Category — Politics

A nice reminder of history from Investors Business Daily.

No one likes war.

War is a horrific affair, bloody and expensive.  Sending our men and women into battle to perhaps die or be maimed is an unconscionable thought. 

Yet some wars need to be waged, and someone needs to lead. The citizenry and Congress are often ambivalent or largely opposed to any given war. It’s up to our leader to convince them. That’s why we call the leader "Commander-in-Chief."

George W.’s war was no different. There was lots of resistance to it. Many in Congress were vehemently against the idea. The Commander-in-Chief had to lobby for legislative approval.  Along with supporters, George W. used the force of his convictions, the power of his title and every ounce of moral suasion he could muster to rally support. He had to assure Congress and the public that the war was morally justified, winnable and affordable.

Congress eventually came around and voted overwhelmingly to wage war.  George W. then lobbied foreign governments for support. But in the end, only one European nation helped us. The rest of the world sat on its hands and watched. 

After a few quick victories, things started to go bad.  There were many dark days when all the news was discouraging. Casualties began to mount. It became obvious that our forces were too small. Congress began to drag its feet about funding the effort.  Many who had voted to support the war just a few years earlier were beginning to speak against it and accuse the Commander-in-Chief of misleading them. Many critics began to call him incompetent, an idiot and even a liar. Journalists joined the negative chorus with a vengeance.

As the war entered its fourth year, the public began to grow weary of the conflict and the casualties. George W.’s popularity plummeted. Yet through it all, he stood firm, supporting the troops and endorsing the struggle.  Without his unwavering support, the war would have surely ended, then and there, in overwhelming and total defeat. 

At this darkest of times, he began to make some changes. More troops were added and trained. Some advisers were shuffled, and new generals installed.  Then, unexpectedly and gradually, things began to improve. Now it was the enemy that appeared to be growing weary of the lengthy conflict and losing support. Victories began to come, and hope returned. 

Many critics in Congress and the press said the improvements were just George W.’s good luck. The progress, they said, would be temporary. He knew, however, that in warfare good fortune counts. 

Then, in the unlikeliest of circumstances and perhaps the most historic example of military luck, the enemy blundered and was resoundingly defeated. After six long years of war, the Commander-in-Chief basked in a most hard-fought victory.  So on that historic day, Oct. 19, 1781, in a place called Yorktown, a satisfied George Washington sat upon his beautiful white horse and accepted the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

History, George W, Economics, War

Wow, what a speech…

February 7, 2008: Mitt Romney’s Address to the Conservative Political Action Committee

 I want to begin by saying thank you. Its great to be with you again. And I look forward to joining with you many more times in the future.

 Last year, CPAC gave me the sendoff I needed. I was in single digits in the polls and I was facing household Republican names.

As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for president, less than Senator McCain’s 4.7 million, but quite a statement nonetheless. 11 states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Of course, because size does matter, he’s doing quite a bit better with his number of delegates.

To all of you, thank you for caring enough about the future of America to show up, stand up and speak up for conservative principles.

As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever. We face a new generation of challenges, challenges which threaten our prosperity, our security and our future.

I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century-still a great nation, but no longer the leader of the world, no longer the superpower. And to me, that is unthinkable.

Simon Peres, in a visit to Boston, was asked what he thought about the war in Iraq. First, he said, I must put something in context. America is unique in the history of the world. In the history of the world, whenever there has been conflict, the nation that wins takes land from the nation that loses.

One nation in history, and this during the last century, laid down hundreds of thousands of lives and took no land. No land from Germany, no land from Japan, no land from Korea. America is unique in the sacrifice it has made for liberty, for itself and for freedom loving people around the world. The best ally peace has ever known, and will ever know, is a strong America! And that is why we must rise to the occasion, as we have always done before, to confront the challenges ahead.

Perhaps the most fundamental of these is the attack on the American culture. Over the years, my business has taken me to many countries. I have been struck by the enormous differences in the wealth and well-being of people of different nations.

I have read a number of scholarly explanations for the disparities. I found the most convincing was that written by David Landes, a professor emeritus from Harvard University. I presume he’s a liberal–I guess that’s redundant. His work traces the coming and going of great civilizations throughout history.

After hundreds of pages of analysis, he concludes with this: If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference.

What is it about American culture that has led us to become the most powerful nation in the history of the world? We believe in hard work and education. We love opportunity: almost all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who came here for opportunity-opportunity is in our DNA.

