A Few of FR's Finest...Every Day...09-02-04..."Another reason it's Bush for Four More Years"

johnhuang2,dutchess,billie | JohnHuang2

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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Another reason it's Bush for Four More Years

by JohnHuang2

"I thought I needed to stand up for steel and I did stand up for steel," Bush told the cheering multitude in steel country, West Virginia, on Sunday. "I put in place safeguards to restore fairness to the market to help our steel folks adjust," he added. "And it worked." Delighted, the throng of 10,000 erupted. Campaigning in the Mountain State on the eve of the Republican convention in New York, Bush was introduced at the rally by a Democrat, Rick Cassini, union shop steward at a big steel firm in Wheeling. He called Bush a "man of steel," the "original promise keeper," who bucked the critics who blasted the tariffs now credited with saving jobs. At the time, some of the loudest criticism came from within his own GOP. Didn't matter one whit to Bush. He did what he promised he'd do.

Man of steel. Promise Keeper. Both are earmarks of the Texas Hombre, a man of steely resolve, a genuinely decisive leader who says what he means and does what he says he'll do.

Try affixing "Man of Steel" or "Promise Keeper" to the man Bush's running against and try not to bust a gut laughing. No Can Do. Kerry, man of steel? Pul-eeze. Isn't this the guy who's spent August melting away and begging Bush to make the Swifties turn off the klieg lights? Kerry, the Promise Keeper? Flipper changes positions faster and more often than J Lo changes husbands. If you know anything about Lurch, you know his penchant for doing 180s. Flipper has gone from voting against the first Iraq war to voting for the second Iraq war, voting to fund the war before voting against it, then saying he'd vote for the war again today and vote to defund the war. On overseas troop deployments, Lurch was gung ho in early August for major realignment. Two weeks later, Bush calls for major realignment. Lurch then comes out against major realignment as reckless. Flip-flop? No, says, Flipper. He supports major realignment -- just not this week because Bush came out for it.

Did you know how Rassman fell overboard? That happened when Kerry spun his Swiftboat 180-degrees to bug out when number three boat struck a mine. On issues, Kerry has spun his Swiftboat so many times, he's flung almost everyone overboard a la Rassman.

If Lurch hadn't noticed his boat by now was almost empty, a flurry of recent polls showing Bush surging ahead, even before his convention, underscored the point. Kerry could stop his boat right now, head back to find the missing, but it'd be too late. W. had already fished them out. Compared to Kerry, Bush is seen as the stronger leader, 54%-39%, better at leading the War on Terror, 56%-38%, better at handling the war in Iraq, 52%-44%, and more honest and trustworthy, 47%-41%, this according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, released Monday.

After the Democrat convention in Boston, Kerry was seen as more honest and trustworthy than Bush, 47%-41%, but Kerry worked feverishly through August re-polishing Bush's image as the more honest and trustworthy one, reversing the numbers. Similarly, after the Democrat convention, Kerry was seen as more qualified to be Commander-in-Chief than Bush -- by eight points. Bush needed to work at changing that, and Lurch hopped right to it, reminding voters that his idea for keeping America safe is to ban books, yank ads, bend over for Euroweenies and wage 'sensitive wars'. Kerry's effort was effective. Now Bush is seen as more qualified to be Commander-in-Chief than Gigolo by ten points, 53%-43%.

In this poll, high on the list of voter concerns is terrorism and homeland security. Before the SwiftVet ads had hurt Kerry's feelings, say, back in May, I'd wager the war in Vietnam ranked dead last on that list, probably coming in at 0.01%, tops. Eager to tap this groundswell, the Kerry geniuses framed their whole campaign around the war in Vietnam. Bush says this election is about the War on Terror. Kerry says this election is about his four months in Vietnam. (Leave it to Bush to try to sweep Vietnam under the rug!) No contest as to who's winning this, (strangely, Vietnam doesn't set people's teeth on edge quite like al-Qaeda) yet Mr. 'Reporting for Duty' wonders why the SwiftVets he slandered are beating him like a rented mule. (In Senate testimony, Kerry accused American troops of cutting off ears, lopping off noses in the manner of Genghis Khan collecting parts for Michael Jackson's face.)

