This is a few days late in coming due to the holiday weekend, but better late then never, right.
The conclusion of the Republican National Convention brought several more great speeches and a surprise appearance by Clint Eastwood.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) took the stage to discuss education. However, he first proclaimed that it was time for the current administration to stop blaming his brother, President George W. Bush, for the economic problems our nation is dealing with. He stated that "a real leader would accept responsibility for his actions, and you haven't done it."
Governor Mitt Romney was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) who gave a rousing speech. He talked about his family and how they immigrated from Cuba so that their children could have a better life. One of the best lines of the whole convention was when Senator Rubio, referring to his father and the sacrifices he made, said "he stood behind the ball [in the back of the room] all those years so that one day I
could stand behind a podium, in the front of a room." Senator Rubio is the America Dream and I eagerly look forward to the day he runs for president of the United States of America.
I felt that Governor Romney's speech was the best I had ever heard him give. He was personable and able to relate to, yet commanded attention and respect as a president should. He embraced his success as he should, because he too as lived the America Dream. Governor Romney did an excellent job of broadly outlining President Obama's failed policies and what a Romney/Ryan administration would look like. My favorite line was when he said, "But Paul, I still like the playlist on my Ipod better than yours" in reference to the comment by Paul Ryan the night before about how their respective playlists are reflections of their age. Romney's best line was he stated that "My promise is to help you and your family."
I eagerly look forward to voting for Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan November 6, and on November 7th being able to refer to them as President-Elect and Vice-President-Elect.
This week is the Democrats turn to re-nominate their chosen leader and spew all types of personal attacks at their opponents, while the repetitive drown of falsehoods blares across the TV waves.
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George W. Bush. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Happy New Year / Iowa Caucus
The beginning of a new year is a time of resolutions and new beginnings, thus, what better way to start out then to begin blogging again. Fall is past, 2011 is over, and it is now 2012 -- election year; and I am back in full force (hopefully not to slack off again).
I hope all my readers enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing, joyous holiday season.
I planned over the fall to do a special posting on each of the Presidential candidates, but that has yet to happened and two of the candidates have already dropped out -- Herman Cain, and Michelle Bachmann. I never felt that Herman Cain was the right person to be the presidential nominee, but I am most sorry for the reasons which forced him out. With regards to Michelle Bachmann, as many have said already, she ran a dignified campaign. I respect her and wish her the best as she continues representing her Minnesota district in the US House of Representatives.
The results of the Iowa Caucus were surprising for the most part. The expected was Jon Huntsman finishing last and Bachmann not doing well. The biggest surprise of the evening was Rick Santorum, who almost won it. While I am not sure he can win the general election, I am very pleased with his showing, and it sends out a clear message as to what conservatives voters are seeking.
As the polls have shown, and last night's results proved, the conservatives are looking for someone other then Romney to represent the Republican party. He never seems to get about the 25% mark. Republican voters have slowly rotated through being in favor of Bachmann, Rick Perry, Cain, Newt Gingrich, and now Santorum. I do not feel however that Santorum will be able to sustain his Iowa success, thus leaving the door wide open for Perry or Gingrich to take back over as the lead candidate.
I was actually surprised that Romney had as strong a showing last night as he did. I expect him to finished third or fourth. The other very surprising placement was Ron Paul actually finishing a close third. My opinion of him will be saved for a post all of its own. Equally, I was not expecting Gingrich and Perry to finish as poorly as they did. But again, nothing is every concrete in politics until the votes have been cast.
Many news commentators state that as Iowa goes so goes the national election. Well, I would like to remind everyone that it is a long way off until the Republican National Convention and only one state out of FIFTY have cast their vote. Of the last three Republican presidents (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush), each won two out of the first three contests, but only Bush, 43, won Iowa. All three did, however, win South Carolina. It will be interesting in the upcoming weeks as to see who begins to emerge stronger.
