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Will Election Day Be Scarier Than Halloween?

Both parties are haunted by fears of what will happen in the White House over the next four years.

by
Bridget Johnson

Bio

October 31, 2008 - 12:32 am
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There still hasn’t been a good, secular explanation of how gays inking a marriage contract would destroy the traditional family. (If your religious beliefs oppose gay partnerships, then just say so.) But the GOP is mostly needled on the issue of terrorism and national security. Mind you, they’re usually accused of the fear-mongering by those who claimed ‘there is no terrorist threat’ while, in the same year (2003), there were two suicide bombings targeting foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, two suicide bombings at Istanbul synagogues, numerous attacks on Israelis and more.

Here’s a scary reality: The next president will likely be tested in a gruesome way. Heck, even Joe Biden admitted this: “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. . . . Watch. We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”  Obama corrected his gaffe-master who “sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes” by saying Biden was really referring to any president being tested.

Think of Pakistan: Asif Ali Zardari had just made his first speech as president to parliament when suicide bombers managed to turn the heavily guarded Islamabad Marriott into a fireball.  Terrorism capitalizes on change, because such administration or policy shifts leave an opening for instability. Seeing Zardari come into office, they knew they weren’t dealing with martial-law Musharraf anymore. Seeing a Democrat coming into office, the challenge for terror groups is going to be how they can knock him off the course of the War on Terror, a concept today derided by many on the far left.

The president has the role of guiding us through the inevitable scary times. So, this being Halloween, I’ll be thinking of one specter in particular while considering the fear-mongering and scary scenarios in politicospeak.

Abraham Lincoln’s ghost has been a well-known resident of the White House, even still — though as Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands can attest, he’s at least polite enough to knock on the door before scaring the bejeezus out of you. It’s all relative, because Andrew Jackson’s ghost reportedly haunted the Lincolns. And Lincoln was haunted by a thing or two in his tenure, such as the death of his young son, Willie, who’s also taken up ghostly residence – and of course the fact that his life was cut short in the key point of his crucial second term. The guy was perpetually tormented, as the weight of the war weighed heavily on his lanky shoulders.

Lincoln was the president faced with one of the scariest scenarios imaginable — the potential collapse of a country — yet dove in and faced the demons. I just hope that after Nov. 4, he sticks around — it could get a lot scarier in the White House without a few reminders of Abe.

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Bridget Johnson is PJ Media's Washington, D.C., editor.

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44 Comments, 44 Threads, 2 Trackbacks

  1. 1. jvon

    I did some research into where abortion was legal before Roe v. Wade last year and was very surprised at the results. Most of the people clamoring to keep it legal live in places where it was legal before and would still be if it were overturned. And I doubt many of them realize it.

    Countdown until someone claims that Obama mask is racist in the comments… 5 … 4… 3… 2…

  2. 2. vivo

    It could not be scarier than the last eight years!

  3. 3. RE

    People do need to be a bit frightened. Obama comes from the world of control freaks – be it political in the form of socialistic nanny statism or the intimidation, thuggery, and graft of Chicago politics, individual liberty, rights, freedoms, and opportunities are going to suffer.

    The Obama and Left will attempt to gain permanent control by:

    – fostering more dependency on government (addict people to freebies and programs)
    – having more people voting who don’t pay taxes (more freebies)
    – get more people employed by the government (who therefore will vote for their own pay raises
    – constrain energy supplies to coerce transportation behavior and lifestyles
    – use government regulation as a weapon to impose political correctness
    – hold people hostage with government funding (i.e. you do it this way or you get no money)
    – stifle freedom of speech (fairness doctrine, ‘hate’ speech)
    – stifle freedom of choice in education (school choice, homeschooling)
    – subordinate US law to International Law (read that as unelected, non representative government)

    The list goes on – All of it is antithetical to America’s founding principles to get out from under the thumb of oppressive government. Past efforts have failed.

    Obama and the Dems are using the drug pusher approach. It’s pretty plain to see.

    Please cooperate and comply or we’ll just lose your paperwork… (for starters).

    The nanny state is gonna suck and once a government program gets started, it’s next to impossible for our spineless politicians to kill.

    Obama is the simply the current front man in the ongoing effort to undo America’s founding principles. The state is not supreme! Let’s keep it that way!

  4. 4. Friday

    IN THE BEST BELA LUGOSI VOICE

    OBAMA: “I VANT … TO SUCK YOUR … INCOME … !!!”

