Category — Pacifism

Another truth from down under. You may not like it, but the post-heroic putzes are going to see it up close and personal!

It’s called self hatred!

For thirty years I’ve been connected to a married couple who, for that length of time, have adhered to an unorthodox, synchronistic, non-Christian religion. Too young to have been hippies in the 1960’s, they still speak the language and slang of that era, so that their chatter is as obsolete as “twenty-three skidoo”. They’re Green, but have never had any ethical doubts about their own bourgeois comforts, their travel abroad, or Christmas gifts given to them even though they don’t observe Christmas. They’re good people in a vapid and uncomplicated way.

While always ready to lecture on some worthy humanitarian effort, personal generosity hasn’t been their strength. They’re takers, not givers. This, I think, is an emanation from their awareness of being separatists, outliers. They view people unlike themselves as spiritually and politically deficient and immune to the diffusion of their beliefs…like brute members of a cargo cult or natives charmed by glass beads and little mirrors. You might guess that they’re liberals. They are; they’re also pacifists.

In the mid 70’s, the male of the couple educated me, in tones normally used to admonish the insane, that had he been eligible for the draft: “I would have been a CO! Absolutely no question about it!” This was both a statement and a condemnation. I think my own service was an annoyance or conundrum for him, or both. But we’ve never discussed it, sinner to saint, killer to pacifist, and it doesn’t matter. Knowing everything worth knowing, he’s just not curious about anyone else.

I hold no resentment for those who can’t fight. I never expressed this to my relative because it wouldn’t have mattered to him, in the way that a proselytizer or seeker of Truth would welcome affirmation, however small. While I can’t see into his heart, his pacifism seems to be a conceit; he’s not a pacifist, he’s just non-violent.

Most of us are non-violent, for reasons that have nothing to do with doctrine or principle or religious orthodoxy; we just don’t make a big deal about it because the logic of non-violence is acceptable in the world, and because being violent is difficult. Being non-violent is nothing to write home about. There’s certainly no test at the Gates of Heaven with questions about who you didn’t hurt. Somewhere Jesus said or implied that you get no praise for doing the things already expected of you.

But there IS a problem with non-violence dressed up as principled pacifism, and my relatives exhibit it. To them, all sides to a dispute are equal, or their claims so equally just that some application of Reason would prevent violence. This is an impossibility - and neutralizes good and evil - even within a moral system which encompasses Satyagraha - the principle of non-violent resistance applied by Ghandi in his campaign against British rule.

Ghandi’s pacifism was total, down to his infamous, and misunderstood, remark, that European Jews should have committed suicide rather than resist their annihilation by the Nazis. But he was not being evasive about, or complicit in, the enormities of fascism; it was implied that IT MATTERED TO GHANDI WHO WON. Ghandi was being direct about his pacifism, he practiced it himself to real effect and at great personal cost. His focus was personal and mass sin, a concept completely missing in the non-violent philosophy of the worldly, rational couple stuck in my life.

Plus c’est le meme chose, plus ca change….

George Orwell, in 1941, in his essay “England Your England“

The mentality of the English left-wing intelligentsia can be studied in half a dozen weekly and monthly papers. The immediately striking thing about all these papers is their generally negative, querulous attitude, their complete lack at all times of any constructive suggestion. There is little in them except the irresponsible carping of people who have never been and never expect to be in a position of power. Another marked characteristic is the emotional shallowness of people who live in a world of ideas and have little contact with physical reality. Many intellectuals of the Left were flabbily pacifist up to 1935, shrieked for war against Germany in the years 1935-1939, and them promptly cooled off when the war started. It is broadly though not precisely true that the people who were the most “anti-fascist” during the Spanish civil war are most defeatist now. And underlying this is the really important fact about so many of the English intelligentsia - their severance from the common culture of the country.

In intention, at any rate, the English intelligentsia are Europeanized. They take their cookery from Paris and their opinions from Moscow. In the general patriotism of the country they form a sort of island of dissident thought. England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse-racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true, that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during “God save the King” than of stealing from a poor box.

All through the critical years many left-wingers were chipping away at English morale, trying to spread an outlook that was sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Russian, but always anti-British. It is questionable how much effect this had, but it certainly had some. If the English people suffered for several years a real weakening of morale, so that the Fascist nations judge that they were “decadent” and that it was safe to plunge into war, the intellectual sabotage from the Left was partly responsible….

It is, of course, an open question as to whether the American Left can boast a single “intellectual” when their model for house intellectual is Charlie Rose or worse, Bill Moyers. But if Paul Johnson’s definition is apt (”an intellectual is someone who cares more about ideas than about people”) there might be a few.

Albert Gore doesn’t quality but Noam Chomsky probably does. The former is a raving lunatic on all fronts, but the latter poses interesting ideas about linguistics even though he has detestable opinions about politics.

Fortunately for the West, Britain could decline into leftist irrelevance because America sat in the wings ready to rescue the world from barbarism. But today, if not us, who? The worms are in the apple.

Ordinarily, I avoid commenting negatively on family members who suffer high profile tragedies. They deserve some deference and respect for their feelings, which may not always be logical given their emotional loss.

There is an exception though. Once grieving family members enter the political fray to influence public policy, they open themselves to scrutiny and legitimate criticism. Cindy Sheehan’s supporters believed her status as a grieving mother inoculated her from all legitimate criticism, but a closer examination of her views is certainly warranted once her actions step into the overtly political.

This leads us to the comments of Nicholas Berg’s father who is running for Congress in Delaware:

Well, my reaction is I’m sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that.

