Regardless of your political party, we all know none of us would be able to live the life we lead without the support of the military’s efforts.
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” - George Washington

“I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” - Nathan Hale, hung as a spy by the British at the age of twenty one - Sept. 21, 1776

“The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world…I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” -George W. Bush

“Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible.” -Barack Obama

  Go America, GO!

Being able to vote is a fundamental component of being American.  I think of the many people in my family who are World War II veterans and what they fought for so I can vote, among other American privileges: my grandfather, who was awarded the Purple Heart as a member of the Third Division of the Marines in the Pacific, my Aunt Bette, who was one of the first women in the Navy, and my uncle Edward, who was president of his high school class at Farmington High School and was killed in the Pacific, aged 18, at Iwo Jima.  I also think of the Eagle Scout project my brother R.J. did in honor of this at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Connecticut.

Today we invite you to post your comments on what being able to vote as an American means to you.

-Chrissy

Sadly, a very large portion of this collective IOU of the American people is going to be financed by China, adding to already ONE TRILLION in IOU’s they already hold. This gives them even more leverage over us.

We have become a debtor nation - a nation DEEPLY in debt at that - and the horizon looks bleak: baby boomers are retiring. This event alone will result in the largest transfer of wealth -  from the young to the elderly - in American history.  Countries don’t rise by taking from the young and investing in the elderly. Most retirees will enjoy about two decades of retirement, with their Social Security checks and, much more costs, their medical paid for entirely by the tax paying populace. This price tag is above TEN TRILLION DOLLARS alone, and we not yet even begun to meet this baby boomer burden.

Consider our trade deficit of $800,000,000 a year. We have trillions of IOU’s outstanding in the form of our dollars sitting in foreign coffers.

These are not the statistics worthy of the greatest country in the world. They are statistics of a perenially bankrupt country like Argentina.

We must dismantle the socialist state we are creating (think socialized heathcare) to stave off a  slow and sickening European style dealth of managed decline and pathetic emasculation. Americans must save again and take care of themselves.  The financial independence of the American people is critical to the independence of the United States itself. A nation of  government-teat addicts cannot lead the world. If we don’t snap ourselves of our national overindulgence we will ultimately be overtaken by more vigorous peoples, as we see can see happening so painfully quickly every day.

As the gruesome chasm between our financial capacities and our obligations continues to grow, we will be forced to make decisions. These decisions will be made under duress, a bad time to negotiate, unless we begin to act now and with determination. Two steps are absolutely critical.

1) Raise the retirement age and cut benefits.

2) Become a manufacturing country again.

Focusing on the second:  Our currency in foreign hands have to come back to America ultimately. The question is merely whether foreigners buy the country, our banks, companies and real estate, etc. or whether they buys goods from us. Let’s sell them the latter.

If America doesn’t make anything, we will have nothing to sell them but our core assets. We cannot continue to allow China to artifically subsidize its products in the form of an undervalued currency while we lose more and more of our manufacturing edge - if we even have one anymore.

The American government must begin to lay out a long term plan for American solvency.

America is getting deeper and deeper into a hole. Every country has its ups and downs, the job for Americans today is to think about the long term, and not just in selfish terms, and how we are going to ensure that in another one hundred years we remain the world’s greatest nation. It is our choice, and only we will determine the answer.

-Raj

To quote the official website of the games:
It conveys the lofty ideal of the people in Beijing as well as in China to share the global community and civilization and to create a bright future hand in hand with the people from the rest of the world. It expresses the firm belief of a great nation, with a long history of 5,000 years and on its way towards modernization, that is committed to peaceful development, harmonious society and people’s happiness.

In order for the United States of America, in challenging times such as today, to overcome adversity, each individual citizen must embrace excellence in their own life and go for their own personal gold. A bright future is ensured here in America when we stand united in our pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and most importantly, when we own our individual dedication, achieving our highest potential. Such American ideals enable us to pursue excellence uniquely in the world and have made us the envy of the world. America’s 232 year consistent history has historically embraced the ideals of the games and has not conveniently adopted such ideals in the international spotlight. As Americans, we cannot allow ourselves to become stagnant, apathetic or satisfied to listen to national political figureheads fight our races that affect us, but not nearly as much as we affect ourselves. We are accountable for the effects our daily actions have on our lives. We must be the best we can be as Americans, and the athletes inspire us not only in their obvious talent but also in the class they show in letting their action speak louder than words, as shown in the men’s swimming relay that secured the gold in front of France’s silver that answered France’s verbal commentary prior to the race. Such success in the light of criticism and empty threats make American victories that much sweeter.

