I don’t know about you, but I think endorsements are important. They allow us to see where some famous actor stands or what company gets the most business from a candidate. It also allows us to see how conservative or liberal politicians are. For instance, I’m a big fan of my Republican Governor, Rick Perry. The man is a hero to me, but when he endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president I was surprised. Mr. Giuliani was clearly the most liberal republican choice and Gov. Perry is quite the conservative. However I learned something from his choice. There is no doubt that Mr. Giuliani is a go-getter and tough on crime and that is exactly the kind of attitude that Gov. Perry wanted for President. However I feel that endorsements should be reserved for the ones you agree with on what is most important to you and not just party politics. That’s why at the start of this I endorsed Fred Thompson for president. Mr. Thompson and I agreed on so many issues that I learned a lot form his policies and from his political career, not just in his campaign for president but from his years of service in the Senate. So I present to you my endorsements for the 2008 Election Year.

On the Federal Level, I continue to have reservations about Senator John McCain as President. The one reservation that sticks out most is on the issue, as I said before, what is most important, and it is important to me that our border with both Mexico and Canada are secure and that we remove those who are here illegally without amnesty. John McCain wants amnesty for those who are here illegally. Oh sure, he dose not call it that, but in his mind the job would be a whole lot easier if we just granted them legal status instead of having the INS do its job by finding any potential terrorist already here on our soil. Mr. McCain also has not been clear about making tax cuts permanent, banning abortion or protecting the sanctity of marriage. That is why I can not in good conscience endorse John McCain but I am 100% against Barack Obama becoming president. However I do endorse Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President. Gov. Palin is more conservative than Senator McCain. She is strong and a go-getter. She will shake up Washington and I expect she will keep McCain on his toes. Most importantly, as a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association she will protect our right to bear Arms.

Colin Powel says Barack Obama “speaks with great insight into the challenges we're facing of a military and political and economic nature.” HELLO, he wants to pull our troops out of Iraq as soon as he takes office and by doing so undermines exactly what they are doing and ensures that every soldier who gave their life for the freedom of the Iraqi People and the safety of our country will have died in vain. I would expect someone like Colin Powel, who served in a war where our troops were brought home before the job was done, like Vietnam to understand that.

Colin Powel says, “I think that [Obama] has a definite way of doing business that will serve us well,”. Is it going to “serve us well” when he raises the taxes of the rich forcing companies to charge more and that in turn forcing his precious middle class to pay more for gas, food, and clothing??? Is it going to “serve us well” when a universal health care plan goes into effect forcing everyone to have their medical treatment limited and controlled by the government instead of themselves???

This is not about race. This is not about a change in Washington. This is about doing the right thing for the good of the country. Neither candidate wants to do that. So we are stuck with who is going to come close to doing that. Raising taxes, forcing universal health care down our throats, making us look weak to both our allies and our enemies by withdraw from Iraq, and denying our right to bear Arms IS NOT in the best interest of this country. Now Colin Powel has a history of service to our country. Served in Vietnam, commanded a battalion of 101st, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a national security adviser, and secretary of state, and to top it all off he is a Republican. Now here we are with him endorsing the most liberal member of the US Senate. Just last week Powell gave the McCain Campaign the $2300.00 maximum contribution allowed by law and now he’s giving Obama the one thing that matters most, his vote. I had great respect for Powel, but today I have lost my respect. I’m hurt, and I’m sure there is at least one man or woman serving in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Maries, and Coast Guard who feels the same way.

As a gun owner I feel the Second Amendment is the most important political issues of all. As a proud member of the National Rifle Association I receive, on a regular basis, information on this issue that could affect the safety of this country. For my Second Amendment blog issue, once a week I will bring you the latest on your right to bear Arms. I’ll kick off my first pro-gun post with a victory just in from New Orleans, Louisiana. For those of you who may not know the story about gun confiscation during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, because the big media networks didn’t broadcast. After devastating punch by Mother Nature in August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans in a mess. The city was flooded with Sewage, confused survivors, and looter. These looters, organized and armed with stolen weapons from the stores they looted (a local Walmart, to name one) put the city into chaos. From chasing girls in the middle of empty streets and raping them out in the open, to taking up sniper positions around a hospital in the middle of evacuating and opening fire, to looting flooded homes. Common sense dictated that if you were ignoring the city’s recommendation to leave town and staying to defend your property then you better own a gun. Most of the people who did stay behind did just that, but most of these people soon learned that the looters were the least of their worries compared to the government. City leaders handled the situation in so many wrong ways. One of which was the city’s position of forcing people out of their homes and disarming them. Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin as an anti-gun mayor had no problem with the New Orleans police on mission to disarm any person they could get there hands on and then lie about the city confiscating guns. When the chief of police went on TV and said “No one will be armed, we will take all weapons.” From that point city police, parish sheriff deputies, state patrolman, and even national guardsmen focused their attention on those they could find huddled up in their homes as opposed to armed looters running around the streets shooting into the air. Gun owners were harassed, some assaulted, forced out of there homes, and thrown on a bus out of town. There guns were confiscated illegally, some even deliberately damaged or destroyed by police right in front of the owner. Don’t believe me??? Watch this video by the NRA care of you tube. When the owners made attempts to get their guns back they got nowhere. That’s when the NRA got involved. After getting lawyers down to New Orleans to hear from these victims and securing video evidence necessary to prove the lies of the city government, the NRA filed motions and eventually sued the city. On Friday it came to an end. The City agreed to settle the lawsuit, and a permanent injunction was issued against the city, Mayor Ray Nagin, and current Police Chief Warren Riley. Judge Carl J. Barbier presiding over the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, signed the permanent injunction against New Orleans. The city admitted the firearm confiscations carried out by Nagin and Riley was unconstitutional and illegal. Under the terms of the injunction, Mayor Nagin, Police Chief Warren Riley, and any agents or employees of the City must, among other things, cease and desist confiscating lawfully-possessed firearms from all citizens; make an aggressive attempt to return any and all firearms which may have been confiscated during the period August 29 to December 31, 2005; post on the City website the procedure for the return of confiscated firearms; and mail notices to all individuals who are identified on the property tags of firearms in the City's possession which were confiscated during the aftermath of Katrina. Now I want you to think about what you just read. Government sanctioned gun confiscation in America. This is the basic reason why there is a Second Amendment and the NRA, for times like Katrina’s aftermath and to fight a government that would take away your basic right to defend yourself against Katrina’s aftermath. God Bless the NRA. Now in closing I’d like to remind you that one of the ways to fight anti gun government is at the polls this November by electing the pro-gun candidates who will uphold your right to bear Arms. You can find out who that is at the National Rifle Association Political victory Fund. This web site uses your zip code to find out what election races are happening in your area and gives the candidates a grade on their position of the Second Amendment and indicates who is being endorsed by the NRA. On this site you will see that the NRA just endorsed John McCain and Sarah Palin for President and Vice President. Sen. McCain has maintained a pro-gun record during his years in Congress and Gov. Palin is well known in her state as a moose hunter, gun owner, and she is a Life Member of the NRA. So if you want to maintain your right to bear Arms Vote NRA on Nov. 4.