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« Another Al Qaeda Attack? | Main | Cut Bait » August 30, 2004Have Faith in the Power of FreedomBoth Sen. John McCain and former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave great speeches Monday night at the Republican National Convention. McCain was particularly effective at paring the war on terror down to its essential core and revealing again for those who have forgotten just how vital it is that we not retreat from the battle. The awful events of September 11, 2001, declared a war we were vaguely aware of, but hadn't really comprehended how near the threat was and how terrible were the plans of our enemies.As good as McCain's whole speech was - and it was very good - Giuliani gets my nod for the quote of the night: Have faith in the power of freedom. People who live in freedom always prevail over people who live in oppression.He's right, of course. And those two sentences neatly encapsulate the difference between President Bush's approach to combating Islamist terrorism and the approach offered by the Kerry-Edwards ticket. Just as free democracies rarely (if ever) go to war against other free democracies, free democracies rarely breed terrorists. Freedom for the oppressed of the Middle East - via democracy and accountable governments - will go a long way to reducing the threat of terrorism. It is a Big Idea. Kerry's big idea is different. Kerry and Edwards have faith in the power of the United Nations, in the power of international agreements, in the power of international coalitions, in the power of sanctions, in the power of diplomacy, in the power of multilateralism, and in empowering the likes of Jacques Chirac to have a say in our foreign policy. Kerry does not believe in big ideas but in big bureaucracies. Saddam was not an evil to be uprooted and replaced with something good, but an irritant to be tied down with sanctions and resolutions and inspections - the trappings of international bureaucracy. But we saw what sanctions and resolutions and inspections allowed to fester in Iraq: Saddam, a weapon of mass destruction, mass-murdering men, women and children and burying them in mass graves by the hundreds of thousands, children imprisoned, prisoners tortured, women raped, dissidents fed into shredding machines, villagers gassed, terrorists accommodated, suicide bombers' families compensated, treasuries looted while citizens starved and went without healthcare - while sanctions, resolutions and inspections were violated or ignored. Bureaucracy can't stop a madman or terrorists because bureaucracy is all about rules and agreements, and madmen and terrorists don't follow rules or keep agreements. But madmen and terrorists can not ultimately triumph over the hope and the power of liberty, for all they offer is oppression and death. John McCain - who knows from personal experience what it means to live under the oppression of tyrants - has faith in the power of freedom. He knows it is the road to victory over Islamist terror: Take courage from the knowledge that our military superiority is matched only by the superiority of our ideals and our unconquerable love for them. ... We fight for love of freedom and justice - a love that is invincible. Keep that faith! Keep your courage! Stick together! Stay strong! Do not yield! Do not flinch! Stand up! Stand up with our President and fight! We're Americans! We're Americans and we'll never surrender! They will!"George W. Bush has faith in the power of freedom. Do you? Comments
Both the main speeches tonight were great. I would say the Republican's are in a take no prisoners mode, very aggressively defending their candidate and their policies. I have blogged in more depth on McCain's speech here and Giuliani's speech here. Posted by: Dave Justus at August 31, 2004 12:07 AMFree society does not breed terrorists? Look at what is happening in the streets of New York. Posted by: JDG at August 31, 2004 7:21 AMOversimplified? Yes, but the difference between Bush and Kerry boils down to who is going to be in charge of defending American values and promoting American interests - the United States or the "international community"? This should be a no-brainer. Posted by: Warthog at August 31, 2004 8:13 AMMcCain was good after a slow start. I was impressed. However, Guliani was unforgettable and will be long remembered for this speech. I sure hope that Rudy wants to be President in 2008. I would work for him here in Iowa. He is a natural born leader and has common sense oozing from his pores. As far as I'm concerned his leadership for NYC in the aftermath of 9/11 was spectacular and he is officially the Mayor of all Americans and perhaps the entire world. He is the most positive leader I've seen since Reagan. Ruuudy! Ruuudy! Ruuudy! Posted by: jane m at August 31, 2004 9:41 AMNo Republican will be electable for the Presidency in 2008. Posted by: SemiPundit at August 31, 2004 10:30 AM"Just as free democracies rarely (if ever) go to war against other free democracies, free democracies rarely breed terrorists" Rarely, except in free democracies such as Ireland, Spain, and the United States. Posted by: at August 31, 2004 1:10 PMI'm not so sure. If the Dems don't win this one and don't come back to center, some are predicting party meltdown in the aftermath. Sure they're united against Bush right now but the left fringe is way to prominant and seen to be in charge. They scare 90% of the electorate. I say the Dems will need to clean house in order to regain the Presidency in this decade. Wishful thinking? maybe but we saw it in other decades. Posted by: jane m at August 31, 2004 2:54 PMIt may be only a slight hyperbole to say that there doesn't appear to be any adults in the Democratic Party. All we've seen from the Dems is month upon month of taunting and name-calling. Their platform is "whatever you can do we can do better" although nobody ever comes forward to explain exactly why that is so. Putting Michael Moore alongside Jimmy Carter in the Presidential booth at the DNC was no accident. A mistake maybe but no accident. These are serious times. We need serious people at the controls. Flip-flop Kerry and ultra-lightweight Edwards are not. Without a super star politician like Clinton out in front the Dems appear totally lost. Posted by: PeterBoston at September 1, 2004 6:13 AMI must have missed it. Which "free democracy" has the US went after, ever? Posted by: Michael Chaney at September 1, 2004 10:53 AMPeterBoston must surely understand that taunting and name-calling is not limited to either party. As for delineation of positions, the Republican convention will be out of the way this week and we can then turn to head-on debates for such clarification. Generally I do not like to play the "Well, what about..." game, but I can't resist in this case. I will always believe that the answer to the question of why George H. W. Bush's campaign chose another lightweight, Dan Quayle, as Vice-President was to assure that, in the absence of Mr. Bush, there would be no serious challenge of the inner circle's control of the office. Posted by: SemiPundit at September 1, 2004 1:14 PMIt's too late for Rudy to run for President and that's unfortunate as President Bush appeared most un-presidential last night. He seemed uncomfortable. Maybe he was constipated. Bottom line: very disappointed in the President's performance! Posted by: Colin at October 1, 2004 11:38 AMPost a comment
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