This will be my last post before we know who will be the next leader of the free world. If you have already been polarized into one camp or the other, you have probably already voted. God bless you...but consider, that this is the privelege that this President has sought to bring to millions of others around the world. Not because he was elected to do so. He did it because we were attacked. Yes, we responded and eliminated the Taliban and their sick, oppressive regime. We also attacked and eliminated the sick, oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. Libya's Khaddafi has followed suit without us having to fire a shot.
Michael Moore sickos, the extreme left wing of the Democratic party and Osama Bin Laden, love to make light of W's sitting in the classroom that clear blue morning, reading about a goat to schoolchildren. But if you look closely at the eyes of our President, you can see a transformation occuring. A mission he had never wished for was thrust upon him and he bore that weight for all of us admirably. We were all "changed terribly, a terrible beauty was born." The sad reality is that the terrible beauty was born a long time ago: in Tehran, in Beirut, in Mogadishu, in New York City the first time the Twin Towers were bombed, in Kuwait, in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya, in Yemen. How much more were we supposed to take?
We are either 9/12 people or we are 9/10 people now. Count me in the former.
What does that mean, do be a 9/12 person?
1. It means that we have an innate trust of the American people. We believe we are the "last best hope" of freedom and that we have an obligation to carry that banner forward to all. Freedom is the elixir for terrorism.
2. It means that we understand that temporary abrogation of rights, although they have been extraordinarily small to all, are necessary in time of WAR. We remember that similar and harsher measures were necessary when our democracy was challenged before - the Civil War, World War II - and quickly restored once the coast was clear.
3. It means we understand that we cannot falter in the pursuit of the "bad guys." These people, despite their dressed up surroundings (OK, was it just me, or did it seem like the OBL tape was filmed in a UN studio? Where were the guns, the banners and the usual OBL hyperbole...I almost miss the "we will kill you and all your children" rhetoric) have every intention of killing us...and it does not matter whether you live in a red state or a blue state, despite his promise of cease-fire on the latter. You do not negotiate, appease or "deal with" these people in a more sensitive manner. You make them room temperature and then dust. The other big video released at the end of last week was the "American Taliban" dude threatening that our streets will "run with blood" if we re-elect G.W.B. I watched about 10 minutes of that and had the same reaction I used to have in my more competitive younger days: "F--- you!" You don't threaten the USA pal, we're coming for you! The Marine Corps motto should be the motto for the United States: "No greater friend, no worse enemy."
4. It means that living in the Red States, which were directly threatened by OBL in his Friday broadcast means we are under the gun. SURPRISE!!! We're all under the gun. The only way to push the barrel away is to kill the person that holds the trigger. AND to bring freedom and hope to those that might consider picking up the rifle. This is the heart and soul of the Bush doctrine...being a 9/12 person means we embrace that.
Being a 9/10 person means that you will rejoice when our enemies celebrate a jfk presidency. A number of honest liberal pundits have commented over the weekend that reviewing the OBL tape gave them pause. "How did it happen," one liberal commentator noted, "that my position is so closely aligned with a man who killed 3,000 innocent Americans?" Blame Howard Dean and Michael Moore. They hijacked the heart and soul of the Democratic party. Then blame John Kerry who never had the courage nor conviction to stand up for what is right. Whichever way the poll winds blew, jfk was there. Instead of taking a principled stand and saying that we should not denigrate the President of the United States when the country is at war, he joined right in as it suited his needs. It was and still is about power...not about what is right.
Are the domestic and social agendas important tomorrow? Of course they are! It keeps me awake at night thinking about a Kerry court. But those issues pale in comparison to the overriding concern of whether we can physically survive a Kerry presidency. God willing, we won't have to find out.
So, in the end it is this: do we want a holiday from history? If so, we will elect John Kerry. If not, and we are prepared for the roller coaster ride that is at the core of the American spirit, we will send George Walker Bush back from his ranch in Crawford, Texas to the highest elected office in the land.