In this world no person, no party can guarantee anything, but what we can do and what we shall do is to deserve victory, and victory will be ours. The good Lord raised this mighty Republic to be a home for the brave and to flourish as the land of the free - not to stagnate in the swampland of collectivism, not to cringe before the bully of communism. terrorism

Now, my fellow Americans, the tide has been running against freedom. Our people have followed false prophets. We must, and we shall, return to proven ways — not because they are old, but because they are true.

We must, and we shall, set the tide running again in the cause of freedom. And this party, with its every action, every word, every breath, and every heartbeat, has but a single resolve, and that is freedom.

Freedom made orderly for this nation by our constitutional government. Freedom under a government limited by laws of nature and of nature’s God. Freedom balanced so that liberty lacking order will not become the slavery of the prison cell; balanced so that liberty lacking order will not become the license of the mob and of the jungle.

Now, we Americans understand freedom; we have earned it, we have lived for it, and we have died for it. This nation and its people are freedom’s models in a searching world. We can be freedom’s missionaries in a doubting world.

But, ladies and gentlemen, first we must renew freedom’s mission in our own hearts and in our own homes.

…Failures proclaim lost leadership, obscure purpose, weakening wills, and the risk of inciting our sworn enemies to new aggressions and to new excesses.…we are tonight a world divided. We are a nation becalmed. We have lost the brisk pace of diversity and the genius of individual creativity. We are plodding at a pace set by centralized planning, red tape, rules without responsibility, and regimentation without recourse.

Rather than useful jobs in our country, people have been offered bureaucratic make-work; rather than moral leadership, they have been given bread and circuses; they have been given spectacles, and, yes, they’ve even been given scandals.

Tonight there is violence in our streets, corruption in our highest offices, aimlessness among our youth, anxiety among our elderly; and there’s a virtual despair among the many who look beyond material success toward the inner meaning of their lives. And where examples of morality should be set, the opposite is seen. Small men and women seeking great wealth or power have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.

…Simple honesty is not too much to demand of men and women in government. We find it in most. Republicans demand it from everyone. They demand it from everyone no matter how exalted or protected his or her position might be.

…History shows us, demonstrates that nothing, nothing prepares the way for tyranny more than the failure of public officials to keep the streets from bullies and marauders.

Now, we Republicans see all this as more - much more - than the rest: of mere political differences or mere political mistakes. We see this as the result of a fundamentally and absolutely wrong view of man, his nature and his destiny.

Those who seek to live your lives for you, to take your liberty in return for relieving you of yours, those who elevate the state and downgrade the citizen, must see ultimately a world in which earthly power can be substituted for divine will. And this nation was founded upon the rejection of that notion and upon the acceptance of God as the author of freedom.

Now, those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny.

Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions, ladies and gentlemen, of equality. Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.

Fellow Republicans, it is the cause of Republicanism to resist concentrations of power, private or public, which enforce such conformity and inflict such despotism.

It is the cause of Republicanism to ensure that power remains in the hands of the people — and, so help us God, that is exactly what a Republican president will do with the help of a Republican Congress.

It is further the cause of Republicanism to restore a clear understanding of the tyranny of man over man in the world at large. it is our cause to dispel the foggy thinking which avoids hard decisions in the delusion that a world of conflict will somehow resolve itself into a world of harmony, if we just don’t rock the boat or irritate the forces of aggression-and this is hogwash.

It is further the cause of Republicanism to remind ourselves, and the world, that only the strong can remain free: that only the strong can keep the peace.

…We know that the misunderstandings of centuries are not to be wiped away in a day or wiped away in an hour. But we pledge, we pledge, that human sympathy - what our neighbors to the south call an attitude of simpatico — no less than enlightened self-interest will be our guide.

…I know this freedom is not the fruit of every soil. I know that our own freedom was achieved through centuries by unremitting efforts by brave and wise men. And I know that the road to freedom is a long and a challenging road, and I know also that some men may walk away from it, that some men resist challenge, accepting the false security of governmental paternalism.

My fellow Republicans, we do no man a service by hiding freedom’s light under a bushel of mistaken humility. I seek an America proud of its past, proud of its ways, proud of its dreams, and determined actively to proclaim them. But our examples to the world must, like charity, begin at home.