I feel doubly bad, though, because Zarqawi is also a political figure, and his death will re-ignite yet another wave of revenge, and revenge is something that I do not follow, that I do want ask for, that I do not wish for against anybody. And it can’t end the cycle. As long as people use violence to combat violence, we will always have violence.

Mr. Berg is too wrapped up in his own emotions to consider the broader context here. One man’s revenge is another’s justice. There is no question that Zarqawi deserved swift justice even if Mr. Berg did not want it. Where he sees an endless cycle of violence fueled by revenge, I see justice as an important deterrent against the next unknown Zarqawi beheading the next unknown Nicholas Berg. These terrorists are not going to stop if we turn the other cheek, and Mr. Berg has no right to place us all in danger through his pacifism.

Mr. Berg has made numerous over-the-top comments, but he is so irrational, it hardly makes sense to analyze them all. Although his election chances were slim, I still wish him bad luck. The last thing we need in Congress is irrational pacifists endangering our lives.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have repeatedly said that Bush will win this election because of 9/11 Democrats. Here is one of them:

I will be breaking a lifelong streak of voting for Democratic Presidential candidates on Tuesday: I’m voting for George W. Bush. This will come as no surprise to regular readers of my blog. It comes as a great surprise to liberal friends and relatives. They can’t see beyond the Democrat-Republican label. Though I’ve never been a one-issue voter in the past, to me, this election boils down to one issue: The war on terror. I don’t believe John Kerry can fight that war.

I think Kerry is a liar and a poseur. You cannot have a career of pacifism and voting against military issues and suddenly turn around and declare yourself a fit commander-in-chief. It takes more than a campy salute and a “reporting for duty” at the DNC to make me believe Kerry is fit for command. I believe he is more unfit for command than any other candidate who ran against him, with the possible exception of Howard Dean. And may I say that the Democratic party may lose me forever if they can’t give me a candidate I can respect and believe in.

The Democrats have forced my hand. I was praying for a candidate I could vote for with the confidence that he would continue the war against the fascists who would change our world into one of uncompromising totalitarianism. In the past, I would have voted Democratic regardless—hell, I voted for Walter Mondale—but not today. Today, I think our safety, and the future of our way of life, is in danger. And I don’t think John Kerry gets that.

These were the nails in the coffin for me, when Kerry told the DNC:

“Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response.”

That’s not good enough. We are at war now; I don’t want a president who will wait until we are attacked in order to respond. I want the targeted assassinations of terrorists. I want the continued isolation of terrorist nations like Syria and Iran. I want dictators like Muammar Ghadafy to be sweating for their lives and careers. I want someone who is committed to trying to plant the seed of democracy in the Middle East, not someone who thinks that is an impossibility. Kerry has indicated that his Middle East policy will be more of the same, using Clinton’s failed tactics and Clinton’s failed negotiators. That’s not good enough.

I disagree with nearly every single part of George Bush’s domestic policies. I am pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, against huge tax cuts for big business, not a strict constructionist regarding Supreme Court Justices. I am in favor of unions (or at least, what unions were supposed to be), affirmative action, and most of the rest of the liberal agenda.

But the war trumps everything.

I lived twelve miles west of the World Trade Center on 9/11. I could see the smoke rising from a lookout point at a nearby park. I could smell the smoke of the burning towers every time the wind was in the east. On November 15th of 2001, I came out of a steakhouse to find the air permeated not with the odor of the steakhouse’s grill, but once again, with the smell of the towers burning. Three thousand innocents died on 9/11. We are at war, and we need a president who will recognize that, and act accordingly.

“Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response.”

That’s not good enough. Neither is a record of pacifism and anti-war activities. I don’t trust John Kerry to ensure my safety, and the safety of my country. Congress can take care of the domestic issues. I’m voting for Bush for President on Tuesday.

The fireworks were in Madison Square Garden last night. The Lt. Governor and Governor from John Kerry’s home state both spoke about Kerry’s record as lt. governor of MA and as senator. Zell Miller ripped into the Democrats and John Kerry for their defense policies and obstructionism and Dick Cheney laid out the case for another four years. Here is a recap of yesterday’s speeches.

The governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, spoke about how the President’s economic policies have helped her state:

…I want to share with you how the Aloha State’s economy has diversified and strengthened since George W. Bush became our 43rd President, transforming the state into a true Land of Opportunity with an improved quality of life for all our citizens.

President Bush pulled our nation’s economy out of the recession he inherited, and put us on the right track.

The economy is strong and getting stronger.

The President’s policies of a limited, but effective government, of tax cuts to allow families to keep more of their hard-earned money, and of promoting ownership and opportunity, have created a climate for growth and job creation.

Hawaii, for instance, was mired in economic stagnation throughout the 1990s it was tough times for families and businesses; a time of pessimism and unease.

But the picture is considerably brighter now and the optimism is unmistakable.

My Administration is just 21 months old. But, in that short time, because of President Bush’s tax cuts and pro-growth policies and our team’s solid commitment to creating a more business-friendly climate, Hawaii’s economy has turned around dramatically.

For the past 3 months we’ve had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation dropping to 3.0% in July.

Job growth is up, the technology sector is expanding and construction and real estate are booming.

In the first quarter of 2004, we had the largest growth in exports of any state in the country and those exports include far more than our world renowned Kona coffee and macadamia nuts.

And because the Bush Administration, including my good friend, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, has made our skies and oceans safer for travel, people are coming to Hawaii in record numbers.

Tourism is our state’s leading industry, and 2004 may well go down as the best year for tourism we’ve ever seen!

Are things better in Hawaii than they were four years ago? You bet they are!

The people of Hawaii are enjoying an improved quality of life.