To quote the founder, Pierre de Coubertin, who ironically is French:

L’important n’est pas de gagner, mais de participer.
The important thing is not to win, but to take part.

Whether it is Michael Phelps’s and his team’s legendary performances in the pool, the flips of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson or Eric Shanteau who is not only competing as an elite athlete but also battling cancer, that inspires you, let the Olympic performances carry your patriotism. Take part in pursuing an active role in all areas of your life. Keep America on top! Go America, GO! Best of luck to all athletes.

Within its bounds lie key attributes of modern America. Moving west from the banks on the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the rolling hills of rural Montgomery County, the district runs from deep blue Dem territory to bright GOP turf. The district transforms from scenes of post-industrial decline in the City with miles shuddered factories, old row-homed neighborhoods, into shiny new office parks, the most prosperous suburbs in Pennsylvania, in the west, green fields. Voters are split nearly dead even between Republicans (49) and Democrats (51), however the trend has been favoring the Democratic Party. Demographically as well, the picture is balanced; approximately 75% white, 10 % black and 10% Hispanic. More than a vignette of Pennsylvania, it is a picture of America. The race between Hillary and Barack in this district is a test of the mood of the nation. If the 13th goes strongly for Barack, it will be a mandate for change. John McCain will have no chance at all.

Keep your eyes on the results for this district. As it goes, so will America. I know the place pretty well. It’s home and where I ran for Congress.

The Reagan era came and went in the 1980s, followed by prosperity in the 1990s, and as what goes up must come down, all has come down.

Unlike the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, the United States today is not in an underdog position. We are the top superpower in the world, and to defend such status, we must return to the principles set forth by our founding fathers. In Colonial America, our founding fathers were the underdogs. They believed in miracles, and also in hard work. Then 204 years later so did Herb Brooks. His hardnosed style and penchant for hard work laid the fundamentals for success. If he was here today I believe he would embrace the ten principles set forth by Bhakta in “Go America, GO! Ten things you can do to save America.”

Today, who is going to be the Mark Johnson to tie up the score? Who is going to be the Mike Eruzione to secure the victory?  [Mark Johnson seen below right with the author]

The greatest sports moment of the 20th century - as titled by Sports Illustrated- is what Go America, GO! would be if it had skates.

What will be our medal for 2008? What will be today’s moment of triumph? That is up to you, America. Each person must exemplify personal responsibility so collectively all Americans can live a life like that hockey team once did, piled up on top of each other on the ice in sweet victory knowing that dreams do come true.

Only in America.

Go America, GO! We believe in miracles.

Plagued by the priest scandal, questioned by both society and some of its own members as to the role women play in the church, and various other issues, the Catholic Church in America, similar to America itself, has been on unsteady ground. In his speech, Pope Benedict stated:

“As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience - almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24).”

All Americans, regardless of their faith, should look upon the Pope’s visit to America as a symbol of national renewal and an opportunity to appreciate the freedoms that this great country affords its citizens. Each American should evaluate his or her own situation in today’s era. Despite rising gas prices, a war that has no clear end, and a presidential election where negativity garners too much attention, each American should find the good in their lives and the good in our country and appreciate what we all have as Americans. May each American examine their own lives to evaluate whether he or she is truly achieving their full potential, in a nation that allows its citizens such freedom to attain their highest goals.

God Bless America!

I hope this approach of boycotting and effectively sticking our head in the sand does indicate the approach Senator Clinton would take as President. America’s problem with China is not their treatment of their own people, but how we are allowing them to treat America.While human rights should and must always be a prime concern in US foreign policy, our problems with China are much more immediate and dangerous. China has been allowed, even encouraged, to achieve their calculated and spectacularly success program of hollowing out and consuming America’s industrial backbone. We all know that “Made in China” tags far outnumber those of “Made in the USA.” We have allowed China to make us so deeply dependent on their loans that Chinese that they could single-handedly sink our country into an economic depression if they demanded to be repaid.

