Thoughts From November 5

I was quite excited when I had an e-mail from the founder’s of this site asking me to become a contributor to this site.  I had been posting items items on my own blog, as well as offering commentary on Twitter on various news items throughout the day.  Apparently, my conservative values and beliefs haven’t gone unnoticed, and this is the beginning of the fruit of my labor.

Now, I am going to be a little slow at the start of this, as I haven’t had a phone, internet, or television for about a month now as a result of some training I had. However, I’d like to give all of you a taste of what my style and thoughts are before The President gives his big dog and pony show announcement tonight.  Thus I would like for you to think back to those moments right after the election had been called last November.  Some of you we’re probably angry, sad, or worried.  Maybe some of you were elated, ecstatic at the result.  You had become tired of Washington and “Hope”d that real “Change” was here.  That while you might not agree with every policy that was going to be passed, at least a new tempo and outlook would descend upon the Beltway.

Whatever your thoughts were, reflect back on them. As these were my thoughts:

Nov 5-  The day after the election.

I am still absolutely shocked at how lopsided the Electoral College results were. While I remained confident, I knew McCain had a very narrow path to victory last night. His margin for error was absolutely zero. However, I could not comprehend him losing every toss-up state like he did.

John McCain embodies everything I have thought that a true American was. With my family’s proud service in our Armed Forces, growing up I thought that giving ones service to the nation was the noblest thing a man could do. Not only did McCain have proud career in the Navy, the way he handled his time as a POW showed true character. There’s no way I could have remained silent during all of that. Then after a career in the Navy, that anyone should be allowed to retire in peace afterwards, McCain stepped up to his Nations’ call once again by starting his career as one of Regan’s foot soldiers, and then climbing to one of the most respected men in Washington. On top of that he is a loving father and a remarkable husband to Cindy. I hope a can amount to a tenth of that by the time I call my professional life quits… a true American.

Obama ran his campaign on the basis that he would be a president of the center. I surely hope so. I fear however, that with a huge Dem. majority in the Congress, Obama will return to his roots. The fact is, what do we really know about Obama? He has a short list of time in office, and an even shorter list of votes he actually took a stance on. Fact is that in those few votes he actually put his name to, he was the most liberal Senator America has seen in a long, long time.

While I want to believe, and “hope”, that Obama will rise above his past and truly be “my President” as he promised last night; I can’t help but think that as this race began to widen at the end, we began to see the real Obama come out, not the candidate. Suddenly clips of him talking about redistributing my earning, bankrupting the critical coal industry, and weakening the military began to surface. Is this what we really voted for?

His comment about building a civilian security force to strengthen our nation’s defenses scares me. I believe this shows a disrespect for the men and women who wear the uniform. All members of our United States Army (Active Duty, National Guard, and Army Reserves) take an oath to “protect and serve our Constitution against all enemies both foreign and DOMESTIC…” This is already a role our Army plays, especially our National Guard and Army Reserves. My father is in the Reserves, and I have many close friends in the National Guard. They are by definition CITIZEN SOLDIERS.

I believe this one comment shows a misunderstanding of the nature, professionalism, and the capabilities of our Armed Forces. In the one vote that showed an understanding of fighting an asymmetrical counterinsurgency, Obama ignored the top Generals and voted against a strategy that turned that country around. He also has countless gaffs about Afghanistan, the troop’s status there, and how many more soldiers need to be sent to that theater of operations.

As far as McCain’s election goes, I believe that if the economic crisis had occurred two months later or before it did, this race could have been a lot closer. He was a victim not of his strategy, his VP pick, or his gaffes, but rather just a perfect storm during period in history that no Republican candidate should have been within seven points of the Democratic candidate.

Again, I am not looking for Obama to fail. I hope he remains in the center on which he campaigned on. I hope he reaches across the aisle. I hope he fully understands our military. I am just worried that we put all our chips down on one horse. A horse that we no nothing of his past, his intentions, or his policy. A horse who has no system of checks to keep his agenda from being reviewed by the other side.

I am just worried about our future. I pray he proves me wrong. More than anything, I want him to.