Americans love God, and those who don’t have faith, typically believe in something greater than themselves-a Purpose Driven Life. And we sacrifice everything we have, even our lives, for our families, our freedoms and our country. The values and beliefs of the free American people are the source of our nations strength and they always will be!

The threat to our culture comes from within. The 1960’s welfare programs created a culture of poverty. Some think we won that battle when we reformed welfare, but the liberals haven’t given up.

At every turn, they try to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. They fight to strip work requirements from welfare, to put more people on Medicaid, and to remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. Dependency is a culture-killing drug-we have got to fight it like the poison it is!

The attack on faith and religion is no less relentless. And tolerance for pornography-even celebration of it-and sexual promiscuity, combined with the twisted incentives of government welfare programs have led to today’s grim realities: 68% of African American children are born out-of-wedlock, 45% of Hispanic children, and 25% of White children.

How much harder it is for these children to succeed in school-and in life. A nation built on the principles of the founding fathers cannot long stand when its children are raised without fathers in the home.

The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of a nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It is time for the people of America to fortify marriage through constitutional amendment, so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it!

Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That is the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life and eroded morality. Some reason that culture is merely an accessory to Americas vitality; we know that it is the source of our strength. And we are not dissuaded by the snickers and knowing glances when we stand up for family values, and morality, and culture. We will always be honored to stand on principle and to stand for principle.

The attack on our culture is not our sole challenge. We face economic competition unlike anything we have ever known before.

China and Asia are emerging from centuries of poverty. Their people are plentiful, innovative, and ambitious. If we do not change course, Asia or China will pass us by as the economic superpower, just as we passed England and France during the last century. The prosperity and security of our children and grandchildren depend on us.

Our prosperity and security also depend on finally acting to become energy secure. Oil producing states like Russia and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran are siphoning over $400 billion per year from our economy–that’s almost what we spend annually for defense.

It is past time for us to invest in energy technology, nuclear power, clean coal, liquid coal, renewable sources and energy efficiency. America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, Chavez, and Ahmendinejad.

And our economy is also burdened by the inexorable ramping of government spending. Don’t focus on the pork alone-even though it is indeed irritating and shameful. Look at the entitlements.

They make up 60% of federal spending today. By the end of the next Presidents second term, they will total 70%. Any conservative plan for the future has to include entitlement reform that solves the problem, not just acknowledges it.

Most politicians don’t seem to understand the connection between our ability to compete and our national wealth, and the wealth of our families. They act as if money just happens–that it’s just there. But every dollar represents a good or service produced in the private sector. Depress the private sector and you depress the well-being of Americans.

That’s exactly what happens with high taxes, over-regulation, tort windfalls, mandates, and overfed, over-spending government. Did you see that today, government workers make more money than people who work in the private sector. Can you imagine what happens to an economy where the best opportunities are for bureaucrats?

It is high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government!

And finally, let’s consider the greatest challenge facing America–and facing the entire civilized world: the threat of violent, radical Jihad.

In one wing of the world of Islam, there is a conviction that all governments should be destroyed and replaced by a religious caliphate. These Jihadists will battle any form of democracy–to them, democracy is blasphemous for it says that citizens, not God shape the law. They find the idea of human equality to be offensive. They hate everything we believe about freedom just as we hate everything they believe about radical Jihad.

To battle this threat, we have sent the most courageous and brave soldiers in the world. But their numbers have been depleted by the Clinton years when troops were reduced by 500,000, when 80 ships were retired from the Navy, and when our human intelligence was slashed by 25%.

We were told that we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend, but we didn’t get the peace. In the face of evil in radical Jihad and given the inevitable military ambitions of China, we must act to rebuild our military might. Raise military spending to 4% of our GDP, purchase the most modern armament, re-shape our fighting forces for the asymmetric demands we now face, and give the veterans the care they deserve!

Soon, the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it is Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to win the Presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the constitution.

Economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy and opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.

Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign. You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today… we are a nation at war.

And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like childs’ play. About this, I have no doubt.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Usama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters… many of you right here in this room… have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

I will continue to stand for conservative principles; I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism!!

It is the common task of each generation-and the burden of liberty-to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.

To this task… accepting this burden… we are all dedicated, and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope. America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the earth.

Thank you, and God bless America.

Mitt Romney, 2008 Election

Its a simple fact that most people aren’t smart enough to participate in politics.  That’s not a slam on individuals as much as it is an indictment of our current political process.  I’ve never minded when someone votes differently than I do - it is their national right and responsibility to do so.  What I DO mind greatly is people who vote in near complete ignorance of the facts.  Fortunately, more and more tools are being made available to help everyone be a little more informed.

