As the dust from the recent election is finally beginning to settle, Republicans are again faced with the question “what went wrong?” There has been a myriad of answers offered but I haven’t heard yet the one I think this correct.

George W. Bush entered office with the goal and the track record of being the great unifier: The President who could end all the partisan bickering and bring us all together under the banner of “compassionate conservatism”. He learned too late that you can’t please all the people all the time. His biggest failure was trying to do just that.

One of his earliest acts was to join with Liberal icon Ted Kennedy to create the No Child Left Behind program. He again crossed the aisle to support the huge expansion of Medicare and Medicaid. But when President Bush put forth programs like his tax cuts, where were his Democrat friends then? Did they reciprocate? No, they attacked. They attacked not only his proposals, but the very bills they had worked with him on like No Child Left Behind.

In trying to avoid conflict at home and to be “bipartisan” President Bush never vetoed a bill in his first several years in office. What did he accomplish? Absolutely nothing he expected. Conservatives were angry because he would not throttle spending. Democrats saw him as domestically weak and they mocked him and laughed at his pathetic attempts to please everyone. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the country was in a state of war, the economy was ok, and John Kerry was such a pathetic candidate, I think Bush would have lost in ’04.

So what happened in ’08? More of the same. The Republicans named a candidate who tried to please everyone. His “maverick” status was given to him by the press who liked him for joining Democrats opposing conservative positions on many issues, but didn’t like him enough to keep them from throwing him under the bus when the “Messiah” came along.

Ronald Reagan only once gave in to the temptation to be “bipartisan” and he regretted it immensely and in fact his popularity rating reached its nadir (the lowest point for those of you from Rio Linda) soon thereafter.

We have to be able to work with the Democrats when possible, but we cannot and must not give up our principles to do so. Republicans who stand firm like Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in 1988 win elections. Republicans who try to be “moderate” or “bipartisan” like George H.W. Bush in 1992 and John McCain / George W. Bush in 2008 come out on the short end of the elections.

Partisanship has been part of this country from its beginning. Being principled is not an evil thing, on either side of the political spectrum (cf. Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson, Sen. Paul Tsongas, Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman). Trying to please all the people all of the time, has unfortunate (even if unintentional) results.  

God Bless America

“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.” – G.K. Chesterton

The headlines today are the same as they have been many times before. “Death Toll Mounts as Israel Expands Gaza Offensive” – “French President says violence ‘must stop immediately, as soon as possible’.” – “Syria’s President Assad calls the Israeli offensive a ‘war crime’.” – “Toll Rises in Gaza”

To anyone unfamiliar with the situation it would appear that Israel is the aggressor and the people of Gaza are being subjected to vicious attacks. Even the United States government has joined in the call for a cease fire. Of course it was Hamas’ refusal to continue the previous “cease fire” that initiated this conflict.

Who are we to criticize Israel? Why are we not standing at her side in this conflict? Hamas was founded with the explicit goal of the complete destruction of Israel. It has never renounced that goal. Hamas deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians with suicide bombers and missiles. Israel, on the other hand, issued warnings to the people of Gaza when and where they were planning to strike to allow people to clear the area. Hamas reacted by forcing civilians on the roofs of targeted buildings. Israeli hospitals are caring for people injured in Gaza.

While Iraq seeks stability, Israel is the sole bastion of freedom in the Middle East. They have been under constant threat from their neighbors yet they have maintained freedom and built a thriving economy.

Would we listen to diplomatic calls for “discussions and cease-fire” with Osama bin Laden after 9/11? No, and no more should Israel (or former U.S. presidents) be talking to Hamas until they repudiate their stance on Israel and cease all acts of terrorism.

The seas that Freedom sails upon are particularly stormy at the moment. There are some on board who are determined to rock the boat and perhaps even sink it. But we, the crew of that boat, have a responsibility to show “a terrible loyalty” to her and to all who seek to continue to sail aboard her.

God Bless America

 

"But of all the views of this law none is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the ultimate, guardians of their own liberty. For this purpose the reading in the first stage, where they will receive their whole education, is proposed, as has been said, to be chiefly historical. History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views."

--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 14, 1781

As we enter this New Year and new era (error?) of politics, I feel it is appropriate to consider what got us to this position. Once again it appears that the American voters have failed to learn from history and have set us on a course that has been tried before without success. While it is certainly premature to judge an administration that has yet to even take office, it is clearly a valid time to consider the causes of the results of the late election in light of history, both recent and longer term.

