From politics (moderates who lean to the right) to Pogo (drools during poker stare) to rants (Whatcha expect from savvy, sassy sexagenarians?) to raves (Have you had your kudo today?) -- we never take ourselves too seriously.
We do, however, reserve the right to slaughter an occasional sacred cow. And in case we fail to mention it -- we will never forget....
Mitt Romney carried his campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination to Iowa today, sharing with Iowans his goals in leading America forward.
The last political event to be held in the venue was Howard Dean's 2004 Sunday-before-Caucus-Night rally at which Rob Reiner and Martin Sheen spoke. A crowd of about 200 turned out for today's Romney event, including some big names from Iowa GOP politics -- former Iowa Governor Robert Ray and his wife, Billie; former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and his wife, Chris; 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Gross (who is a Romney supporter); new Iowa GOP executive director Chuck Laudner; several legislators (including House GOP Leader Christopher Rants who is a Romney backer), and former state Senator Jack Rife (Rife told me he was just there to hear Romney, and is waiting for Condi Rice to run).
The room was "decorated" with a John Deere tractor (which Romney referenced once in his speech, calling it by its number -- as farmers do). There were also hay bales -- the tiny old square ones, not the big round kind.
Doug Gross gave a testimonial, explaining why he's a Romney backer, then Romney, his wife and two of their sons walked into the hall. Romney's wife then took the mic and introduced her husband. There were bleachers arranged around the sides of the room, plus chairs circling a stage, and after Romney was introduced the crowd remained standing for at least 10 minutes, standing patiently listening to his remarks.
Romney began with some biographical information and referenced his earlier event in Michigan, which gave his a chance to talk about his father -- the former Michigan Governor who ran for president himself decades ago.
Romney then spoke of the need for a Washington, D.C. outsider to be the party's nominee, declared the government was spending too much money and taxes are too high Next, Romney launched into a broader discussion of Iraq than was included in his Michigan announcement speech.
"As we look at the face of radical jihad and the potential for nuclear proliferation, I think we have to recognize that our military might in this country should not be defined by the whims of an ever-changing political agenda. We need to remember that the best ally of peace in the world is a strong America," Romney said, and the crowd applauded.
"And we need to define our role in the world not solely on the basis of our strength but also on the basis of our heart, by our willingness to share, to make a difference for other nations, to reach out, to help, to lead the rest of the world," Romney continued. "We've got some extraordinary challenges int eh world. We're going to have to fight for democracy and freedom even in our own hemisphere as we see a new, oh, what will I call him, aspiring strong-man coming to the fore. We're also going to have to recognize and need to help those in Africa who are brutalized and diseased. We're going to have to look to the Muslim world and recognize that we, I believe, should lead a partnership of all the nations in the world that are willing to join us to help move the world of Islam to support moderate, modern governments and modern people and to help them embrace modernity so that they can reject the violent and the extreme. Only Muslims are going to, ultimately, be able to reject the jihad.
"And finally, let me note that as Iran is endeavoring to become a nuclear power that we're going to have to lead all of the civilized world to say we will not accept that course. As a matter of fact, it's critical that in America will not in any way engage with and negotiate with jihadists who are bent on destroying our nation, destroying our friends and destroying our way of life," Romney said, as the crowd began to applaud.
"Let me take just a minute and talk about our troops in Iraq. Boy, we want them home. Every person in this room wants them home. We want them as soon as we possibly can have them home but as we think about bringing them home, we also have to recognize the risks associated with what we're facing there because if we were to see a collapse of the government there, a collapse of the country in some way, you could see potentially a massive civil war, full-out civil war breaking out with potentially millions of lives being lost there. You could see in the Shi'ia south the Iranians reaching over and grabbing to take power. You could see in the Sunni northwest the al Qaeda folks taking power and taking leadership in that area and establishing a base for terror that could be awful for us for many, many years indeed. You could see the unrest in some of the Kurd populations in surrounding countries perhaps destabilize the borders of Turkey and it's even possible that a regional conflict throughout the Middle East could occur if things really unraveled in Iraq and for those reasons, you recognize that unless you manage this properly, there is a significant risk that the impact on American lives and the need to send American troops back there in even larger numbers could occur. We have to ask Americans say 'What is in our best interest as Americans? What are our best American interests?'
"With all those things in mind and despite how badly we want all of our troops to come home right now we don't want to send more later and lose even more lives. With that in mind, I support the president in his effort to stabilize the population of Iraq and to bring success as long as there's a reasonable prospect of that occurring," Romney said. The crowd had started applauding at 'I support the president' and Romney talked over the applause to finish that thought.
"Let me also note no matter how Iraq is resolved, we have to make sure that we take stock of those extraordinary people who have given of theirselves to this great land. We know that there are people who put their lives aside, who shed precious lives on behalf of our freedom. We have a sacred pact with the families and the individuals who have risked their lives for us as well as with those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and that pact must never be broken by this nation," Romney said -- perhaps a reference to Obama's Sunday statement that American soldiers' lives in Iraq had been "wasted."