Take for instance Glassbooth- this site makes it easier to begin to understand where specific candidates stand on some of the issues that may or may not be important to you.  It asks you to weight issues with specific importance to you, and then asks you to agree or disagree with a series of statements.  It compares your answers with the documented statements of various candidates and gives you a percentage rating for the top three candidates that are closest to your positions.  You can also choose any other candidate to see how close (or far) you are from each other’s views and beliefs. 

Here’s a great example of its usefulness - for my answers, much to my surprise, John McCain came back as my best candidate.  While I greatly respect the man, I never would have picked him as my first choice.  Now, I may, because his views were well explained an related to my specific concerns.  Yes, I may disagree with him on certain points, but for my weighted concerns, he was the closest to my viewpoints.  That was a big eye opener for me - and I would consider myself fairly diligent in learning the issues, learning the viewpoints, and knowing who believes in what.  Even still, I was wrong!

Now, to be fair, he was followed fairly closely by Mike Huckabee, who is the candidate that I would have said is closest to my beliefs, but the site outlined exactly why McCain was a “better” choice for my vote if I was voting exclusively based on my beliefs.  Of course, electability has to come into play when deciding who to vote for too - but this site enables you to quickly narrow the pack of candidates to individuals based upon your own criteria, rather than YOU having to wade through THEIR platform to see if you agree with it.  Pretty neat if you ask me!

So, take ten minutes out of your day and visit Glassbooth - at least then when you vote, you’ll really know why you are voting the way you are.  Won’t that be a refreshing feeling?  Yeah, for me too… 

Election 2008, Voter Cheat Sheet, Glassbooth

I purchased the movie Flags of Our Fathers a while ago and I’ve been waiting for a good time to watch it. I knew it would be tough to watch, but movies like this are always worth it.

I say “tough” without really meaning that. “Tough” was what those soldiers went through.

We need movies like this to remind us of the frailty of our situation and of the sacrifices that were made by people that we will never know. The movie’s last point was something along the lines of, “These men might have gone to war for their country, but they were fighting for their friends. They did it for their buddies. The guy behind them, and the one up ahead.”

I’d imagine that is very true. I could easily see myself simply wanting to crawl into the safest place I could find, curl up and pretend I was dead. Then when it was all over, get up and go home. The only thing that could push me forward was knowing that my brother was out there and needed my help. I couldn’t hide knowing that he needed me. I just couldn’t. Or, so I think now, warm and safe in my house.

I can’t imagine anything else that could push someone forward against horrible odds and almost certain death. Only the love of another person and the strength that camaraderie can provide.

Our soldiers do that for each other and they do that for us.

My daughter is only three years old. At this age, she really believes that her Papa can save her from anything. In fact, with her hand in mine, she will face the world without a single shred of fear crossing her mind. This is the same luxury that our soldiers have given to us - a true sense of security and peace that allows each and every one of us to wake in the morning and to go to sleep at night without ever having given a single thought to the possibility of being slaughtered by our enemies, simply because we are Americans.

After a movie like this one, or even after hearing a soldier’s story, I’m vividly reminded of those last lines in Saving Private Ryan where, with his last breath, Tom Hanks looks up at Matt Damon and says “Earn this James… Earn this.” He truly gave his life for another and he wanted it to count for something - something good.

I know it is not as direct as that, but I often wonder if I am earning the sacrifice of our soldiers, past and present. Is my life worthy of their suffering? Without those men and women I wouldn’t be - no, couldn’t be - a free man.

We owe them our lives - the lives of our sons and the lives of our daughters. Will I be able to raise my daughter to be worthy of that sacrifice? To the depths of my heart, I hope so.

The one thing I do know is this: our soldiers will protect us anyway.

And for that, I ask that God bless and protect them until they are safe at home with their sons and daughters as well.

Soldiers, US Military, Flags of our Fathers

They say that making several posts in a row with only a single picture and a few measly words of comment beneath is the Blogging equivalent of Al Sharpton’s presidential bids - you know that you’re out of the game, were probably never really in the game, yet for some sick, twisted reason you just can’t stop trying.

Ok, I admit it, “They” don’t say that at all - I just made it up, but it sounds about right to me.

There, now I’ve posted something more interesting than a darn picture.

Blogging, Al Sharpton

This is beautiful…

United States Flag, Cross

This picture was simply too funny to not post.

Rosie O'Donnell, Funny