Sue Lowden on the show this morning, help her beat Harry Reid by checking her out and donating money, if you can.  Spread the word!

www.suelowden.com/

My job has allowed me to witness some pretty spectacular events and meet some of the most remarkable people in the world.  Tuesday night topped them all.  Thanks to Rick Borman and the Naples Town Hall Lecture series, I was able to meet, hug and get a picture taken with the 43rd President of the United States and the 43rd Governor of the great state of Florida.  I know for some people, even many of my friends, this is a shrug-worthy event.  George W Bush's Presidency was marred by an extremely close election (which, by the way, he DID win fair and square, just check the Florida Ballot Project by the NYTimes, CNN, St. Pete Times, et al) that set the tone for bitter Dems that lasted his entire Presidency.   He came into office on a platform of tax cuts and fiscal responsibility yet oversaw a huge expansion in government and the entitlement programs.  His decision to go into Iraq is still second guessed on a regular basis by people who refuse to believe that it's not about oil.  He has been called a cowboy, accused of hubris, and called stupid in too many ways to count.  After hearing his articulate, passionate and considered reasoning about those decisions, I feel comfortable saying he is none of those.  He is genuine, funny, very intelligent, and his love for the US of A is unwavering.  He believes in American exceptionalism.  He does not apologize for us.  He makes me more proud to call myself an American. 

The evening was a moderated event, with Jim Angle, Chief Political Correspondent serving as moderator.  The only complaint I have about this format is that Gov. Jeb Bush sort of got short shrift, but that's understandable...his brother was THE POTUS.   The men took the stage and the tone was set immediately by Jim Angle announcing that the crack under Haiti that caused the earthquake had been named Bush's Fault.  Everyone laughed.  That set the tone for an evening that covered many issues.  I'll try to encapsulate the most important points here.  All quotes are actual paraphrasing, although I hope the Town Hall will release the video of the event so you can hear it for yourselves.

• On the Obama Administration: when asked a question that could be an opening to attack PrezBO, GWB said, "When I was President, it irritated me to no end when  former President  (Jeb says here, Jimmy Carter) criticized my Administration, and I vowed then to NEVER engage in that sort of behavior.  The President has a hard enough job without being second guessed by other Presidents.  If he would like any help or ideas, I'll be happy to discuss it with the Administration, but I won't comment on it otherwise.:"
• Term limits: He and Jeb disagree on this. GWB said he's rather see more competitive districts as a means of term limits, and he also made a pretty compelling argument that if some of the "safe" districts were more competitive it would go a long way to alleviating the gridlock in DC.  His reasoning is that if legislators had to worry about being re-elected in a district that represented a larger variety of views, they would be more likely to work from a position of bipartisanship because a more balanced district would require it.   It seemed to me that he was in favor of the Fair Districting movement happening in Florida.  I am now considering his argument in determining my support for the issue.
• 9/11: To hear GWB explain the series of events on that day, and his thoughts as they occurred was fascinating.  He said, "When the first plane hit, I thought, what a terrible accident.  When the second plane hit, that was an attack.  The third plane hit the Pentagon, and I thought, this is a declaration of war."  He was very frustrated by having to fly around the country in Air Force One, but that is the protocol to keep the POTUS safe in an attack.  9/11 changed him profoundly, by his own admission, and he truly views the role of POTUS  is to keep Americans safe.  Which lead into a discussion of:
• Enhanced interrogation techniques: When KSM was captured, his Intelligence staff came to him and said, we think he knows more, but he won't talk using our current interrogation techniques.  They asked if they could use enhanced techniques and GWB asked immediately if they were legal.  He was told the Department of Justice's attornies had evaluated them and said yes.  GWB stated that he then approved the measures, and KSM indeed knew a LOT more (he emphasized a LOT), and he believes many, many American lives have been saved because of those techniques.  He firmly stands by his decision without apology today. 
• Iraq: So much has been made of why he made the decision to go into Iraq.  A war over oil, to avenge his Daddy, he's a cowboy who just wanted to give Halliburton work, etc.  One thing is abundantly clear when you hear GWB talk about Iraq...he firmly believes that if we as a nation are to remain safe in the long run, we must destroy the ideological movement that will continue to foment violence that incubates in the middle east.  He believes that freedom is transformative, and if the people throughout the Middle East are allowed to experience freedom and self determination, they will no longer accept the destructive forces like the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  He believes that a stable democratically elected government in Iraq will serve as an example and a beacon for other nations and peoples in the Middle East.  He is working on an initiative to help Mid East women, because he believes they will be the driving force for Mid East democracy.   To draw an analogy, he said, "If you had told my father's peers who were flying over Japan dropping bombs that we would be attacked on 9/11/01 and one of the first phone calls the POTUS would take was from the Prime Minister of Japan offering assistance and reasserting his commitment to the United States, they would have said you were crazy.  But that's exactly what happened.  Freedom is transformative." 
• Jeb:  Jeb got a bit overlooked, understandably so.  But two things came out.  When asked if he would endorse Marco Rubio, he said he wasn't going to endorse right now, but then went on to give a littany of ways the current Governor has been huge disappointment.  It is MY prediction that when the Crist campaign is belching out it's last gasps, Jeb will step up and endorse Marco to seal the fate of Crist.  And I will LOVE it.
• Jeb told an interesting story when asked if he was going to run for POTUS.  He met a lib on a plane, and when he was talking to him, he asked if he supported Hillary or Obama.  They guy said that he supported Obama because he thought it weird that in a nation of 320 million people, there was such a narrow group (Bushs, Clintons) that were running for Prez.  I think Jeb would have liked to run, but he realizes how difficult it might be because of Bush Derangement Syndrome.  I'd still like to see him do it.

There was so much more...GWB tearing up talking about meeting with military families and when he spoke of Laura filling the otherwise cold White House with love.  Both Jeb and GWB saying it is much harder to be the SON of a POTUS than the actual POTUS, because the criticism of your father is much harder to bear.  Jeb spoke eloquently of his desire to see the GOP offer solutions to the problems facing the country, and both offered very insightful analyses of the healthcare issues and free market solutions that could make an immediate impact.  It is my hope that the Naples Town Hall will make this video available soon.  I will be buying copies for everyone I know, especially those who try to tell me that George W Bush is an idiot and war criminal, because this may be the dose of reality that will help them get over the irrational hatred for a man who earnestly tries to the right thing.  It's just that sometimes, the right thing is hard and unpopular. 

He is writing a book, but it’s a book about decision making and how he made the decisions he made as POTUS.  He said that when an objective history of his administration is written in the future (there is no short term objective history) he wanted to provide historians, in his own words, the framework he used for his decision making.  I’ll be in line at Barnes and Noble the day it comes out. 

I wish the headline was correct.  Right now, the picture, blog posting to follow...

For those of us who have long believed the science was too speculative for concern, this article simply reaffirms what we already know.  But for the Warmers, this has to be devastating.  Just be gentle when you show them this article. 

www.ocregister.com/articles/-234092--.html

What do you do? 

Hi all, 

Many of you ask me still how Young Jeffrey is fairing in Austin, TX.  I thought I'd pass along his new station's brand new website, and you can email him through here, or listen to his station online.  I know he'd love to hear from you!

www.989bigtalker.com