One thing in particularly is glaring in the exit polls. A significant plurality of voters had no idea what Barack Obama stands for. In fact there were many Obama voters who answered the questions in the affirmative that where directly in contradiction of Obama’s views. Questions on issues such as Right to Life, the Iraq War and the selection of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate were all answered incorrectly by voters. Many voters agreed that Obama’s commitment to Right to Life, his commitment to stay in Iraq until Victory is achieved and his selection of Sarah Palin as VP were all important to their decision to vote for Barack Obama.

What does this tell us? That American voters are idiots? No, it tells us that American voters are un-educated and ill-informed. It makes clear that the media failed to present the issues accurately and, more importantly, that our education system has failed to inculcate an awareness of the importance of civics and understanding the world around us.

Right, wrong, or indifferent, the American voters wanted change. There is no doubt they will get it. It remains to be seen whether or not they will like it.

God Bless America

On this, the penultimate day of the Christmas season, I want to reflect briefly on the meaning of this time for ALL the people of the world. Whatever your beliefs, whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist, or other, this is a time where a significant portion of the world’s population pauses to reflect on the lessons of a man who lived two millennia ago. Whether you believe Jesus was the son of God and the Messiah or not, his message of love resonates for all mankind.

Jesus sought to right wrongs wherever he saw them, sometimes by direct and even violent action (the destruction of the market in the temple). He taught us to treat all people with equal love and kindness, regardless of their station in life, color of their skin, gender, or physical handicap. He taught us that the least among us could make the greatest gifts and that wealth was in no way an indicator of goodness. But most of all he taught us to treat everyone as we would want to be treated.

The story of Jesus of Nazareth compels us to work to guarantee freedom around the world. Jesus’ word was the word of freedom and love and peace. For anyone who truly treats others as they would themselves be treated is unlikely to hold anyone else in slavery or revel in holding power over others.

The Founding Fathers felt this issue so important that they made it the very first item to be protected in the Bill of Rights. Ahead of freedom of speech, press, and assembly come TWO specific clauses protecting religion. The first ensures that the government cannot impose any particular denomination or religion upon us, and the second is supposed to ensure that the government cannot limit our free expression of religion. Unfortunately this latter protection has been nearly wiped out by recent court decisions. It is clear that the Founders never meant to remove religion from the public square or from our government. However, I don’t want to go into that right now.

This is a season of love and forgiveness. In these difficult times, let us remember those less fortunate than ourselves. Not just those here in America where we have so much, but all those around the world living in oppression and poverty. From Cuba and Venezuela to Iran and China people are living in fear, repression, and conditions that we simply can’t imagine. In Iraq, conditions are improving after 30 years of terror and five years of war. The Iraqi people now have the opportunity to take advantage of freedom if they can learn the lessons and grow to respect each other.

Let us all remember, that no matter who we are, no matter how much or how little we have, we are blessed to live in a country that tries to uphold the ideals of freedom and peace around the world. We don’t always do it right, but we stand for what is right.

“Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord… Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men.”

Merry Christmas and God Bless America

This morning I am blessed to be back in Maine and observing the glory of nature’s work. More than 18 inches of light fluffy snow fell here yesterday and overnight. Later in the season this type of storm becomes a nuisance, but now, just 3 days before Christmas, the chore of cleaning up doesn’t seem so bad. There is nothing in the world that I have seen that can match the peacefulness of standing on eastern shore of Southport Island and looking out at the snow covered islands with their pine trees standing stark against the sky, the brilliant deep blue water with its layer of sea smoke, and the impossibly blue sky. I would challenge anyone to look at the view, to listen to the silence and drink in the glory of the sun in the 14° (F) air and tell me with a straight face that this was all the result of random luck. Add to this the joyful laughter of children sledding and enjoying a day off from school and we approach the perfection of heaven on earth.

I try not to go in for generalities, but it does seem to me that most atheists come from big cities and the ivy towers of academia where they are unfortunately sheltered from the “real” world. I feel sorry for anyone who can look on such a view as from Southport or a sunset off Key West or the Grand Canyon or the majesty of the Rockies and merely see geothermal, chemical, and physical effects without seeing beauty.  

