Iran has never been a fan of the United States or Israel. The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been an outspoken opponent of Israel existing, and also is pushing for his country to develop nuclear power. He has made no effort to cover his hatred of anyone that supports Israel. Ahmadinejad has tried to institute policies where Jews and Christians would have to wear identifying marks on their clothing, and has appeared as a keynote speaker at a conference directed entirely at removing Israel entirely and returning it to the Muslims.

Now Russia has teamed together with Iran in the battle for Iran to gain nuclear power and military credibility. Russia is delivering missile defense and rockets systems to Iran as recently as last Friday, and helping them out with their “peaceful” nuclear program. Their idea of peaceful must be different from mine, because it’s absolutely moronic to encourage nuclear production to a country that has recently hosted a conference called “The world without Zionism” in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying “"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map.” By Imam, he is talking about Ayat Allah Khomeini, a leader of Iran.

Ahmadinejad has no shortage of public hatred towards Israel and the United States for supporting Israel, and Russia is happily playing into their hatred for their own economic gain. Russia and China, close partners with Iran for years both hold vetoes on the United Nations Security Council have helped to avoid sanctions against Iran thus far. The contract for these TOR-M1 air defense systems sold by Russia to Iran was signed at the last of 2005 for $700 million. Russia upholds their original statement that the missiles only have a range capable of protecting Iranian air space.

Al-Jazeera quoted Ahmadinejad in March of 2006 as saying: "The Islamic umma (community) will not allow its historic enemy to live in its heartland," he said in the fiery speech that centred on a "historic war between the oppressor and the world of Islam.” The word “oppressor” is used by their government to refer to the United States. Amazingly, even with hate-filled speech such as this from the President of the country, the UN Security Council still apparently has no problem allowing them to have whatever weapons they want or nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful energy program.

Israel responded to Ahmadinejad’s cries for removing their country from the earth. Spokesman Mark Regev said "Today, Israelis heard two extremists speak openly about destroying the Jewish state. One was the new president of Iran, and the other was the leader of Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar. "And it appears the problem with these extremists is that they followed through on their violent declarations with violent actions."

Then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said “"I think it reconfirms what we have been saying about the regime in Iran. It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions." Even a former Iranian foreign minister Ebrahim Yazdi claimed that Ahmadinejad’s remarks were unnecessary and were harmful to Iran’s place in the international community. “Such comments provoke the international community against us. It's not to Iran's interests at all. It's harmful to Iran to make such a statement.”

With Russia and China behind them, Iran does not feel that they have to care what the international community thinks, because they’ll defend Iran to the best of their overpowered ability in the United Nations. If the UN were a worthwhile organization, the Islamic Republic of Iran would be heavily sanctioned, to avoid the deletion of Israel due to religious anger.

Ahmadinejad said to President Bush in a letter written in May of 2006: “Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems.” Iran cannot be trusted with nuclear capabilities. Ahmadinejad has shown his true intentions repeatedly through his vitriolic outbursts against anyone who disagrees with him, or happens to not be a member of the Islamic faith, unless they’re selling them weapons, of course.

I like Lubbock. It’s a nice size, there’s plenty to do, and it’s not all that expensive to make a nice life for your family here. Sadly, the last part is changing. As I’ve brought up in a few articles before, I’m not a fan of our illustrious mayor or most of the city council, with only two exceptions. Thanks to Mayor Miller, red light cameras are about to adorn 12 intersections, our taxes are higher, and he’s tried to flaunt the name of God wherever he can for his own personal gain. Unfortunately, some Lubbockites thought enough of his self-serving practice of dodging his ideas on policy through evangelism to bring him in as mayor.

Shortly after his installment, he began bringing in prayer and fasting days for Lubbock. This is no surprise due to his political track record so far, especially after trying to bully the local media into supporting his policies through sending out an actual prayer list. I couldn’t believe it at first, but after reading it, I was no longer surprised, just incredibly disappointed.

Miller begins his public prayer with one of the most arrogant statements I have ever heard from someone who actually holds an elected office, and isn’t a televangelist. “There is no question that we are getting some attention from the Enemy as the attacks are more frequent and personal. We are putting on the armor and taking refuge in Him everyday. Therefore, we are not discouraged or disheartened...but we are certainly challenged. Thanks to so many for lifting us up in prayer.”

I am not anti-religion by any means, but I do tend to think it’s unscrupulous to make public prayers condemning those that simply don’t agree with his policies. What one does in private on matters such as that is their personal business, but when it is emailed to quite a few churches in the area and made public for political gain, the practice is quite reprehensible.

Mayor Miller caught quite a bit of flack from constituents at Southcrest Baptist Church, here in Lubbock. According to NewsRadio 1420 AM here in Lubbock, members of South Crest Baptist Church peppered Mayor David Miller with questions about his support of the annexation. At one point a woman said, “What’s going on here is wrong.” That was followed by other members saying responsively “Amen. It is illegal. It is wrong.” And again, “Amen!”

