"A Nation of Courage"

I watched Senator McCain and Rudy Giuliani address the RNC. What a great first night.

It is important that McCain endorse President Bush, especially because McCain was Kerry's first choice for Kerry's running mate. McCain's speech was good. He reminded us the stakes in the war against terror:

The awful events of September 11, 2001, declared a war we were vaguely aware of, but hadn't really comprehended how near the threat was and how terrible were the plans of our enemies.

It's a big thing, this war.

It's a fight between a just regard for human dignity and a malevolent force that defiles an honorable religion by disputing God's love for every soul on earth. It's a fight between right and wrong, good and evil.

And my friends, should our enemies acquire for their arsenal the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons they seek, this war will become a much bigger thing.

A bigger thing indeed.

In a slap at Kerry's constant mantra that we have alienated allies McCain said:

But there is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly.

And while this war has many components, we can't make victory on the battlefield harder to achieve so that our diplomacy is easier to conduct.

That's right on. We must not fail to act when the nation is threatened just because some historical allies don't agree with us.

McCain then offered this justification for the war in Iraq:

Whether or not Saddam possessed the terrible weapons he once had and used, freed from international pressure and the threat of military action, he would have acquired them again.

My friends, the central security concern of our time is to keep such devastating weapons beyond the reach of terrorists who can't be dissuaded from using them by the threat of mutual destruction.

We couldn't afford the risk posed by an unconstrained Saddam in these dangerous times. By destroying his regime, we gave hope to people long oppressed, that if they have the courage to fight for it, they may live in peace and freedom.

Most importantly -- most importantly, our efforts may encourage the people of a region, that has never known peace or freedom or lasting stability, that they may someday possess these rights.

He is absolutely right. Even if Saddam didn't have the stockpiles of WMDs last year, he would have acquired them again and used them again, or worse supplied them to our terrorist enemies.

Finally McCain reminded us that while we argue about our politics we are all on the same side

We are Americans first, Americans last, and Americans always.

Let us argue -- let us argue our differences, but remember we are not enemies, but comrades in a war against a real enemy, and take courage from the knowledge that our military superiority is matched only by the superiority of our ideals and our unconquerable love for them.

Our adversaries are weaker than us in arms and men, but weaker still in causes. They fight to express -- they fight to express a hatred for all that is good in humanity. We fight for love of freedom and justice, a love that is invincible.

Keep that faith. Keep your courage. Stick together. Stay strong. Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our president and fight.

We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will.

it was a good speech, not a great speech, but an important speech. Don't forget this endorsement of President Bush came from the man who was Kerry's first choice to be Kerry's running mate.

After McCain's speech, the mood was carefully set for Giuliani's speech. Three survivors of 9/11 victims told their stories of the loss of loved ones. It reminded me, and I'm sure everyone watching, of how we felt that day. I won't ever forget that feeling, but when it is invoked like that it is so powerful. Then Daniel Rodriguez sang Amazing Grace. There weren't many dry eyes in my house.

Giuliani started by invoking President Bush's words from the rubble of the World Trade Center:

Well, I can hear you. The whole world can hear you. And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon.

Giuliani told us that President Bush kept his word:

Well, they heard from us.

They heard from us in Afghanistan and we removed the Taliban.

They heard from us in Iraq, and we ended Saddam Hussein's reign of terror.

And we put him where he belongs, in jail.

They heard from us in Libya, and without firing a shot Gadhafi abandoned his weapons of mass destruction.

They are hearing from us in nations that are now more reluctant to sponsor terrorists or terrorism.

So long as George Bush is our president, is there any doubt they will continue to hear from us until we defeat global terrorism?

There is no doubt in my mind. Giuliani offered this crowd pleaser:

You know, we're just not going to let the terrorists determine where we have political conventions, where we go, how we travel. We're Americans, the land of the free and the home of the brave

. Giuliani reminded us of the failures in the way terrorism was dealt with over the previous thirty years:

The horror, the shock and the devastation of those attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and over the skies of Pennsylvania lifted a cloud from our eyes.

