I have not decided who I will support for the presidency in 2012, but I have decided who I will not support: Barack Obama. My reasons for opposing Obama are many and varied. For instance, he has been a disaster for the U.S. economy. His so-called “stimulus programs” including TARP turned out to be little more than paybacks to individuals and organizations that supported candidate Obama in 2008. The president wasted more than $2 trillion of our hard-earned and borrowed money while our economy fizzled. That money could have been used, for example, to develop the infrastructure needed to produce and sell natural gas throughout the U.S. and to convert the nation’s entire truck fleet to natural gas. The long-term return on that kind of investment would have been huge, and there would have been plenty of money left over to make other truly stimulative investments.
As commander-in-chief, President Obama leaves a lot to be desired. His showboating about “killing Osama bin Laden” and ending the Iraq War may win him liberal votes in November 2012, but he has done more to scuttle our military than any president in my memory. Under his watch, our enemies and potential enemies have grown stronger while we have become weaker, and we are debating gutting the military completely. Things are so bad that Obama’s Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, has let it be known publically that the defense cuts being considered by the majority Democrats in the Senate would make the U.S. military a paper tiger. President Obama has done nothing to alter the course of the debate. That says a lot.
Obama’s “shove it down your throat” way of getting things done is the exact opposite of what our Founding Fathers had in mind. Obamacare is a perfect example of this. Anyone who knows anything about healthcare and the cost of healthcare delivery realizes that the system we had in place in 2008 was leading us to fiscal collapse and that change was long overdue. The president squandered a perfect opportunity to make significant improvements in our healthcare system and lots of dollars to boot while he rewarded his friends and punished his enemies in the healthcare sector of the economy. After almost 3 years in office, our healthcare system is in worse shape than it was in 2008, and we are wasting precious time and money trying to get back to square one so we can begin the process all over again.
Obama’s foreign policy is a joke, and it isn’t funny; his penchant for class warfare is dividing our country at a time when we need to be coming together; the Obama Justice Department is about anything but justice; and the president has done more to undermine Israel in the eyes of the world than I could have imagined. As I said, there are many reasons why I believe supporting President Obama is a mistake of gargantuan proportions. We need a change at the top, but “better than Obama” is not the right standard to use when selecting his opponent. The GOP nominee for the presidency needs to be much better than Obama. We’ve reached the point as a nation where we have very little time left to tackle the tough problems we face, and the next president will have to get the job done or we will face serious consequences.
That said, I did not support Herman Cain. At first I did, because I thought that a conservative black man running against Obama in a general election would divide the Democratic Party and siphon off enough votes to win the election. I ignored the allegations about Cain’s sexual indiscretions since it looked to me as though those charges were contrived. Besides, I know how the game is played, and the Democrats may not be good at much, but they do know how to smear their opponents.
I decided that I couldn’t support Herman Cain after he gave an interview to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and responded to a question about whether he agreed with President Obama’s handing of the Libya situation in a way that can only be described as amateurish. I wrote about it in American Thinker and included a YouTube video titled “Herman Cain on Libya” to explain my rationale. What I didn’t say in that piece but should have is that the GOP contenders for the presidency had just completed their foreign policy debate in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Prepping for that debate should have prepared Cain to answer any foreign policy question that anyone could ask, and the question he couldn’t handle wasn’t a gotcha question. It was a softball, and Cain’s response surprised the interviewers as much as it did me.
After stumbling around for what seemed like an eternity, Cain finally said that he would call in his advisors and hash it out before making a decision. That’s great, and every president does just that before making important decisions, but the question in my mind was whether Herman Cain was a serious candidate. He should have had an opinion about Obama’s handling of the Libya situation, and he shouldn’t have needed coaching from the interviewers to know what Obama did or didn’t do. A serious contender would have reeled off the reasons why Obama should have done this or that as though he knew exactly what should have happened. If Herman Cain couldn’t answer a question like that, then he is no match for Barack Obama, and as I said, “better than Obama” isn’t good enough.