Romney then went to another topic, finished his speech and the Tom Petty song "Runnin' Down a Dream" was pumped through the sound system. Romney then saw Governor Ray in the crowd. Romney grabbed the microphone, the music stopped and Romney paid tribute to Ray and the rest of the crowd for wading out in the snow. "I don't know how you got here in that snow. It was not easy. It was bouncy coming into the airport and we made our way...and I want to say thank you for being here," Romney said. But he didn't stop with that, and gave another short speech and was more relaxed and conversational.
"This is going to be fun. I love coming to Iowa...We've met a lot of wonderful people. Met with great crowds...The students from all of the colleges...It's important for us to make sure that our message gets through to young people...We're talking about what America is going to be...It's important that we remain the most powerful nation on the Earth so that we can maintain the kind of standard of living and that the Earth can have the peace that's associated with a great and charitable and generous nation being that super power. This is about the future. The present's pretty good for America. Our economy's good. Our unemployment rates are low. We're facing some tough times in Iraq, but overall life here's pretty good thanks to the great contributions of so many others, but what we're going to have to do is make sure our future is as great as our present and has been our past. It's not going to be easy, but this is a time we need to call on the spirit of the American people, the heart of the American people and that's why we're in this. We don't have all the answers....We need to go from a government of bickering and partisanship and inaction to a government of innovation and technology and new ideas and action," Romney said, then offered in conclusion: "It's time to put the American people first and government behind. Thanks you guys. Great to be with you."
The Rascal Flats remake of "Life Is a Highway" blasted over the sound system and Romney shook hands and posed for pictures with the crowd.
Rascal Flats? Hummmm ... if it's good enough for Mitt Romney, guess I'll have to check out their music.
In declaring his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2008 Presidential election today, Mitt Romney set the stardards by which his oponents should be judged.
Just think of the headlines. Not to mention the national undertones and seething emotions that would erupt if 2008 turns into a Rudy-Hillary clash.
1) Team-Rudy will attempt to transport his image as "America's Mayor" into "America's President."
2) Team-Hillary will attempt to tarnish Rudy's image with
a) statistics on already-declining crime rates in the nation and in New York; b) Rudy's heavy-handedness and alleged civil rights violations; c) Rudy's failure to fund a critical joint-communications system for firemen, police and rescue personnel -- which might have saved many lives after the planes hit the Towers ... and, d) questions about his decision-making and performance during and after the attack ... reviving sentiments that Rudy was little more than a "PR" man -- albeit, a heroic PR man.
3) Team-Rudy will counter with the reality that, if Hillary's husband had acted responsibly against terrorism and especially after the first terrorist attack in New York -- the 9/11 attack might have been averted .... And Sandy Berger might not have been motivated to destroy classified documents to protect her otherwise "preoccupied" husband ....
a) And feminists will join soccer moms and NJ widows to declare war in the streets, kitchens and bedrooms across America -- funding their own PACS to counter the legal-beagles, corporate moguls and anti-terrorist fanatics. b) All of which will negate the far-right conservative agenda (and options) for supporting a demonstrated "person of faith" who will lead with one hand on the Bible and one on his/her heart ---- c) Much to the dismay of the MSM -- who have already re-cycled eight years of op-eds and feature stories condemning far-right Christians and conservatism.
4) Meanwhile, Team-Hillary will get all shrilly and defensive and play the "stand-by-her-man-at-any-cost" conservative-conspiracy-card against her husband and screech that Rudy-pa-tootie best watch his mouth because e.v.e.r.y.b.o.d.y. knows about his un-secret trysts in the goodness-gracious-Gracie-Mansion while his sick wife and kiddies slept under the same roof and how pots can't call kettles black because there's enough smudge to go around ------ as evidenced by the cheep mascara smears on his third wife's face as depicted in an un-presidential love-clutch photo on the front page of national newspapers .... yada yada yada.
5) In a futile attempt to manipulate public discourse -- an MSM operative will post the photo of Hill 'n Bill's sunset nuzzle on the beach at Hilton Head (post-Monica) and America will spend months dissecting the "worser" of two evils:
a) elect a man with questionable experience in national/international affairs (pardon the pun) and of questionable moral character, or b) elect a woman with questionable experience in governance (domestic or public -- pardon that pun, too) who has a husband of questionable moral character ....
6) And no matter how hard Team-Rudy and Team-Hillary portray their own (or their opponent's) positions on educational reform, national security, terrorism, taxation, abortion, war, marriage vs civil unions, health care, immigration or foreign affairs ---- their candidacies will reduce the 2008 election to two volatile issues: reminders of the horrors of 9/11 and the moral degradation of a former President.
New York and our nation neither deserve nor need the emotionalism that a Hillary-Rudy confrontation would invoke. We cannot afford to entrust our future to the memory of two national catastrophes. Nor do we need two candidates who played integral roles in those catastrophes.
~~~~~~
... and you're thinking, "OK, Ms. Smarty-Pants, who do we need on the 2008 ballot?"
And Ms. Smarty Pants responds, "The two most qualified candidates from each party: Bill Richardson and Mitt Romney."
Naturally, Ms. Smarty-Pants will be voting for Mitt Romney.
