Responding to an old high school teacher who I greatly respect

I received an email from an old high school teacher of mine on New Year's Day. His sister (a Republican) had inquired as to his views on the current Presidential race. He decided to share his response with a number of people in his address book (some I know, others I don't). I got an updated email yesterday with his reaction of the Iowa Caucuses. I had wanted to reply to him, but wanted to take my time about it. Here is what I wrote:

B~

Yes, I did want to take the time to respond to your email about your thoughts on the current presidential election cycle. I take it very seriously and didn’t want to just toss off a quick reply… I’m also going to “reply to all”, and I know my view won’t sit well with some of them, as I know of at least one person who REALLY doesn’t like President Bush. I might just post this to my little blog, too…

I, too, am glad I haven’t been subjected to heavy political advertising and being canvassed by telephone like the people in Iowa and other early states. This being said, I don’t like the focus and importance placed on the results of two small states that are not representative of the nation as a whole.

As for President Bush, I agree with his policies with regard to the war with radical Islam. I will, however, admit that some of the execution along the way has been flawed, especially in regard to the number of troops in the aftermath of the fall of Saddam. It hasn’t helped matters that our free and independent press shouting from the rooftops any bad report about the actions of our troops, whether or not those actions were true. Too often, American press reports about Iraq were nothing more than regurgitation of terrorist propaganda – Bilal Hussein is a prime example of this. I disagree profoundly with the president’s stance on illegal immigration. All I can say at this point is: I’m glad it was Bush who was president on 9/11 and not Gore, and that Bush defeated Kerry in 2004. Contrary to what we hear Democrats and the liberal media saying, I do not believe the results of the 2006 mid-term Congressional elections gave Democrats a mandate to do what they wanted to do – with regard to many issues. Many Republican voters just stayed home, because they were fed up with the Republican Congress spending like drunken sailors (my apologies to drunken sailors…). Also, many of the seats that the Democrats picked up were VERY close races in which the Dem candidate was running to the right of the Republican candidate.

Now, on to the current presidential election:

The more I hear from candidates, the more I like Fred Thompson. I don’t like any of the candidates from the Democratic Party. Ron Paul is a nutcase who only has an (R) behind his name because he couldn’t get elected with an (L) behind in, given the district he represents here in Texas. I like McCain with regard to foreign policy and national security, but I can’t trust him on illegal immigration, and I don’t like that he opposed the Bush tax rate cuts (which have actually increased tax revenues overall). I like Giuliani with regard to a tough stance on national security, but I can’t trust him on abortion, illegal immigration or the Second Amendment (and I’m not even a gun owner – just a good observer about “gun free zones” in actuality being “defenseless victim zones”: criminals don’t give a flying flip about signs that say “no guns allowed”, even in states that allow for licensed conceal carry). I can’t trust Romney on many issues – he’s having to change many of the positions he held while the governor of liberal Massachusetts in order to appeal to Republican voters. Romney might be an excellent administrator – he did turn the Salt Lake City Olympics around, after all. But, when he says, in regard to his lack of foreign policy experience, that he’d just “go to the State Department”: Yeah – the same State Department that has been undermining President Bush from the get-go. He also advocates government getting involved in healthcare even more than it already is – mandatory health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, anyone? As for Mike Huckabee… After his early debate performances, I wanted to hear more from him. Now that I have, I don’t like him. He might as well be an anti-abortion Democrat, what with his record on taxes and illegal immigration. I had hoped from the beginning of the campaigning that Tom Tancredo (recently dropping out) and Duncan Hunter would do better, as I really liked their messages on illegal immigration and national security.

Fred Thompson isn’t following a typical game plan with regard to running for president. I like that about him. I like his stand on illegal immigration. I like his stand on foreign policy/nation security. I like his stand on healthcare. I like his stand on taxes and fiscal policy.

Having already said I don’t like any of the Democrats running for president, I suppose I should give some reasons.