The Grand Canyon is not merely a trench; it is a work of art that even Leonardo could never match. (The artist from Vinci, not the actor whose name implies he came from the island of Capri). The glory of God is all around us, every minute of every day, not just on the 25^th of December. This is a fact that our founders clearly understood and depended upon. Virtually every writing of the time makes reference to their “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.” They would be absolutely appalled to see all of the attempts to remove religion from our lives today. The establishment clause was put in place to first make sure that the government would not raise one denomination over any other and to insure that the government would not interfere with the free practice of religion. It was never designed to eliminate religion from government or public life.

Maybe more people would understand that if they would just look out of their cars, their apartments, the subways and airplanes and observe the glories of God’s work. It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes; I suspect that there are no atheists on sailboats, mountain tops, space stations, or scuba dives either. I am sure scientists at MIT and CERN can describe in excruciating detail the physics, chemistry and biology of everything we see, but none of them can adequately explain how ALL of it came to be in such perfect harmony.

Merry Christmas and God Bless America

Ronald Reagan once said that government philosophy towards the economy is expressed very simply: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it." That is just about a perfect description of what is happening today.

Think about this folks: the Federal Government, after years of doing everything possible to make life difficult for our banks (the Community Reinvestment Act), our auto manufacturers (CAFÉ) and every other business you can think of, is now spending or planning to spend over a TRILLION dollars of YOUR money to “bailout” the companies that it has (in many cases with their collusion through incompetence) severely damaged.

Based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the current population of the United States is 305,900,857. Assuming for a moment that the bailout total will be exactly $1 Trillion dollars (that is $1,000,000,000,000.00), the bailout is equivalent to $3,269.03 from EVERY man, woman and child in this country. Most estimates now believe that the total bailout bill will be much higher than that.

The executives from GM and Chrysler have said they must have the bailout because no one would buy a car from a bankrupt company. Yet a USA today poll released yesterday indicates that this is not the case. A full 61% of Americans say that they would be willing to buy a car from a bankrupt company. We know that it is possible for companies to come out of bankruptcy better and stronger (cf. United Airlines and Delta Airlines).

We (as in all Americans) have allowed the liberals and the media (one and same?) to stampede us into a panic that is causing us to not think clearly about what Congress and the White House are doing to us. We must stand up now, call our Congress-critters and the White House and tell them to stop the madness before it is too late.  

Ronald Reagan knew what he was talking about. He has been proven right over and over again. His philosophies can help us now. “Government is NOT the solution to the problem. Government IS the problem.”

God Bless America

Yesterday was the anniversary of the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. This group of amendments, pushed for and passed by the Anti-Federalists, is designed to place limits on the government that had been created by the Constitution.

It is not a document granting rights, but rather affirming that government could not interfere with the God-given rights of the people. (“We are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights…” remember that?)

The first eight amendments enumerate specific limitations on the government from the protection of free speech to the guarantee of trial by jury. The ninth and tenth amendments make the full intent of the founders crystal clear:

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

These two amendments, and particularly the tenth, have become the forgotten amendments, observed mostly in the breach. The tenth amendment was specifically designed to prevent the government from growing overly large and taking over our lives.

I urge you to think about this amendment and try to justify our current government programs in light of these strictures. Where is the authority for the Department of Education, Social Security, Housing and Urban Development, Welfare, the National Endowment for the Arts, National Institute of Health and so many, many more?

Note the sleazy way the federal government got around this for setting national speed limits, seat belt requirements and national drinking age. The government used extortion – no more highway money if you don’t do what we say. The bureaucrats and politicians in Washington are drunk on power and they have pulled out all the stops to gain more, regardless of the clear intent of the Constitution. Only we can stop them, only by fully understanding our rights and the limits on their power that are in place but not enforced.

President-elect Obama (he really is President-elect now) seems set on a course to make the government even bigger, to control more and more of our lives. I do not want to debate the merits of any given government program at this point. What I do hope you will think about is whether the Constitution allows the programs to be created at the national level or whether, as the Constitution says, these powers should be reserved to the states respectively, or to the people?

How many of you have read the Bill of Rights or read them recently? Please do, it might be an eye-opening experience. You can find them listed by clicking on the following link: Bill of Rights

God Bless America

Most of us, at one time or another, have complained about nanny government trying to run our lives. Most of us are guilty of deciding it isn’t worth fighting about as we watch our rights get slowly chipped away. Maybe, just maybe, someone is fighting back. You’ll never guess who it is.

