Nothing makes me happier than serving my purpose. By helping people, I feel that I am spreading God's love, which will hopefully act as a catalyst for others to do the same. I honestly try to live by Ghandi's quote, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." I know that to cause a change, I must take the initiative and set an example.

I love to help people and see God's love in action. Currently, I help people with everything from support to math homework. Literally. I am a middle school math tutor and it is not uncommon for my friends to call me "Mom". They know that I will be there for them through anything at any time.

I also feel that educating people about everything from religion to politics is a way of helping. To achieve this, I became a member of Christian Teens and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as founded a school political organization.

In the future, I plan to become a pediatrician, which obviously involves helping people, specifically children. I know that children are our future, and they must be protected, therefore I think it is the perfect profession for me. I hope that throughout my life, I inspire people to love and join me in my mission to "be the change".

If I could be paid to devote my life to whatever I want, I would help children in any and every way possible. I would probably still become a pediatrician because I love it, but I would expand my horizons greatly.

First of all, I would create some kind of charity for children. The money would go to things such as medical care, education, orphanages, and third world countries. I feel very strongly that children should be given every opportunity to do as much with their lives as possible, despite costs and location.

Secondly, I would found safe, interactive orphanages and day cares. I know that in the current time, parents are forced to be away from home frequently, and they need a safe haven for their children. I would like to provide a safe learning environment conducive to learning and development. Although I realize this does not replace the love of a parent, I feel it is a great option.

Lastly, I would become a sort of missionary. I would travel to places with children in need, be it a third world country or a poor rural area with limited medical care. Providing supplies, support, food, water, and medical care would be my priority. If no education system existed, I would do my best to found a school and religious sanctuary. Again, I feel no child should be limited by their situation.

Please read this in its entirety before you get offended and call me a liar. For one thing, you'll probably learn a lot. For another thing, I have sources for all of this.

Barack Obama's Background

Everyone has heard rumors about sweet talker Barack Obama's past, so allow me to set the record straight.

Our most liberal senator, possibly ever, Barack Obama, was born "Barry" Obama, but changed his name after taking a tour through Indonesia, Africa, India, Pakistan (where he stayed with his Pakistani college room mates' families), and Karachi during his sophomore year in college where he was "enlightened". Enlightened to what, I wonder? Keep in mind, it is traditional for Muslims to change their names when they come of age. Also, imagine the funds needed for a trip of that magnitude, especially during college.

A key issue that jumped right out at me was Barack's obvious dismay for traditional patriotism. Believe it or not, Mr. Perfect refuses to wear an American flag pin, salute the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or salute the National Anthem. If he gets elected, that's probably going to be a problem, because I'm pretty sure they make you do all of that when you're inaugurated. Want to know Barry's logic behind all of this? He says that the flag is a sign of oppression to many countries and that he doesn't want to take sides. If you plan on being the figurehead of the United States of America, you had BETTER choose a side, and it had BETTER be ours! As for the National Anthem, he says it conveys a violent message, and that he'd like it much better if it were a more pleasant song such as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." This man is being considered for the position of the President of the United States. Remember that.

Obama's natural-born citizenship is in question because of his lack of compliance to show his birth certificate. There is currently a court case on the subject in Pennsylvania that, as of right now, has no verdict. You're probably amazed that you've heard nothing about this, but why would the liberal media want the world to know that their knight in shining armor has a rather noticeable chink. Several, actually.

Barack Obama served on a community organization with the acquitted anti-America terrorist Bill Ayers. Even more, they have been seen together multiple times since then. If that isn't troubling enough, Ayers gave $720,000 to Obama's campaign. I think we can all agree that's one profitable friendship.

