I’ve spent way too much time the past few days reading and watching commentary on the debate. Because this is the weekend every six months when Mormons quietly retreat from life to listen to General Conference, I have had a few extra days to digest the debate before jumping into the fray with my thoughts. It has been an interesting experience to juxtipose the varried political ideologies with the eternal words of the Prophets of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listening to conference is always a grounding and sobering experience for me. I tend to step back from the grind of current events and think on things eternal: Family, Friendships, Love, Service, and Freedom.
I suppose the good dousing I had this weekend in things eternal makes it a little more difficult to weigh in on the blatherings of the chattering class in our society.
But I’ll try. My initial reaction to the debate was that both Biden and Palin were good at communicating their message to the people of this country. The well documented fact that Biden was yapping whoppers about as fast as he talked has been parsed here and here.
I thought Sarah won the debate overall, and was thrilled to see her do so well.
In all of the commentary on talk radio, the news, and various internet chat rooms etc…that I have been reviewing, no one has taken issue with this portion of the debate, which for me was the most troubling when talking about an Obama Presidency. I wanted to share my concerns because so far I have not noticed anyone else talking about it.
During this line of questioning in which Palin had her best dig of the night (“Nobody got your joke Joe”) Gwen Ifill asked:
IFILL: Everybody gets extra credit tonight. We’re going to move on to the next question. Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day. You, senator, said you would not be vice president under any circumstances. Now maybe this was just what was going on at the time. But tell us now, looking forward, what it is you think the vice presidency is worth now.
PALIN: In my comment there, it was a lame attempt at a joke and yours was a lame attempt at a joke, too, I guess, because nobody got it. Of course we know what a vice president does.
BIDEN: They didn’t get yours or mine? Which one didn’t they get?
PALIN: No, no. Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that’s not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I’m thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president’s policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are. John McCain and I have had good conversations about where I would lead with his agenda. That is energy independence in America and reform of government over all, and then working with families of children with special needs. That’s near and dear to my heart also. In those arenas, John McCain has already tapped me and said, that’s where I want you, I want you to lead. I said, I can’t wait to get and there go to work with you.
IFILL: Senator?
BIDEN: Gwen, I hope we’ll get back to education because I don’t know any government program that John is supporting, not early education, more money for it. The reason No Child Left Behind was left behind, the money was left behind, we didn’t fund it. We can get back to that I assume.
With regard to the role of vice president, I had a long talk, as I’m sure the governor did with her principal, in my case with Barack. Let me tell you what Barack asked me to do. I have a history of getting things done in the United States Senate. John McCain would acknowledge that. My record shows that on controversial issues.
I would be the point person for the legislative initiatives in the United States Congress for our administration. I would also, when asked if I wanted a portfolio, my response was, no. But Barack Obama indicated to me he wanted me with him to help him govern. So every major decision he’ll be making, I’ll be sitting in the room to give my best advice. He’s president, not me, I’ll give my best advice.
And one of the things he said early on when he was choosing, he said he picked someone who had an independent judgment and wouldn’t be afraid to tell him if he disagreed. That is sort of my reputation, as you know. I look forward to working with Barack and playing a very constructive role in his presidency, bringing about the kind of change this country needs.
I don’t know if anyone else is troubled by this, but I was. Biden Said:
“Barack Obama indicated to me he wanted me with him to help him govern”.
“So every major decision he’ll be making, I’ll be sitting in the room to give my best advice.”
“He’s president, not me, I’ll give my best advice.”
It was sort of like he was assuring the voters, “look we all know this guy has never led anything, made any major decision in his life, and has no executive experience whatsoever, so, rest assured, I will be standing over his shoulder “helping him govern”.
When someone is president we have to assume that he/she has the final word on every major decision he/she makes. We don’t want a “commitee of fools” running the executive branch of the government. We want one person, with the proven leadership ability to make the difficult choices, able and ready to respond to any issue with clarity, focus, and grit. John McCain will have no problem making those determinations. And I believe Sarah Palin would do an even better job of making the difficult decisions that a president must make every day. She did it as a leader in her state, and she has done it as a wife and mother.
I don’t believe Senator Obama is up to the task of leadership and I believe Joe Bidens understanding of that fact was the reason he was assuring the country during that point in the debate. The country does not have the time for a freshman senator to learn leadership on the job. It is for this reason that I will be voting for McCain/Palin.
Here is the whole transcript of the Biden Palin Debate.
Jenny Hatch
Good Memories from last year! Now that Ben is in school our park and library days are winding down as he gets busy with his new activities. Here is a video I made of an outing last october. I have been too busy lately to take video and pictures to put on my blog.
My share page at One True Media
Jenny Hatch
Happiness: Your Heritage Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness.
This section of the talk was my favorite:
The Work of Creation
The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.
You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”
If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.
If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.
You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.
What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.
Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.”
The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
I strongly endorse and believe the words of Elder Uchtdorf. This was one of my favorite talks from conference.
Jenny Hatch
Bailing on the Constitution? By Todd Gaziano
One of the principal benefits of the constitutional separation of powers is that citizens know which branch to hold accountable when something goes wrong. It is symptom of the separation of powers sloppiness of modern times that instead of writing detailed laws that the president is then responsible to execute, Congress delegates vast new authority to the executive branch to “fix” he problem de jure and then tries to invent new ways to micromanage and nitpick the exercise of the authority. Such a power-sharing relationship is the exact opposite of the constitutional separation of powers perfected by the Framers of our Constitution.
The outline of the compromise bill seems to do very little to guide the Treasury secretary’s almost limitless discretion on what financial or other debt he may buy, for what purposes, to whom he may sell it, and on what terms. Instead, congressional negotiators simply added the tools of modern micromanagement: a quasi-unconstitutional inspector general (depending on how “independent” he is when the ink is dry), extra-special GAO audits and reviews, multiple layers of specially burdensome congressional reporting, and a questionable-sounding, whiz-bang oversight board.
James Madison would not approve. It’s a classic recipe for fingerpointing if something goes wrong and an equally worrisome precedent even if the immediate “crisis” abates. I prefer the Constitution.
— Todd Gaziano is the director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
I prefer the constitution too.
Jenny Hatch