In upstate New York and in Michigan nanny governments are suing some individuals for building their own houses on their own property. They are complaining that the owners did not get proper building permits, did not use “approved” lumber and the houses do not have proper smoke detectors. All this may be true, but it would be very difficult for these houses to have smoke detectors because they don’t have any electricity. Nor do they have indoor plumbing. Yet these homes are not eyesores, we are not talking about shanty town shacks. These are beautifully built traditional homes.

The problem is that the owners are Amish. They do not use electricity and they will not apply for a building permit because to do so would require them to lie to obtain one. Another challenge is that the Amish believe in non-violence and no conflict which means that they will not even stand up for themselves in court. However people are stepping up to fight on their behalf.

As I have discussed in previous entries, the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution is very clear. It says, among many other things, that there shall be no law regarding “an establishment of Religion or the prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  Clearly it would be a violation of the Amish faith to require them to put smoke detectors (and therefore electricity even if only batteries) in their homes.

These are not commercially built homes for sale to an unsuspecting buyer. Several Amish homeowners have been fined thousands of dollars for failing to meet building codes. Enough is enough. How can we sit here and let local, county, state and federal governments dictate every aspect of our daily lives. In some towns, landscape inspectors will fine you if you do not mow your lawn or fertilize your trees often enough (Sunrise, FL for example). The federal government dictates to the states what the speed limit on state roads must be (and use extortion to enforce their mandates).

If I were to list all of the regulations that the various governments have imposed in order to “protect” us from ourselves, I would probably be typing for the rest of my life and then some.

When did we Americans stop believing in our own Freedom? Two hundred thirty-five years ago, Americans said NO to a tiny tax on a pound of tea. They stood up and said NO MORE. When are we going to do the same? When are we going to follow the direction given in these words in the Declaration of Independence?

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

It is time to make sure that we elect new Guards for our future security. It is time that we put a stop to this madness. If you want to read more details of the persecution of the Amish click here. Please, it is time to stop letting the government interfere in everything we do. Freedom is a vanishing commodity that is as precious as the air we breathe. Don’t let it continue to be destroyed.

God Bless America

I don't know if this was written as credited below, I received it by e-mail, but I think it is worth sharing. Please make sure to include a special Christmas wish in your prayers for all those who serve to defend the country and the freedom we hold so dear.

-JWH

 

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve .
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve !'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

 I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'

'So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

 PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

 LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

In the last decade, more than any time in my life, it seems we have become a nation of whiners on all topics. Not surprisingly politics seems to attract the biggest and loudest whiners. MoveOn.org was founded to whine about the “persecution” of Bill Clinton. Democrats are still whining about the 2000 and 2004 elections. Now it’s the Republicans who are whining.

It is time for conservatives to suck it up and realize what when wrong and stop whining. It was conservatives who stuck their heads in the sand and stayed home on Election Day. Now we have soon to be President-elect Obama and Secretary of State Designee Clinton. There are people on the right still trying anything to prevent this from happening.

Article I Section 6 of the Constitution says “No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; …” President Bush signed an executive order increasing the salary of the Secretary of State in 2007. Therefore Senator Clinton is technically barred from that office. This situation has occurred before during the Taft, Nixon, Carter and Clinton administrations. There is a simple legal workaround known as the Saxbe fix, named after Senator William B. Saxbe who Nixon named as Attorney General. The fix is for Congress to reduce the salary back to the original level for the duration of the individual’s term of office. This was done for Secretary of State Philander Knox under William Taft, Attorney General Saxbe, Secretary of State Edmund Muskie under Carter, and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen under Clinton. While legal scholars disagree over the legality of the fix, it has been considered a non-issue when it has been used.

The only exception was when President Reagan was considering naming Senator Orrin Hatch to the Supreme Court. The issue was raised and Hatch’s name was withdrawn from consideration. Of course the fact that the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment may have also been a factor when it would lock his salary for life at the earlier level.

When the issue came up with Lloyd Bentsen the Saxbe fix was passed without objection and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush at the end of his term so Bentsen could take office immediately.

Today there are some Republicans trying to block Hillary Clinton’s nomination. Clearly the Saxbe fix addresses the concern of the founders expressed in Article I Section 6. This push to block her nomination is just bitter whining and should stop.

Similarly those on the right pushing the question of Obama’s birth certificate are now carrying things too far. It was certainly a legitimate question and it may not have been answered to everyone’s satisfaction (including mine). However, the Supreme Court has made its ruling and the question is now closed. It is time to move on (to coin a phrase).