One thing that just doesn't add up is Obama's financial status. Supposedly born into the middle to lower class, this penny-pincher of a man somehow found the money to tour a large portion of the world, go to Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard Law School, buy a 1.65 million dollar house in Chicago, and have an extremely expensive campaign, which in itself has cost more than the last 3 presidents' campaigns COMBINED. Sure, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago making $12,000 per year, but I doubt that's enough to pay for everything. Student loans are a possibility, but the plot thickens. The interesting thing is that he has a very rich, very Syrian, very convicted felon friend named Tony Rezko who contributed quite a chunk of cash to the Obama campaign. Being a real estate developer, he also bought the lot next to Obama's pricey abode the same day. As if that isn't fishy enough, it turns out that an Iraqi-born billionaire loaned Rezko $3.5 million dollars less than three weeks prior. By the way, has anyone heard who pays for Obama's pricey campaigns? No? That's probably because he refuses to say. Have something to hide there, Barry? If you recall, Obama had two Pakistani room mates in college. They're now in charge of internet contributions to the Obama campaign. Something tells me that money probably isn't coming from the United States.

Believe it or not, Barack Obama has committed treason in his 2 short years in the Senate. By law, the only person who can deal with foreign countries from our country is the president. Obama decided that didn't apply to him, so he basically told some of our middle east pals that our president is an idiot and that it would be best if they would go straight to Obama himself instead. By definition, that is TREASON. Not only that, but he told Iraqi leaders to do nothing about the war until after he is elected. Then he'll "take care of things". Are you getting all of this?

ACORN is a large democratic based group that has recently been highlighted in Ohio. In a nutshell (no pun intended), ACORN has been registering everyone from goldfish, deceased great grandparents, and Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders to Mickey Mouse, Michael Phelps, and George Washington to vote in Ohio. Guess what? That's illegal. Obama denies any association with the illegal activity, although there has been some financial interaction between the two. At one point, Obama gave ACORN $840,000. First of all, where did the money come from? Second of all, I'm pretty sure they're fairly well acquainted.

Obama has been attending Chicago's Trinity United Church Of Christ for 20 years. Trinity's African-American preacher, Reverend Wright, has repeatedly made racist remarks (against white people, mind you) and hateful, anti-America remarks, to which our friend "Barry" claims he does not support and isn't influenced by. Why would a presidential candidate attend a church that pledges its allegiance to Africa? I don't know about you, but 20 years of brainwashing from someone like Mr. Wright is probably going to affect you in some way or another.

A lot of people crack on Sarah Palin for her "lack of experience". To that, I can't help but laugh, and here's why. Barack Obama has graduated from Harvard and spent less than a half of a term in the Senate. That's less than 3 years. That's all. Sarah Palin, who, keep in mind, is running for VP, NOT president, has been in city council for four years, a chairperson for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year, a mayor for six years, and a governor for two years. Often, when I make that point to an avid Obama supporter, I get," But he graduated from HARVARD!" Well, that's fantastic. So does that mean if I graduate from Duke that I'm qualified to be on an NBA team?

A well hidden area of Obama's life is his interaction and involvement in the Socialist New Party in Chicago. The organization was functional from the mid-1990s to 2000. Evidence continues to surface confirming Barry's membership, and leadership, in the party. So I'm sure he doesn't really believe in that socialist stuff.

Now, on to the issues.

Issue of Abortion

In my opinion, there really is no argument for abortion. Abortion is simply murder. If a someone kills a pregnant woman in our country, they are charged for two counts of murder, not one, no matter what trimester the mother was in. I smell a major contradiction. For those of you that say a fetus isn't alive until it's x amount of time old, lend me your ear. If you've ever taken an anatomy or biology class, you know that there are a few basic characteristics of living organisms. These include responsiveness, conductivity, growth, cell respiration, digestion, absorption, secretion, excretion, circulation, and the ability to reproduce. You'll also notice that a fetus, zygote, or whatever you want to call it, meets every single one of those characteristics. Hence, we establish that a fetus is alive no matter what age. For those of you that say a woman should have a choice if it's rape or incest, check this out. Less than 1% of all pregnancies are rape or incest. Not separately. COMBINED. As a woman myself, I can say that a woman is already going to be traumatized from either of these. Do you really think she wants the added burden of knowing she killed an innocent child out of her own selfishness? I can honestly say that I would not be able to live with myself. Excuse the cliché, but two wrongs do not make a right. Often, taking care of the baby is the best remedy for such trauma. If that isn't the case, there is always adoption. Here's where the pro-choice people come in. Pro-choice is a superficial, sugar-coated term for pro-death. You're probably getting offended right now, but just hold on. Notice if you ever bring up the possibility of adoption, "pro-choice" people go ballistic. I get a lot of "why would you put a child through THAT!?". I don't believe that question deserves a response. Don't feed me these foster home heart breaker stories about how adoption is worthless, because infertile couples are always looking for babies.

