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Monday, February 07, 2005

Refresher Course

I always hesitate to mention Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, but especially lately. Good grief, what an embarrassment—to his state, to his country, and most of all, to himself.

How disappointed big brother Jack would be in Teddy’s current rantings against the Iraq war.

If you read what President Bush has been repeatedly saying about our fight in Iraq, it sounds very much like what President John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address on January 20, 1960:

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

That sounds very much like a man of faith talking, doesn’t it? Someone who knew that the blessings of liberty come from our Creator, just as President Bush does.

Do you think President Kennedy, who faced down the Soviets during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, would retreat from Iraq if he were the president today? JFK is, after all, the president who committed our military to Vietnam.

The timeliness of passage below is chillingly prophetic of our current military activity in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a sober warning to other nations, most notable Iran:

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

That one sentence is probably the best summation of the American spirit ever written. You might want to copy it down and keep it with you for easy reference, Senator Kennedy. I’m willing to bet that your brother would be pleased if you did.