  5. 5. Spinoneone

    Hey, CNN has a post saying that two dudes at U. Ky. have been arrested for putting up an effigy of Obama. They hanged him, of course, but that is a crime. Apparently hanging Palin is not.

  6. 6. RE

    Let’s see. Vote to send your money to Washington, so that politicians can bribe you with your own money.

    Boy, taxpaying Democrat voters are stupid!

    …but the non taxpaying Democrat voters got a pretty good scam going though don’t they?

  7. 7. Ex-fetus

    It could not be scarier than the last eight years!

    You couldn’t be more wrong.
    Ohhhhhh…….BAAMA! is an ineligible candidate, according to the Constitution. America IS the Constitution. So the process of electing Ohhhhhh……BAAMA! will destroy the Constitution. That means there will no no America for him to be President of. NO Bill of Rights, no rule of law. Just every man for himself.
    Remember, there can be no legislation passed while Ohhhhh……BAAMA! holds the White House. Since his signature isn’t valid on a legislative bill, anything sent to the White House by Congress will get a pocket veto, automatically. So nothing will get done. No troops home from Iraq, since there will be no one to give them their orders. No Cabinet, no money. No nothing.
    The People supporting Ohhhhh……BAM! are aware of this. That is why they selected Ohhhhhh…….BAAMA to be their foil. It is why all the America haters are lined up behind Ohhhhh…….BAAMA!
    A small group of clever former 60′s radicals have figured out a way to game the system. They have found a way to do what no tyrants, despots, dictator or military power has been able to do. Destroy America.

  8. 8. Fred

    The left wing MSM and Hollywood made a lot of politicle hay claiming that Palin was not ready to be a “heart beat” away from the presidency. Now they are hiding their VP candidate under a rock. McCain and everybody who supports him needs to do everything possible to make the american public aware of this. Ths MSM shure isn’t goin to.

  9. 9. Frank Logan

    As I have posted before, this race has been over since the end of the primaries in June, and it has been obvious to me that McCain will win the election in a landslide of electoral votes. Hillary exposed Obama for what he is. A great many democrats see Obama just like conservatives do, and are voting country before party. These are facts, not opinion. As to my opinion, McCain will win every 2004 Red state including Ohio, plus Pennsylvania & New Hampshire for sure. That represents around 300 electoral votes, more that enough to win easily. In addition, I expect McCain may win Wisconsin & Michigan, maybe even New Jersey and Washington state. This sounds implausible only because the MSM & polls have everybody convinced Obama has it won. We all know the MSM is biased, and the polls are about GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) Democrats are not telling pollsters that they are voting for McCain. The democrats are split and America is blessed because of it.

  10. 10. Saltherring

    Two years of POR (Pelosi/Obama/Reid will destroy the America we now know. There will be freedom to do only as you’re told by an oppressive, intrusive, all-powerful government that imposes oppressive taxation, regulation, unilateral disarmament, sodomite marriage, criminal rights and citizenship for illegal aliens, all while declaring war on Christians, Jews, conservative media, self-employment, gun owners, free speech, entrepreneurs, private industry and private property. Grieve for America, as she will never return to what we have known.

  11. 11. R a Z o R

    Robert F. Kennedy’s murderer Sirhan Sirhan news
    ________________________________________________

    Obama’s close friend William Ayers dedicated his

    book ” Praire Fire ” to Sirhan Sirhan .

    Obama launch his political career from Ayres’

    dining room table .
    ________________________________________________

    h ttp:w ww.Youtube.com/watch?v=SdoMkSNytcM

    h ttp:w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=ka-b6PvUp5M
    ________________________________________________

    google : Obama Praire Fire Sirhan Sirhan
    ________________________________________________

    Obama has very POOR JUDGEMENT and that’s scary.
    ________________________________________________

  12. 12. Therese

    Read this excellent post at Hillbuzz entitled “Three Things the Obamamedia will do to depress Republican turnout and help Obama.”

    It is unfolding now all around us.

    Here is the link:
    http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/three-things-the-obamedia-will-do-to-depress-republican-turnout-and-help-obama/

  13. 13. Johnny Marre

    How have the American people got to where they are today? How, in the 7 lean years since 9/11, has the USA squandered the worldwide outpouring of sympathy and support that the tragedy engendered? How was it that, when America most needed leadership and vision, all it got was Bush and Cheney? What determined that the strike on the Pentagon came just close enough to shake up Rumsfeld, while leaving him to become a potent, if unintentional, missionary for Al Qaida – a precision surgical strike if ever there was one? Why, in 2004, did 62 million Americans vote for Bush and self destruction like Gadarene swine?
    Could all this have been coincidence, the working of chance? Those with faith will see evidence of divine intervention (Intelligent Design, if you like) – the hand of God punishing his people or of Allah in support of his fundamentalists. And now what will happen in this election? Will someone lead the American people out of their Republican Babylon, or will they continue to reap the whirlwind from the wind that they have sown?