Speaking of rented mules, the Democrats weren't about to lay low this GOP convention week, so out of mothball came the prancing Donkey-financed scraggly Kooks United for Peace and Justice and Naked Trotskyites for Taliban Rule rent-a-mob marching through the Big Apple. Big media call this crowd a glowing portrait of middle America. Among the pet causes of this middle America crowd is freedom for cop-killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal (someone very dear to most Americans, I'm sure), as opposed to crazy GOP fringe causes like whacking the crap out of al-Qaeda, cutting taxes and drilling for oil in ANWR so we don't have to depend on ALLAH AKBAR!! screaming nutball Mullah clerics in Iran to fuel Teresa's fleet of SUVs that Flipper says he doesn't own. The ten naked AIDS activists reminded me of what Janet Jackson said the other day. She claimed Bush used her naked left breast to divert attention from Iraq. How silly. Bush invaded Iraq to divert attention from her naked left breast.

As for events inside Madison Square Garden, the media, which paints Republicans as narrow-minded bigots, demanded to know why Republicans weren't acting like narrow-minded bigots and why the narrow-minded bigots they couldn't find weren't allowed to address the convention so that they could attack Republicans as narrow-minded bigots. The most prominent speakers, such as Rudy, Arnold and Zell Miller, are moderates who disagree with the platform that nobody ever reads. So, here you've got a hugely popular Republican governor from the largest state and a Republican ex-Mayor seen as a national hero and the media wants to know why Republicans would put them on stage when they disagree with Part III, chapter 14, section 3.6, line 7 of the platform.

The kick-off speeches on Monday gave Democrats more reasons to be filled with high dudgeon. Rudy was eloquent, forceful, riveting, funny and downright charming. And down to earth. He spoke passionately of 9/11, as one who witnessed the horror first-hand. Effusively, he saluted the President's leadership in the aftermath. Needling the Democrats further, John Kerry's first choice for running mate, John McCain, gave Hamas' Boy-toy Michael Moore a deliciously well-landed blow, making him run off crying and pledging never to return -- a move which frees up several dozens seats, maybe a whole section. With the Big Three Broadcast network cams looking on, the prime time star attraction on Tuesday was Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. His speech electrified the place. He pumped up the crowd. Then he brought the house down. Arnold's the living embodiment of the American Dream. But he didn't toot his own horn. He thanked America, his adopted country, for the freedom he enjoys.

"Now the other party says there are two Americas," he noted. "Don't believe that either. I've visited our troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia, Germany and all over the world. I've visited our troops in California, where they train before they go overseas. And I've visited our military hospitals. And I can tell you this: Our young men and women in uniform do not believe there are two Americas. They believe we are ONE AMERICA and they are fighting for it! We are one America -- and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul!"

Beaming with optimism, he smoked out the Drama-Queen-Duo on the other ticket as "economic girliemen" for talking down the economy. Prolonged, rapturous applause followed. He nailed the Democrats chapter and verse. A muscular delivery as only Arnold could deliver. The biggies at NBC/CBS/ABC could barely fight back the tears. They knew the score. The only solace to them is the thought Arnold may be forced to sleep on the couch. ;-)

Capping the night was George W. Bush's not-so-secret weapon, First Lady, Laura Bush, whose deep love and devotion flowed with every word. She's a big reason it's Bush for Four More Years.

Anyway, that's...

My two cents

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 08-30-04...Military Monday 08-31-04...RNC SHOWTIME! SHOCK & AWE! 09-1-04...A Table Set for One

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

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[dutchess]

[dutchess]

Yikes...first the Republican National Convention... now a JohnHuang's 2cents essay. I can't take it!!!!.... Please...please.... can I possibly come back as an elephant in my next life????

We're sure that's how many on the left are feeling :o) .... please stop in and get JohnHuang2's take on some of this week's events.... and feel free to add your own!!!

[Texagirl4W]

Well, John knocked it off the charts, as usual. This was good. Now, I have to try to get some sleep. I just get so worked up watching the convention that I can't settle down and go to sleep. See you all in the morning.

[BobP]

It only gets better and better...

"Lets Roll!"

[Billie]

Good morning, you two.

John, you never disappoint! Thank you both! This is fantastic!

And what a cute way this was to open the thread, Dutchess! I also laughed when I saw the kerry superman! Always such fun to open up Thurday's Two Cents and see what's in store for us *this* week.

[The Mayor]

September 2, 2004

Faith Mixed With Doubt

Read: Psalm 42

Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him. —Psalm 42:11

Bible In One Year: Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13

---

When my close friend Sharon was killed in a car accident, my heart broke. I'm ashamed to admit it, but when life's circumstances hurt so much, my faith is often mixed with doubt. When Sharon died, I cried out to God with these questions:

Lord, I sure don't understand You. Why did You allow this death? "Have you not heard? The everlasting God . . . neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable" (Isaiah 40:28). "My thoughts are not Your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways" (Isaiah 55:8).

Lord, You are beyond my understanding. But I still wonder, have You turned Your back on the world? "God sits on His holy throne" (Psalm 47:8) and "rules by His power forever" (66:7).