Now that that's out of the way, we can move on. Obama has said that one of the first things he will do if elected is overturn the ban on partial birth abortion. Allow me to explain. Obama wants to make it legal to take a baby that isn't quite all the way out of the birth canal, jam a pair of scissors into the base of its skull, and suck out its brains. And I'm not even trying to make it sound brutal. Not only does he want to make that monstrosity legal, but if by some off chance the child were to live, he wants to take away the chance for them to have healthcare insurance, which God knows they'll need. How selfish and immoral can we get?

On Gun Control

Call me a redneck, but I own a gun. Actually, I own several guns, and I can shoot them all. What do they all have in common? Every single one holds at least 2 shells at a time. Why is this significant? Because Barack Obama wants to ban the ownership of all guns that hold more than one shell at a time. That covers just about every single kind of gun made. This might not sound like a big deal, but trust me, it is.

If you were shot, you would probably sue the person who shot you, right? Well that would make sense, but apparently Obama isn't a big fan of sense-making. Obama wants to make it legal for you to sue the company that made the gun that shot you. Ah, I love the sweet smell of common sense.

For one thing, the right to bear arms is in the Constitution, so the fact that this is even an issue is ridiculous. For another thing, it has been proven without a doubt that gun control raises crime rates in the affected area. For example, Washington, D.C. tried the whole gun control thing and was overwhelmed by the crime increase. Obama's thoughts? He said it was a shame they had to do away with the policy.

Here are some quotes from Barry that were on the cover of the National Rifle Association's magazine:

"I am consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing concealed carry."

-Chicago Tribune, April 27, 2004

"...just because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that right..."

-2008 Philadelphia primary debate

"I think it is a scandal that this president did not authorize a renewal of the assault weapons ban."

-Illinois Senate Debate 3: Obama vs. Keyes, October 21, 2004

If you're not thinking, "I thought it was my constitutional right," by now, just wait. Obama also voted to ban almost all ammunition used for hunting and sport shooting. He hates tax increases, right? Well, he supports the increase of firearms and ammunition taxes by 500 percent.

So we haven't heard anything about the running mate, Biden, yet. So let's have it. Biden is on record saying "I'm the guy who originally wrote the assault weapons ban." Some pioneer. He also voted to ban almost all ammunition, rifles, shotguns, and semi-automatic firearms. I wonder if he knows the effects of gun control.

On Foreign Policy

Let's get some background information out here first. We are in a war with terrorism, mostly Muslim Al-Quaida operatives, in the middle east, mainly Iraq and Afghanistan. These people believe that the only way to get to their heaven is to die a violent death. They also have a deep-seeded, religious hatred for Americans. Therefore, the chances of peacefully solving this over a verbal discussion are nonexistent.

Somehow, Barry doesn't understand that, which is strange to me because he's been over there and has talked with some of them before. Of all people, he should understand.

Now, Obama has said on more than one occasion that he wants to pull troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. Couple that with his interaction with Iraqi leaders and you've got a scandal on your hands. With the job not yet done, Al-Quaida will surely see a window of opportunity and will attack Baghdad, and even worse, us at home. These terrorists might not make a whole lot of sense, but they are far from stupid. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been successful with September 11th. They know a weak leader when they see one, which is probably why they want Obama as president so badly.