  14. 14. pez

    Here’s an idea for a halloween get-up for tonight

    shoeshine black eye

    Backwards letter ‘B’ in lipstick on the cheek

    now that is SCAAAARY!

  15. 15. Bugs

    “Republican Babylon?”

    I’d say the last twenty years have been more like Democrat Sodom and Republican Gomorrah.

    Seriously, Reverend – I think the American people voted for 4 more years of Bush because Kerry was a lousy candidate for President. The man was simply unlikeable and unbelievable. Obama doesn’t seem to have those problems.

  16. 16. Peter the Sub Guy

    9. Frank Logan wrote:
    As I have posted before, this race has been over since the end of the primaries in June, and it has been obvious to me that McCain will win the election in a landslide of electoral votes…

    Peter replies:
    Frank, I pray, for myself and this country, that you are right. I fear that you may be wrong.

    I guess we’ll all find out Wednesday morning?

  17. 17. Michael Canzano

    My Company has initiated a new insurance category titled “Under The Bus Coverage”.If the Socialist gets elected , I suspect we will be selling many policies. How does a Nation , America , purchase a policy when the heads of the Nation are the pushers ?
    American Christian Infidel

  18. 18. Zeno

    Saying that Obama has “poor judgement” gives a wrong idea, that Obama doesn’t know what Ayers et al stand for, that he’s just a poor naive fellow.

    That’s not true. Obama doesn’t have “poor judgement”. He knows exactly what he looks for.

    He’s always been surrounded by these kind of people, from his college years up to… now. Marxist college professors, ex(?)-radicals, palestinian activists, racist pastors, these are his friends. That’s no poor judgement, that’s a pattern.

    Of course, now he and the media dismiss it, pretends to be a moderate. But once on office, he will either have to betray his friends, or the american electorate… Which one will he chose?

  19. 19. Ex-fetus

    “How, in the 7 lean years since 9/11, has the USA squandered the worldwide outpouring of sympathy and support that the tragedy engendered?”

    Lean years for you, golden years for others. 7 years of no mass casualty attacks.
    What you think was an outpouring of sympathy and support was actually joy and glee.
    I doubt that Obama bin Biden will steal the election and if they do, the law will step in and make them give it back, butif worse comes to worse, and Obama bin Biden get his hands on the levers of power, then you will get a personal introduction to what bad times really look like.
    Those to young to remember the Carter economy don’t understand what a bad economy really looks like.
    I hope you never find out.

  20. 20. Jillian

    At around 5PM on election day you can count on Obama’s media stooges to announce breathlessly that its a landslide. Obama supporters contacted have voted 92% for Obama.No need to vote west of the Mississippi folks.

  21. 21. CM Bailey

    The election is scary no matter which man wins.

    Both are big government statists. Both will work to destroy individual American freedoms. Both will increase the size, scope, and cost of government.

    Is one of these men the lesser of two evils? Yes, of course, but I must recognize that neither man will be a boon for America.

  22. 22. view from afar

    RE, you’ve described life in France, doesn’t Obama admire the French? I hope and pray that McCain passes…one country like France is enough (too much even, but hey…)

  23. 23. BC

    Ex-fetus wrote: “Lean years for you, golden years for others. 7 years of no mass casualty attacks.”

    Aside from the massive death and destruction in that bloody bogus nonsense in Iraq. I guess it doesn’t matter that many more Americans got killed there than in the 9/11 attacks, and many, MANY more times that in Iraqi civilian casualties.

  24. 24. vivo

    7. Ex-fetus:

    “They have found a way to do what no tyrants, despots, dictator or military power has been able to do. Destroy America.”

    That’s Bush & Cheney.

  25. 25. Ex-fetus

    Read it and wepp, liberals;

    http://newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin84.htm

    Ohhhhhh……BAAMA! CANNOT be President. Not even if he gets 100% of the popular vote and 100% of the EV’s.
    He has to prove he is a “Natural Born” American citizen, which he cannot do because he isn’t.
    Note also that the Military is required to ignore his orders.

    vivo, wake up. The Constitution is still alive and well. The Bush administration didn’t even bruise it. You are demonstrating a paucity of historical information yet again.