In our vision of a good and decent future, free and peaceful, there must be room, room for the liberation of the energy and the talent of the individual, otherwise our vision is blind at the outset.

We must assure a society here which, while never abandoning the needy, or forsaking the helpless, nurtures incentives and opportunity for the creative and the productive.

We must know the whole good is the product of many single contributions.

And I cherish the day when our children once again will restore as heroes the sort of men and women who, unafraid and undaunted, pursue the truth, strive to cure disease, subdue and make fruitful our natural environment, and produce the inventive engines of production - science and technology.

This nation, whose creative people have enhanced this entire span of history, should again thrive upon the greatness of all those things which we - we as individual citizens - can and should do.

During Republican years, this again will be a nation of men and women, of families proud of their role, jealous of their responsibilities, unlimited in their aspirations nation where all who can will be self-reliant.

We Republicans see in our constitutional form of government the great framework which assures the orderly but dynamic fulfillment of the whole man as the great reason for instituting orderly government in the first place.

We see in private property and in economy based upon and fostering private property the one way to make government a durable ally of the whole man rather than his determined enemy. We see in the sanctity of private property the only durable foundation for constitutional government in a free society.

And beyond all that we see and cherish diversity of ways, diversity of thoughts, of motives, and accomplishments. We don’t seek to live anyone’s life for him. We only seek to secure his rights, guarantee him opportunity, guarantee him opportunity to strive, with government performing only those needed and constitutionally sanctioned tasks which cannot otherwise be performed.

We Republicans seek a government that attends to its inherent responsibilities of maintaining a stable monetary and fiscal climate, encouraging a free and a competitive economy, and enforcing law and order.

Thus do we seek inventiveness, diversity, and creative difference within a stable order, for we Republicans define government’s role where needed at many, many levels — preferably, though, the one closest to the people involved: our towns and our cities, then our counties, then our states, then our regional contacts, and only then the national government.

That, let me remind you, is the land of liberty built by decentralized power. On it, also, we must have balance between the branches of government at every level.

Balance, diversity, creative difference - these are the elements of Republican equation. Republicans agree, Republicans agree heartily to disagree on many, many of their applications. But we have never disagreed on the basic fundamental issues of why you and I are Republicans.

This is a party — this Republican party is a party for free men. Not for blind followers and not for conformists.

…The task of preserving and enlarging freedom at home and safeguarding it from the forces of tyranny abroad is great enough to challenge all our resources and to require all our strength.

Anyone who joins us in all sincerity, we welcome. Those, those who do not care for our cause, we don’t expect to enter our ranks, in any case. And let our Republicanism, so focused and so dedicated, not be made fuzzy and futile by unthinking and stupid labels.

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!

The beauty of the very system we Republicans are pledged to restore and revitalize, the beauty of this federal system of ours, is in its reconciliation of diversity with unity. We must not see malice in honest differences of opinion, and no matter how great, so long as they are not inconsistent with the pledges we have given to each other in and through our Constitution.

Our Republican cause is not to level out the world or make its people conform in computer-regimented sameness. Our Republican cause is to free our people and light the way for liberty throughout the world. Ours is a very human cause for very humane goals. This party, its good people, and its unquestionable devotion to freedom will not fulfill the purposes of this campaign which we launch here now until our cause has won the day, inspired the world, and shown the way to a tomorrow worthy of all our yesteryears.

Emphasis and editing courtesy of badrose. Where am I going with this? Stay tuned…

Maybe it’s because I have a degree in psychology (would you like fries with your order?) or maybe I’ve come to believe that everything has more than one meaning or maybe I’m just overdue for a “makeover” BUT:

Has anyone else noticed this?  Coincidence or clever subliminal marketing?  There’s the obvious visual allusion in the CHANEL black/white logo and the more subtle psychological allusion:  the CHANEL style and fashion is described as having five essentials:  audacious, perfectionist, unique, passionate, and visionary.  All desirable qualities in a candidate, wouldn’t you say?