America truly is the Land of Opportunity, and President Bush is helping us to realize those opportunities.

He has turned our country around by following his strong convictions and doing what he believes is right, rather than changing his beliefs in response to the latest opinion poll.

And the best is yet to come when America gives President Bush four more years to finish the work he began…

The Attorney General of Nevada, Brian Sandoval, spoke next about the President’s record on law and order issues:

…At home and at work, I have accepted the same obligation embraced by President Bush: keeping America’s most vulnerable citizens our children safe from harm.

President Bush made fighting crimes against children a top priority, swiftly signing into law the PROTECT Act, the most important child protection legislation in 20 years.

Prosecutors finally have the tools they need to go after criminals who prey upon kids, including serious penalties to keep them in prison where they belong.

Our laws have been updated to deal with people who lurk in the shadows of the Internet to lure children for sexual abuse. And we have tough new laws on the books to fight child pornography.

Thanks to the leadership of our President, America is safer for our children.

It’s safer for the rest of us too.

While working diligently to prevent terrorism, our Commander in Chief has remained equally dedicated to the important fight against domestic crime, and his strategy is succeeding.

From Project Safe Neighborhoods to the President’s fight against identity theft, from his anti-drug strategy to his plan to eradicate gun crime in America, this President has demonstrated an ability to lead.

And deliver results.

Violent crime at a thirty-year low.

Teen drug abuse is declining across a wide front.

Federal gun prosecutions have hit record highs.

For America to fulfill its promise as the land of opportunity, each of us must be safe from crime.

President Bush has made great strides in making America safer.

With him in the White House, we can focus on pursuing our dreams without fear. Our strength as a nation lies in the fact that America’s promise is passed safely and equitably from generation to generation.

Its fulfillment requires courage and conviction qualities this President has demonstrated time and time again.

Our charge, our duty, is to ensure the American experience for our children to ensure that we never awaken from the American Dream.

Senator Rick Santorum (PA) spoke about welfare reform and marriage:

Every generation has but a moment to carry the torch that defines who we are and what we will be.

Will our torch shine brighter or will it diminish? Our best hope - will not be found in the laws of men, but in love of others, as President Bush defines it, compassion.

Remember, “The greatest of these is love.” Through love and compassion, we can shape our moment in American history for great good, as many did before us.

My father came to the coalfields outside Johnstown, Pennsylvania when he was 7 from a small village in Italy.

It was 1930 and like most immigrants he was poor. But like so many of our parents from that time, he passed on a wealth of truths to guide us in life to love God, to love your neighbor as yourself, and to care for those less fortunate than you.

Today, too many children are surrounded by an impoverished culture causing an emptiness not only of the stomach, but of the heart. And it is doing to our children what the Great Depression did to our economy.

In the House, I helped author the landmark welfare reform bill. When I was elected to the Senate, I didn’t just want to make it possible for poor women to work I wanted to give them a job.

So I hired 8 welfare recipients in my office.

One, Michelle Turner, lived at the People’s Emergency Center in Philadelphia. She went from receptionist to caseworker to supervisor.

As Michelle said, “Under the old welfare system I was forgotten, a nobody. Today I have a future.” Welfare reform has cut the rolls and reduced poverty, but helping millions like Michelle find a job is only part of the answer.

My Italian grandfather taught me the rest in one word family.

The key to a richer culture is strong families, and the key to strong families is strong marriages.

That means mothers and fathers doing what they have been doing for centuries giving love and hope to their children.

Karen, my incredible wife and mother of our 6 children, always says, “Rick, the best gift we can give our kids is a great marriage. It gives them the security they want and the example they need.”

Yet, in many poor communities the torch of marriage is dying out. While eight out of ten mothers applying for welfare are in a relationship with the father of their child, and both want to marry, often, no one helps them, and within a year, almost all have parted ways.

President Bush is changing that. We now ask, “Would you like some help in building that relationship?” And if they say yes, we pay for marriage counseling with a family therapist or a pastor, rabbi, or imam.

John Kerry’s response — he joined Senate Democrats in blocking the President’s welfare reform and faith-based initiatives. He says he’s “concerned” about the separation of church and state.

Senator Kerry should worry more about the separation of children from their fathers.

We all agree, religion in America must never be established but it also must never be exiled.

George Bush has shown his compassion by advancing his faith-based initiatives, strengthening marriage, and fighting to let the American people define marriage, not left-wing judges.

Sometimes I think our grandparents wouldn’t recognize the torch they passed on. But I know they would counsel us to remember why they came, and others continue to come.

For our economy, yes, for security, sure, but it is the generosity of spirit and the strength of our character molded by the light of faith that makes us that shining city on the hill - “For the greatest of these is love.”

Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) introduced his wife Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao who talked about jobs:

…He has opened doors of opportunity to millions of other Americans as well, by ensuring that quality education is available to everyone so that all Americans have the skills they need to compete in the 21st century economy.

President Bush began by transforming our nation’s public schools, and by extending Pell Grants to one million additional college students.

Now, he has challenged Congress to provide more support for America’s community colleges, which train workers for high-growth fields. He has called on Congress to reform our federal job training programs to make them more effective.

For workers experiencing unemployment, the President has proposed Personal Re-employment Accounts which workers can use to get the training and support they need.

Thanks to President Bush’s tax relief, the economy is expanding, creating more than 1.5 million new jobs in the last eleven months. Today, the national unemployment rate is lower than the average for the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

Yet this President will not rest until every American who wants a job can find one.

For four hundred years, people have come to America seeking freedom and opportunity. Many, like me, still remember the early days of struggle and promise on American soil.

