[Vision2020] John McCain and Our Veterans

[Tom Hansen]

Greetings Visionaires -

Copied and pasted below is John McCain's acceptence speech (in its 
entirety) presented last night at the Republican National convention.

He went into great detail about his service to our country, what he 
intends to do for our country, and his experiences as a prisoner for war.

However, there is one word, or even forms of this word, that he NEVER 
mentioned.  That word is "veteran".

As the saying goes . . .

His silence is deafening and extremely revealing.

He apparently considers each and every topic he discussed, either in depth 
or in passing, more important than our veterans.

This SICKENS me.

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Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have a privilege given few Americans — 
the privilege of accepting our party's nomination for president of the 
United States. And I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence. 

In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination 
wasn't any different. That's a tribute to the candidates who opposed me 
and their supporters. They're leaders of great ability, who love our 
country, and wished to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor I 
won't forget. 

I'm grateful to the president for leading us in those dark days following 
the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from 
another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the first lady, Laura 
Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I'm 
grateful to the 41st president and his bride of 63 years, and for their 
outstanding example of honorable service to our country. 

As always, I'm indebted to my wife, Cindy, and my seven children. The 
pleasures of family life can seem like a brief holiday from the crowded 
calendar of our nation's business. But I have treasured them all the more, 
and can't imagine a life without the happiness you give me. Cindy said a 
lot of nice things about me tonight. But, in truth, she's more my 
inspiration than I am hers. Her concern for those less blessed than we 
are — victims of land mines, children born in poverty and with birth 
defects — shows the measure of her humanity. I know she will make a great 
first lady. 

When I was growing up, my father was often at sea, and the job of raising 
my brother, sister and me would fall to my mother alone. Roberta McCain 
gave us her love of life, her deep interest in the world, her strength and 
her belief we are all meant to use our opportunities to make ourselves 
useful to our country. I wouldn't be here tonight but for the strength of 
her character. 

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who helped me win this nomination and 
stood by me when the odds were long. I won't let you down. To Americans 
who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration 
and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it. 

Finally, a word to Sen. Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it over the 
next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big 
differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite 
our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow 
Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We're 
dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed 
by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater 
cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I 
didn't honor Sen. Obama and his supporters for their achievement. 

But let there be no doubt, my friends, we're going to win this election. 
And after we've won, we're going to reach out our hand to any willing 
patriot, make this government start working for you again, and get this 
country back on the road to prosperity and peace. 

These are tough times for many of you. You're worried about keeping your 
job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and 
stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your 
side, not in your way. And that's just what I intend to do: stand on your 
side and fight for your future. 

And I've found just the right partner to help me shake up Washington, Gov. 
Sarah Palin of Alaska. She has executive experience and a real record of 
accomplishment. She's tackled tough problems like energy independence and 
corruption. She's balanced a budget, cut taxes and taken on the special 
interests. She's reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats 
and independents to serve in her administration. She's the mother of five 
children. She's helped run a small business, worked with her hands and 
knows what it's like to worry about mortgage payments and health care and 
the cost of gasoline and groceries. 

She knows where she comes from, and she knows who she works for. She 
stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit 
down. I'm very proud to have introduced our next vice president to the 
country. But I can't wait until I introduce her to Washington. And let me 
offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, 
country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming.
 
I'm not in the habit of breaking promises to my country, and neither is 
Gov. Palin. And when we tell you we're going to change Washington and stop 
leaving our country's problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you 
can count on it. We've got a record of doing just that, and the strength, 
experience, judgment and backbone to keep our word to you. 

You know, I've been called a maverick; someone who marches to the beat of 
his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment, and sometimes it's 
not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for 
a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I 
work for you. 

I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were 
Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be 
held accountable. I've fought big spenders in both parties who waste your 
money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy 
groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I've fought 
to get million-dollar checks out of our elections. I've fought lobbyists 
who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I 
fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union 
bosses. 

I fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq, when it wasn't a 
popular thing to do. And when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I 
said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war. 

Thanks to the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus, and the 
brave men and women he has the honor to command, that strategy succeeded 
and rescued us from a defeat that would have demoralized our military, 
risked a wider war and threatened the security of all Americans. 

I don't mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, I've had quite a 
few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the 
way. In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is 
the real test. 

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from 
Farmington Hills, Mich., who lost their real estate investments in the bad 
housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for 
seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills. 