Lord, I do believe You are ruling this world, but do You care about the pain? Have You forgotten to be good? I am "good and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon [Me]" (Psalm 86:5).

Yes, Lord, You have been good to me in countless ways, including listening to my doubts and questions about You.

The answers God gives us in His Word may not take away our sadness, but we can always rest in the truth that He is wise, sovereign, and good. —Anne Cetas

God understands your heartache,
He knows the bitter pain;
O trust Him in the darkness,
You cannot trust in vain. —Smith

Every loss leaves an empty space that only God's presence can fill.

[Lakeside]

Good morning dutchess and JohnH2! Yes it's been a great Convention and I'm smilin' this morning. What a wonderful week it's been.

Now on to our President's speech tonight!

[dutchess]

'morning finest friends. Thanks for stopping in so early. What a wonderful night wasn't it??? Poor dems... :o) Thanks for "checking in" at the finest!

[dutchess]

My my...you were up very late sweet sistah... Thanks for the GWB superman pic...found the kerry one a while back....just seemed like the right time :o) Getting ready for our "road trip". Have a great weekend!

[dutchess]

God Bless Our Military
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Mama_Bear; Dutchess or Aquamarine and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~

We ask Lord, that You guide the leaders of our great country in their hour of decision. The burden that has been placed on their shoulders is overwhelming. We ask that with Your infinite wisdom You guide them gently to the right decisions.

Please give us the strength, Lord, to get through each difficult and devastating day that faces each of us and our country. Protect and guide our Military that are now being called to duty, strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OhioWfan...................son mystery-ak......son, husband Gogrammy.............grandson Inspectorette................son Blessed American........nephew Slip18........................nephew anniegetyourgun...........nephew Diver Dave......niece, nephew ConspiracyGuy.....2 nephews Pippin..........niece, loved one Pippin...nephew & his fiance weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater.........cousin WaterDragon............grandson WaterDragon..........son-in-law BeforeISleep.................son kimmie7.....................brother Armymarinemom..........3 sons LadyX.....................grandson fawn796...................nephew Dubya.......................nephew StarCMC...................brother ValerieUSA................2 sons Lakeside....................2 sons Spruce...................daughter Philman_36............2 nephews american_ranger.............son lulu.........................son-in-law Warrior Nurse........active duty SK1 Thurman...........active duty David Osborne.........active duty fc2tomschermuly.......active duty bkwells..................active duty LongCut..................active duty cjk.......................... active duty Trish.......................active duty ODC-GIRL............active duty AF_Blue..................active duty Notwithstanding......active duty thumperusn.............active duty Q6-God..................active duty Q6-God.................twin brother Veloxherc...............actuve duty

Maigrey.....................cousin WVNan....................friend's son ladtx..........................2 sons Mama_Bear..............2 nephews gator girl..................husband severa.............husband, brother Hostel........................cousin MozartLover............son, nephew LBGA.............................son katykelly......................son cookcounty...................son SpookBrat....nephew, cousin Doug from Upland.....son-in-law Himyar......................son boxerblues............... sons the piper...................son sheeza................husband kemathen7............husband Tiffee4Bob..........boyfriend deadhead..................cousin JimRobinson.......2 nephews TexKat.............son, step-son RoseinRoseBear.cousin's hubby Consort..2 daughters,son-in-law Darheel......................niece Donaeus....................nephew dixiesass..................nephew BeAllYouCanBe............son Repubmommy...............brother AgThorn....................2 sons homeschoolmama.........nephew kneezles.......................son Redhead.........stepdaughter Redhead..step-grdaughter's fiance Atomic Conspiracy..half-brother Atomic Conspiracy...niece Atomic Conspiracy...nephew SunflowerGal..........grandson visualops..................cousin auboy......................cousin Alouette......................son mrstank......................husband MrsMike31................husband

[Pippin]

4 MORE YEARS!

4 MORE YEARS

4 MORE YEARS!

GIVE THEM H*** ZELL!

THANK YOU JOHN, FOR ANOTHER GREAT ONE! :O)

(((((DUTCHESS)))!

(((((JH2)))))))!

[auboy]

Good Morning!

[Aquamarine]

This Post is just AWESOME! It's so much fun to watch someone else present John's essay Dutchess, and you did such a perfect job on this one.

Hope everyone got to see Zell bring the house down at the RNC Convention last night and then as if that wasn't enough he cleaned Chrissy Matthews clock on Live TV!

Here's is the clip of that if anyone missed it last night. Zell showing Chris how a mule eats corn...lol

[Mama_Bear]

Fabulous, you two, just fabulous!