    BC, you are comparing apples to muffler bearings.
    More Americans died on D-Day then in all of Iraq’s 7 years. Plus you can’t give the credit for Iraq to President Bush. CONGRESS Declared war on Iraq. State created the insurgency, so all President Bush gets credit for is sticking it out until we won.

  26. 26. Bugs

    You people are all loonies. Stop pissing all over yourselves and each other and just go vote. Chickenshits.

  27. 27. Sandy Salt

    I am with CM that there is no real choice in this election, so just hold your nose and pull the lever for McCain because he is less dangerous for the economy. I wish the Republicans would apologize for acting like Democrats, beg forgiveness and swear to change their ways. But they will have to put it all in a legally binding document and forced to be accountable. Now, I don’t expect the same from the Democrats because they were forced left by the fact the Republicans took over there spot. You are going to see several years of pain before a new group of dedicated individuals will rise from the ashes and toss the career politicians out on their collective butts. The American public is begging for relief from big government and wasteful criminal politicians, but since there are no new champions of the American people, we are exchanging one group of criminals for another. In 2010, people will be tossing the current group out and looking for some heroes of the little guy. Watch and see. If a group dedicates itself to fiscal conservativism and moderate social policy that would win in a landslide.

  28. 28. Jay

    You posters are nothing but party before country lunatics. Two years of non stop election possibility coverage and we end up with two socialists who have either been in bed, tangibly or financially, with questionable outfits, individuals and groups. And we all know, just like the past two elections, we’ll end up with 51% of the vote being the winner. The bare minimum winning. What a joke. Elections are a charade. Our taxes are going up, pure and simple. Anyone remember “No New Taxes?” in 1988 or Jimmy Carter’s stint in the late 70′s? Sure as the sky is blue, taxes went up to pay for the trillions borrowed during the 60′s and 80′s. The same will happen here. Recycled times for a nation of amnesia sufferers. Not amnesia sufferers because of a medical condition, but continuously buying into only what they want to hear with the logic being, “But now we’re being told the truth”. Yeah…as opposed to the thousands of other times we were lied to and thought we were being told the truth.

  29. 29. Duh

    Aside from the massive death and destruction in that bloody bogus nonsense in Iraq.

    So BC… You’d rather have death and destruction in the USA than in Iraq?

    Leftists sure are strange people.

    By the way, isnt it funny how Iraq disappeared from the news? Whatever happened to the “grim milestone” and “losing the war” meme?

  30. 30. Sandy Salt

    Jay,
    You’ve got that right. We have to be the dumbest people in the world for sticking with the two parties that keep sticking it to us.

  31. 31. Duh

    I’m afraid that four years from now, the world will be missing the “peaceful Bush years”.

    “All attempts to create paradise on Earth end up creating hell” (Karl Popper)

  32. LAST GASP OF THE DYING BIASED MEDIA

    This will be election that lives in big biased media infamy, as noted here:

    http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/last-gasp-of-dying-biased-media.html

  33. 33. Sandy Salt

    Duh,
    You are completely right about that because things are going to get very ugly between Israel and Iran. Israel unlike the US isn’t going to wait for Iran to detonate a nuke in Tel Aviv before they do something. That will torch off the entire region and world as everyone picks sides. Nothing good is going to come from it.

  34. 34. indyhawk

    In the end, as always, when Reps get desperate, they holler “Ni***r”. GWB did it to McCain, learning from another GW (Wallace)that it can work! JSM was once an honorable man, but he will cede that in the next 3 days as his surrogates play the race card like Doyle Brunson plays an Ace in the hole!

  35. 35. Ex-fetus

    “Israel unlike the US isn’t going to wait for Iran to detonate a nuke in Tel Aviv before they do something”

    Too Late. On October 25th, there was a level 5 earthquake recorded in Iran that looked more like a nuke test then an earthquake. We will see.

    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008ypbs.php

    One hopes it was a ‘natural’ earthquake. One day it won’t be at all natural. That day is getting closer.

  36. 36. vivo

    27. Ex-fetus:

    “vivo, wake up. The Constitution is still alive and well. The Bush administration didn’t even bruise it. You are demonstrating a paucity of historical information yet again.”

    Blind, deaf and dog-loyal.