I fight for Jake and Toni Wimmer of Franklin County, Pa. Jake works on a 
loading dock, coaches Little League and raises money for the mentally and 
physically disabled. Toni is a schoolteacher, working toward her master's 
degree. They have two sons; the youngest, Luke, has been diagnosed with 
autism. Their lives should matter to the people they elect to office. They 
matter to me. 

I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfboro, N.H., who died 
serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every 
day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their 
son loved so well and never returned to remains safe from its enemies. 

I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected 
to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust 
of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of 
corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both 
parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing 
ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and 
Sen. Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We 
lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles. 

We're going to change that. We're going to recover the people's trust by 
standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, 
Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics. 

We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the 
opportunity to reach their God-given potential from the boy whose 
descendents arrived on the Mayflower to the Latina daughter of migrant 
workers. We're all God's children, and we're all Americans.

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 $3,500 to $7,000 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. 

When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents 
deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give 
it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a 
private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that 
choice, and their children will have that opportunity. 

Sen. Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched 
bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when 
I'm president, they will.

My fellow Americans, when I'm president, we're going to embark on the most 
ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 
billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We will attack 
the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will 
drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now. We will build more 
nuclear power plants. We will develop clean coal technology. We will 
increase the use of wind, tide, solar and natural gas. We will encourage 
the development and use of flex fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles. 

Sen. Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling 
and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We 
must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue 
our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the 
health of our planet. It's an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious 
by nature, and we have faced greater challenges. It's time for us to show 
the world again how Americans lead. 

This great national cause will create millions of new jobs, many in 
industries that will be the engine of our future prosperity; jobs that 
will be there when your children enter the workforce. 

Today, the prospect of a better world remains within our reach. But we 
must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly and face 
them, as Americans before us did, with confidence, wisdom and resolve. 

We have dealt a serious blow to Al-Qaeda in recent years. But they are not 
defeated, and they'll strike us again if they can. Iran remains the chief 
state sponsor of terrorism and on the path to acquiring nuclear weapons. 
Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have 
rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. 
They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the 
world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors and further their ambitions 
of reassembling the Russian empire. And the brave people of Georgia need 
our solidarity and prayers. As president, I will work to establish good 
relations with Russia so we need not fear a return of the Cold War. But we 
can't turn a blind eye to aggression and international lawlessness that 
threatens the peace and stability of the world and the security of the 
American people. 

We face many threats in this dangerous world, but I'm not afraid of them. 
I'm prepared for them. I know how the military works, what it can do, what 
it can do better and what it should not do. I know how the world works. I 
know the good and the evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who 
share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to 
stand up to those who don't. I know how to secure the peace. 

When I was 5 years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy 
officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese 
had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years. My 
grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had 
borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest 
friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I 
hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination. 

I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe, and prevent 
other families from risking their loved ones in war as my family has. I 
will draw on all my experience with the world and its leaders, and all the 
tools at our disposal — diplomatic, economic, military and the power of 
our ideals — to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace. 

In America, we change things that need to be changed. Each generation 
makes its contribution to our greatness. The work that is ours to do is 
plainly before us. We don't need to search for it.

We need to change the way government does almost everything: from the way 
we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from 
the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation 
network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our 
children. All these functions of government were designed before the rise 
of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end 
of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the 
way we do business in Washington. 

The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems 
isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to 
Washington to work for themselves and not you. 

Again and again, I've worked with members of both parties to fix problems 
that need to be fixed. That's how I will govern as president. I will reach 
out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again. I have 
that record and the scars to prove it. Sen. Obama does not. 

Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn't think of them first, 
let's use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who 
gets the credit, let's try sharing it. This amazing country can do 
anything we put our minds to. I will ask Democrats and independents to 
serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for 
transparency and accountability. 

We're going to finally start getting things done for the people who are 
counting on us, and I won't care who gets the credit. 

I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have 
been her servant first, last and always. And I've never lived a day, in 
good times or bad, that I didn't thank God for the privilege. 

Long ago, something unusual happened to me that taught me the most 
valuable lesson of my life. I was blessed by misfortune. I mean that 
sincerely. I was blessed because I served in the company of heroes, and I 
witnessed a thousand acts of courage, compassion and love. 

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd 
mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe 
and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent 
then, too. I liked to bend a few rules and pick a few fights for the fun 
of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think 
there was a cause more important than me. 

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. 

I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such 
personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its 
hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot 
forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help 
me God. 

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.

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Pro patria, 
 
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but th 
tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." 
 
-- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.


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