A common argument against the War on Terror is the "ridiculous amounts of money" we are spending over there. Here are the facts. We spend $120 billion per year, a total of 16% of our national budget on the war, at least half of which would be spent on the military anyway. That leaves 8% that we are really spending. Massive, isn't it?

Another case made against the war is the mortality rate. First of all, we should honor all of those lost to the war. It is, in fact, a tragedy that we have to lose anyone in a war, but it is a reality we have to face. The media would like for us all to believe that we've lost amounts of soldiers comparable to Vietnam. The truth is far from that. We have lost a total of 4,186 armed forces personnel to this war, which is not good, but on September 11 alone, 2974 people died. For how long we've been at war, that rate is very good, not to mention the fact that we have not been attacked once on home land since 9/11.

On Health Care

Barack Obama wants to have a government-based healthcare plan. If you choose not to use that healthcare plan, you will be fined. This means that the government now decides which doctor you have to see and if you're even sick enough to see a doctor. Though I'm sure all of the doctors involved are highly educated, passionate, and esteemed, I'm still a little skeptical. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're all now treated like lab rats.

On the Economy

At the beginning of Obama's campaign, his major attraction was the tax cut for Americans making under $250,000 per year. That means combined household income, by the way. Well, in the last week that number has been hit by a little math. First, it dropped to $200,000. Less than 2 days later, it was $150,000. Just the other day, on October 31, the number had sank to $120,000. Translated, that means less and less of us are going to receive the tax cut because the definition of "rich" is getting lower and lower. A definite trend, some might say. If he can do that kind of miracle work in less than a week, just imagine all the magic he can make in four years.

Let's think about this. If you run a business, you have to pay for your employees, insurance, and goods. I'm sure there are more expenses, but those are a given. Now, let's take away a good portion of your money and give it to the government. Now you can't pay your employees, so you have to fire them. You try to continue your business, but now you can't pay for your insurance or goods, so you hike up your prices in hopes of a rebound. Unfortunately, customers don't want to pay more when they can run to Wal-mart and get it for $3 less. Now you're out of business, and probably in a good deal of debt. Now there is less business, more unemployed, more debt, and Wal-Mart is taking over the world. Sounds like a real economic boost, doesn't it? Believe it or not, that's what Barry is proposing to do. I'm trying to understand his logic but honestly, it doesn't make sense.

All of this tax cut talk just doesn't add up. Obama is proposing to spend an additional $1 trillion dollars per year. So, how's he planning on paying for that? The same way he paid for his vacations, home, and education? I'm not so sure that's going to work. He says he's only going to tax the extremely wealthy, but that only accounts for 1% of our population, and you can only tax them so much. So, my guess, a very well educated one at that, is that he's going to tax the living daylights out of those of us who try, and use it for whatever he wants, including giving it to the deadbeats who don't try to do anything but catch every episode of their favorite soap opera while beating their beer drinking record from yesterday. That's what "spreading the wealth around means", isn't it? Now don't go off saying that I'm completely anti-welfare, because I'm not. I know for a fact that there are a lot of people who absolutely need all the help they can get, and they should get it. However, I also know for a fact that it is WAY too easy to get welfare and it's a heck of a lot easier to cash a check once a month than to get up and go to work everyday. So, for those of us that do get up and go to work everyday are probably going to feel a little bitter and want our piece of the pie. That's probably going to lead to a lot of irritated, resigning workers, welfare receiver increases, and a sewer-dwelling economy. Good plan.

According to dictionary.com, the definition of socialism is, "A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor." Ring a bell? It sounds a lot like the "spread the wealth" plan to me. So would someone please explain to me why it isn't socialism?

I will admit that neither candidates for this year's presidential election are ideal, but I think it's obvious who is the lesser evil here. Your choice boils down to this: eloquent speaking, liberalism, socialism, poor leadership, and bad economy vs. more conservative, freedom, leadership, security, and fair economy. Time to choose. Please go out and vote on November 4, 2008.

God Bless America,

Courtney Robertson