    Go get your Halloween candy, you don’t need a costume. You are already scary . . .

  37. 37. vivo

    32. Sandy Salt:

    “Jay,
    You’ve got that right. We have to be the dumbest people in the world for sticking with the two parties that keep sticking it to us.”

    Worth repeating.

  38. 38. BC

    Duh wrote: “So BC… You’d rather have death and destruction in the USA than in Iraq?

    “Leftists sure are strange people.”

    “By the way, isnt it funny how Iraq disappeared from the news? Whatever happened to the ‘grim milestone’ and ‘losing the war’ meme?”

    The grim milestones came and went. Iraq was a monumental failure. In case you forgot, the point was, at least according to the PNAC policy recommendation that Bush followed, to remove Hussein, which supposedly would better stabilize the Middle East. Hussein got removed but…we basically set a house on fire to drive out the rats and ended up burning down the neighborhood. The war *was* lost — things are just burning themselves out at the moment. How many Americans died on Clinton’s watch in terrorist related activities? And let us not forget Afghanistan and bin Laden.

  39. 39. Michael T

    To my American relatives, friends and professional colleagues, I a lowly Canadian observer of your present election, I offer my sympathies. Obama is most likely going to win this election and therefore the US is about to elect the worst President since Warren Harding, or James Buchanan(remember he was the one who gave you the Civil War). Hang in there folks. The US (a great nation) deserves better than this.

  40. 40. Fred

    I agree with some of what you say, but, why have the racial stereotype drawing at the top of the piece. It was quite unnecessary, and, in poor taste.
    Its classic in its racially biased caricature – really BAD.

  41. 41. Bruce

    Both parties are criminal, have been and will be.

    However I want to see a grass roots movement or organization to hold the PRESS accountable for becoming a campaign office for a certain unnamed candidate and an attack machine against citizens who dare to ask questions.
    A one sided press is a direct threat to our Democracy.
    Suggestions?

  42. 42. Sam

    Do we really know who Barack Obama is and can we truly trust this man as the new President of this great nation? My answer is no to both parts of this question. We simply do not have enough information about him. There are too many unanswered questions that neither the candidate, nor his campaign will provide.

    There is a thick cloud of secrecy, vagueness and risk surrounding his character, his proposals, his past, and his associations.

    Can we really trust such a man to be in control of the largest nuclear arsenal of the world? Can we really trust such a man to be the Commander in Chief of the most powerful armed forces in the world? Can we really trust such a man to respect and promote our individual freedom and opportunity when he often favors Karl Marx’s ideas in his conversations?

    The answers to all of the above questions are a solid “NO”. I say Obama is not trustworthy. There is too much at stake. Let’s elect a president who has shown courage and love of our country every step of the way during his long and dedicated career. Let’s elect a true hero that deserves the White House. Let’s elect John McCain this Tuesday.

  43. 43. Johnny Marre

    I have already posted a parody on politics and religion and thanks, you folks who took me seriously. But now let’s talk seriously about GUNS and politics. Where I live we don’t think that the average citizen should be trusted with fire-arms, except properly licensed and controlled single-shot rifles and shotguns for hunting. Of course this leaves the guns in the hands of criminals and the State (police and army). And it’s true that, where seconds count, the police are minutes, if not hours away. But in all debates on the 2nd Amendment, sooner or later someone points out that its main purpose is not to protect life and property against criminals but to guard your liberty against an oppressive and tyrannical government. Tell me, just how is this meant to work in practice? An all-out insurrection against the State would lead to Civil War and on a smaller scale to the siege at Waco. Clearly this defense is only effective at the level of the individual citizen. So if you tell Joe Six-pack that one of the Presidential candidates is Commie muslim terrorist out to destroy the country, doesn’t the 2nd Amendment give him the right, maybe even the duty, to do something about it? It gives political groups the right to assert their ideologies by force if necessary. It is an anachronism, which, coupled with the rhetoric of the past months is a danger to democracy.

  44. 44. Jason

    Hey, anybody hear Palin get “punked” by those two Canadian DJ’s?
    Don’t really need to say much more on her qualifications to be VP or , god forbid President.
    Maybe if she got away from the tundra a little more, she might be able to recognize
    a morning DJ spoof (complete with Pepe LePeux accent) from the real President of France.
    How absolutely pathetic. And, what the hell kind of staff does she have?…I can hear it now: ” Governor,
    we have the President of France on the line to speak with you…he must be in Montreal visiting (area code aholes)!”

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