tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4777750410141759635.post-87560528563618575472008-02-22T09:49:00.000-05:002008-02-22T09:49:00.000-05:002008-02-22T09:49:00.000-05:00So if I'm to understand you correctly, you think that the United States of America should select their next leader based on a public opinion poll - of a public that isn't even part of the electorate?<BR/><BR/>Do you honestly think any other country in the world selects their leaders this way?<BR/><BR/>Shouldn't we be trying to elect the best, most qualified leader? Shouldn't we as believers be voting for the candidates that best fit our priorities, whether those priorities be social justice, sanctity of life, or both?<BR/><BR/>The rest of the globe can't have it both ways. They can't tell us on the one hand that we shouldn't interject ourselves as some kind of bully, then on the other hand tell us we have to choose leaders that they prefer, basically bullying us into doing what they want, trying to shape us into an image they prefer.<BR/><BR/>I wholeheartedly support global cooperation, negotiation, trade, and in some cases intervention in "hot spots." What I reject is this idea that somehow because we have made European Socialists mad that we are instantly bad, and required to become American Socialists to pacify them. <BR/><BR/>Some of us believe that the best way to help our nation's poor is to create a system and economy that allows them to succeed rather than just become dependent of a federal check like so many of Europe's lower classes.<BR/><BR/>Some believe that with great strength comes great responsibility, and that The United States has a role to play in freeing people (like Iraqis, Rwandans, Sudanese, etc...) from tyranny. While that may not be yours or my point of view, it doesn't make it a "bad" one or an "illegitimate" and certainly shouldn't make Barack Obama the only right choice for President.<BR/><BR/>Let's not forget (as some seem to have) 95 of 100 Senators voted FOR our action in Iraq. So now we have to vote all of them out too?<BR/><BR/>I enjoy your writing, respect you as a person, and miss your presence in the Biblical Recorder, but I had to respond to this blog with a big thumbs down.Jason Blantonwww.smithtonfirstbaptist.comnoreply@blogger.com