We stood face to face with those people and forces who hijacked not just airplanes, but a great religion and turned it into a creed of terrorism dedicated to killing us and eradicating us and our way of life.

Giuliani recalled that the terrorists who survived their slaughter of the Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich were set free. How Leon Klinghoffer's murderers were likewise set free. And that Yasser Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "while he was supporting a plague of terrorism in the Middle East and undermining any chance of peace:"

Before September 11, we were living with an unrealistic view of our world, much like observing Europe appease Hitler or trying to accommodate the Soviet Union through the use of mutually assured destruction.

President Bush decided that we could no longer be just on defense against global terrorism, we must also be on offense.

On September 20, 2001, President Bush stood before a joint session of Congress, a still grieving and shocked nation and a confused world, and he changed the direction of our ship of state.

He dedicated America, under his leadership, to destroying global terrorism.

The president announced the Bush Doctrine, when he said, "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists."

Giuliani then contrasted President Bush's determined relentless pursuit of the war against terror to Kerry's inconsistency on Iraq. Using Kerry's own words against him Giuliani highlighted just how irresolute Kerry has been on Iraq and what will be the two most played sound bite from this speech:

He even, at one point, declared himself as an antiwar candidate. And now he says he's pro-war candidate. At this rate, with 64 days left, he still has time to change his position four or five more times.

My point about John Kerry being inconsistent is best described in his own words, not mine. I quote John Kerry, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

Maybe this explains John Edwards' need for two Americas.

One is where John Kerry can vote for something and another where he can vote against exactly the same thing.

Giuliani also nailed Kerry for Kerry's claims of foreign support:

Remember, just a few months ago, John Kerry kind of leaked out that claim that certain foreign leaders who opposed our removal of Saddam Hussein prefer him.

Well, to me, that raises the risk that he might well accommodate his position to their viewpoint.

It would not be the first time that John Kerry changed his mind about matters of war and peace.

Finally Giuliani endorsed President Bush's long-term strategy for winning the war against terrorism:

President Bush has also focused us on the correct long-term answer for the violence and hatred emerging from the Middle East. The hatred and anger in the Middle East arises from the lack of accountable governments.

Rather than trying to grant more freedom, or create more income, or improve education and basic health care, these governments deflect their own failures by pointing to America and to Israel and to other external scapegoats.

But blaming these scapegoats does not improve the life of a single person in the Arab world.

It does not relieve the plight of even one woman in .

It does not give a decent living to a single soul in Syria.

It doesn't stop the slaughter of African Christians in the Sudan.

The president understands that the changes necessary in the Middle East involve encouraging accountable, lawful, decent governments that can be role models and solve the problems of their own people

This has been a very important part of the Bush doctrine and the president's vision for the future.

Have faith in the power of freedom. People who live in freedom always prevail over people who live in oppression.

It was a very good speech. I'm sure the mainstream media will try to spin Guliani's speech as a negative attack on Kerry. It wasn't. Giuliani effectively highlighted Kerry's inconsistency, using Kerry's own nuances against him. It wasn't a negative attack, nor meanspirited. Sometimes the truth hurts.

"A Nation of Courage." What a great first night for the RNC. Three more nights, how are they going to top that? Governor Schwarzenegger and Mrs. Bush have a very tough act to follow.

UPDATE: James Joyner at Outside The BeltWay has a roundup of reaction to the McCain and Giuliani speeches.

At Blogs for Bush, Mark Noonan sums up McCain's and Giuliani speeches:

We have a war on and it must be won, lest the enemy eventually kill more of us (and, maybe someday, millions of us) and the only way to win the war is to follow President Bush's idealistic, sublime and heartfelt program to bring succor to the long-suffering masses and break the shackles which chain them to Islamo-fascist murderers.

Comments

[Ken]

Yes. What we must do has never been clearer. These fascists are coming after us just as they came after those school children in Russia. Kerry can talk to his French and UN pals, it does not change the reality of what we face. These people will not stop until they deliver an atomic bomb to Manhatten. As President at this time, John Kerry would be an innocent, just waiting to be taken advantage of. We must rally around Bush.