So, are we supposed to choose our next president much like we choose our Spring wardrobe?  Then I’m voting for the candidate that: doesn’t wrinkle easily, hides dirt, makes me look twenty pounds thinner, won’t go out of style or cost me more than a hundred bucks.

Barack Obama’s marketing people are brilliant and well worth every penny he pays them.  Every time I thought of Obama, I subconsciously thought perfect mix of black, white, elegance, audacity, perfection, uniqueness, passion and vision (that I can’t afford).

Unfortunately, Ted Kennedy smashed the allusion.  Audacious? Possibly.  Costs more than I can justify?  Definitely.

In fairness, I’ve looked for subliminal messages from the other presidential contenders and have yet to find anything profound.  I have, however, eaten lots of chocolate.

when you drop me as a FRIEND on facebook….

According to reports, Fred Thompson plans to end his bid for the White House…..

…then these two pictures are PRICELESS:

How Hillary looks upon a crook…..

How Hillary looks upon an American hero….

While Virginia is known as the Mother of Presidents, she is also the Mother of Heroes. Today we mourn the passing of two of her heroes. Rep. Jo Ann Davis paved the way to the U.S. Capitol for other daughters of the commonwealth to one day tread. Her first piece of legislation, passed by the House, increased the life insurance benefit paid to survivors of military members killed on duty.

Pvt. Daniel Fisher, of Henry County, was preparing to also serve his commonwealth and country. He also lived by the motto, not self but others. We are truly blessed to live among such great Virginians.

Godspeed.

before I salute Jesse MacBeth.

Normally, I don’t endorse or support any candidate for the presidency. Namely, because my endorsement is the “kiss of death” to a candidacy (as well as to mutual funds). The last time “my guy” won the White House was 1984 and Ronald Reagan was the incumbent. Even my support couldn’t keep him down.

This year, I’ve quietly been pulling for Fred Dalton Thompson. Two reasons:

1. He entered the race later than the other candidates so there hasn’t been as much time for “the dirt” to come out but primarily because

2. He’s a Dalton. I’m a Dalton. Daltons are good people. Chances are, Fred and I are related because Daltons love to marry other Daltons. My grandfather and Judge Ted Dalton became aware of this when they first met and started tracing their ancestry to see if they were related. Genealogy wasn’t as popular back then and they didn’t have the internet to guide them. Once they realized that Daltons do indeed like to marry other Daltons, they decided to claim each other as kin. That concept has pretty much continued through to the present. If you’re a Dalton, we’ll claim you. And if you’re a Dalton that wants to be president, we’ll support you.

So why, despite our bloodlines, have I decided he won’t get my vote? I’ll gladly tell you - and it’s not pretty. The man dropped me as a friend on facebook. That’s right. Blood is obviously NOT thicker than water when you want to be president. What was my crime? I invited him (Dalton to Dalton) to join the Vote Ham Sandwich for PWC Commonwealth Attorney group. And he dropped me - just like that.

Fred’s obviously fickle and can’t be trusted. One day he’ll say Ahmadinejad looks tacky. The next day you’ll see them suit shopping together at Barneys.

If Fred doesn’t have the courage and conviction to back Ham Sandwich (who has the toughest stance on crime I’ve ever seen** - one I agree with COMPLETELY) then I don’t have the patience to back Fred. I may vote for Ham as a write-in candidate.

Your vote is yours to do with what you will. But remember: Fred dropped me like a bad habit. He’ll drop you, too.

**Ham Sandwich on Criminals:

* Criminals belong in jail.
* Only people who actually are criminals should be in jail.
* If you’re not a criminal, you should not be in jail.
* If you are a criminal, we should put you in jail.
* Jail is only for criminals.
* If there are criminals who are not in jail, we should find out who and where they are and put them in jail.
* Jail is good, but only for criminals.
* Criminals are bad. They belong in jail.
* Felons belong in jail, too.

Well, whether or not you agreed with the decision to allow IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University, the good news is: we can all rest easier and sleep better at night. Obviously, Iran is no threat to us or any other country. Israel is probably dismantling its defense systems and designing new playground equipment even as I type. The entire brouhaha regarding Iran being a threat to us was much ado about nothing. Ahmadinejad said that Iran is not going to attack any country in the world.