Today’s American Thinker includes an article by Lloyd Marcus titled “Herman Cain: A Final Word.” While I agree with most of the things that Marcus said, nothing he said would cause me to change my mind about a man who could have won the GOP nomination if he had done his homework. I still don’t know who I will support for president in 2012, but I do know this much: the GOP nominee must be acceptable to voters in the middle of the political spectrum. If he or she is not prepared to handle Obama in a one-on-one debate, he or she will be mincemeat and Obama will be re-elected.
This SnyderTalk editorial was first published as a blog in American Thinker on December 26, 2011.
To see other SnyderTalk editorials, click here.
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Thomas Jefferson
“For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
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Jeremiah 36: 20-26
So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh hid them.
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Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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Stand! is a gripping novel about the subterfuge surrounding the global warming debate. It lays out the facts concerning climate change through an exciting story that pits a college professor and his research collaborator against corrupt university administrators and radical environmentalists. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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- Read SnyderTalk the way you would a newspaper.
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- Netanyahu’s misleading lessons in governance
- The Palestinian Authority exposed
- Not a Parody: Head of Arab League Monitors in Syria Led Darfur Genocide
- Fayyad Condemns Deliberations on Bill Declaring Jerusalem Israel’s Capital
- Ron Paul wishes Israel didn’t exist’
- Bachmann vs. the ‘Fact-Checkers’: Did Iran Threaten Nuclear Attack on U.S.?
- The Truth About Teacher Pay
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Top 5 diggtm articles yesterday:
- Congress Actually Ends Taxpayer Funding Of Ethanol Subsidies
- 7 of the Nastiest Scams, Rip-Offs and Tricks From Wall Street Crooks | Occupy Wall Street
- Did Nixon have a gay affair with a Mafia fixer? Forget Watergate. A new book claims Ame…
- 10 Winning Moments for the 99% in 2011
- Atheist Bill Maher Catches Hell From Fox News Viewers For Tebow Tweet
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The Jerusalem Post:
- Hamas Bans Fatah Anniversary Celebrations in Gaza
- PM defends defense budget increase to critics in Knesset
- ‘Drive to kidnap IDF soldiers up since Schalit deal’
- US 5th Fleet won’t allow disruption in Hormuz
- ‘Police can’t stamp out radicalism among haredim’
- More Israelis, Palestinians support 2-state solution
- Female MK to sit at front of ‘mehadrin’ bus
- Green groups attempt to stop Samar sand mining
- Shooting erupts in Syrian city ahead of Arab visit
- Tibi slams US Republicans over Israel remarks
- Egypt: Mubarak trial resumes after delay
- ‘Syria releases 755 detained in anti-Assad revolt’
Haaretz:
- Israel Thwarts Attack on Israel-Egypt Border
- Palestinians offer to renew Israel peace talks without settlement freeze, official says
- Netanyahu: Israel will fight harassment of women in the public sphere
- Israeli female soldier accosted for rebuffing Haredi bus segregation
- Jerusalem approves 130 new housing units beyond Green Line
- Top Israeli rabbi: Gender segregated buses go against Jewish Law
- U.S. presidential hopefuls attack Ron Paul for objection to Iran nuclear strike
- Assad approves 30% tax on Turkish goods entering Syria
- Iran could easily block vital oil route, admiral warns
- Israel strikes Gaza Strip for second time in hours, IDF says
- Israel airstrike kills Islamic Jihad operative in Gaza, report says
- Egypt arrests man suspected of attacks on gas pipeline to Israel
Other:
- Iran Threatens to Block Gulf Oil If Sanctions Applied
- Mass Anti-Assad Protest in Homs as Monitors Visit
- Syria Hiding Detainees from Observers
- A Deadly U.S. Drone Network Grows for Killing Terrorists
- Hamas Leader Haniyeh: Goal Is Destruction of Israel in Stages
- Egypt’s Sinking Economy Belongs to the Islamists Now
- Is Turkey Sliding into Authoritarianism?