As your state caucus or primary comes up, please vote, and do not vote based on who currently is leading, but who you feel is best suited to lead our nation. This is a critical time in our nation to return us to the values and roots on which this great country was founded.
I hope all my readers enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing, joyous holiday season.
I planned over the fall to do a special posting on each of the Presidential candidates, but that has yet to happened and two of the candidates have already dropped out -- Herman Cain, and Michelle Bachmann. I never felt that Herman Cain was the right person to be the presidential nominee, but I am most sorry for the reasons which forced him out. With regards to Michelle Bachmann, as many have said already, she ran a dignified campaign. I respect her and wish her the best as she continues representing her Minnesota district in the US House of Representatives.
The results of the Iowa Caucus were surprising for the most part. The expected was Jon Huntsman finishing last and Bachmann not doing well. The biggest surprise of the evening was Rick Santorum, who almost won it. While I am not sure he can win the general election, I am very pleased with his showing, and it sends out a clear message as to what conservatives voters are seeking.
As the polls have shown, and last night's results proved, the conservatives are looking for someone other then Romney to represent the Republican party. He never seems to get about the 25% mark. Republican voters have slowly rotated through being in favor of Bachmann, Rick Perry, Cain, Newt Gingrich, and now Santorum. I do not feel however that Santorum will be able to sustain his Iowa success, thus leaving the door wide open for Perry or Gingrich to take back over as the lead candidate.
I was actually surprised that Romney had as strong a showing last night as he did. I expect him to finished third or fourth. The other very surprising placement was Ron Paul actually finishing a close third. My opinion of him will be saved for a post all of its own. Equally, I was not expecting Gingrich and Perry to finish as poorly as they did. But again, nothing is every concrete in politics until the votes have been cast.
Many news commentators state that as Iowa goes so goes the national election. Well, I would like to remind everyone that it is a long way off until the Republican National Convention and only one state out of FIFTY have cast their vote. Of the last three Republican presidents (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush), each won two out of the first three contests, but only Bush, 43, won Iowa. All three did, however, win South Carolina. It will be interesting in the upcoming weeks as to see who begins to emerge stronger.
As your state caucus or primary comes up, please vote, and do not vote based on who currently is leading, but who you feel is best suited to lead our nation. This is a critical time in our nation to return us to the values and roots on which this great country was founded.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
10 years later ... Never Forget...
September 11, 2001... 10 years later ...
I stare at my white screen as I wonder what to write. For those who know me, this is surprising, I normally have to be told to shut-up, not asked questions to get me talking. But somehow the horrors of that day, the highest lost of lives on American soil in one day since the battle of Antietam in the Civil War, puts me at a lose for words.
For me, and I think I'm safe to say all old enough to clearly remember that day ten years ago, it seems as if it were yesterday. We will never forgot where we were or what we were doing when we first found out. Me? It was about 8:30am in the morning Pacific Time when our neighbor called to tell us the news. I had just finished working out with my mother and we quickly got our little tiny TV and put it on the top floor of our home, next to the only window that the bunny ears would get reception from in rural Idaho. Like most Americans, we were glued to the TV. It was several days before we no longer had it turned on 24/7. That night from the White House, defying the terrorists themselves and portraying the strength of Americans, President Bush address the American people.
I was 15 years old at the time but will never forgot the images coming through on the TV screen. It was seared into my memory and seems like it can't have been ten years. A few weeks ago at church, the speaker was referencing Pearl Harbor, and the little girl sitting next to me leaned over, whispering, asked me what Pearl Harbor was. In an instant I responded that it was when the Japanese attacked to the US to begin WWII and that it was kind of like September 11. Then it struck me, she's only about seven or eight, she was not born ten years ago.
It was amazing to watch as not just Americans pulled together following the attacks, but the world came behind us too. It was seen in so many aspects of life, from politics to sports. People either love or hate the New York Yankees, but that fall the Yankees were America's team, everyone rooted for them. Sports, particularly baseball, was a relief from all the pain.
