My mother always told me "you are judged by the company you keep." Apparently Barack Obama's mother never told him that, or he didn't care, because he has kept company with terrorists, Islamo-fascists, communists, socialists and race baiters. So I'm not voting for him.

I don't agree with his programs either.

So let's talk about Sarah Palin. She came out of nowhere, at least to the insulated and uninformed, many of whom are pundits and commentators living inside the D.C. Beltway, and have no working knowledge of anything more than 40 miles away, except Manhattan, where a few of their colleagues live.

She is bright, experienced, quick to learn, strong in her opinions and strong in expressing them. She is arguably the best thing that has happened to the Republican Party since Ronald Reagan and she certainly is the best thing that has happened to John McCain's entire presidential campaign.

SARAH PALIN

She must be. Since bursting on the national scene this summer she has been scrutinized by the national media and the extreme-Socialist wing of the Democratic Party - meaning the group in charge of running Barack Obama's campaign - in ways beyond spiteful and vengeful, passing right through disgraceful and reprehensible.

Among the worst offenders is Fox News which seems to be hell bent on smearing Palin. Apparently they took umbrage at her refusal to appear on Fox News Sunday. John McCain did, but Palin, after being sabotaged by other network interviews, was far more careful about where she spent her time in the weeks before the election.

So I guess the deal with Fox is, you either come in and get skewered by Chris Wallace, or the rest of the staff will skewer you behind your back, with phony polls and statistics they pull out of their rear ends.

Sarah Palin has shown time and again that she knows what is going on in the world, and if an obscure subject area is passed before her one day, she will be conversant on it the next.

As a result of her enthusiasm, likability, approachability and outright common sense, the McCain campaign is still very much in contention and has as much chance as the Obama camp to win tomorrow's Presidential election. Quite possibly much more.

That she has endured the withering attacks and invasions of privacy posing as journalism against her and her family, speaks volumes about her ability to be the vice president. That she has never once faltered, despite the loathsome unprofessionalism of the so-called "media" that is covering her every breath, shows that she has mettle and backbone far beyond the norm.

She is in fact, far stronger, smarter and capable than anyone in any media outlet who has been assigned to cover her, or assassinate her character, which probably is the same thing.

She has been lied about by nearly every media personality covering her appearances, and she is still right there on the campaign trail, attracting enormous crowds that can't wait for a chance to hear her speak and cheer in support.

Gov. Palin is the commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard, has a son serving in Iraq, and is the only executive level candidate from the major parties in the presidential race. Yet she has been repeatedly attacked as incapable of leading the country in an emergency, when in truth she is far more capable than either of the Democrat candidates, and certainly more experienced.

Democrat Joe Biden, who is running for Vice President in opposition to Gov. Palin, is a draft dodger from the Vietnam era who faked an asthma condition to avoid serving in the military. It didn't stop him from high school athletics though.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama has never served, period. He does seem to be skilled at flipping people the bird though. First Hillary Clinton in her run for the nomination, then today in Florida when he supposedly was congratulating John McCain. Do you really want a President who has this little class and dignity? Wait until the French really get to know him.

My cousin Bob, who has been doing some digging of his own, sent me a few tidbits on Sarah Palin's responsibilities that really put Biden and Obama to shame.

Guess who, as Governor of Alaska has responsibility for America's first line of missile interceptor defense that protects the entire United States?

Sarah Palin because the 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard has that job. She is their commander-in-chief.

Who has responsibility for the ONLY National Guard unit on permanent active duty? Once again it is Sarah Palin, because again the 49th Missile Defense Battalion of Alaska National Guard is awake while everyone else is asleep.

Also, as Governor of a state that abuts two foreign countries, Canada, friendly, and Russia, not so friendly, Sarah Palin is routinely briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counter terrorism!

And to put a little icing on the cake, Sarah Palin reportedly has a higher classified security rating than the Democrat Party candidate!

And last but not least, the Washington Post reported that although Gov. Palin first met with Sen. McCain in February to discuss running with him, nobody ever found out. Meaning she can keep a secret, and she can be entrusted with our national security, because she has been doing it ever since she became governor! It also explains why the media in Manhattan and DC, along with a bunch of elitist Republicans, are so mad at her!

But did you see about two weeks ago where Joe Biden said that the biggest problem with John McCain's economic plan was "A three-letter word, J-O-B-S!"

That gaffe, one of so many from Biden it is almost impossible to choose among them, proves that the Democratic Presidential nominee selected a running mate who lies, dodged the draft, has questionable financial associations with D.C. insiders, and can't spell - or count! And we are supposed to trust either of them?

Obama would have a very difficult time passing a routine security clearance due to his past activities and associations, but both McCain and Palin already have cleared that hurdle!

For all the biased liberal nonsense and pseudo-elitist claptrap that has been spewed out of the media sewers for the past four months, the truth is, we are being asked to choose between a team that provides solid, time-tested competence and experience, or a novice with a murky past and his Wonder Choice. As in I wonder why he chose that guy to run for VP?

When Obama and Biden are compared to McCain and Palin objectively, it is painfully obvious that the Democrats ran a team with less experience, less real ability, and far more questions about their character and background than should be considered for the highest elected job in the free world.

If you really are voting for the best team to lead the country, then the McCain/Palin team is the clear choice.