Our problem is that we have allowed China to make Americans addicts, as once the Chinese were opium, of their cheap, subsidized goods bought on their easy credit. But there is no free lunch in this world, and with each passing day we sink further into dependancy on China for our goods and money. Indeed, our problems with China are not the well-known brutality of that totalitarian regime. Our problem is that the Chinese are building a mighty empire on the weakening back of America. Our politicians, all the while, are complaining about human rights. If we do not compete with China and WIN in global economics, we will not be in a position to fight for human rights abroad at all. We will, instead, be fighting to secure human rights from China right here at home. So, Senator Clinton, we can’t hide behind human rights, we need to win economically. Economic wars are not won by boycotts; they are won by establishing a level playing field for American companies, by forcing China to stop making their goods artificially cheap though playing games with their currency, and by investing in education and infrastructure.

Go America, Go!

The Harvard Islamic Society, representing among of the world’s least tolerant religions, requests Harvard University, perhaps the most prestigious place of higher learning in the world, to ban men from the school gym at certain hours. The request was made so Muslim women might not be seen by a man as they exercise. Harvard University, wishing to demonstrate it tolerance, complies.

In a most stupendous feat of creative reasoning, Harvard University has banned half the student body, based solely on their gender, so as to accommodate a small minority of Muslim women who have had the tradition of cloaking themselves foisted upon them. A tradition, furthermore, that is fundamentally repressive to women, though the victims are sometimes unaware or have been convinced of the opposite.

Bravo Harvard! They can chalk up an A for rationalizing the insane. They get an F, however, in representing the core American values of justice and liberty.  This is a consideration more important than the repressive nature of Islam.  The United States and the West, though our relative preeminence is on the wane, remain the most successful societies on human record. This is a consequence of our Judeo-Christian heritage.  Harvard was founded as a divinity school.  The preachers produced by Harvard made it what it is today.  Harvard and its distinguished alumni were at the vanguard of those in the North who stood up and declared slavery to be wrong.  They did not blunder into perverse reasoning that we should “tolerate” the South’s long-standing “tradition” of human bondage.  Harvard preachers and alumni were once taught to prize and, despite any opposition, promote a tradition in Western civilization of seeking justice for all.

Harvard claims a desire respect the Muslim tradition.  Islamic tradition holds that a women’s skin should not be defiled by the gaze of the opposite sex.  Muslims fear, based on their experience in a highly sexually repressed society, a situation which breeds all manners of perversion and neurosis, that mayhem and rape would occur were women not bundled up like mediaeval nuns.  Were these women at home, I would understand their fears. Forget the men on the streets; they would be arrested by the religious police in many places.

America, thank God, unlike Saudi Arabia, is a civilized nation. Women are generally free from the fear of being groped or raped for wearing shorts and certainly don’t need to worry about being beaten by the religious police if they do chose to wear a T-shirt.

For a storied University of this great country to be pandering to the almost mediaeval repression and prejudice is flat our sickening.   What is Harvard teaching America’s future elite:  That we have no values of our own; that we should jettison our own traditions, irrespective of their nobility, if they offend anyone at all?  By such logic, Harvard should ban beef so as not to offend Hindus, and pork for the sake of orthodox Jewish students.  Certainly any accommodation of Christianity, the religion which provided Harvard University and this country with its foundation, would be out of the question.  

Of all the crazy things I have heard, this is among the top. Harvard prides itself with having an open mind. In this case, it is so wide open that their brains have leaked out. The schools agenda, in this case, is being dictated to by a religion that bonds and enslaves women.  Growing elements of Islam have declared death to our nation and way of life. Worst of all, Harvard has abandoned the praiseworthy values of freedom and tolerance they to profess, at least, allegiance.

Harvard forced the resignation of Larry Summers when he commented that men and women think differently. That comment was apparent too outrageous to be tolerated by Harvard. Apparently direct, gender-based discrimination is not.  The President of Harvard University, Ms. Drew Gilpin Faust, should resign.