The Dem's are self-destructing, having a total melt down and accusing the Republicans of being "unbelievably partisan". LOL!!! Get a grip! It's our convention, we're allowed to be partisan!

Thank you, dutchess, for your wonderful illustrations (love that donkey!) and thank you, Wordmeister John, for your invaluable Two Cents.

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks for posting that link, Aqua. Somehow I missed that when it aired. JK and I just watched it laughed our socks off! LOL!! That was absolutely priceless!

[Mama_Bear]

Good morning, auboy. That iris is just breathtaking! Thank you for bringing your beautiful flower photographs to us.

You have a wonderful day back there in Alabama.

[auboy]

Thank you, Mama_Bear. We are doing fine in Alabama. Looks like Frances is going to hit Florida's east coast with a broadside. I'm worried about all of our friends and families in Florida. I pray for their safety.

[Dubya]

ABOUT ZELL MILLER

Good read.

[Billie]

Good morning, auboy, Hope I'm not the last one to say "Welcome!" I'm glad you've joined us at the Finest. Mama Bear gave us a heads-up to your FReepmail to include your cousin in our Military Prayer List, which we've all done now. I'll be posting the weekend thread in the morning - okay to add you to my ping list? That iris is gorgeous!!

[Dubya]

Text of speech by Sen. Zell Miller

Granite Countertops
September 1, 2004

Text of speech by Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia as prepared for delivery Wednesday at the Republican National Convention:

Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren.

Along with all the other members of our close-knit family, they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions.

And I know that's how you feel about your family also. Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face.

Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in.

And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?

The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.

There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that man's name is George Bush.

In the summer of 1940, I was an 8-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley. Our country was not yet at war, but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.

President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger."

In 1940, Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.

And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.

And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.

Shortly before Wilkie died, he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom," he would prefer the latter.

Where are such statesmen today?

Where is the bipartisanship in this country when we need it most?

Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our Commander in Chief.

What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?

I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.

It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.

Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.

And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.

But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.

They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

It is not their patriotism -- it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace.

They were wrong.

They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war.

They were wrong.

And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.

Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.

The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40 percent of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The B-2 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.

The F-14A Tomcats, that Senator Kerry opposed, shot down Khadifi's Libyan MIGs over the Gulf of Sidra. The modernized F-14D, that Senator Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.

The Apache helicopter, that Senator Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War. The F-15 Eagles, that Senator Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.

I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile that shot down Saddam Hussein's scud missiles over Israel; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against.

This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?

U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?

Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric.

Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.

Senator Kerry has made it clear that he would use military force only if approved by the United Nations.

Kerry would let Paris decide when America needs defending.

I want Bush to decide.

John Kerry, who says he doesn't like outsourcing, wants to outsource our national security.

That's the most dangerous outsourcing of all. This politician wants to be leader of the free world.

Free for how long?

For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure.

As a war protester, Kerry blamed our military.

As a Senator, he voted to weaken our military. And nothing shows that more sadly and more clearly than his vote this year to deny protective armor for our troops in harms way, far away.

George Bush understands that we need new strategies to meet new threats.

John Kerry wants to re-fight yesterday's war. George Bush believes we have to fight today's war and be ready for tomorrow's challenges. George Bush is committed to providing the kind of forces it takes to root out terrorists.

No matter what spider hole they may hide in or what rock they crawl under.

George Bush wants to grab terrorists by the throat and not let them go to get a better grip.

From John Kerry, they get a "yes-no-maybe" bowl of mush that can only encourage our enemies and confuse our friends.

I first got to know George Bush when we served as governors together. I admire this man. I am moved by the respect he shows the first lady, his unabashed love for his parents and his daughters, and the fact that he is unashamed of his belief that God is not indifferent to America.

I can identify with someone who has lived that line in "Amazing Grace," "Was blind, but now I see," and I like the fact that he's the same man on Saturday night that he is on Sunday morning.

He is not a slick talker but he is a straight shooter and, where I come from, deeds mean a lot more than words.

I have knocked on the door of this man's soul and found someone home, a God-fearing man with a good heart and a spine of tempered steel.

The man I trust to protect my most precious possession: my family.

This election will change forever the course of history, and that's not any history. It's our family's history.

The only question is how. The answer lies with each of us. And, like many generations before us, we've got some hard choosing to do.

Right now the world just cannot afford an indecisive America. Fainthearted self-indulgence will put at risk all we care about in this world.

In this hour of danger our President has had the courage to stand up. And this Democrat is proud to stand up with him.

Thank you.

God Bless this great country and God Bless George W. Bush.