This is a clip from one of my favorite documentaries, "Nine Innings From Ground Zero," showing President Bush's first pitch in New York during the 2001 World Series.
We are Americans and as we have done so many times, we rallied, we came behind our troops, we were proud to be an America, to chant USA, to sing God Bless America. There were memorial services all across the country. A few days following the attacks, President Bush visited Ground Zero and spoke words that were so true...
The following month, October, the rest of the world did hear us as we attacked Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan. It took us 9 1/2 years but we finally did get him, thanks to months of intelligence and the US Navy Seals.
The following March (2002), I remember driving through New York City at night and seeing the blue lights which outlined where the two buildings had stood as they reached into the sky as far as the eye could see, and Lady Liberty keeping watch as she has for so many years. The Empire State Building stood there as the tallest building now in the skyline outlined in red, white, and blue.
Looking back ten years later, we're strong, we've done good--no more attacks on our soil. The bad thing about this? Many people have forgotten the horrors of that clear, blue, cloudless day, the reasons we are fighting for. Yet, that is also the proof we are strong, Americans have gone back to their life, a few minor inconveniences (like when we fly), but overall life has returned to normal. And this is a very good thing.
This weekend there will be many memorial services across the country, but one in particular I want to share. The one in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where President Bush spoke.
We just never can forget. Forget the innocent men and women who died, forget the brave rescue workers who ran into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon to save lives, forget the courageous passengers of Flight 93 who saved numerous more lives, forget the soldiers fighting oversees, forget the images of that day. NEVER FORGET!!!
So many amazing terrific patriotic country songs have been written, both before and after September 11. I can't just post them all (ok, I could, but you might not want to hear them all), and so I had to choose, narrow it down. There would Billy Ray Cyrus' "Some Gave All," or Alan Jackson's "Where Were You," or Toby Keith's "American Soldier," or Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," or Trace Atkins "Arlington," or maybe Darryl Worley's "I Just Came Back From A War" or many more. But it came down to two Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," and Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten." I couldn't chose which one so here are both. They speak volumes about that day and America's strength and resilience.
I am proud to call myself an American and I will always remember that freedom isn't free, I will never forgot.
I stare at my white screen as I wonder what to write. For those who know me, this is surprising, I normally have to be told to shut-up, not asked questions to get me talking. But somehow the horrors of that day, the highest lost of lives on American soil in one day since the battle of Antietam in the Civil War, puts me at a lose for words.
For me, and I think I'm safe to say all old enough to clearly remember that day ten years ago, it seems as if it were yesterday. We will never forgot where we were or what we were doing when we first found out. Me? It was about 8:30am in the morning Pacific Time when our neighbor called to tell us the news. I had just finished working out with my mother and we quickly got our little tiny TV and put it on the top floor of our home, next to the only window that the bunny ears would get reception from in rural Idaho. Like most Americans, we were glued to the TV. It was several days before we no longer had it turned on 24/7. That night from the White House, defying the terrorists themselves and portraying the strength of Americans, President Bush address the American people.
I was 15 years old at the time but will never forgot the images coming through on the TV screen. It was seared into my memory and seems like it can't have been ten years. A few weeks ago at church, the speaker was referencing Pearl Harbor, and the little girl sitting next to me leaned over, whispering, asked me what Pearl Harbor was. In an instant I responded that it was when the Japanese attacked to the US to begin WWII and that it was kind of like September 11. Then it struck me, she's only about seven or eight, she was not born ten years ago.
It was amazing to watch as not just Americans pulled together following the attacks, but the world came behind us too. It was seen in so many aspects of life, from politics to sports. People either love or hate the New York Yankees, but that fall the Yankees were America's team, everyone rooted for them. Sports, particularly baseball, was a relief from all the pain.
This is a clip from one of my favorite documentaries, "Nine Innings From Ground Zero," showing President Bush's first pitch in New York during the 2001 World Series.