For us, President Bush speaks our language the language of opportunity, family and a better future for each new generation.

This is the language we speak in America. This is America’s promise of opportunity.

Our ability to put the talents of a nation to work depends on the re-election of President George W. Bush.

Representative Rob Portman (OH) continued the theme and talked about the economy:

…Let’s remember where we have been. This President inherited an economy spiraling into recession, and already losing jobs in states like Ohio. In fact, in the last year of the Clinton administration, Ohio lost over 33,000 manufacturing jobs.

Well, this year, we are adding jobs, including in manufacturing.

Yes, we have more work to do, but we are on track for economic growth. I visited 2 factories in Ohio this past week and met with workers who are competing and winning in the global economy!

These Ohio workers get it. They know government doesn’t create jobs, regardless of how many promises Senator Kerry makes.

But they also know the next Administration will play a critical role in creating the environment for job growth, giving workers the tools they need to succeed.

This means continuing the Bush tax cuts not raising taxes, just as jobs are coming back!!

This means lower health care costs not government mandates that drive up costs for everyone!! This means a fair judicial system, not job-destroying frivolous lawsuits!!

This means opening foreign markets to the best goods and services in the world American products not retreating to economic isolationism that kills jobs!!

This means giving workers the opportunity to build their skills to meet 21st century challenges, not false hope and empty promises that ignore the realities of a changing economy!!

This means an aggressive energy plan to lessen our dependence on foreign oil!!

This means that we need the hopeful, optimistic agenda of George W. Bush a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda for the next 4 years so we can compete and win in the global competition we face!!

Ohio’s workers deserve no less. America’s workers deserve no less. And this means one more thing folks .

It means whether you are from a blue state, a red state or a swing state like my home of Ohio, each and every one of us must do our part to keep George W. Bush in the White House for four more years!

Patricia Stout and Lurita Doan, two small business owners, spoke about their experiences next:

Patricia Stout

Good evening Buenas noches I am a small business owner. Like many other women I have worked hard but I have not been afraid of the challenges that have been put in front of me. After being in the travel business for several years, and having achieved a modest success, I almost lost my company after 9-11 due to the slow down in travel.

I had to lay off several employees. For the first time in a long time I cried. With few options, I bid for as many government contracts as possible, hoping to get at least one or two.

Thanks to the President’s Small Business Initiative, which worked to unbundle contracts, we were awarded 9 contracts! In addition, the President’s tax relief policies have made it easier for me to invest in growing my company and hiring more employees. Today, we are the 50th fastest growing Hispanic corporation in the country.

My company has many reasons to celebrate, but the most important is that we have a President who cares about small business.

This President laid out a strategy for reducing the size of government contracts so that small businesses would have a chance to compete.

In just the first year of the initiative, Federal contract dollars awarded to small businesses jumped 23%. We still have a long way to go, so we need to make sure that we have the right person in the presidency, and you know who I am talking about.

Of course, President Bush! Viva President Bush!!!! Gracias thank you.

Lurita Doan

I am a small business owner.

I started my business 14 years ago with nothing more than $25 worth of business cards printed at Kinkos and a good idea.

Today we have over 150 employees, and thanks to President Bush’s tax policies, the company is growing. I come from generations of Black entrepreneurs who started businesses under Republican administrations, going back to my great grandmother.

She sold pralines in New Orleans after President Lincoln freed the slaves. My grandmother started a business school during Teddy Roosevelt’s administration.

I founded New Technology Management during the presidency of another friend of small businesses, George H. W. Bush.

Today our technology secures the borders at land border ports across the U.S. It’s always been clear: Republicans understand that creating opportunities for individuals and for small businesses is what makes America great.

President Bush understands that lowering the tax burden for small businesses translates into jobs and economic security for millions of Americans.

He’s committed to making health care affordable for small business owners and their employees.

No matter the color of your skin, whether you’re a man or woman, and no matter whether you’re selling pralines on the docks of New Orleans or developing cutting-edge technology, small businesses benefit from Republican leadership. George Bush has provided that leadership and that is why I’ll be hiring 75 more people in the coming year.

That’s why I’m working hard to re-elect George Bush as President of the United States because he’s working hard to keep the American dream alive for all of us.

Thank you.

Representative Paul Ryan (WI) continued to talk about the economy (emphasis added):

…When George Bush entered the White House, he inherited an economy that was sliding toward recession.

The stock market was declining. The dot.com bubble had burst. In response, President Bush delivered broad tax relief for all Americans because he understands that people, not government, start the businesses and create the jobs that drive our economy.

He pushed Congress to accelerate the tax cuts to boost growth and job creation. He doubled the child tax credit and cut the marriage penalty to help parents make ends meet. He provided incentives for small businesses to invest and expand.

And he put the death tax on the path to extinction.

Because of the President’s leadership, the economy is now strong and getting stronger. During the past year, we’ve created over 1.5 million new jobs. Unemployment is falling. Productivity is surging.

And America’s manufacturing sector is adding jobs. Thanks to the Bush tax relief, every American who pays federal income taxes now keeps more of what he or she earns.

For Nathan and Kris Blank of Janesville, Wisconsin, this meant a lot. Nathan is a police officer and Kris is at home with their daughters, McKenzie, Allison and their new baby girl, Natalie. Nathan earns $51,000 a year, and last year, because of the tax cuts, they saved over $2,000 which helped Kris start a business from home.

If the tax cuts are not made permanent, the Blanks will end up sending $1,200 in higher taxes to Washington next year, instead of keeping their money for their family.

Of course John Kerry claims he wants to relieve the squeeze on the middle class. But whenever he had a chance to do something about it, John Kerry voted “NO.”