Hillary Clinton: I don’t trust her any further than I could throw her, and I can guarantee you, that wouldn’t be very far. She is a socialist. Hillarycare? No, thank you. The government matches up to $1000 for a 401(k) for EVERYONE? No, thank you. The government provides a $5000 bond for every baby born in the United States? No, thank you. She plays dirty politics. She, just as her husband did, takes funding from questionable sources, some of it possibly originating in communist China.

John Edward: Trial lawyer preaching class warfare: Real good coming from a man who owns a huge mansion and gets $400-1200 haircuts. I can’t take him seriously.

Bill Richardson: There was a time when I thought him a reasonable Democrat who I could tolerate as president, if I had to have a Democrat in the Oval Office. However, I think his stated policies, with regard to national security/foreign policy and fighting Islamic radicals, are foolish.

Barack Obama: I will concede that he is an excellent and compelling public speaking and he is very charming. But, what has he done? He has never run a business, or a city, or a state, and he’s only served seven years as a state legislator and not even a complete term as a US senator. Also, he, too, is a socialist. I want the government to not take my tax dollars because it thinks it is able to spend MY money more wisely than I can.

I don’t think rewriting the Constitution is necessary. I think the federal government needs to do less “for the people” – some segments of the American population have come to expect the government to do everything for them. To contrast: many residents of New Orleans expected the government to take the responsibility to take care of them with regard to Hurricane Katrina; in the recent wildfires in California, people didn’t wait on the government to take care of those who needed help: those who were able took it upon themselves to go lend a hand, and the I haven’t heard a big outcry from those who lost everything they owned begging the government to take care of them. We need to elect representatives who will only write legislation that pertains to the enumerated powers of the federal government, who will not pander to ANY special interests. We need judges who don’t try to legislate from the bench, and we need Supreme Court Justices who DO NOT cite FOREIGN or INTERNATIONAL law when writing decisions. The Supreme Court Justices should make decisions based on the Constitution of the United States of America ONLY.

I can only hope that the election in November brings a return of Republican control to the Congress another Republican to the White House. We have a Congress with record low approval rating, coming dangerously close to the single digits: far worse than President Bush’s low approval ratings. Time and again, they have tried to force immediate withdrawal from Iraq which would pretty much be announcing to our enemies “all you have to do is hold out until we leave, and then you can do whatever you want in Iraq”. That would only embolden the terrorists. The Democrats have fought tooth and nail to have our forces leave Iraq in defeat, and I can’t help but think it is in part because they want to hang a military defeat around the neck of their archenemy, George W. Bush. Never mind what is best for the country. It would NOT be “good for America” to leave Iraq before the Iraqis are able to stand on their own two feet. The process might not be as fast as we might like, but it is what it is. Hell, we never left Germany or Japan after WWII. And I can’t help but think how that war would have ended if Roosevelt and Truman had to deal with the same kind of hostile press who has published information about perfectly legal, but previously highly secret, programs that were part of the war effort. As a result of Vietnam, the American public has become highly casualty-averse. Never mind that the current conflict has extremely low casualties, especially when compared to past conflicts. We have yet to lose the number of soldiers in Iraq that we lost in a single days during WWII.

As for the Iowa caucuses, I think it’s funny how Hillary Clinton came in third. I expect to see the long knives come out for Obama. I’ve been sitting here tonight watching the debates on ABC – both the Republican and Democratic debates. Listening to what the candidates have been saying tonight only confirms my thoughts: any Republicans (save maybe Ron Paul) would be better than any of the Democratic candidates. I just can’t take any of the Dems (or Ron Paul) seriously when it comes to the issue highest on my list: national security and The Long War against Islamic radicals. I’ve got a lot more to say with regard to why I like Republicans over Democrats (with the rare except – I can respect someone like Joe Lieberman, who the Democratic Party threw under the bus because he wouldn’t toe the party line in regard to the Iraq War). I’ll save that for later – I’ve already gone on for nearly three entire pages. Just let me know what you want to hear me share my views on, and I’ll see about writing something up.

Oh, one last comment, before I sign off: I know you are fed up with illegal immigration. I really don’t think any of the Democrats will address that issue the way you and I seem to think it needs to be addressed. That issue is number two on my list…

Miss Ladybug