We are Americans and as we have done so many times, we rallied, we came behind our troops, we were proud to be an America, to chant USA, to sing God Bless America. There were memorial services all across the country. A few days following the attacks, President Bush visited Ground Zero and spoke words that were so true...
The following month, October, the rest of the world did hear us as we attacked Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan. It took us 9 1/2 years but we finally did get him, thanks to months of intelligence and the US Navy Seals.
The following March (2002), I remember driving through New York City at night and seeing the blue lights which outlined where the two buildings had stood as they reached into the sky as far as the eye could see, and Lady Liberty keeping watch as she has for so many years. The Empire State Building stood there as the tallest building now in the skyline outlined in red, white, and blue.
Looking back ten years later, we're strong, we've done good--no more attacks on our soil. The bad thing about this? Many people have forgotten the horrors of that clear, blue, cloudless day, the reasons we are fighting for. Yet, that is also the proof we are strong, Americans have gone back to their life, a few minor inconveniences (like when we fly), but overall life has returned to normal. And this is a very good thing.
This weekend there will be many memorial services across the country, but one in particular I want to share. The one in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where President Bush spoke.
We just never can forget. Forget the innocent men and women who died, forget the brave rescue workers who ran into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon to save lives, forget the courageous passengers of Flight 93 who saved numerous more lives, forget the soldiers fighting oversees, forget the images of that day. NEVER FORGET!!!
So many amazing terrific patriotic country songs have been written, both before and after September 11. I can't just post them all (ok, I could, but you might not want to hear them all), and so I had to choose, narrow it down. There would Billy Ray Cyrus' "Some Gave All," or Alan Jackson's "Where Were You," or Toby Keith's "American Soldier," or Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," or Trace Atkins "Arlington," or maybe Darryl Worley's "I Just Came Back From A War" or many more. But it came down to two Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," and Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten." I couldn't chose which one so here are both. They speak volumes about that day and America's strength and resilience.
I am proud to call myself an American and I will always remember that freedom isn't free, I will never forgot.
"Let's Roll"
Todd Beamer, Flight 93
Monday, August 22, 2011
Book Review: Decision Points
I just finished President George W. Bush's memoirs this week and thought that maybe I would begin doing some book reviews on the political and history books I read (which accounts for most of my reading).
It only took me about seven months to read "Decision Points" compliments of being a full time college student (including summer). It was an excellent read. President Bush wrote it in a different format by focusing on many of the key decisions he had to make during his presidency which I found extremely engaging. Throughout the book, he works in times in his life growing up that influenced him when making decisions as president.
I think I found his thoughts on the War on Terror most interesting since I have done a lot of reading and research myself on different aspects of it. At the end of the book he discussed the financial crisis facing our nation as he was leaving office, expressing his concerns for the future and well-being of the US if he had not acted in the way he did.
It gave me a far better appreciation of the position of president and what he must face. I came away realizing how unfair it is for me to sit back and judge every decision President Bush made. It is so easy in hindsight to say that he should or shouldn't have done something, but I was not sitting in the Oval office with the weight of the future of our nation on my shoulders at that exact moment attempting to make the best decision possible.
It only took me about seven months to read "Decision Points" compliments of being a full time college student (including summer). It was an excellent read. President Bush wrote it in a different format by focusing on many of the key decisions he had to make during his presidency which I found extremely engaging. Throughout the book, he works in times in his life growing up that influenced him when making decisions as president.
I think I found his thoughts on the War on Terror most interesting since I have done a lot of reading and research myself on different aspects of it. At the end of the book he discussed the financial crisis facing our nation as he was leaving office, expressing his concerns for the future and well-being of the US if he had not acted in the way he did.
It gave me a far better appreciation of the position of president and what he must face. I came away realizing how unfair it is for me to sit back and judge every decision President Bush made. It is so easy in hindsight to say that he should or shouldn't have done something, but I was not sitting in the Oval office with the weight of the future of our nation on my shoulders at that exact moment attempting to make the best decision possible.
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