February 2007

Monday, February 18, 2008
01/20/1960
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkinaugural.htm


Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens:We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge -- and more.To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge: to convert our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms, and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.Let both sides unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah -- to "undo the heavy burdens, and [to] let the oppressed go free."¹And, if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor -- not a new balance of power, but a new world of law -- where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation,"² a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
¹ Isaiah 58:6 (King James Version of the Holy Bible)
² Romans 12:12 (King James Version of the Holy Bible)
Also in this database: John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Dinner Anniversary Address; John F. Kennedy: Houston Ministerial Association Speech
Audio Source: The JFK Presidential Presidential Library & Museum
Copyright Status: Text, Audio and Images of Kennedy = Property of AmericanRhetoric.com.
Posted by Michael at Monday, February 18, 2008 0 comments
Obama -- is no Jack Kennedy !
Mr. Obama, You're No Jack Kennedy
The Fifth Column Paul R. HollrahFebruary 18, 2008



In his biography of JFK, Kennedy senior advisor Ted Sorenson said, “...(Kennedy) was the truest and oldest kind of liberal: the free man with a free mind...The aggressive attitudes of many ‘professional liberals’ made him ‘uncomfortable.’”

Sorenson then quoted what he considered to be the most formal statement of Kennedy’s credo. In a speech to the Liberal Party of New York in 1960, Kennedy said,

“I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas...faith in man’s ability...reason and judgment...is our best and our only hope in the world today.”

Sorenson goes on to remind us that, while Kennedy’s natural instincts always leaned toward the progressive, “his natural caution required him to test those instincts against evidence and experience.” And when asked what kind of president he hoped to be, liberal or conservative, Kennedy replied, “I hope to be responsible.”

In 1960, and before, John F. Kennedy was thought of as a mainstream liberal. However, as a measure of how much the definitions of the terms “liberal” and “conservative” have changed, and as a measure of how far to the left the Democrat Party has drifted, an argument can be made that if Kennedy were alive to speak those words today he would be seen as a mainstream conservative.

National purpose as a function of human dignity? National action as the product of human liberty? National compassion as a derivative, not of government social welfare programs, but of the human heart? Invention and ideas as the product, not of government programs and subsidies, but of human ingenuity? These are baseline conservative principles. These are not principles that we hear from the lips of today’s liberals...liberals such as the Democrats’ presumptive 2008 nominee, Barack Obama, who strives mightily to develop an image as the reincarnation of Jack Kennedy.

Jack Kennedy was a true war hero. During World War II he served in the South Pacific as skipper of a PT boat, the famous PT-109. For his heroic action in saving the lives of his crew he was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Medal. He was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Barack Obama has no military record, no background or experience on which to judge his personal courage, his patriotism, or his ability to serve as Commander in Chief of our military forces. During the years that Obama would have served in the U.S. military, he worked on voter registration drives as a community organizer on Chicago’s south side.

In that capacity he relied heavily on the community organizing techniques of radical leftist Saul Alinsky who, quite coincidentally, was the subject of Hillary Rodham’s senior honors thesis at Wellesley College, titled, “There Is Only The Fight...: An Analysis of the Alinsky Model.”

Returning from military service, Kennedy ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving three terms from 1947 until 1953. He was then elected to the United States Senate where he served for seven more years, from 1953 to 1960, before being elected President of the United States.

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 and served two four-year terms with an unsuccessful run for Congress sandwiched in between. He ran for the United States Senate in 2004 and served just two years before launching a campaign to become the leader of the Free World. But what is most alarming about this ambition-driven upstart, what most distinguishes him from a man like Jack Kennedy, and what serves as the wellspring of his campaign theme, “Change We Can Believe In,” is his allegiance to the teachings of Saul Alinsky.

In his book, Rules for Radicals, Alinsky wrote:

“There’s another reason for working inside the system...Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system, that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future...”

Even the most disinterested and uneducated observer of the Obama campaign style could not have failed to note the messianic nature of his approach or his fealty to the concept of “change for the sake of change.” But what “revolutionary” change? That is the question before us today. Clinton and Obama have been working “inside the system,” just as Alinsky prescribed. Are we willing to gamble on what change either of them would pursue if they were put in charge of our great nation?

