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The Annoyed Man wrote: Snip.....

jd, what I care about now is, in this order:

1. My God
2. My family
3. My church
4. My neighborhood
5. My community

Snip........

I think my list pretty much is identical to yours. Last night I took a little survey of how much has been lost in a few short years:

My God - the vast majority of Americans are "practical atheists". To them He might exist, but His teachings are either ignored or given lip service only. There is a large, and growing, segment of society that want all mention of God removed from the public arena. Emboldened by the apathy, I believe they will soon go after private speech and thought.

My family - at first I thought we have not been affected. That is an illusion. Our healthcare used to be excellent. Now we are on a pay as you go scheme. We don't go to the doctor when we're sick, it costs too much. Our children, grandchildren, and soon to be of age, great grandchildren are, by and large, not really "educated" by schools but indoctrinated to a socialist system and welfare state. We don't eat healthy food like we used to. Food is way more expensive. My family is not suffering - yet.

My church - has been told we'll be fine as long as we don't exercise our beliefs outside the church building. Our members are dismayed by the lack of concern for a lost nation on the fast track to heck. Churches spend millions on "religious vacations" to exotic places while their Jerusalem rots from the inside out. They're confused by the notion some churches hold that sin is relative and certainly not a serious issue. They've been told that Jesus must have been joking when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the light, and no man comes to the Father but by Me." Don't we know that all religions are just peaceful alternative paths to the same destination? People in my church are considered "right wing terrorists" who threaten the American way of life while in the name of Mohammed, people strap bombs to their children and send them off to Allah in a blaze of glory. Oh, but those who do that just need a job.

My neighborhood / community - there is simply too much wrong here to list. But suffice to say, many of us are just one incident away from a major riot because our government, by design and practice, has decided that the "hope and change" we need is to burn the place down. I grew up in the South and saw racism first hand. I hated it. I spent a lifetime proving to everyone I ever met that I treasured the idea that "God created all men equal" and I have practiced that truth daily. Now I see that I was wrong. Only black lives matter. Unlike Dr. Ben Carson, I have only seen humans inside when they have been shot, run over, or blown up. But he is exactly right. We are all the same inside - in our essence. My Bible tells me that one day all believers, regardless of race, will stand before the throne of God clothed in the righteousness of our Savior. No racial divide. Too bad our government doesn't believe that.

Every aspect of my life is under attack. I think I'm in trouble.

EDIT: I apologize as this may be OT. Important, but not really about Carly surging. I'm glad she is.

The Annoyed Man wrote: So far, I have not said whom I would vote for (I'm not even sure myself); but I can state categorically that there is one person running as a republican whom I categorically will not vote for......even if it means handing the election to the democrats.....because THAT candidate would be just as bad.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I agree. I believe I know of whom you speak. Let's pray he/she/it implodes, or explodes, whichever is more painful, before we reach that point. I hope the Lord looks on our requests with favor.

I have exchanged emails with Ted Cruz and though he hasn't said anything directly, I believe he is beginning to understand that this might be the last gasp for the Republican Party. My philosophy should not be confused with the notion of just handing the election to someone I don't feel will get anything done. I intend to write a LOT more letters and be very frank about my expectations. They better get unafraid of losing their power and start doing what is right or they're going to lose, big time.

Well I agree with you to a point, and it is just this, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Me just sitting back and letting my grandkids and great grandkids fight this fight is just not acceptable in my view. First, it may be too late for them to win by then, and second, I'm not willing to let the liberals win because I can't have everything my way. At this point in time, I'd settle for a 50% improvement. YMMV

Blindref757 wrote:If the republicans don't put up a true conservative, we are all wasting our time. When they try to get these moderate candidates like Jeb Bush so that a few Ohio democrats will elect them, we are only voting for Socialist or Socialist Lite.

You may be right, but I think the stakes are infinitely higher this time. If we don't turn the Democrat/liberal/progressive/socialist tide back this time, I really have the terrible feeling that the country will tear itself apart. If we put decent people in the White House, then we can deal with the rest of the problems the same way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time. (No pun intended)

I would rather have a somewhat less than ideal fix than a continuation of the disastrous course we're on right now. Surely I'm not the only one who sees the terrible acceleration of the right is wrong, wrong is right, good is bad, bad is good train wreck we're riding?

VMI77 wrote: Given that the recent election put GOP majorities in both houses and they immediately betrayed those of us who voted for them and have been steadily advancing the Obama agenda ever since, what meaningful difference do you think it would have made, or will make? If any of the current candidates are honest and show any chance of getting the nomination the GOP establishment will knee cap them. No honest candidate that will actually try to change anything has any chance of getting the GOP nomination. And that assumes that he could change anything with a GOP Congress that has been carrying water for Obama. I have to agree with GWB when he said, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, won't get fooled again.

So who would you suggest the next occupant of the WH be? Are you saying the alternative is Hillary, Uncle Joe, or comrade Bernie?

I'm not happy with the GOP leadership either. But I fully believe another 8 years of someone as incompetent and with as little disregard for the American people and the Constitution as BHO will lead to a civil war, or reveloutionary war. Not just civil disobedience, but the full understanding of the safeguard the 2nd Amendment provides. I don't really relish my great grandkids having to endure that. I just hope there is a candidate that can channel all the seething, just beneath the surface anger back into hope for the future. Maybe I'm just a dreamer and it is too late? You tell me.

Boy do I ever miss Ronald Reagan.

J.R.@A&M wrote: We Texans have a philosophical luxury in that all Texas electoral votes will likely go to the GOP candidate, regardless of how or whether any of us vote.

But if the above sentiment came from a conservative in Ohio or Florida, I would say that it doesn't matter if you would never vote for a democrat. Not voting for the GOP candidate will help elect Hillary Clinton. Mind you, I will not presume to question the preferences of any woman or man, especially an annoyed man. I'm just talking about the electoral college math and the SCOTUS math.

At this stage, almost anybody would be infinitely better for the republic than what we've had the last two terms. I also think a lot of people who didn't actually see the danger in BHO helped to get him elected by saying Romney would have made such a poor president. I don't know how they voted, but every vote counts ultimately. And I seem to remember lots of posts on here about how nobody should vote for a candidate like Romney. I wonder if anyone who actually believed that feels really good about where we are right now?