I'M FEELING MUCH BETTER NOW, THANK YOU!

I was working the night Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech, but I had the foresight to record it. This afternoon, I finally got to watch it, and I'm so glad I did.

Up until now, I have said that I wasn't going to really be able to vote FOR a candidate, I would be voting AGAINST one instead. For many, many reasons I simply could not ever make myself vote for Barack Obama. He is eloquent, charismatic, and I'm sure could charm the birds out of the trees. So can the devil. His speeches are beautifully delivered, and he speaks so smoothly of hope and change, hope and change, hope and change. Now let's look at his views on some selected issues.

He sees a baby as a "punishment" in some cases. A baby is a punishment? He says he would not want his young daughter "punished for making a mistake". I get what he's saying, but there are alternatives to abortion, adoption being the obvious, merciful choice. The girl has her baby, a childless couple is given a gift, and a baby gets the gift of life. The young birth mother is then free to resume her life, perhaps sadder, certainly wiser, but happily NOT saddled with the guilt of having sacrificed the life of a child for her own convenience. No punishment there, it's a win/win situation. In time, with or even without the support of sensitive parents, she will come to realize what a courageous and loving choice she made instead.

He says deciding when life begins is "above his pay grade". Well, it's not above mine, and I would imagine my pay grade is considerably lower than his. Having attended quite a few spontaneous abortions, commonly known as miscarriages, over the years, I can tell you that life begins a whole lot earlier than the law defines at this moment. I have seen ten-week fetuses suddenly expelled into a bedpan, and I have seen a little chest, no thicker than my forefinger, quiver with the last failing heartbeats. Even at that young age, tiny half-inch footprints can be obtained and given to the grieving mother. With that much "life" present at ten weeks, I think it's just pretty reasonable to assume that life begins at conception. If there's a heartbeat, there's life, and that heartbeat begins very, very early, usually before the mother even suspects she's pregnant.

He wants America to leave the war in Iraq behind. He wants us to tuck our tail, turn and run. He wants us to surrender, to give up, to abandon the cause for which our young men and women have been fighting so valiantly, and winning. He is listening to the Hollywood publicity grabbers and the negative left-wing media, and he's not listening to the military personnel who have been there, who ARE there, and who absolutely do not want us to quit. We are winning. This is not the time to run. America is better than that.

He wants us to disarm, to "lead" in the movement for nuclear disarmament. He simply does not get it. In today's world, with nuclear weaponry getting ever more popular, we absolutely cannot afford to disarm. It reminds me of those who want guns outlawed. Make guns illegal, and the country will be a safe place once again. Uh-huh. Do you believe that? Of course not. Criminals will still have guns, because breaking the law is what criminals do. The guy who breaks into your house will be delighted that you're a law-abiding citizen and don't possess a gun, but he'll have one, and he'll shoot you with it.

In the same way, Kim Jung Il of North Korea will be thrilled when we do away with our nuclear weapons, because that will mean we can't fire back at him when he launches his nuclear missiles at us. Mr. Obama doesn't seem to understand that the only thing that is holding the wolves at bay right now is the knowledge that we are stronger than they are and can hurt them more than they can hurt us. It's sad, but it's true. In today's world, only superior strength can bring peace. The days of Kumbaya are in the past, they went away with the flower children.

So, why am I feeling so much better now? Because after hearing Mr. McCain speak, I'm much more impressed with him than I was a week ago. He's tough, he's determined, he's got good sense, and maybe most important of all, he's a flat-out, unashamed patriot. He may be 72, but his mother is 96 and she looks pretty fit to me, so maybe he's got good genes, and will manage to make it through four years, or even eight.

He's also smart. He showed that, when he chose Sarah Palin as a running mate. Sure, it was a politically expedient move to choose a woman. She will draw a lot of disgruntled feminists who would have voted for Hillary even if her horns were showing. Granted, gender is not a valid reason to vote for OR against a candidate, but some people will. (By the way, race is not a valid reason either, but some will base their vote on that, either for or against Mr. Obama. Shame on them.) So, that being the case, and with winning being the obvious goal, I think Mr. McCain used good judgment in choosing a woman as a running mate. However, it's only good judgment if the woman is qualified, and praise the Lord, I do believe Sarah Palin is supremely qualified.

After hearing her speech, I came away feeling encouraged, hopeful, and really looking forward to going to the polling place and casting my vote for Mr. McCain and Sarah Palin. She has more executive experience that Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden combined, which isn't hard to do since neither of them has any executive experience at all. Zero. Zero. Zero. As in "none".

Yes, I do now believe that John McCain will make a good President. However, there is great comfort in the knowledge that if, God forbid, he is for whatever reason unable to complete his term of office, Sarah Palin will be there to take over, and in my opinion, she would make far and away a better President than Barack Obama could ever hope to be, even in his wildest dreams.

I really believe that McCain and Palin can and will win, and I think America will be in a much better place four years from now. I believe we will begin to drastically cut our dependence on foreign oil. I believe a lot of the pork will be taken out of some slimy hands in Washington. I believe we will see a victorious end to the war in Iraq, and we will know that it was good that we were there. Dubya has fought an uphill fight and hasn't backed down, the reports coming out of Iraq today are telling us that we're winning, and now I think we've got a good chance of electing a team that will see it through and we will emerge with victory in our grasp.

So, that's why I'm feeling much better now, thank you.