He's got my vote!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos

Brian...fake moustache.  Works every time.

...and Happy Birthday to Michael!

Valerie I honestly didn't mean to direct my anger at you, for that I do apologize. This law does not cover abortion only.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/1 16/4/e576

It is championed by the religious right, and it is neither their business or the government. This issue is between the parents and their doctor.

Edited to add: I do not think for one minute, that doctors routinely place dying infants in storage closets. This bill was a knee jerk reaction to a situation that should have gotten whoever that placed an infant in that situation, fired.

To keep things in perspective, my wife is a more staunch Republican/conservative than I am, and she is struggling mightily to even like Palin, let alone support her

Chris - does your wife share her spiritual beliefs?  You don't have to answer that if it's too personal - but that's been my thesis - that she's bringing the fundementalist crowd back into the Republican fold.

Not to speak for Joe, but I suspect when he said Pailin was like Bush he might be referring to what I think of when I think Pailin is like Bush; a religious fundemntalist who brings their spiritual views into the office.

I've gone on record a number of times saying McCain's not a bad guy - and even thought his Senate votes are opposite what I want 90% of the time, and that some of his actions in elected office have been nothing short of appalling, I give him the benefit of the doubt mainly because he's not a fundementalist.  I feel you can rationalize with people whose spiritual beliefs are not "fundemental".

I may be miscatogorizing your wife and her beliefs; sorry to drag your family into my thesis. 

In other news - went to a event at the Obama HQ in my town - it was packed - standing room only - roughly 90 women, and they said they were all there because they were "sickened" and "outraged" by Pailin.

Brought a tear to this ol' Democrat's eye.

The demographic skewed older - as everyone introduced themselves a majority of people talked of working on Kennedy or McGovern campaigns. 

I came home with a bunch of cool Obama swag - the Alex Ross shirt, the famous "HOPE" sign (the arty one!), a Obama/Biden sticker to match my Obama '08 sticker (my bumper is now full!) and a ton of buttons - including a Si, Se Peude! and one that I suspect isn't kosher - here's a pic:

I don't know.  I don't think Condi Rice nor Paul Stanley would be ok with that, but... it's not from the Obama campaign - someone will put a stop to it, and it'll be a fun collector's item. 

Anyway - it was a fun night, and more than ever, I'm sure that I'm going to win that bet I have with JBFer Paul Greer about the election.

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

I’m not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

Hope -- Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!

In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.

I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.

I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair.

I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs and that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us.
Barack Obama - 2004

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.
Barack Obama - 2008

[JOHN BODIN RAISES HAND]

Uh, that was my post, Mike.

;-)

To answer your question, my wife really doesn't share Palin's spiritual beliefs (beyond the basics of simply being a Christian, that is).  My wife was a Theology major in college and she has a background with the Catholic church.  We're both Episcopals now -- we were married in the Episcopal church, and my wife teaches Sunday School classes for 1st and 2nd graders.  My wife is a deeply spiritual person, but I'd say she's anything BUT fundamentalist in her views. 

As for me, my personal creed is:  "Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it."  That serves me pretty well, and it should give you some idea of how I personally view those who insist on a literal, fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible.

;-)