So, yes, Obama, there are those of us old enough to remember Jack Kennedy. And while you try mightily to assume his mantle, it doesn’t quite work for you. Yes, you remind us of a Kennedy, alright...but it’s not Jack, it’s Ted.
Paul R. Hollrah is a freelance writer. He is a member of the Civil Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni at the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Senior Fellow at the Lincoln Heritage Institute. He currently resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Posted by Michael at Monday, February 18, 2008 0 comments
Friday, February 15, 2008
HUMAN STATUE OF LIBERTY in 1918 - Ft Dodge in Iowa
"Those who desire to give up Freedom in order to gain Security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one".......Benjamin Franklin

The picture was taken in 1918. It is 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge in Iowa. A gift from our grandfathers.
Posted by Michael at Friday, February 15, 2008 0 comments
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tony Snow at CPAC 2008
http://www.townhall.com/video/Campaign08/1450_020908Tony
Posted by Michael at Monday, February 11, 2008 0 comments
Friday, February 08, 2008
Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs
This letter was written by Charles Grennel and his comrades, veterans of the Global War On Terror. Grennel is an Army Reservist who spent two years in Iraq and was a principal in putting together the first Iraq elections in January 2005. It was written to Jill Edwards, student at the University of Washington, who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington.
Ms. Edwards and other students and faculty do not think those who serve in the U.S. Armed Services are good role models.

To: Jill Edwards, Student, University of Washington
Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your student activity regarding the proposed memorial to Colonel Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive many angry emails from conservative people like me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen, on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naiveté. It may be that you are simply a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep, as long as you know and accept what you are.

William J. Bennett, in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 said, "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people, not capable of hurting each other except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
Then there are the wolves who feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence and you are a healthy productive citizen, you are a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the unchartered path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and hopefully walk out unscathed.

We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can however accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kid's schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Their children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard. So they choose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf.

He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog that intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished severely. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. The sheep would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in their airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go Baa. That is, until the wolf shows up, and then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

Case in point -- The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough, know-it-all high school students, and under ordinary circumstances would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them.

This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what some have chosen to be.You need to understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter. He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night and yearning for a righteous battle.

Better said the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they still move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes."
The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." They want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that would destroy 98 percent of the population.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs. Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury , New Jersey . Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When they learned of the three other passenger planes who had used weapons, Todd and the other passengers confronted the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents - from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

Edmund Burke said "There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." Here is the point I strive to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They don't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously.

Its OK to be a sheep, but do not kick the sheepdog. Indeed, the sheepdog may just run a little harder, strive to protect you a little better and be fully prepared to pay an ultimate price in battle and spirit with the sheep moving from "baa" to "thanks".

We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond our lot. Just like the sheepdog, we in the military just need a small pat on the head, a smile and a thank you to fill the emotional tank which is drained protecting the sheep. And, when our number is called by The Almighty, and day retreats into night, a small prayer before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks for letting you continue to be a sheep. But also be grateful for the millions of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.

VR
LTC Tom Wallen
Deployment Readiness Officer
DRM, G3-Plans, FORSCOM
(404) 464-6955
DSN 367-6955
NIPR email: thomas.wallen@forscom.army.mil SIPR email: jafoctew@force1.army.smil.mil
Posted by Michael at Friday, February 08, 2008 0 comments
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Big John Hannah - My Friend and Team Mate
http://www.johnhannah73.com/jh/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=45


Baylor School Track and Field
Baylor School Wrestling
Posted by Michael at Wednesday, February 06, 2008 0 comments
Monday, February 04, 2008
Passivity - A German point of view --
Worth the read

This was sent to me today by email and sadly it is so true - no need to respond to me - I just felt it was important NOT to be silent and make it available to you -

Please feel free to copy, paste, and forward.



Subject: A German's point of view on Islam

Dr. Emanuel Tanay is a well known and well respected psychiatrist. A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates.
When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
'Very few people were true Nazis ' he said,' but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.' We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the 'peaceful majority', the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it


Regards,

Michael Allen
Alpharetta, GA 30004
Posted by Michael at Monday, February 04, 2008 0 comments
Friday, February 01, 2008
Talent - Boogie Woogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_k-CL3dJ8k

Ray Charles - Jerry Lee Lewis - Fats Domino
Posted by Michael at Friday, February 01, 2008 0 comments