Barack Obama will become the President and in all likelihood Hillary Clinton will be Secretary of State. It is now time for all Americans, and particularly principled conservatives, to accept the judgment of the voters and to be good citizens. That doesn’t mean we should support everything Obama does. But when he is right he deserves our support. When he is wrong we should stand up and say so, firmly and loudly. We need to get our own house in order, do everything we can to make sure the ship of state doesn’t become more damaged on the rocks than it already has, and focus on the present and future.

Our losses were self-inflicted. We pointed fingers and laughed at the whiners in 2000 and 2004. It is very unbecoming for us to be the whiners now. This is still the greatest country in the world, and we will survive the Obama administration and we will still be the Shining City on the Hill. It is up to us to maintain that shine, and we may have difficult years ahead, but freedom will prevail if we stand up and stop whining.

God Bless America

Regrettably business obligations keep me from writing a full blog entry today, however I thought my readers might be interested in finding out how much you know about our system of government. The average voter cannot pass this test, but I know my readers are much smarter than average!

It only takes a couple of minutes and it is very much worth doing.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

I will be back with my regular column tomorrow.

God Bless America

Recently I have been hearing ads on the radio encouraging people to give money to charity rather than buying gifts for others. Now I want to be clear that I am all for charity. But the best way to make sure that charities have enough to help those in need is to make sure that fewer people need the charities. The way to do that is to get our economy moving again.

This cannot be done from Washington, it is not up to the government; it is up to you. When you buy a gift, think about what that means; think about the impact of the money you spend. Your purchase helps to pay the salaries of the employees of the store, the trucking company that delivers the product, the manufacturers of the product, the people who maintain and build the trucks for the trucking company, the people who maintain the building the store is in and many more. These people, thanks to you, have jobs so they can go out and buy gifts for their friends and family and the cycle continues and grows.

This is how America works. If you don’t buy gifts, none of this happens and the cycle reverses. So I will give you a different suggestion: take a page from Bank of America’s Keep the Change™ program. Keep track of all of your gift purchases. Round each one up to the nearest $5.00 and give the difference to your favorite charity. This way you not only help those in need, but you help keep others from being in need. Help us all to have a very Merry Christmas this year. 

God Bless America

This isn’t the column I planned to write for today. I actually had a couple of different topics in mind, but they are going to have to wait for another day. Last night I watched a movie that I had seen once before. It is the sixth movie in a series that started more than 30 years ago. It is a story of indomitable spirit, a love story, a story of optimism against impossible odds.

In the play Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote sings the incredible song The Impossible Dream (lyrics by Joe Darian):

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...

And I know, if I'll only be true to this glorious quest,
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm,
when I'm laid to my rest ...
And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

The movie I saw had nothing and everything to do with this song. Although most people probably wouldn’t recognize it as such, this song could have been the script for this series of movies, particularly the first and the last films in the series which I believe were the best. It is also the story of America, of the American dream; a dream which sometimes seems impossible, but is only impossible if we don’t try.

The first movie in the series won the Best Picture Oscar in 1976. The last was panned by the critics and ignored by the Oscars. I find this unfortunate because to me it simply shows how badly the critics and many others missed the point of the film. Although some of the middle films of the series lost their way (particularly the fifth, which was truly awful), Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 film Rocky and his 2006 film Rocky Balboa truly captured the essence of the American dream. Rocky III and Rocky IV picked it up well too, but not as well as the original or the last. This is the story of a nobody who literally fought his way to the top, crashed down and fought his way back again. It is a truly uplifting story of what can be done only in America. If you have the talent, the drive and the heart to get back up when you are knocked down, to keep moving forward no matter the odds, you can make it in America.

Remember what the world was like in 1976 when Rocky fought his first fight? Jimmy Carter was getting ready to tell us that America’s best years were behind us, that there was a sense of “national malaise” that the American dream was dead. Our government was in chaos due to Watergate, the Vietnam War was fresh in all of our memories. But a young man named Sylvester Stallone wrote, produced, directed and starred in a movie that 32 years later still quickens the pulse.

I pray that we Americans never give up on our Impossible Dreams. The only way we can lose is if we stop trying. We are on a glorious quest, please be true to it, the world will be better for this.