[Not only because 'Mitt will fit," but because Mr. Bill worked for Mr. Clinton and it was the same Mr. Bill who hired Ms. Monica to get her out of the White House after Ms. Hillary beaned HER Mr.Bill with an ashtray .... Not to mention that Mr. Bill has not demonstrated a propensity for truth-telling about his prowess in America's favorite sport (a cardinal sin, no less) and by extension -- only the good Lord knows what else he could be lying about! But you didn't need me or MSM to remind you of all that, did you?]
I've been surfing the net regularly for over a week ..... I've come to suspect that I'm the only "unaffiliated" blogger who is brandishing Mitt Romney banners and blog lists in my sidebar.
And I update the blog list daily.
Naysayers have been busier than the yaysayers .... That has to mean Mitt is doing something right.
Lots of folks (democrats, the Boston Glob Globe, pro-Rudies, pro-McVains, etc.) are working overtime to portray Romney as a flip-flopper. A nerd. A RINO. The problem is -- they are, in essence, comparing apples and oranges.
Someone will connect the dots for the naysayers later, I'm confident.
For now, I'll continue to note the dates of the supposed flip (when he was re-tooling the state of Mass-confusion or swimming up-stream against Teddy-K) with the designated flop-of-the-day. Pretty soon the naysayers will run out of Mitt memes and have to turn on each other.
An article in tomorrow's Muslim News caught my attention:
The number of Hispanic Americans converting to Islam is growing rapidly --particularly in New York, California, Texas and Florida, which have the greatest concentration of Hispanic residents.
Muslim leaders say interest in Islam has increased in the past few years, and they also note that Muslims and Hispanics, many of whom are immigrants, share a number of common concerns.
"Muslims and Hispanics face common issues and concerns, like finding their way in a new, unfamiliar country. The media focus on Islam since September 11th has also been factor."
Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, which has about 40,000 members, says Latinos and Muslims share "common denominators" as immigrants -- "immigration issues, as it is a big discussion in the United States, and there are other issues of trying to find a job, keep a job, buy a home -- all the same struggles two groups of people happen to be going through creates this bond between them".
Another commonality is through Spain's historical ties with Islam and the cultural similarities between Hispanics and Muslims.
Iman Musri says, "Many who come from Central and South America come with conservative values and, as well, Muslims come with conservative values. And here in the States they find that those values are put in[to] question or are being challenged. So it is common to see Hispanics and Muslims working on similar projects in terms of family and education and reforms to protect their values, their conservative values they have."
Many of my neighbors and associates are Hispanic. I consider myself sensitive to their cultural values and heritage. I have never heard anyone discuss their cultural similarities or "common denominators" with Muslim issues. If I am remiss (ignorant) in my knowledge of 1) Muslim (Moors) influence on Hispanic culture or 2) commonalities between Muslim and Hispanic conservatism -- I apologize.
I will discuss this with my associates and post again ....
If any readers have thoughts/reactions to this article, please feel free to comment.
A comment at a previous post prompted me to assess (again) my reasons for supporting Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States.
But before I share my reasons -- I often wonder about his reasons for seeking the most powerful office in the world.
I wonder why any man who has amassed millions of dollars in economic and business ventures would even want to expose himself and his family to a labyrinth of caustic critics, quibbling detractors, moral dissectors and political piranha -- especially as a conservative!
And then I realized that there is something unique about Mitt Romney. Something more unique than his magnetic demeanor. Something unique about his composure, his deportment, his confidence, his optimism, his delivery.
He is genuine. He doesn't hedge his message with hyperbole. He is substantive, informed, aware of issues that face our nation, domestically and globally. No one denies his intelligence or expertise. He's smart. And he communicates that "smartness" with ease -- and just as importantly -- without condescension.
Have you ever listened to a politician and felt that he was speaking by rote? By canned sound-bytes? Reading from a script prepared by a slogan committee?
Mitt Romney offers a refreshingly candid and contrasting image. His countenance is that of an organizer, a designer, an administrator, an executive, a leader.
If you believe the election of 2006 told us that America wanted and needed change, then Mitt Romney is that change.
Mitt Romney doesn't invoke the visage of a politician. His successes -- political, domestic and international -- have been achieved by a unique focus, a different perspective, a new vista for change.
America needs the character, commitment and leadership of Mitt Romney. Don't be dissuaded by polls, political analysts, op eds and talking heads.
Romney recently commented about opinions and polls concerning his Mormon faith:
"If you did a poll and said: 'Could a divorced actor be elected as president? Would you vote for a divorced actor as president?' my guess is 70 percent would say no. But then they saw Ronald Reagan. They heard him. They heard his vision. They heard his experience. They said: 'I like Ronald Reagan. I'm voting for him.'
The campaign is early .... Not all America knows Mitt Romney or his vision. But once America meets Mitt Romney, I contend that he will be elected the next President of the United States. And he won't be elected as a vote against his probable opponent.
I've been surfing the net regularly for over a week ..... I've come to suspect that I'm the only "unaffiliated" blogger who is brandishing Mitt Romney banners and blog lists in my sidebar.
A comment at a previous post prompted me to assess (again) my reasons for supporting Mitt Romney as the next President of the United States.