John McCain reminded us what it takes to be an American

9/5/08

To Senator John McCain, on the morning after your nomination for President of the United States,

Your speech last night, on the final night of the Republican convention - especially the last few minutes - moved me to tears. I know it wasn't the same for everyone, but isn't that the way it is with everything? Some people get it and some people don't.

I believe you said it all when you told us you fell in love with America while you were held prisoner in another country. I fell in love with America when I was reborn - as it were - on September 11, 2001. It was when our enemies came out of the shadows and showed their faces, and then when I watched some of my fellow Americans cave under the weight of false criticisms of our country - that was when I understood what we were really facing:

It didn't take long before I knew the depth and breadth of the anemia that has overtaken so many of us. Once these poor Americans thought the crisis was over, they went back home and shuttered themselves in, and have been waiting vainly, in the hope that a miracle would wipe off the blood and placate the terror that waits for us just around the corner.

It will take sacrifice - the kind you have repeatedly made over your lifetime - to make us strong again.

I think you realize that America isn't different now, that America has not lost stature in the world, that it has not lost its way, or that the beacon of liberty has not been extinguished. America has been where she's always been, on the side of those who are willing to make sacrifices to make a better life for themselves and their families.

We are the ones who have moved, we are the ones who turned away and chose that path of least resistance, let ourselves get swept away by a tide of apathy.

I don't believe that we are all weak, I believe rather that we have just forgotten what we are fighting for. No matter the front - economic, cultural or Islamic jihadist - the battle still begins inside us, where the resolve is born, where the heart can still be moved to take up the cause, whatever it is.

Your invitation last night to serve others was the real clarion, and hopefully the siren's call that will remind us that while we can easily appreciate the blessings of being an American, there's no substitute for the hard work of fighting that apathy.

God bless America, and God bless John McCain!

And thank you, Senator McCain, for bringing Sarah Palin into the fight; she's that true American woman, not afraid to be a strong servant of the people, someone who - like most mothers - has learned to say "no" when it has to be said.

I was already on your team, but I will do more - what ever I can, talking to people, pasting my car with "McCain" signs, manning the phone banks, visiting neighbors, bringing people over to another McCain/Palin event - to ensure you become our president.