God Bless America

Yesterday was the 67^th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Today is the anniversary of Roosevelt’s famous Day of Infamy speech. For the first time since the war of 1812 a foreign power had attacked the United States on our own soil; an act that would not be repeated for another 60 years. Roosevelt was ready, he knew before Pearl Harbor that we had to get in to the war in Europe. He knew that Japanese aggression also had to be stopped. I am not going to go into the conspiracy theories about whether he knew about the attack in advance. But there is no question that he was ready and seeking any excuse to get us into that war. He correctly realized that we had to be in the war to stop Hitler.

Roosevelt had been president for nearly 9 years when the attack on Pearl Harbor came. As the first president ever to be elected to a third term, he knew exactly how to deal with all parts of the government and especially his congress.

Fast forward 60 years to 9/12/2001: President George W. Bush, in office less than 9 months, dealing with the first direct attack on our mainland since 1812. This enemy was more difficult, not a nation-state in the traditional sense but controlling at least one country with friends and support from many others. Unlike Japan or Germany, this enemy was openly declaring intent to continue to attack us at home and to deliberately target our civilian population.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt presided over the longest and most severe economic crisis in our nation’s history and was unable to get the country out of depression. He then led us to great success in World War II, we were not attacked again and although the cost was unbelievably high, we won World War II. As a domestic president, he was arguably one of the worst ever, saddling us with bloated government programs that last through to this today.

George W. Bush presided over significant economic growth during much of his term, despite having inherited a recession from his predecessor. However, his domestic failure to control spending or to control Congress in any way has led directly to the financial problems we are dealing with today. However, like Roosevelt, he has successfully kept our enemies away from our shores. On 9/12/2001, I don’t believe any credible prognosticator would have accepted the possibility that we would have had no further attacks on our soil over seven years later.

Regardless of his failures, George W. Bush, like Roosevelt before him, deserves to be remembered for his success at protecting the people of the United States from foreign aggression.

God Bless America

The time: 1970, thirty-eight years ago. The place: Hollywood, California. The situation: a nation in turmoil, protests, riots, flag-burning, and more. An experienced Hollywood actor named Morrison decided that it was time to remind Americans what this great country was all about.

He gathered some friends to put together a variety show. He got a sponsor, and got a network to agree to broadcast it. On November 29, 1970 the NBC special broadcast of Swing Out Sweet Land became the highest rated variety show ever with over 30 million viewers and it won an Emmy Award.

Morrison himself said that Swing Out Sweet Land was not to be about preaching or politicking. It was about a country with a love of life that could poke fun at itself cheerfully. It was about a country that we should all be proud of, despite her faults. The show presented a look at American history from the Pilgrims to the Wright brothers in a series of comic skits, songs, and some serious vignettes. With historical characters from Crispus Attucks to George Washington to Samuel Clemens, Morrison provides a view as to why we love this country and particularly why he loved this country so very much.

The cast he brought together included many that are still household names today: Ann-Margret, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Dan Blocker, Roscoe Lee Browne, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Lorne Greene, Celeste Holm, Bob Hope, Michael Landon, Dean Martin, Ross Martin, Greg Morris, David Nelson, Ricky Nelson, Hugh O'Brian, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, William Shatner, Red Skelton, Tom Smothers, Leslie Uggams, Dennis Weaver, Cathy Baker, Ed McMahon, and George Burns.

The 90 minute show ended with Morrison himself talking about why this is the greatest country on earth. He said he was a lucky fellow for many reasons. He believed in his country, his family, his family and his God. He believed in “Freedom, with an accent on the Free, which is still the best four letter word I know.” “Equal opportunity is based on equal obligation, and speaking of opportunity, American opportunity has no limits and has been known to knock more than once.”

He encouraged optimism by pointing out how some of the great heroes had come from small starts and that no matter what your age, it is possible to make a difference. He ended with this: “Tomorrow, that’s the only thing any of us have going for us. And I believe this: if tomorrow all of us, every single one of us, gets out of bed and says ‘this is my country, and I am going to do good for it’, we’ll make the greatest step forward since the Pilgrims foot found Plymouth Rock. Tomorrow remember, ‘this is my country and I am going to do good for it’, it just might work. We’ll never know unless we give it a fair try. Oh yeah, there is one other thing. I’ll say it tomorrow because I say it every day of my life: God Bless America!”

This wonderful show is now available on DVD, but you will not find it under its original name. It is now listed using Morrison’s stage name. The title is “John Wayne’s Tribute to America.” To quote Paul Harvey: “and now you know… The rest of the story!”

God Bless America