The Winning Ticket!Friday, September 05, 2008
RNC Coverage Day 4: McCain Speaks.
Overall it was a good speech I thought it was very Reaganisque…not so much in the delivery, but in the message. It is what you say, not how you say it.
We heard a lot about smaller government, lower taxes and individualism. Here are a few excerpts from his speech I liked.
“We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”
“We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.”
“I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.”
“His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”
“We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now.”
“My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.”
“Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire.”
“I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”
McCain Addresses Government Education
This was one of my favorite moments of the night. The teacher’s unions could not have been happy.
“Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.”
“When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.”
“Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I'm President, they will.”
We heard a lot about smaller government, lower taxes and individualism. Here are a few excerpts from his speech I liked.
“We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”
“We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.”
“I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.”
“His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”
“We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now.”
“My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.”
“Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire.”
“I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”
McCain Addresses Government Education
This was one of my favorite moments of the night. The teacher’s unions could not have been happy.
“Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.”
“When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.”
“Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I'm President, they will.”
Liberals Just Don’t Get It. It’s Not About His Military Service.
John McCain also shared his military and POW experience with the country last night. It was a compelling story that I am sure must have been extremely hard to share, but it is an important story that America needs to hear.
I was surprised to learn the North Vietnamese had broke McCain. I was unaware of that. I thought he hung strong until he came home. I was moved by this story and nearly had tears in my eyes.
It was just a few days ago Jimmy Carter told us McCain was milking his POW experience for all it was worth. This morning I heard a commentator ask the question: Does John McCain’s POW experience matter? Does it somehow make him more qualified to be president? Why is this something I should consider when I cast my vote? Because I don’t think it should matter. I think his military and POW experience is irrelevant to be president.
Maybe it is irrelevant, but liberals miss the point. McCain’s story was not about his military or POW experience. It was about his character. It was about selfless service. It was about finding a greater purpose in life than yourself. It was about always, no matter the situation you find yourself, putting your country first. Even if country first means great suffering unto yourself.
Here is how McCain told the story. I want you to notice how McCain went from a person who felt there was no greater cause than himself to fighting for a cause greater than himself…America.
On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me.
Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn't set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn't get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.
I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn't in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.
A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.
When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.
I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
You see to John McCain “Country First” is not just some fancy campaign motto; it is a way of life. It is how McCain has lived his life.
Liberals miss this point, because they don’t comprehend it. To them it is always about them and their cause. It is liberalism first…or their own selfish gratification of acquiring power.
I was surprised to learn the North Vietnamese had broke McCain. I was unaware of that. I thought he hung strong until he came home. I was moved by this story and nearly had tears in my eyes.
It was just a few days ago Jimmy Carter told us McCain was milking his POW experience for all it was worth. This morning I heard a commentator ask the question: Does John McCain’s POW experience matter? Does it somehow make him more qualified to be president? Why is this something I should consider when I cast my vote? Because I don’t think it should matter. I think his military and POW experience is irrelevant to be president.
Maybe it is irrelevant, but liberals miss the point. McCain’s story was not about his military or POW experience. It was about his character. It was about selfless service. It was about finding a greater purpose in life than yourself. It was about always, no matter the situation you find yourself, putting your country first. Even if country first means great suffering unto yourself.
Here is how McCain told the story. I want you to notice how McCain went from a person who felt there was no greater cause than himself to fighting for a cause greater than himself…America.
On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me.
Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn't set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn't get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.
I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn't in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.
A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.
When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.
I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
You see to John McCain “Country First” is not just some fancy campaign motto; it is a way of life. It is how McCain has lived his life.
Liberals miss this point, because they don’t comprehend it. To them it is always about them and their cause. It is liberalism first…or their own selfish gratification of acquiring power.
Big T's Suggested Reading and Viewing from around the Web
Sarah Palin drew an audience of 37.2 million viewers during her convention speech. Obama drew 38.4 million viewers for his acceptance speech. The difference? Everyone was talking about Palin’s speech the next day…no one was mentioning Obama’s
Someone thought it was worthy to point out that Sarah Palin has attended at least one Libertarian Party meeting at a Denny’s in Anchorage, Alaska.
A School district in Illinois is considering banning students who are failing classes from attending athletic events and dances including prom. Whatever happened to parents grounding children?
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