Miller tried to reassure the somber sobers that the move was strictly about revenue, but it was refused by the congregants. “If the citizens want liquor inside the city limits of Lubbock they may chose to have it through the democratic process. I’m not offering that to them. I’m offering a way to generate a small amount of additional revenues that will offset the property taxes by half a penny per year at least and then let the chips fall where they may on all these other things.”

Annexing the strip is one of the few things that Miller said he would work to do while campaigning that he’s actually executed in office. While I don’t really care about annexing the strip too much, because I don’t know if it will be totally worth the delivering of city services out there, but I’m not angrily opposing it. While I could see how this would be interpreted as a step in the right direction for package liquor sales in the city, which I adamantly support, Miller removes most hope for that happening anytime soon. According to KCBD news, “Mayor Miller says turning Lubbock wet won’t be on a ballot any time soon.”

Southcrest Baptist Senior Pastor David Wilson said to NewsRadio 1420, “they fear this will be just the first step to city wide liquor sales. “It desensitizes people and they begin to use the argument ‘Well, it’s already technically in the city limits,’ if it’s annexed. And that will make it that much easier to bring it into the city limits. And that’s our biggest fear.” Miller worked his hardest to reassure them that the city would not be following Wolfforth’s lead in allowing package liquor sales.

I don’t see a problem in being able to buy beer and wine in a grocery store. That’s what many people are used to in their hometowns, and there have been no problems, other than things don’t have the exorbitant prices that they do at the strip. If Miller could do one decent thing for Lubbock, he wouldn’t hide from the idea of allowing us to get away from the strip’s monopoly.

After tomorrow, months upon months of campaigning, mudslinging, and vitriol will come to a crashing halt with the end of the 2006 elections. Unfathomable amounts of money will have been wasted in vain and there will be many elated and angry people all over the nation. The same things could be said of just about every election that has ever taken place. Since these things don’t change, there doesn’t seem like much reason to go out and vote.

Think about the future, if a democratic majority takes congress and the house. Contemplate about all the fun times everyone will have watching Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi call for President Bush’s impeachment proceedings to take place. Watch the news coverage as Congress shoots down the tax cuts President Bush worked to implement for the United States, so that our citizens could keep more of their money. According to Andrew Grossman of the Heritage Foundation, we can enjoy seeing our tax rates increase by around 5% in every tax bracket, the estate tax bloom to a lovely 60% rate, and the deductions for small businesses be cut down to a quarter of what it is now.

Next, we can all enjoy hearing about the democratic congress refusing vital tools and funding to our border control, so that they’re further hindered in doing their jobs. That’s okay though, because they don’t believe that we need protection at our borders. Think of how great open borders could be. Everyone’s kids can get their illegal drugs at reduced prices, since the smugglers can get across the border with no problems. Our jails won’t be filled with criminals and murderers from Mexico, because when they commit their crimes, they can go back to Mexico with no problems!

Just think of how glorious it would be to see all of our security measures be thrown out the window like during the Clinton administration, so terrorists can come and destroy our citizens lives whenever they would like. We can all also sit back and enjoy watching our elected officials belittle the soldiers serving our country and fighting for freedom, as we already have from everybody’s favorite, Senator Kerry.

Finally, after all these changes have happened, they can pave the way for even more Democratic control. They’ll bloat the government to serve everybody, except the ones who are paying for it. The lovely story continues with everyone’s twilight years. We’ll never be able to retire though, because there will be no social security, and only the very wealthy will be able to have enough money to set back into IRAs, because everyone else will be too busy funneling more money into their higher taxes. All this can pave the way for President Hillary Clinton in 2008.

I get a little queasy just thinking about the words “President” and “Hillary” together. These things may sound a little outlandish now, but if the Democrats are allowed to take control, these horrific measures are feasible. I wish I felt that I was fear-mongering on these issues, but sadly, I cannot. These dangers are real, and possibly right around the corner. The entire severity of the situation had not crossed my mind, until my good friend Allen brought it up. He made me realize more deeply that we as a nation do have more things to worry about, than I had originally thought.

President Bush was defending his tax cuts the other day, as he has ever since he first began trying to do something good for the American people, which would explain the harsh opposition to them. “"Since August 2003, the American economy has created more than 6.6 million new jobs, including over 1.7 million jobs in the past 12 months alone. Real take-home wages are up by 2.2 percent over the past year, which means an extra $1,300 for the typical family of four with two wage earners.” This will all stop if a Democratic majority is allowed to infect Congress.

This recovery for our citizens is more than just numbers. These things mean better lives for our people, and the Bush tax cuts allowed these good tidings to come through. It’s indeed a shame that good things don’t matter to our elected Democratic officials, who will rip these cuts to shreds if allowed to by controlling Congress. This election is no trivial matter. If you’re alright with walking in the Leningrad of a Liberal wonderland that the democratic officials would make our country, so be it. If you want to fight for our country, and keep it decent for our citizens, get out and vote Republican.