Democrat voter strike: Change our party now

I am ashamed of my party. But it goes deeper than shame. I am afraid of what my party has become over the last two decades. And judging by the polls, I’m guessing there are millions of Democrats who feel the same unease I feel. It’s almost impossible to process the current American meltdown both at home and abroad. But it’s clear that our party’s leadership is responsible – and not just the president, I mean the whole leadership from Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi to all the power players who line up behind them. Yes, some prominent Democrats have come forward to warn us about the true danger of the “Islamic State,” terrorism’s latest mutation. They express regrets about President Obama’s Iraq withdrawal. But let’s remember this sudden public reversal follows years of get-out-the-vote “happy talk” from most of our party leaders – while they mocked Republican warnings about the danger we faced. Republicans have a right to be angry – we all have a right to be angry. It seems that very little … Continue Reading

9/11 trial: If Flight 93 had hit the Capitol

America is in great danger. With the decision to move the 9/11 trial to a New York courtroom, the Obama administration has made it clear that it does not understand the war being waged on the United States. The likelihood that politics swayed the decision only points more to the president’s deadly ignorance of the nature of this war. The 9/11 attack was not focused on the World Trade Center. It was a multi-pronged attack meant to cut America’s head off, hitting our financial strength in New York and our military strength at the Pentagon, while also hitting our political system. Flight 93 was headed to Washington with the likely target being the Capitol building, the very seat of our democracy. This was no “crime.” But for the true heroism of a few Americans (who knew an existential threat when they saw one), we may have lost our Capitol building, with all its glorious history and symbolism, not to mention the terrible loss of life. A few terrorists on an airliner could have extinguished a … Continue Reading

Tea Party: We’re Reagan’s ‘new patriots’

As I watched the tea-party protests and crowded town halls, I couldn’t help but think of President Reagan. For millions of us, the dismal Carter era sparked a similar political awakening, and Ronald Reagan was the key. He wasn’t the source of our new vision, but he knew the source and pointed the way. He understood the trials ahead, and regularly explained them to us. Back then, most young Americans – like so many today – didn’t understand what had happened to our country. We didn’t fully realize the nature of “liberalism” (especially those of us who were Democrats) until Reagan stepped into the political arena and boldly proclaimed American liberty. Like today, it was a time of economic struggle, and socialism was on the march. In the painful aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, made more painful by a cynical media, self-doubt among traditional Americans was palpable even as we headed toward the 1980 election. But Reagan remained optimistic – and he was a fierce campaigner. He rebuked liberals who blamed America for everything (some … Continue Reading