Posted on 03/08/2003 11:59:53 AM PST by WIladyconservative
When the Medal of Honor winner spoke, I was nearly in tears.
It was well worth the trip, and an honor to be there.
LET'S ROLL
I thought of you all with the band of snow going through the state and still wanted to be there. I'm really grateful to you and WILady for displaying that for our troops. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart. Hope to meet you some day at another rally or Freep.
I stood next to a little girl, about 7 years old, with a hand made sign that she did herself, that said "God Bless Bush".
I think my favorite sign was "People of Iraq, Help is on the way"
So much said in that one simple sign.
I had sent out press releases to every media outlet I could think of for this thing, trying to maintain an appearance of a grassroots rally, but Sykes and Wagner, wanted this linked to their petition drive, and wanted WTMJ as a sponsor. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but that has more to do with the lack of (or poor) media coverage.
The mistake Sykes, Wagner and their staff made was not letting Sens. Cathy Stepp and Ted Canavas speak...the media probably would have at least picked that up because they'd think they were portraying them to their constituents as war mongers.
Can you imagine how uncomfortable the media would have been if Jeff Plale (the "token Democrat") had also spoke? He actually took a HUGE risk being there because he is running for the state Senate seat vacated by Rick Grobschmidt (Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, Cudahy, St. Francis, parts of Bay View and the lower East Side), and is facing a couple of East Side Liberal challengers in the 'Rat primary (sad to say, that is the race because of Cudahy and the East Side).
THAT WAS A GREAT MOMENT!
I am disappointed at your coverage of the Cathedral Square rally in support of our troops this noon in Milwaukee. There were many more people there in the driving snow than the 500 you acknowledged. Let's have more fair and balanced news, please.
Hope that will help.
This whole thing got started because I got mad about the attention being given by the media to the anti-war movement in this country, and so we decided that someone needed to speak for the silent majority of Americans out there who do not seek this or any war, but who understand that sometimes war is necessary.My brother-in-law was recently deployed to the Middle East. As he left, he told his wife and three young children that it might be a year or longer before he could return home. Now if he could say goodbye to his family for a year, the least I could do was ensure that he, and the over 200,000 other service members who said similar goodbyes to their loved ones, know that the overwhelming majority of Americans support them and their mission.
They can be confident that we stand by them, and by our president. And, quite frankly, I really don’t care what the rest of the world thinks about it. I don’t recall voting for anyone at the United Nations – although since this is Milwaukee, who knows? Maybe some absentee ballots fell off a truck somewhere…
The United Nations does not speak for us. Can we trust an organization where Cuba heads up the sub-committee on human rights? Where Syria sits on the Counter-Terrorism committee?
I think the words of George Washington, uttered on a cold, snowy Christmas night in 1776 are particularly relevant "Put none but Americans on guard tonight."
Those words speak to us across the centuries. That was a dark time in our history, and the outcome of the Revolution was in doubt. As George Washington prepared to cross the Delaware River, and enter into the pivotal conflict in the War for Independence, he counseled Americans to rely upon themselves, for they were fundamentally responsible for their own security.
226 years later, Americans are still responsible for our own security. We do not seek war, but we do not shrink from it either. In the words of John Stuart Mill, “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.” Our safety is worth war. Our security is worth war. A world free of dangerous rogue states armed with nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons is worth war. A world in which all people may live free of tyranny and oppression is worth war, A free Iraq is worth war.
We support our troops, and we support our president. We welcome the assistance of our friends, but we do not need the approval of the world to see to our own security.
Only Americans on guard tonight. Only Americans on guard tonight.
Washington said something else as well, on that snowy night, as he stood poised on the cusp of history: “ Let us therefore rely on the goodness of the cause and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions." I can add nothing to that sentiment.
God bless and keep safe our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and other combatants. God bless our president, and God bless the United States of America.
I think Lou's speech is deserving of an Essay of the Week award.
Glad you made it, and made it home safely!
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