"Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.
"And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God ... they founded this great nation.
"In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine 'author of liberty.' And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, 'with freedom's holy light.'
Brilliant.
Great speech!!!!!!!
Romney might have made points with the religious, but lost a lot with me.... Yeah, this is from 2005, but you know what? There’s a lot of ham radio operators out there, millions of us, that won’t vote for him.
Romney “Disses” Amateur Radio In Televised Town Meeting
Posted on Wednesday 16 November 2005 @ 15:48:10
Governor Mitt RomneyGovernor Mitt Romney dismissed the role of Amateur Radio operators in emergency communications during a televised “town meeting” program last night on WCVB’s “When Disaster Strikes: Segment Two.” The program featured public safety and volunteer organization officials from across Massachusetts among its audience.
Host and moderator Natalie Jacobson asked an increasingly-agitated Governor Romney questions about communications interoperability, and communication without commercial power. Romney was next asked by Jacobson, “...so does it come down to ham radio?...”
The Governor replied in a disgusted tone, “No, we don’t need to deal with ham radio operators...”
Embarrassed public safety officials later tried to put in a good word for Amateur Radio. National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Glenn Field was prepared to state the importance of Amateur Radio, when Salvation Army Colonel Fred Van Brunt was called upon. Van Brunt remarked about his organization’s quest to improve its communications capabilities and how Amateur Radio has aided his organization. “The ham radio situation helps a great deal,” he stated.
“I have already written and submitted a letter to the Governor’s Office,” wrote Eastern MA Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY. “I have also written an email to Natalie Jacobson.”
ARRL Section Manager Mike Neilsen, W1MPN sent a section-wide email today to all Eastern MA ARRL members describing the incident along with actions he and his staff were taking to mitigate the situation.
“[Romney’s] attitude about us sets an unfortunate tone within the state’s executive branch,” wrote Neilsen. “As a former military officer, I see this as a failure in leadership. My immediate concern is our working relationship within the [Massachusetts Emergency Management Team] environment.” Neilsen intends to address the Governor’s comments as “an urgent matter” at a meeting on November 17 with Don Carlton from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
“I was very disturbed about what the Governor stated on the program,” wrote Ron Wood, W1PLW, the section’s Public Information Coordinator. “It does show that more work is needed by all hams in the section. It’s a great idea to write letters explaining the good we do.” Wood is attempting to schedule a meeting with the Governor’s office tomorrow so that EMA ARRL staffers might discuss the matter further.
Tom Kinahan, N1CPE wrote that Governor Romney’s comment has made “a PR problem” for Kinahan in his role as MA State RACES Officer.
“I’ve got a roster of over 150 Amateur Radio operators that support local communities, and those of us that directly support the state government. There are at least double that in terms of people that are actually out there that I don’t have formal paperwork on that support Amateur Radio emergency communications in some organized manner... The Governor has said that he ‘certainly doesn’t need to rely on ham radio’ — where does that leave the RACES program now?”
“I am ashamed tonight that I am a Republican!” remarked one ham radio viewer. “[Romney] speaks in derogatory tones about hams. He certainly shows an ignorance as to what we do and are capable of. I suggest a grass roots campaign of local hams calling the State House and The Governor’s Office to protest.”
The television program can be viewed at http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/5334306/detail.html.
It is an impressive speech. I can see why Rush like it.
Very well-done indeed.
Thanks for posting the transcript.
Can’t wait to see this. It re-airs on C-Span 2 at 9PM Eastern.
”There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.”-snip-
“Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.
“And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God ... they founded this great nation.
“In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine ‘author of liberty.’ And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, ‘with freedom’s holy light.’”
For the past year and a half, I’ve done a lot of reading, listening and soul searching about this very important decision. First let me say, I’m an Episcopalian, a very conservative Episcopalian and a southerner. IIRC, I believe I’ve known personally only two Mormans ever. Both are good, honest, God-fearing and decent people and I value their friendship.
Now that that I’ve made that clear, I want to say this was a superb speech, it may well be the campaign speech that will for evermore define how we look at religion in the context of elective politics.
Today, Mr Romney found it necessary to do something that we have not asked of any other candidate, democrat or republican. He was forced to define his religious beliefs and speak about his faith publicly. He not only rose to the occasion but he far and away exceeded most expectations with soaring eloquent and thoroughness. There was and never will be but one Ronald Reagan but this speech was, indeed, IMHO, Reaganesque and I believe it was genuine and totally sincere.
The defining issue of this place in time is combating islamic terrorism not just in this country but around the globe. While social issues are important and necessary discussions, we need to be alive to participate in those lively debates. I will vote for the republican nominee. I hope and pray I am able to vote for a republican candidate who has the strength and courage to lead, one who is willing and able to make the tough decisions about the life and death challenges we are sure to face from Islamo-fascist barbarians.
By this time next year our country will have elected a new president. A new President of the United States, a new leader of the free world, not a Savior. When The Savior returns to earth it won't be on the wings of Air Force One. Lets try to keep this very important election in the proper perspective.
It is interesting that he mentioned the Muslim faith, as well as others, but did not mention a word about the Mormon faith.
This is my first and only comment on “the speech.”
It was excellent. In every facet. I am not likely to vote for Romney any more NOW (in the primary) than I was before, but it has nothing to do with his religion. If he’s nominated I will vote for him and send money.
I cannot say the same of Trudy or McAmnesty.