- The World’s Worst Human Rights Observer
- U.S., Israel Discuss “Red Lines” for Iran
- Photo: Hamas Women March with Kalashnikov Rifles in Gaza
- Saudi Arabia Posts $81.6 Billion Budget Surplus as Revenues Double
- Israel ‘will launch significant Gaza offensive sooner or later’
- Cleaning clergy brawl in Bethlehem
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What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Business:
- Less than a quarter of companies to hire in 2012: CareerBuilder
- Stock fall as European banking worries overshadow strong demand at Italian
- Stocks Slip, All S&P Sectors Lower; Vix Gains
- Auto Industry Sales Expected to Cross 12.8 Million Cars and Trucks
- PetroChina Parent Signs Accord to Develop Afghanistan Oilfields
- Economists underwhelmed by Obama’s policies, pick Romney
- Whistleblower Documents Reveal Insights Into BNY Mellon Probe
- China rail crash blamed on bad management
- Assets of major public pension funds slid 8.5% in third quarter
- Noble’s Cyprus Gas Discovery May Be Complicated by Turkey
- US Holiday Online Spending up 15 Percent to $35.3 Billion, ComScore Says
- Gold Posts Longest Slump Since 2009
- Morgan Stanley to slash more than 500 jobs in New York
World:
- North Korea Bids A Snowy, Dramatic Farewell to Kim Jong Il
- America warns Iran that blocking oil route will ‘not be tolerated’
- Activists: Syrian Forces Fire at Protesters While Monitors Tour Country
- Putin says ready for talks with Russian opposition
- Corruption in India: I was approached for a bribe
- Japan to Help India Prop Up Rupee
- Argentina President to Take Leave for Thyroid Cancer Surgery
- Man Arrested With Over 200 Poisonous Snakes in Carry On Suitcase
- Iraq on the brink of ‘devastating civil war’: Former PM Allawi
- Yemen Government Workers Rally Against Corruption
- Is France’s Armenian Genocide law merely a domestic ploy for votes?
- Zardari issues rallying cry for democracy in Pakistan amid coup fears
- Bomb Kills 3 NATO Troops in Afghanistan
- Police: 7 hurt in Islamic school attack in Nigeria days after church blasts
United States:
- Romney: Gingrich like Lucille Ball at chocolate factory
- US police fatalities up in 2011 – report
- ‘Most admired’ list: Gingrich up, Palin down; Obama, Clinton still No. 1
- Perry Files Petition to Get on Virginia Ballot
- Indiana police probe grisly slaying of 9-year-old
- Nelson says leaving Senate doesn’t mean retirement
- Bachmann says Perry guilty of “crony capitalism”
- Ohio’s Kucinich settles on run against fellow Democratic incumbent Kaptur
- How the Iowa caucuses work
Townhall Opinions:
- Michelle Malkin: The Year in Obama Scandals – and Scandal Deniers
- John Stossel: A Libertarian Year Ahead?
- Walter E. Williams: Gullible Americans
- Brent Bozell: 2012: A Year of Media Savagery
- John Ransom: If You Thought War Expensive, Wait Until You Pay for Obama’s Peace
- Terry Jeffrey: Virginia Must Change Its Election System
- David Harsanyi: New Ideas or Fidelity to Old Principles?
- Austin Bay: 2011: Bin Laden and Arab Spring in Context
- Mike Shedlock: Attack Dogs Unleashed on Ron Paul
- Paul Tracy: 57 Members of Congress own This 6% Yielding Stock
- Mark Calabria: Fannie and Freddie Need to Go
- Bill Tatro: World Running on Mayan Calendar
- Crista Huff: This Portfolio Could Give You the Hottest Returns in 2012
- Carrie Schwab Pomerantz: New Marriage, New Family Finances: What’s Fair
- Jacob Sullum: ‘Things Happened’: The Year’s Highlights in Shifting Responsibility
- David Sterman: The Best Growth Stocks of 2012
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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- Under Obama, a deadly drone network grows
- Gingrich assails top Republican rivals as battle for wide-open Iowa intensifies
- Religious limits on women roil Israel
- China’s paranoid crackdown
- On national debt, so much political drama, but so little reduction
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- First session of CIA agent’s trial held in Tehran
- Iran to export 1 million tons of oil products to Afghanistan annually
- Tactical stage of naval war games begins
- Administration’s representative expelled from Majlis session
- Iraq blocs ‘talking to Iran’ over deadlock
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If You Voted for Obama in 2008 to Prove You’re Not a Racist, You Need to Vote for Someone Else in 2012 to Prove You’re Not an Idiot explains why voters in the United States need to elect someone besides Barack Obama to lead them. Whoever is elected President of the United States in 2012 will have to contend with the monumental problems that Obama’s misguided policies have caused both at home and abroad. One thing is certain, though. It should not be Barack Obama. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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http://www.americanthinker.com/
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- Barack Obama’s Always ‘Helpful’ Never ‘Hurtful’ Lies
- Throw ‘Em All Out…And Good Riddance!