That’s good enough for me. Maybe if I book our flights today, the kids and I can still get good accommodations in Tehran for Spring Break. After all, Ahmadinejad said that the Iranians are a peace loving nation, they hate war, and all types of aggression. When was the last time you heard anyone say that about the US or any of its domestic vacation destinations?

The audience on repeated occasion applauded Ahmadinejad when he touched on international crises.

Even with my SAT scores I didn’t stand a chance of being accepted at Columbia University - nope, those students know a lot more than I do and they consistently gave him standing ovations during his address. (Although I am a little curious as to how many of them could identify Iran on a globe…. What’s a globe? Never mind.)

Personally, I’m glad that Ahmadinejad got to speak his mind. The more attention radicals of any sort draw, the better. Many people who had previously been lulled into slumber by their new iPod or American Idol are waking up to the reality of radicals like Ahmadinejad and moveon.org. (If you want to include stock in the New York Times in your portfolio, btw, now’s a good time to buy - it’s at a ten year low.) It’s just too bad that Ahmadinejad didn’t make time for an appearance on Oprah with Elie Wiesel. Who would get more standing ovations, then?

So sleep well like I will, knowing our security is not at risk - not as long as Ahmadinejad has the wheel. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

I used to love to have people come stay at my house but something very, very, almost indescribably tragic happened here and now I have to be more careful. I still enjoy having company but I have no choice but to set down certain rules to insure my safety and more importantly, that of my children. If you want to come stay with us, we’d love to have you! It’s important for my children to be exposed to as many different people from all different walks of life and cultures. I want them to experience and embrace as many different people as our house will hold. The global marketplace they will one day enter is so much larger than it was when I was their age and will keep growing.

So come see us - just follow some simple “House Rules.” First, please call or write (or e-mail) my secretary. She’ll need your full name and some other information like how long you plan to stay, who you’ll be bringing with you, etc. She’ll give your information to my security people who will do a background check and make sure that there’s nothing in your past that indicates you might pose a threat to my children and me. Loads of people have already come here after going through this process, and although it may seem extreme to some, we all agree that once they get here, we have a more enjoyable time. We trust each other more when our intentions are made clear.

These are MY rules and they will be ENFORCED. You are not welcome in my home any other way. I promise I’ll have you arrested for trespassing and sent back to your own home. That’s the way it is and I’m sorry if things are bad in your home - I understand why you want to come here but I just refuse to take any more chances.

If you decide to ignore my rules and come anyway, then guess what! I will pay to send your kids to school with my kids. If you or your family gets hurt or sick (I hope you don’t) I will pay for that, too. You can drive my car. I want you to feel like my home is your sanctuary. Feel free to help yourself to my wet bar. I hope you don’t drink too much and then drive my car but if you do, and you happen to get pulled over for DUI, don’t sweat it. You won’t be arrested because I want you to feel safe and welcome while you’re here enjoying your sanctuary in my home. Besides, it’s too much trouble for me to contact proper law enforcement to deal with a person who came here against my wishes but I’ve allowed to stay.

If you get drunk and drive my car and eventually kill one or both of my children, well, that’s unfortunate. I should’ve seen the warning signs and I should’ve been more careful. Maybe I’ll be more careful in the future. Oh, I almost forgot! If you stay here long enough, Roscoe Reynolds wants to further reward you with in-state tuition for college! What a guy!

Isn’t this absurd? Does anyone else feel like I do? Yes. Jeff Evans does and that’s why he has my full support in his bid for a seat in the Virginia Senate. For 24 years, he served us as a Virginia State Trooper and knows full well the importance of having AND ENFORCING laws. It’s laughable that the majority of our law-makers are lawyers themselves. I’d prefer having more people like Jeff, with experience in putting their lives on the line enforcing the laws.

Take this to the bank: Some of the most honorable, upstanding, bravest and wisest people I know are currently in law enforcement or have been. If men or women like Scott White, Marshall Farley, Richard Brown or Darrell Bowling ever seek a seat in the VA General Assembly, regardless of their party affiliation, they also will have my full support.

Vote Jeff Evans. I am.