensely to pour out my heart from this journey here on renown. I started A Hunger for God by my homeboy Piper & will be posting some stuff I learn from that book here @ renown.
(Now, I just read in Matthew 6 that Jesus said not to be a hypocrite & jack up your face when you fast so that everyone will know. I just want to learn what God thinks about fasting. And part of this whole experience for me is having an outlet to process my thoughts. + I am far from trying to make myself look good here... I'm not even gonna do the real thing for much more than 1 day. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, but later today I'm gonna have to eat something (because currently my head is exploding & I may pass out any second), so for most of the 10 days I will be doing a "no meat & only water" fast. haha, which because of the carnivore that I am, I haven't really been able to think of many things to eat that aren't meat. seriously. I'm sure I'll get really creative these 10 days!) Anyway, there is no better way for me to try to figure this thing out than to talk about it.

Because of this "fast" my mind has not been able to break from thoughts about God's absolute renown in my life. that's an amazing thing.
Every freaking second this extreme hunger in my stomach is forcing my passion to rise up in me and a hunger for God to be glorified! I want it to remind me that as bad as I want food right now, I want God MORE... I want Him to use me to make His name famous in this world!
I keep shouting to myself "I've gotta have some food!" & it's an instant reminder that I want my constant shout to be "I've gotta have YOU, God." He is better than food. He is better than anything.

Later today when I down some nasty non-meat food it will be so satisfying to me! It will quench my hunger. My belly will be fully satisfied. It will be amazing.
BUT, it will be a reminder to me that God is the only One who can satisfy me fully. No thing, no food, no person, no lifestyle, no comfort, no accomplishment, no amount of money, no ANYTHING will ever fill me up & satisfy me except for God!

And when I satisfy my hunger fully in Him - He is most glorified in me!

(& now I'm off to find something vegetarians eat, haha...)

Obama's Losing the Youth

Something that you won't see in polls that use "adults" or "registered voters," mind you, but Obama's losing the youth vote.  Don't get me wrong, friends...the youth still support Obama. There's just one key issue...a huge chunk of them AREN'T PLANNING ON SHOWING UP TO VOTE!

44%, to be specific, of registered voters 18-29 years old, do not necessarily plan to vote, according to a Gallup Poll from last week.  The same youth who flocked to vote for Obama have apparently lost interest. It turns out actually political concepts and policy ideas are not as attractive to young adults as "Yes We Can" and "Change." It also turns out that you can't wax intellectual about "change" when you've had three years and things haven't changed...at least not for the better.

Make no mistake about it, friends, Obama NEEDS the youth vote. Mitt Romney, in kind, needs the senior citizen vote. Good news on that front: 86% of that group (registered voters 65+) intend to vote...and plan to vote for Romney by a 12% margin over Obama. The type of people who are likely to vote for Romney are reliable. Obama's base...not so much.

This of course demonstrates why polls of adults and registered voters are less reliable: Not everyone will show up to vote. The more one leans toward a Republican candidate, the more they are likely to show up. If you look at the polls where Obama does the best, it's a poll of adults, or registered voters. He loses more and more support the more likely the voter gets.

It's early, friends, and Romney has barely started his campaign against Obama. But Obama is already looking very weak in this election. Losing the youth vote just proves it further.