When he had the chance to help families by reducing the marriage penalty and doubling the child tax credit, John Kerry voted “NO.” When he had a chance to spur job creation by lowering taxes on small business owners, John Kerry voted “NO.”

During his 20 years in Washington, John Kerry never met a tax increase he didn’t like. So you have to wonder: Why would he vote against 126 tax cuts and in favor of 98 tax increases?

Why would he push for higher taxes on families and small businesses, higher taxes on seniors and savers, higher taxes on gasoline and family farms?

There is only one explanation: this is one place where John Kerry NEVER flip-flops.

In fact, during this campaign, Senator Kerry is now proposing more than $2 trillion dollars in new spending over the next ten years and we still have 2 months before the election!

And we all know how he would pay for this explosion in new spending…he would need to raise your taxes.

John Kerry believes that government can spend our money better than we can. But most Americans don’t share this view.

That’s why John Kerry has to preach the politics of division, of envy and resentment. That’s why they talk so much about Two Americas. I say to them:

Anger is not a governing philosophy. Class warfare is not an economic policy. And the politics of division will not make America stronger and it will not lead to prosperity.

Instead, we offer a more hopeful vision to America by reaffirming our Party’s commitment to freedom and opportunity for all. These are the economic foundations of the American Dream.

I ask all Americans who share this Dream regardless of Party to join us, to make the tax cuts permanent and to make the tax code simpler and fairer so every worker in America has more control over their economic future.

Join us to re-elect a great President and advance this great cause. Thank you and God bless America.

Next up was Michael Reagan who introduced a video tribute for his father:

My name is Michael Reagan, and I consider myself the luckiest man in the world.

My mother, father and birth-mother were pro-life, and pro-adoption. Because they were, my father made me a Reagan. I’ve come to honor my father, not to politicize his name.

I’m here to introduce a video tribute to Ronald Reagan who was not just a great leader, but also a great dad.

On behalf of the Reagan family, let me begin by thanking everyone for all you did during the week we laid my father to rest.

It was your strength and faith, your love and support that sustained us.

So many stood in all-night vigils, stopped their cars and trucks, waved flags or placed their hands on their hearts. One gentleman, Jorge Ponce- Rodriguez, left his passport with a message to our family at the library in Simi Valley.

He said, because of President Reagan, ” my family and I were able to achieve US citizenship. Here is my passport as proof. We realized the American Dream! God Bless Mr. Reagan ”

Why did Ronald Reagan evoke such incredible gratitude and goodwill?

Was it his personality his sunny optimism, his humor, that twinkle in his eye?

Was it that he was the great communicator? Or, was it all of that and something more?

Ronald Reagan didn’t win the Cold War and ignite our economy with funny stories and beautiful words!

He wasn’t just a great communicator, he communicated great ideas!

Where did his ideas come from? They came from his beliefs.

My father believed that God had a plan for his life, for every life, and for the life of our nation.

He believed America was placed between the oceans to be a beacon of freedom for the world, a place where man was not beholden to government, government was beholden to man.

Only in America does the Constitution say we the people give government these rights, but no more!

He believed the Founders’ limitations on government helped create the freest, most prosperous nation ever known.

Finally, he believed freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. With the blessings of liberty come the responsibilities to defend it.

Throughout his life, his belief in the American people never wavered.

In his farewell letter he wrote, “As I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life, I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the 40th President of the United States, and my father, Ronald Reagan.

Next up was Lt. Governor Kerry Healey of Massachusetts who introduced my governor, Mitt Romney (emphasis added):

I’m proud to be from Massachusetts, where John Kerry will be the junior senator until 2008.

You see, I don’t believe Senator Kerry is the leader our country needs.

Let me say I respect his four months under enemy fire in Vietnam; we should honor that service as we do the service of all our fighting men and women.

No, it’s John Kerry’s record in his nearly 40 years since Vietnam that’s the question. Study that record; if you want someone who voted for tax hikes 98 times, then yes, send him. If you want cuts in intelligence funding, then yes, send him. If you think that during the great national policy debate of the 1980’s Ronald Reagan was wrong and Ted Kennedy was right, then by all means send in John Kerry. Senator Kerry now tells us he has a clear position on the war on terror.

He voted NO on Desert Storm in 1991 and YES on Desert Shield today. Then he voted NO on troop funding, just after he had voted YES.

He’s campaigned against the war all year, but says he’d vote YES today. I don’t want Presidential leadership that comes in 57 varieties! I want a strong President who stands his ground.

I want George W. Bush! We need unwavering leadership. America is under attack from almost every direction. We have been attacked by murderous, crazed terrorists, even in this great city. Our employers and jobs are threatened by low cost, highly skilled labor from abroad. American values are under attack from within.
Throughout our history, when our country needed us, Americans have stepped forward, standing up to every challenge. We need to step forward again today. We step forward by pursuing our education, pushing our minds to their limits, and by insisting that our schools are accountable for their successes and failures. Schools must be run for the benefit of our children, not the teacher’s unions.

We step forward by innovating and taking risk in our free enterprises, by caring more about the quality of our work. We step forward by insisting on Ronald Reagan’s vision of a compassionate and fiscally conservative government that promotes the opportunity of ownership and leaves more money in the hands of the taxpayers. We step forward by entering marriage before we enter parenthood.

We step forward by expressing tolerance and respect for all God’s children, regardless of their differences and choices.

At the same time, because every child deserves a mother and a father, we step forward by recognizing that marriage is between a man and a woman.

We step forward by never forgetting that America is a force for good in the world, fighting for freedom and human rights.

