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AMERICANISM
USAF ACADEMY (THE AWAY GAME)
First year cadets at the Air
Force Academy are allowed to leave the Academy without penalty up through
the end of first-year Christmas break. Those who came back were assigned to
write a paper on why they chose to return.
Here is one young cadet's masterpiece, which has begun to be widely
publicized...
____________________________________________________
Why return to the Air Force Academy after Winter Break?
So after our sunburns have faded and the memories of our winter break have
been reduced to pictures we've pinned on our desk boards, and once again
we've exchanged T-shirts and swim suits for flight suits and camouflage,
there still remains the question that every cadet at U.S. Air Force Academy
in Colorado Springs has asked themselves at some point: Why did we come
back? Why, after spending two weeks with our family would we return to one
of the most demanding lifestyles in the country? After listening to our
'friends' who are home from State or Ivy League schools chock full of wisdom
about how our war in Iraq is unjust and unworldly, why would we return? And
after watching the news and reading the papers which only seem to condemn
the military's every mistake and shadow every victory, why would we continue
to think it is worth the sacrifice of a normal college life?
Is it because the institution to which we belong is tuition- free? Anyone
who claims this has forgotten that we will, by the time we graduate, repay
the US taxpayer many times over in blood, sweat, and tears. Is it because
the schooling we are receiving is one of the best undergraduate educations
in the country? While the quality of the education is second to none, anyone
who provides this as a main reason has lost sight of the awesome
responsibility that awaits those who are tough enough to graduate and become
commissioned officers in the U.S. Air Force.
I come back to the Academy because I want to have the training necessary so
that one day I'll have the incredible responsibility of leading the sons and
daughters of America in combat. These men and women will never ask about my
Academy grade point average, their only concern will be that I have the
ability to lead them expertly; I will be humbled to earn their respect. I
come back to the Academy because I want to be the commander who saves lives
by negotiating with Arab leaders... In their own language.
I come back to the Academy because, if called upon, I want to be the pilot
who flies half way around the world with three mid-air refuelings to send a
bomb from 30,000 feet into a basement housing the enemy... Through a
ventilation shaft two feet wide. Becoming an officer in today's modern Air
Force is so much more than just command; it is being a diplomat, a
strategist, a communicator, a moral compass, but always a warrior first.
I come back to the Air Force Academy because, right now, the United States
is fighting a global war that is an 'away game' in Iraq - taking the fight
to the terrorists.
Whether or not we think the terrorists were in Iraq before our invasion,
they are unquestionably there now. And if there is any doubt as to whether
this is a global war, just ask the people in Amman, in London, in Madrid, in
Casablanca, in Riyadh, and in Bali.
This war must remain an away game because we have seen what happens when it
becomes a home game... I come back to the Academy because I want to be a
part of that fight.
I come back to the Academy because I don't want my vacationing family to
board a bus in Paris that gets blown away by someone who thinks that it
would be a good idea to convert the Western world to Islam.
I come back to the Academy because I don't want the woman I love to be the
one who dials her last frantic cell phone call while huddled in the back of
an airliner with a hundred other people seconds away from slamming into the
Capitol building.
I come back to the Academy because during my freshman year of high school I
sat in a geometry class and watched nineteen terrorists change the course of
history live on television. For the first time, every class currently at a
U.S. Service Academy made the decision to join after the 2001 terror
attacks.
Some have said that the U.S. Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan only created
more terrorists... I say that the attacks of September 11th, 2001 created an
untold more number of American soldiers; I go to school with 4,000 of them.
And that's worth more than missing a few frat parties.
Joseph R. Tomczak Cadet, Fourth Class United States Air Force Academy "
(U.S. Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) had Cadet Tomczak's essay read into
the Congressional Record, and at a meeting of the Air Force Academy Board of
Visitors he presented Cadet Tomczak with a framed copy of the essay.)
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Excerpts From Speech At State Chairmen's Meeting
Conservatism is the ideology of the future. Republicans are driving the
course of history with new solutions to promote opportunity at home and
freedom abroad. And it is the left, including unfortunately many of today's
Democratic leaders, who seek to turn back the clock and obstruct the march
of history. Today we are the party of freedom and progress. And the
Democrats have become the party of reactionary liberalism. ...
President Bush's leadership in facing tomorrow's problems is not unique.
Throughout our history, America has benefited from farsighted leaders who
confronted tomorrow's problems by reforming government today. ...
You
see, many of today's reactionary Democratic leaders aren't democrats.
They're elitists. Democrats trust the people. They don't. ...
Without
solutions to today and tomorrow's problems, and determined to obstruct
progress, many Democrat leaders have rejected an honest and civil dialogue
in favor of trash talking and name calling. Perhaps they hope that loud talk
and angry rhetoric will hide the fact that they have nothing to say.
For
while we have proposed new solutions to today and tomorrow's challenges,
these Democrat leaders have offered no alternatives. They've just said no.
No to terrorism insurance to spur new construction after 9/11. No to tax
relief to end the recession. No to the Department of Homeland Security. No
to prescription drug coverage for our seniors. Despite the clear rejection
of obstructionism by the voters in 2002 and 2004, this chorus of just say no
continues today. ...
In the
face of historic tests, America's two political parties offer two very
different agendas. One is nothing less than a vision...the other is nothing
more than a critique.
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Republican vs Democratic Philosophies
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Article 1 Section 1
All legislative
powers herein granted
shall be vested
in Congress...
REPUBLICAN VIEW
Only Congress may
make law
DEMOCRAT VIEW
Activist courts
may make law
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Amendment 1
Congress shall
make no law respecting
establishment of
religion or prohibiting
the free exercise
thereof; or abridging
the freedom of
speech
REPUBLICAN VIEW
Prayer should be
allowed in school
DEMOCRAT VIEW
Prayer in school
violates the 1st Amendment
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Amendment 10
The powers not
delegated to the
United States by
the Constitution
nor prohibited by
it to the States
are reserved to
the States
respectively or
to the people
REPUBLICAN VIEW
States and people
have more rights
than the Federal Government
DEMOCRAT VIEW
The federal
government controls the people
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Article IV Section 4
The United States
shall guarantee
to every State in
this union a
republican form
of government
REPUBLICAN VIEW
A republican form
of government
must be
maintained with elected officials
DEMOCRAT VIEW
Gore is the
President elected by the
popular vote.
Polls should guide
government
representatives making
our laws
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Article V
The Congress,
whenever 2/3 of
both houses
deem it necessary,
shall propose
amendments to
this Constitution
REPUBLICAN VIEW
Amendments to the
Constitution
require a 2/3
vote of Congress and
ratification by
3/4 of the states
DEMOCRAT VIEW
The Constitution
is a living document
that must be
flexible to the will of the people
**********************
THE CONSTITUTION STATES
Article 1, Section 9
The privilege of
the writ of Habeas Corpus
shall not be
suspended unless in cases
of rebellion or
invasion the public
safety may
require it
REPUBLICAN VIEW
Citizens may be
held without indictment
during this time
of war/conflict
DEMOCRAT VIEW
All citizens and
prisoners of war are entitled
to a writ of
Habeas Corpus at all times
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