John McCain - My Opinion

As you all know, Mitt Romney is my man. He's the one I wanted to be the next president of the United States. He's the one I had faith and trust in. He's the one I believed could lead us to a brighter future. I literally cried the day he dropped from the race. The fear which overwhelmed me was tremendous. McCain had done many admirable things in his life, but McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy and McCain-Lieberman were seriously coloring my opinion of him. With all that, I still knew he'd kick butt on the War on Terror.

So, I did the unthinkable. I looked into Barack Obama a little more and my terror over McCain dwindled to nothing as I saw the horror that is Barack Obama. Obama finally started releasing his plans for the nation and it became very clear to me. In order for Obama's plans for America to come to fruition we must turn to wholesale Communism. This was not only unacceptable, it made every word which fell from Obama's lips fighting words. I started looking for things to like in McCain and it was easier than I thought.

As a fighter pilot he was shot down over Hanoi. With two broken arms, and a broken leg, he fell to the ground and was immediately surrounded by and beaten by a mob. They shoved him in a cell with two other Americans, and left him to die. His cellmate that night said he was certain McCain wouldn't make it through the night. But you see, they'd put McCain in with Americans. They said he began to talk and didn't stop for hours. McCain made it through the night.

Let's read this in John McCain's own words from his acceptance speech given the last night of the Republican Convention:

"Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn’t feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn’t set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn’t get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.

"I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn’t in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.

"A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I’d been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I’d been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

"When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn’t know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.

"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s."

Here is the video of his entire speech:



I am reminded of the honor which is John McCain. I am reminded that while we are all far from perfect, see the above legislation, honor and integrity can still exist. Under extreme torture and pressure, John McCain stood tall. He suffered, he bled and he nearly died, all in defense of his country. This is a reason to honor him.

As president of this nation, John McCain has promised:

"We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.

"We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.

"We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.

"I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

"My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

"Keeping taxes low helps small businesses grow and create new jobs. Cutting the second highest business tax rate in the world will help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas. Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000 will improve the lives of millions of American families. Reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs will let you keep more of your own money to save, spend and invest as you see fit. Opening new markets and preparing workers to compete in the world economy is essential to our future prosperity.

"I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed. Government assistance for unemployed workers was designed for the economy of the 1950s. That’s going to change on my watch. My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.

"We will prepare them for the jobs of today. We will use our community colleges to help train people for new opportunities in their communities. For workers in industries that have been hard hit, we'll help make up part of the difference in wages between their old job and a temporary, lower paid one while they receive retraining that will help them find secure new employment at a decent wage.

"Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work."

All the things the Democrats said McCain didn't address in his speech, he did. He made promises to the American people and we must elect this man and hold him to those promises. The only way to do that is to be ever vigilant in regards to our government, every aspect of it. Flood the White House and Congress with calls, emails and faxes and demand these promises be kept.

• We must drill for oil within America's borders while pursuing all viable options for fuel, as long as food is not the source of that energy.
  
• We must build that southern fence, completely sealing our southern borders so that the drug cartels, kidnappers and other criminal class of countries south of our border can no longer freely commit crimes and haul drugs across our border.
  
• We must find a solution for illegal immigration. A viable, workable, affordable solution, because to do nothing is not the answer.
• We must stand tall to the world and apologize for nothing. We are America. We fought, and we've fought hard, for this nation and we will NOT be ashamed. We will sing our anthem with pride. We will proudly display our American flag. We will stand by our soldiers through all their missions. We will uphold the law of the land. We will fight for and defend the Constitution of the United States. We must demand our government do the same.
• We must cut all government programs which violate the Constitution of the United States (which are huge amounts.) Leave that to Sarah, America will be better off when she is done.

My faith in John McCain has been restored because of the wisdom of his choice of Vice President, Sarah Palin. Without question my enthusiasm and support were waning until he chose this woman of honor, strength, integrity and sheer grit. If McCain is willing to turn her loose on the pork barrel politicians of Washington, D.C., bring Mitt Romney on and put him in charge of the economy and then turn lose the dogs of war on the terrorists, keeping the politics out of the war, then we are going to have a pretty sweet four years. It is my prayer he will be this wise.

And so we end with the words of John McCain:

"If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

"I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.

"Fight for what’s right for our country.

"Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

"Fight for our children’s future.

"Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

"Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

"Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

"Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history. "Thank you, and God Bless you."