CRAIGforCONGRESS
Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

Bringing LIBERTY to Capitol Hill -- 2008
OZARKS VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
Saturday Morning, April 5, 2008, 10:30am

A Discussion of The President's Saturday Morning Radio Address

Click here to listen to a replay of the April 5, 2008 Ozarks Virtual Town Hall

Notes and Summary of the President's Address -- "Expanding NATO"

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm speaking to you from Europe, where I attended the NATO summit and witnessed the hopeful progress of the continent's youngest democracies.

How the President Differs from the American vision of "Liberty Under God":

  1. The American Dream: Everyone dwelling safely under his Vine and Fig Tree.
  2. The America Motto: "In God We Trust"
    1. "a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence."
  3. This means beating "swords into plowshares." "Unilateral Disarmament" -- and end of "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

  4. A Truly American Foreign Policy:

    The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible."
         — Washington, Farewell Address (1796) [Washington’s emphasis]
    I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one] which ought to shape its administration,…peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.
         — Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (1801) 
    A truly American Foreign Policy is conducted by American business owners, not politicians.
    "Spreading democracy" demands, first, spreading economic democracy: "Free Markets" or "capitalism" through free trade: not government-imposed isolationism: "sanctions" and embargoes.

  5. The President is strengthening an "entangling alliance" committed to beating plowshares into nuclear swords. He is not making America a shining "city upon a hill."

President Bush's
Saturday Morning Radio Address

Another Perspective:
"Liberty Under God"
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm speaking to you from Europe, where I attended the NATO summit and witnessed the hopeful progress of the continent's youngest democracies. "Democracy" in un-American.
The summit was held in Romania, one of the 10 liberated nations that have joined the ranks of NATO since the end of the Cold War. After decades of tyranny and oppression, today Romania is an important member of an international alliance dedicated to liberty, and it is setting a bold example for other former communist nations that desire to live in peace and freedom. An "alliance dedicated to liberty" is almost a contradiction in terms.

Which nation is a threat to Romania's liberty? Has that threatening nation received massive amounts of foreign aid from the U.S. throughout the 20th century?
One of those nations is Croatia, which I'm also visiting on my trip. Croatia is a very different place than it was just a decade ago. Since they attained their independence, the Croatian people have shown the world the potential of human freedom. They've overcome war and hardship to build peaceful relations with their neighbors, and they have built a maturing democracy on the rubble of a dictatorship. The "war" which the Croatian people have overcome was imposed on them by the U.S.
This week NATO invited Croatia, as well as the nation of Albania, to join the NATO Alliance. These countries have made extraordinary progress on the road to freedom, prosperity, and peace. The invitation to join NATO represents the Alliance's confidence that they will continue to make necessary reforms and that they will become strong contributors to NATO's mission of collective defense. In "The Babysitters Club," Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, writes: "NATO is fast becoming a parody of itself. It is increasingly a combination political honor society and geopolitical babysitting club. The admission of such trivial military powers as the Baltic republics, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Albania confirms that the alliance has outlived any usefulness it once had. Someone should take the merciful step and put NATO out of its misery."
I regret that NATO was not able to extend an invitation to a third nation, Macedonia, at this week's summit. Like Croatia and Albania, Macedonia has met all the criteria for NATO membership. Unfortunately, its invitation was delayed because of a dispute over its name. I made clear that the name issue should be resolved quickly, that NATO should intensify its engagement with Macedonia, and that we look forward to the day when this young democracy takes its place among the members of the NATO Alliance. How oil relates to the Balkans.

 

 

If You Want Peace, Work for ???
After a century when the great wars of Europe threatened destruction throughout the world, the continent has now entered into a promising new era. Less than two decades ago, Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia suffered under the yolk [sic] of communist oppression. The people in these countries know what the gift of liberty means, because they know what it is like to have their liberty denied. They know the death and destruction that can be caused by the followers of radical ideologies who kill the innocent in pursuit of political power. And these lessons have led them to work alongside America in the war on terror. Once again, Bush uses his Saturday address to promote the war.
Today, soldiers from Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia are serving bravely in Afghanistan, helping the Afghan people defeat terrorists and secure a future of liberty. And forces from Albania and Macedonia are also serving in Iraq, where they're helping the Iraqi people build a society that rejects terror and lives in freedom. These nations have displayed the ultimate devotion to the principle of liberty -- sacrificing to provide it for others. Why is it that people who formerly suffered under invading and occupying forces would join an invading and occupying force in Iraq?
Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia are not alone in discarding the change to their past and embracing the promise of freedom. Another burgeoning democracy is Ukraine. Earlier this week I traveled to Kyiv to express America's support for beginning the process of bringing both Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. In recent years, both of these nations have seen tens of thousands take to the streets to peacefully demand their God-given liberty. The people of Ukraine and Georgia are an inspiration to the world and I was pleased that this week NATO declared that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO.
Nearly seven years ago I came to Europe and spoke to the students and faculty at Warsaw University in Poland. On that day I declared that all of Europe's new democracies -- from the Baltic to the Black Sea -- should have the same chance for security and freedom and the same chance to join the institutions of Europe. Seven years later we have made good progress toward fulfilling this vision, and more work remains. What are "the institutions of Europe?" Who made that decision? The people of Poland?
In many parts of the world, freedom is still a distant aspiration -- but in the ancient cities and villages of Europe, it is at the center of a new era of hope. How will  "freedom" be brought by an strong alliance of powerful governments (NATO) threatening the use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction?
Thank you for listening.  

Additional Resources:

Libertarian Resources

Communicating with Government and Media

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John Adams once wrote that the American Revolution began in 1761, when Massachusetts attorney James Otis began legal challenges to the Writs of Assistance. He lost the case, but "American independence," Adams wrote, "was then and there born." Now do the math. That means it took 15 years to convince the rest of America to declare Independence (1776). Then another seven years of war was required before a Peace Treaty was signed (1783), and then six years before the Constitution was finally ratified (1789). That's almost 30 years. (And Jefferson said we shouldn't go 20 years without another rebellion!) How can we hope to convince Americans to fight for principles they were never taught in government schools? We need to be in this battle for the long term. "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty."

The Democrat Party Radio Address:

Delaware Senator Joe Biden delivered the Democratic Radio Address.

"The Surge" has not brought political unity to warring factions in Iraq.

Click here for a replay of this edition of the Ozarks Virtual Town Hall