You are probably surprised to know that I am technically a registered Democrat. However, I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that most Democrats quietly believe that the current crop of candidates for president is, frankly, how shall I say it, umm, lacking something. And as for the Democratic leadership in Congress -- Tom Daschle and Nancy Pelosi -- well, the less said the better.
Remember when a Democratic president thought and spoke this way?
For more than three centuries we Americans have been building on this continent a free society, a society in which the promise of the human spirit may find fulfillment. Commingled here are the blood and genius of all the peoples of the world who have sought that promise here.
We have built well. We are continuing our efforts to bring the blessings of a free society, of a free and productive economic system, to every family in the land. And this is the promise of America.
It is this that we must continue to build -- this that we must continue to defend.
It is the task of our generation, yours and mine. But we build and defend not for our generation alone. We defend the foundations laid down by our fathers. We build a life for generations yet unborn. We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind. Ours is a high duty, a noble task.
Day and night I pray for the restoration of peace in this mad world of ours. It is not necessary that I, the president, ask the American people to pray in behalf of such a cause -- for I know you are praying with me.
If any leading Democrat said anything like that on "Face The Nation," I think most of us out here would faint. For today, we get the likes of Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, and the ridiculous Al Sharpton, all having the nerve to run for president as Democrats.
This site created and updated entirely by myself, Robert, a New Yorker living in London and Dorset, England -- and it spares my lovely, soft-spoken English wife from having to endure my carryings on. She thanks you for the peace and quiet she has found.
"I repeat, that all power is a trust, that we are accountable for its exercise, and that, from the people, and for the people, all springs, and all must exist."
Worried? In doubt? Just think about what Frank would tell us to do. . .
"God Bless New York", "God Bless Texas",
"God Bless the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"
and "God Bless America"
". . .September 11, 2001, a date that now makes some people yawn. . . Now hear this. . . Ever since that morning, the United States has been at war with the forces of reaction." -- Christopher Hitchens (pgs. 52, 53.):
This silliness by an A.N. Wilson and this weirdness by a Brian Sewell both courtesy of "Yours Truly"
Expatyank@aol.com EMAIL REQUEST: This writer sure as heck doesn't know everything -- unlike the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, who obviously does -- so disagreement is expected. Well-expressed alternative views and interpretations are more than welcome, for that's how we all learn more in this life. But email is for contact primarily. So please phrase all abuse politely, and place it in the comments. Signed, The Management.
DON'T FORGET THEM! We remember that they fight and suffer and mourn alongside us.
"If men are going to go together, they will ride on almost any words, but if they are going to break apart, the words seem to be of very great significance.":
"If one has a free choice and can live undisturbed, it is sheer folly to go to war.":
If you were forced to endure/cite/quote this sort of stuff in graduate school, you know already that decades of such "authoritative" intellectual chicanery, and political agitation disguised as "research", was what led us to blundering into being caught flatfooted by the attack engineered by our, urrr, "constructed" enemy, that morning of September 11, 2001:
"If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance that does harm." (Book 6, section 21)
He wasn't a clergyman, but he was a Christian:
"The more he saw of Europe, the dearer his own country became, taking a
luster to all its parts that no one bound to the farther shore could know it
merited." (p. 331)
"Hello Janet and Joe. I swore quietly to myself on September 11, 2001 that I would
never fail to speak out in my own small way on behalf of all those
people who could no longer speak for themselves. For had it been
me in those buildings or on one of those planes, I would have
wanted someone always to take it to the enemy, and speak out for
me."