On this, there is no question: George W. Bush is right and the Blame America First Crowd is wrong! Americans will rise to every challenge we face.

I saw the character of America’s people when I ran the Olympics in Salt Lake City. I asked speed skater Derek Parra what had been his most memorable Olympic experience.

It was not winning the silver medal. It was not winning the gold medal.

It was carrying the flag that had flown above the World Trade Center on September 11 into the Opening Ceremonies.

We had expected cheers from the 60,000 person audience as the flag entered the stadium.

Instead, total silence, complete reverence.

Derek maintained his composure as the national anthem was sung.

But then the choir surprised him by singing a reprise of the last line: “O say does that star- spangled banner yet wave, oe’r the land of the free and the home of the brave?” A gust of wind lifted the flag in his hands.

Derek said it was as if it came from the countless men and women who had paid the ultimate price for America’s freedoms A BREATH FROM ABOVE THAT STIRRED THE HEARTS OF THOSE OF US BELOW, WHO WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THEM.

My friends, we will move forward safer, stronger, and to better days under the courageous and compassionate leadership of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Thank you and God Bless You.

Next up was Democratic Senator Zell Miller (GA). He was incredible in his indictment of John Kerry and the Democratic party. You could tell that he was angry and that his comments came straight from the heart. Here is his speech in full (emphasis added):

Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren.

Along with all the other members of our close-knit family — they are my and Shirley’s most precious possessions.

And I know that’s how you feel about your family also.

Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face.

Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in.

And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that man’s name is

George Bush.

In the summer of 1940, I was an eight-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley.

Our country was not yet at war but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.

President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America “all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger.”

In 1940 Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.

And there is no better example of someone repealing their “private plans” than this good man.

He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.

And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.

Shortly before Wilkie died he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between “here lies a president” or “here lies one who contributed to saving freedom”, he would prefer the latter.

Where are such statesmen today?

Where is the bi-partisanship in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrat’s manic obsession to bring down our Commander-in-Chief.

What has happened to the party I’ve spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.

It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.
Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today’s Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don’t just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn’t believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don’t waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

They don’t believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism - it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter’s pacifism would lead to peace.

They were wrong.

They claimed Reagan’s defense buildup would lead to war.

They were wrong.

And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.

Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.

The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40% of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein’s command post in Iraq.

The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi’s Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.

The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation’s Capital and this very city after 9/11.

I could go on and on and on: Against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein’s scud missiles over Israel, Against the Aegis air-defense cruiser, Against the Strategic Defense Initiative, Against the Trident missile, against, against, against.

This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?

U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?

Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric.

Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations.

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending. I want Bush to decide.

John Kerry, who says he doesn’t like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security.

That’s the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world.

Free for how long?

For more than twenty years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure. As a war protestor, Kerry blamed our military.

As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harms way, far-away.

George Bush understands that we need new strategies to meet new threats.

John Kerry wants to re-fight yesterday’s war. George Bush believes we have to fight today’s war and be ready for tomorrow’s challenges. George Bush is committed to providing the kind of forces it takes to root out terrorists.

No matter what spider hole they may hide in or what rock they crawl under.

George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

From John Kerry, they get a “yes-no-maybe” bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

I first got to know George Bush when we served as governors together. I admire this man.

I am moved by the respect he shows the First Lady, his unabashed love for his parents and his daughters, and the fact that he is unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America.

I can identify with someone who has lived that line in “Amazing Grace,” “Was blind, but now I see,” and I like the fact that he’s the same man on Saturday night that he is on Sunday morning.

He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words.

I have knocked on the door of this man’s soul and found someone home, a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel.

The man I trust to protect my most precious possession: my family.

This election will change forever the course of history, and that’s not any history. It’s our family’s history.

The only question is how. The answer lies with each of us. And, like many generations before us, we’ve got some hard choosing to do.

Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted, self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger our President has had the courage to stand up. And this Democrat is proud to stand up with him.

Thank you.

God Bless this great country and God Bless George W. Bush.

Hard to follow that act! Lynne Cheney then introduced Vice President Dick Cheney. He talked about the last four years and why we should stay the course (emphasis added):

Mr. Chairman, delegates, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans: I accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.

I am honored by your confidence. And tonight I make this pledge: I will give this campaign all that I have, and together we will make George W. Bush president for another four years.

Tonight I will talk about this good man and his fine record leading our country. And I may say a word or two about his opponent. I am also mindful that I have an opponent of my own. People tell me that Senator Edwards got picked for his good looks, his sex appeal, and his great hair. I say to them how do you think I got the job?

On this night, as we celebrate the opportunities that America offers, I am filled with gratitude to a nation that has been good to me, and I remember the people who set me on my way in life. My grandfather noted that the day I was born was also the birthday of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And so he told my parents they should send President Roosevelt an announcement of my birth. Now my grandfather didn’t have a chance to go to high school. For many years he worked as a cook on the Union Pacific Railroad, and he and my grandmother lived in a railroad car. But the modesty of his circumstances didn’t stop him from thinking that President Roosevelt should know about my arrival. My grandfather believed deeply in the promise of America, and had the highest hopes for his family. And I don’t think it would surprise him much that a grandchild of his stands before you tonight as Vice President of the United States.

It is the story of this country that people have been able to dream big dreams with confidence they would come true, if not for themselves, then for their children and grandchildren. And that sense of boundless opportunity is a gift that we must pass on to all who come after us.