- America’s Greatness Will Defeat Obama
- The Moral Hazard of Promoting Homeownership
- Becoming Zimbabwe: When Nations Regress
- Who is ‘The Press’ in the First Amendment?
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- Ron Paul’s Destructive Foreign Policy
- All-American Muslim?
- Shock Horror: Saudi Textbooks Teach Islam!
- Complicity With Evil
- Israel-Poland: A Sordid Past and a Bright Future
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http://www.weeklystandard.com/
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- Positively Newt
- PPP Polls Iowa: Paul 24, Romney 20, Gingrich 13
- Gingrich Discusses His 2006 Support of Romneycare
- Gingrich Rips Ron Paul’s “Racist,” “Anti-Semitic” Newsletters
- Newt’s Closing Argument in Iowa
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- The Company that ruled the waves
- The quest for jobs
- Special report: In the new world of work, unemployment is high yet skilled and talented people are in short supply
- The harm today’s youth unemployment is doing will be felt for decades, both by those affected and by society at large
- America’s jobless men: Decline of the working man
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- North Korea holds funeral for Kim
- Israelis rally against segregation
- Argentine president has cancer
- Monitors confronted in Syria city
- Japan’s industrial output dips 4%
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- What Price War?: Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Costs of Conflict
- Failure to Provide: Healthcare at the Veterans Administration
- Medical Disasters and the Growth of the FDA
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- Qatar builds Sunni intervention force of Libyan, Iraqi terrorists against Assad
- Tougher foreign policy vital to Canada: Baird
- Israeli military prepares for a new type of war
- The Arab-Muslim Lobby
- Obama’s disastrous record
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http://samsonblinded.org/news/
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- Court upholds the corporate right to plunder Palestine
- Religious Jews arrested after leftist provocation
- Kassams hit Palestinians? Jews pay.
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- Tom Friedman vs. Israel
- Not Just Barney: Eight Veteran House Dems Retiring
- Deconstructing the State
- Is the Obama Administration Politically Manipulating the Poverty Data?
- Why the Ron Paul Newsletters Actually Are Important
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http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com/
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- Good Luck, Albert Pujols
- Has Obama’s ‘let’s talk’ approach worked with US adversaries? A report card
- Christians flee after jihadists bomb Nigerian church on Christmas
- 12 Great Money Apps — FOR FREE OR ALMOST FREE — That Save Time and Cash
- Half of New Officers Oppose Gays In Military
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http://www.nationalreview.com/
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- Yad Vashem: Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future
- Israelis protest over segregation call
- Syria unrest: Monitors ‘eagerly awaited’
- Train derailed in Australia flood
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Yahweh to Jeremiah—Jeremiah 16: 21
“Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.”
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If you haven’t been there already, you should take the opportunity to visit Natural Healthcare Store. Each product selected for sale at Natural Healthcare Store undergoes rigorous research to make sure that it is the highest quality at an affordable price.
Natural Healthcare Store carries skin care, hair care, and oral care products. Be sure to check out the Dead Sea products imported from Israel and support the Israeli economy with your purchases. Natural Healthcare Store carries makeup, deodorant, and detoxification products. It also carries supplements, weight loss products, and loose leaf tea. Rounding out its product mix, Natural Healthcare Store carries natural household cleaning products.
Katie and I believe strongly in healthy living, and we use the products. We’re proud to say that our daughter Melanie owns the store.
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http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
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- Hamas Leader’s Tour Theme: Fight “Judaization” of Jerusalem
- Do Conservatives Want Another Goldwater?
- For Whom Does the Taliban Ring Tone Toll?
- Why the “Establishment” Opposes Gingrich
- The Dangers of Obama’s Drone Dependence
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.”
Exodus 3: 15