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I'll vote for"Mac", but not with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Me too. I would just assume to have President Regan for an 8th term but that's seems unlikely to happen. I've never been able to vote for someone I have been 100% happy with as I couldn't vote until June of 1990. As far as the wisdom of the American voting electorate, I lost hope when Clinton was elected to a second term. I figured the first time was just people being sucked in by the snake oil salesman but the second?

I find it interesting that a group of people that educate themselves about the cataclysmic events of WWII would be predominantly conservative. (Or perhaps the not-so-conservative among us are just silent on political matters.) I figure one who understands that some leaders throughout the world only respond to the overwhelming use of force (as we learned too late with the Axis powers) would be one who wouldn't vote for someone who would "talk to our enemies."

I am scared for this November.

Capt O, I was extremely stupid when I was a teenager in the '60s, but fortunately smartened up by the time I could vote. In my parent's house, you'd better vote or else not come home (I think this was the rule of the majority of 1st generation irish-american parents).

We'd discuss issues and candidates, but wouldn't reveal who we voted for till later. I'll never forget the 1980 election, coming home & asking my father who he'd voted for (he'd always voted democrat) and hearing his answer: "Ronald Reagan". Turned out that we ALL voted

for Ronnie. It was the "sea change" that created "Reagan Democrats". Ronnie knew that you cannot "talk to" or reason with your enemies.

In his 1/11/1989 farewell address he wrote: "an informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of it's institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family, you got them from your neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed, you could get a sense of patriotism from popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that too, through the mid 60's.

But now,we are about to enter the 90's and some things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent appreciation is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection."

That to me is the perfect synopsis of what we needed to do and where we've failed.

Ronnie was right and we allowed our schools to be taken over by teachers unions with a leftist agenda, we have a "popular culture" dedicated to tearing down America values and - instead of showing that America IS special, that America is BAD (we should be GLOBAL).

Ronnie was so right "freedom is special & rare, It's fragile: it needs protection". I'd add that it needs that protection from within as well as from without. You guys are doing a fabulous job Capt o - in protecting us from our enemies without, but I think we've been doing a pretty crappy job protecting ourselves from within.

Mary Ann

AMEN MARY ANN

PARKER

+1

Chris

Thanks for your kind words, Mary Ann. I work with a hellova lot of great men and women.

Speaking of Ronaldus Maximus, check out the Heritage Foundation site deidicated to him. Be sure to check out the Regan Resources.

Does anyone know the name of the Vice President, left of picture.. ?

Ha! Moose, you are so BAAADDD!

m2

Moose you IS bad! No your new name is Youisbaad! Knuck-knuck!

Related to the political infrastructure...One thing which totally baffles me is when people claim to be a "democrat" or republican" without having any contextual background. Now I can understand if you are eighteen and you say, :"I am a Democrat and my father and his father were...and we stand for the little man and what is right and good in this country." Okay and bravo, but here's my case in point. When this happened I thought, oh brother, how many more people like this are running around, literally talking off the top of their heads.

A man who performs our year-end inventory, walked into our store again last December. A nice average American guy, eeking out his own living and running an independent business. Hoo-ahh! But every year he comes in and even though we told him, "We don't discuss politics in our store,", will perpetually try to engage us in conversation.

This year was no different, and he tried to bait us into a divided exchange. Uh-uh! Well, our friend happened to be here when this transpired and heard all the rhetoric, etc. I know my buddy's political persuasions, and was delighted he was here to witness this yearly event.

Not being bashful, my friend said to him, "So you are a Democratic yes?" "Oh of course!", he exclaimed. "Well", said my buddy, "So you believe in our welfare system?" "Oh God no!", the inventory man exclaimed, with furrowed brow, and went on to tell us how he disgusted he was with people "mooching" off the system, and not even trying to work. He was pissed off about it. So my buddy continued to ask him questions about his beliefs, and each time the guy would exclaim, "Hell no, everyone is responsible for themselves, and the government doesn't owe anyone a living!".

This went on for a while and finally my buddy turned to him and smiled, "Hey buddy, you aren't a Democrat. With everything you've told me about your belief system, YOU are a libertarian!"

The guy just kind of stammered, and didn't know what to say. He claimed to BE of one persuasion, but when you questioned his values, he was ANYTHING but!

My point? People say one thing because they think it's cool, or because their pappy was, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty, they have no idea what they are talking about. You really have to sit folks down and ask them the pertinent questions. Have them take a 20-20 and discover what they REALLY are. Do you really support the party you say you do? Maybe not kiddo!

I am so sick of the black and white (and I'm not talking skin color) theoretics. Oh, Republicans are war-mongering, selfish, money-hunger boobs. Democratics are... You get the drift. Most of what people and especially young people espouse, are things that they heard on TV, or things they heard in their households as young kids. They hold these to be TRUTHS, and spout them as such in public. They have no idea of the ideology behind the parties they supposedly support. They don't know lick about the history of their parties, nor do they have ANY idea of the ideology of the opposing party. All they know are a couple of "phrase lines", which sound SO cool to say.

Well, I had to get that in this evening. Bottom line; do your homework before you mouth off empty phrases. They don't sit well with educated and broad-minded people. Talking like a ideologic seventeen year-old only works for so long. After that you have to face a REAL world, with real-world values and challenges. Throwing words around fails to be becoming.

Mrs. Marion Chard,And Isay this RESPECTFULLY,, I read and reread the

above and all I can say is that someone should and must take heed

on your article. Especial the last paragraph.

Me when I go vote they ask me before they hand me the ticket,

(Democrat or Republican?) I say neither, I vote for the person I feel

is qualified for that position. M-1 your article is beautiful, this dude

said it. Senor Riojas

Thank you Rocky. I am happy that you read my words with interest and they made an impression. My thoughts? I just want people to explore all the avenues available and to make an educated decision. I want to make people aware of history, ideology, and the entire scope of politics. If you educate yourself, then you can firmly stand up and declare, "I have read all sides of the spectrum, and based on that, I can proudly vote with firm resolve".

When you speak to someone with a strong background, they don't tend to get ruffled feathers. I find the people who get defensive, are ones who aren't firmly planted in their belief systems. They are the ones who rely soley on catch-phrases and hand me down words, and they tend to get rattled when put to the test, because they don't have a solid basis to fall back on. When you question about the day-to-day and ask them how they REALLY feel, they can't give you honest answers. It's like spouting words from a page. Don't tell me what you think I want to hear, or what you heard on the evening news, give me a well-thought out, honest answer.

I still believe that education is one of the key fundamentals of life. They say ignorance is bliss, but I must argue...