A golden day!

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My father turns the big half century mark today!  It is hard to believe that now both of my parents have reached that milestone in their lives (it makes me feel old), not that I wasn’t expecting them to die or anything, but it puts life into perspective.

Dad’s real name is David, and like I have done with some others, I would like to describe him using an acrostic.

D - Dashing (at least my mom thinks so )

A - Adventerous (like the time we were in Colorado, and we stopped to wade in the Texas river)

V - Very important

I – Industrious

D – Doer

Dad I hope that you have a super duper wonderful day!  I know that you will be pretty busy preparing your sermons for tomorrow, but I hope that you will be blessed as you seek to minister to others through the words He gives.

I love you!! <3

Top dog in 2012?

There is much discussion within America politics today as to which of the myriad GOP candidates will be “top” against Barack Obama in the 2012 election.  So far, the party seems to be divided in numerous directions, due to the colorful platform of potential players.

An interesting article presents the candidacies of Mitt Romney (former Gov. of Mass) and Congressman Ron Paul (R. Tx) in complete juxtaposition:

Thus, Romney must finagle his way through the primary, embracing socially conservative positions that he may disagree with privately.  The media and the traditionally “conservative” Republicans point out his inconsistencies and ridicule his positions as “too liberal” for Republicans.  As a result, the Republican Party gets a candidate who is unappealing to their base, and the average American voter thinks he is a typical politician who will say anything to get into office. On the other hand, Ron Paul is arguably the most consistent candidate from any party.  He states his opinions, which haven’t changed much in 30+ years, whether or not that particular opinion helps his chances of winning.  He is a classical liberal, which in today’s terms, means he is a conservative libertarian: advocating limited government intervention in both the economic and social arenas.  He advocates an end to the federal drug war, an end to the federal income tax, and even an end to federal government involvement in marriage.  Ron Paul is consistent despite the fact that “traditional” Republicans will find many of his positions unappealing. 

Of course, these are not the only two running for the nation’s highest office.  Just this afternoon, I was listening to a radio talk show where the commentators were lamenting the fact that there is no defined GOP top runner.

Just as a side note, Ron Paul has outstripped all other candidates (whether declared or undeclared) in campaign monies since he announced his intentions in early May.  Oh yeah, and he is also ahead of GOP favorites Palin and Romney in the book department as well (his latest book Liberty Defined is doing quite well).

After the most recent CNN sponsored debate earlier this week, I think it was clear just how much of an influence Paul has had.  The topics discussed were certainly worthwhile (for the most part), and the responses made by the other candidates were certainly not all that on target, but had a hint of Pauline doctrine.

Listen to the candidates, and decide for yourself who you would like to place the presidency into the hands of, but for me, I have already made up my mind.  Ron Paul is a solid constitutionalist, who actually knows why he believes what he believes and is unafraid to defend it, even when he is isolated and ostracized.

This is only the beginning of an exciting and interesting election cycle…