From kindergarten to graduation, I went to public schools, and I know that they are a key to being sure that every child has a chance to succeed and to rise in the world. When the President and I took office, our schools were shuffling too many children from grade to grade without giving them the skills and knowledge they need. So President Bush reached across the aisle and brought both parties together to pass the most significant education reform in 40 years. With higher standards and new resources, America’s schools are now on an upward path to excellence and not for just a few children, but for every child.

Opportunity also depends on a vibrant, growing economy. As President Bush and I were sworn into office, our nation was sliding into recession, and American workers were overburdened with federal taxes. Then came the events of September 11th, which hit our economy very hard. So President Bush delivered the greatest tax reduction in a generation, and the results are clear to see. Businesses are creating jobs. People are returning to work. Mortgage rates are low, and home ownership in this country is at an all-time high. The Bush tax cuts are working.

Our nation has the best healthcare in the world, and President Bush is making it more affordable and accessible to all Americans. And there is more to do. Under this President’s leadership, we will reform medical liability so the system serves patients and good doctors, not personal injury lawyers.

These have been years of achievement, and we are eager for the work ahead. And in all that we do, we will never lose sight of the greatest challenge of our time: preserving the freedom and security of this nation against determined enemies.

Since I last spoke to our national convention, Lynne and I have had the joy of seeing our family grow. We now have a grandson to go along with our three wonderful granddaughters, and the deepest wish of my heart and the object of all my determination is that they, and all of America’s children, will have lives filled with opportunity and that they will inherit a world in which they can live in freedom, in safety, and in peace.

Four years ago, some said the world had grown calm, and many assumed that the United States was invulnerable to danger. That thought might have been comforting; it was also false. Like other generations of Americans, we soon discovered that history had great and unexpected duties in store for us.

September 11th, 2001, made clear the challenges we face. On that day we saw the harm that could be done by 19 men armed with knives and boarding passes. America also awakened to a possibility even more lethal: this enemy, whose hatred of us is limitless, armed with chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons.

Just as surely as the Nazis during World War Two and the Soviet communists during the Cold War, the enemy we face today is bent on our destruction. As in other times, we are in a war we did not start, and have no choice but to win. Firm in our resolve, focused on our mission, and led by a superb commander in chief, we will prevail.

The fanatics who killed some 3,000 of our fellow Americans may have thought they could attack us with impunity because terrorists had done so previously. But if the killers of September 11th thought we had lost the will to defend our freedom, they did not know America and they did not know George W. Bush.

From the beginning, the President made clear that the terrorists would be dealt with and that anyone who supports, protects, or harbors them would be held to account. In a campaign that has reached around the world, we have captured or killed hundreds of Al-Qaeda. In Afghanistan, the camps where terrorists trained to kill Americans have been shut down, and the Taliban driven from power. In Iraq, we dealt with a gathering threat, and removed the regime of Saddam Hussein. Seventeen months ago, he controlled the lives and fortunes of 25 million people. Tonight he sits in jail.

President Bush does not deal in empty threats and half measures, and his determination has sent a clear message. Just five days after Saddam was captured, the government of Libya agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program and turn the materials over to the United States. Tonight, uranium, centrifuges, and plans for nuclear weapons that were once hidden in Libya are locked up and stored away in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, never again to be a danger to Americans.

The biggest threat we face today is having nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists. The president is working with many countries in a global effort to end the trade and transfer of these deadly technologies. The most important result thus far and it is a very important one is that the black-market network that supplied nuclear weapons technology to Libya, as well as to Iran and North Korea, has been shut down. The world’s worst source of nuclear weapons proliferation is out of business and we are safer as a result.

In the global war we are fighting, we owe a mighty debt to the men and women of the United States armed forces. They have fought the enemy with courage and reached out to civilians with compassion, rebuilding schools and hospitals and roads. They have won stunning victories. They have faced hard duty and long deployments. And they have lost comrades, more than 1100 brave Americans, whose memory this nation will honor forever. The men and women who wear the uniform of the United States represent the very best of America. They have the thanks of our nation. And they have the confidence, the loyalty, and the respect of their commander in chief.

In this election, we will decide who leads our country for the next four years. Yet there is more in the balance than that. Moments come along in history when leaders must make fundamental decisions about how to confront a long term challenge abroad and how best to keep the American people secure. We faced such a moment after World War Two, when we put in place the policies that defended America throughout the Cold War. Those policies containing communism, deterring attack by the Soviet Union, and promoting the rise of democracy were carried out by Democratic and Republican presidents in the decades that followed.

This nation has reached another of those defining moments. Under President Bush we have put in place new policies and created new institutions to defend America, to stop terrorist violence at its source, and to help move the Middle East away from old hatreds and resentments and toward the lasting peace that only freedom can bring. This is the work not of months, but of years and keeping these commitments is essential to our future security. For that reason, ladies and gentlemen, the election of 2004 is one of the most important, not just in our lives but in our history.

And so it is time to set the alternatives squarely before the American people.

The President’s opponent is an experienced senator. He speaks often of his service in Vietnam, and we honor him for it. But there is also a record of more than three decades since. And on the question of America’s role in the world, the differences between Senator Kerry and President Bush are the sharpest, and the stakes for the country are the highest. History has shown that a strong and purposeful America is vital to preserving freedom and keeping us safe yet time and again Senator Kerry has made the wrong call on national security. Senator Kerry began his political career by saying he would like to see our troops deployed “only at the directive of the United Nations.” During the 1980s, Senator Kerry opposed Ronald Reagan’s major defense initiatives that brought victory in the Cold War. In 1991, when Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait and stood poised to dominate the Persian Gulf, Senator Kerry voted against Operation Desert Storm.

Even in this post-9/11 period, Senator Kerry doesn’t appear to understand how the world has changed. He talks about leading a “more sensitive war on terror,” as though Al Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side. He declared at the Democratic Convention that he will forcefully defend America after we have been attacked. My fellow Americans, we have already been attacked, and faced with an enemy who seeks the deadliest of weapons to use against us, we cannot wait for the next attack. We must do everything we can to prevent it and that includes the use of military force.

Senator Kerry denounces American action when other countries don’t approve as if the whole object of our foreign policy were to please a few persistent critics. In fact, in the global war on terror, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Bush has brought many allies to our side. But as the President has made very clear, there is a difference between leading a coalition of many, and submitting to the objections of a few. George W. Bush will never seek a permission slip to defend the American people.

Senator Kerry also takes a different view when it comes to supporting our military. Although he voted to authorize force against Saddam Hussein, he then decided he was opposed to the war, and voted against funding for our men and women in the field. He voted against body armor, ammunition, fuel, spare parts, armored vehicles, extra pay for hardship duty, and support for military families. Senator Kerry is campaigning for the position of commander in chief. Yet he does not seem to understand the first obligation of a commander in chief and that is to support American troops in combat.

In his years in Washington, John Kerry has been one of a hundred votes in the United States Senate and very fortunately on matters of national security, his views rarely prevailed. But the presidency is an entirely different proposition. A senator can be wrong for 20 years, without consequence to the nation. But a president a president always casts the deciding vote. And in this time of challenge, America needs and America has a president we can count on to get it right.

On Iraq, Senator Kerry has disagreed with many of his fellow Democrats. But Senator Kerry’s liveliest disagreement is with himself. His back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends a message of confusion. And it is all part of a pattern. He has, in the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act and against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and against it. He is for the Patriot Act and against it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual America sees two John Kerrys.

The other candidate in this race is a man our nation has come to know, and one I’ve come to admire very much. I watch him at work every day. I have seen him face some of the hardest decisions that can come to the Oval Office and make those decisions with the wisdom and humility Americans expect in their president. George W. Bush is a man who speaks plainly and means what he says. He is a person of loyalty and kindness and he brings out these qualities in those around him. He is a man of great personal strength and more than that, a man with a heart for the weak, and the vulnerable, and the afflicted. We all remember that terrible morning when, in the space of just 102 minutes, more Americans were killed than we lost at Pearl Harbor. We remember the President who came to New York City and pledged that the terrorists would soon hear from all of us. George W. Bush saw this country through grief and tragedy he has acted with patience, and calm, and a moral seriousness that calls evil by its name. In the great divide of our time, he has put this nation where America always belongs: against the tyrants of this world, and on the side of every soul on earth who yearns to live in freedom.

Fellow citizens, our nation is reaching the hour of decision, and the choice is clear. President Bush and I will wage this effort with complete confidence in the judgment of the American people. The signs are good even in Massachusetts. According to a news account last month, people leaving the Democratic National Convention asked a Boston policeman for directions. He replied, “Leave here and go vote Republican.”

President Bush and I are honored to have the support of that police officer, and of Democrats, Republicans, and independents from every calling in American life. We are so fortunate, each and every one of us, to be citizens of this great nation and to take part in the defining event of our democracy: Choosing who will lead us.

The historian Bernard DeVoto once wrote that when America was created, the stars must have danced in the sky. Our president understands the miracle of this great country. He knows the hope that drives it and shares the optimism that has long been so important a part of our national character. He gets up each and every day determined to keep our great nation safe so that generations to come will know the freedom and opportunities we have known and more.

When this convention concludes tomorrow night, we will go forth with confidence in our cause, and in the man who leads it. By leaving no doubt where we stand, and asking all Americans to join us, we will see our cause to victory. Thank you very much.

It was another night of powerful speakers. Zell Miller should continue to help Bush appeal to 9/11 Democrats. The Republicans are certainly showing the Democrats how to put on a convention. President Bush has a lot of tough acts to follow but he usually rises to occasions like this. We will see how he does tonight.

26-year old Jamie Fly has a column in the The New York Sun (subscription required) that discusses how younger people see the world through the events of 9/11 while many of our leaders still see the world through the prism of Vietnam.

The youthful Kerry of 1971 is in many ways representative of his generation of Democratic leaders. Haunted by Vietnam, constrained by their interpretation of its lessons, Democrats have long wavered between foolish pacifism and half-hearted idealism. Ever since Vietnam, American leaders have been reluctant to use military force owing to their fear of becoming bogged down in “another Vietnam.”…

If Mr. Kerry represents this scarred Vietnam generation, then who are the Kerrys of today? As a 26-year-old, this question intrigues me. Vietnam defined Mr. Kerry’s worldview. For Americans my age, September 11, 2001, is the prism through which we view the world.

The press fracas over Iraq, the Bush administration’s unilateralism, and the 9/11 Commission have overshadowed the transformation taking place in the ranks of young Americans…

Liberal college professors bemoan the conservatism of their students, many of whom participated in pro-war patriotic rallies to counter the traditional anti-war protests on most college campuses. All this activity amounts to what The Economist has called a youthquake for Mr. Bush. In short, for thousands of future conservative leaders, September 11 was a watershed event, this generation’s Vietnam. Fortunately, the lessons of Vietnam and September 11 could not be more different…

Those of us born after the Vietnam War don’t view the world through the same lens as the generation of 1968.

As the September 11 generation ages, this will change. This change cannot come too soon, for the terrorist challenge will not rest while our leaders overcome their historical hang-ups. Voters will be presented with a stark choice this November - the lessons of Vietnam or September 11. For the sake of our future, let’s hope that they make the correct choice.

HT: GeorgeWBush.com