- Mike Silverman

 President Bush, Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman all gave inspirational speeches last night at the Republican National Convention. President Bush set the tone with an uplifting speech that accentuated the greatness of the country, the preparedness of John McCain to take the leadership role, to take the highest political position in the country, and he delivered that message with good grace a positive tone and a smile on his face. The President's speech reminded me of Ronald Reagan's resolute belief in the greatness of our nation. And I'm sure that the Senior Bush's, Mr. and Mrs., were as proud as parents could be to witness the resolute leadership of their son whose efforts as President were key to keeping the country safe from further assaults. Ending his speech by mentioning the painting in his office of the sun shining on a mountain in Texas with the analogy of citizens of the USA as always being on the sunrise side of that mountain was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's Shining City On A Hill. It was a motivational speech. Fred Thompson gave a dramatic recounting of John McCain's suffering and courage while a captive POW of the North Vietnamese. Most of us know the gut wrenching story of McCain's ordeal and resolve to survive while doing right by his fellow American captives. But Fred Thompson brought it to life with poignancy and clarity, emphasizing the personal moral decisions McCain made and held to while undergoing the intense pain and suffering reaped by his tormentors. The telling of the story of John McCain from his childhood to his adult life served again to expose the dramatic difference between Obama and McCain. Knowing the life's story of John McCain one has to wonder how anyone could choose to put Obama into the White House over Senator McCain. There is simply no comparison. Senator Lieberman reached out to undecided Democrats last night and attempted to explain exactly that. He gave a fine speech , as a Democrat at a Republican National Convention, truly a unique occurrence in a historical sense, by de-emphasizing party and emphasizing the USA as one nation. Senator Lieberman is a good, decent man and eloquent statesman. Though as Conservatives and Republicans we will certainly disagree with his liberal views on social issues, where we can agree whole heartedly is on the key thing he brought to his speech last night. His support for John McCain and for the defense of the country itself. I'd also like to briefly mention the crowds at the RNC. These are a very classy people. They gave Democrat Senator Lieberman a very warm welcome, and even applauded politely when he mentioned what he thought were positive points about Bill Clinton. You did not hear people booing him or any of the points he made. You did not see people ignoring him or chatting idly during his speech. When liberals and/or Democrats or media pundits speak ignorantly about a lack of tolerance among Republicans and Conservatives, they may want to remember the example set by the Republican Party last night when a Democrat spoke to them. One last note here. Regarding Sarah Palin, McCain's pick for his VP running mate. As I stated in a previous post, I whole heartedly support her being on the ticket. As we know, as Conservatives, as Republicans, we are consistently hit twice as hard as any Democrat or Liberal ever gets hit in the news media. We are the subject of vicious unrelenting personal attacks and attempts to destroy us on a personal level both by the professional media and now by scores of extremist blogs. Sarah Palin is experiencing that now on a national scale. She is seeing first hand the underlying vitriol and mindless crack-headed hatred that some so called professional journalists have for anyone with an (R) next to their name. Especially when those angry mobster-style journalists know that they are facing a person of Sarah's strong moral quality and outstanding personal background. Sarah knows she has a battle on her hands to push through that mob of wild eyed festering voices and savage print critics to show the world who she is and what she can accomplish. She will do this, with our support, and the support of her family and friends, but mostly by her own superior fortitude and resolve. You may recall Hillary Clinton shedding tears on her campaign trail, vying for the sympathy of the country as woman in distress. Sarah Palin is not Hillary Clinton. You won't see that from Sarah. She will bring her own genuine strength, spirit, and honesty to the campaign and to the McCain administration. I believe as Conservatives we all stand with Sarah, and that our hopes and prayers for success are with her and her family.

- Mike Silverman, Milford MA

 I learned three things from Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech at the Democrat National Convention last night. She thinks very highly of herself. She supports Obama for President. she thinks the typical US citizens are living in their own feces and it's all the fault of George Bush. Biggest lie in the speech; when she said that she believed the US is a great country. She doesn't believe that. Her examples of citizens she met during her campaign were of desperately struggling people in terrible situations. Victims. That was what Hillary presented. The US is filled with victims because, by her standards we are not enough of a socialist nation. Tell us Hillary, where were the examples of citizens who succeeded in reaching thier dreams, without needing the government to make it happen for them? They are out there, Senator. Did you even bother to try to find those success stories? What else did we learn. We learned that the US is still envisioned in a caste system of wage classes by Democrats. The rich are always too rich and need to be taxed more, oil companies are evil and need to be taxed more than ever, and the availability of health services to those in need is not good enough and therefore needs to be taken over by the government for all people and be doled out like watered down soup at a homeless kitchen. Hillary asked her voters, if they were "in it" for all the people in the country who feel invisible. Apparently, to Hillary, being "visible" means having your needs taken care of by the government, but more importantly having a Democrat in the White House. Who are the IN-visible people that Hillary thinks need a Democrat politician to make them visible? This is a sick view of the United States, and a wrong view. In this country individuals are as visible as they choose to be. Just ask the Re-Create 68 protesters outside the Democrat National Convention. But let's look at what a real American success story is. How many people have heard the name Sam Walton? Probably a lot. The reason is that this Oklahoma farm boy who started out with very little grew up through hard work and creative ideas to become founder of the biggest retail chain in the world, Wal-Mart. But that's just one example of the great success that can be grasped by anyone with the drive and inspiration to avail themselves of the opportunities of a capitalist marketplace in this country. Hillary's sob stories about victims are not motivational, not inspirational, do not speak to what can be achieved nor point out the greatness of the US. We need a leader who looks out across this country and sees the great things that are happening now and that "can" happen because of the freedoms and opportunities that are not tamped down by an overbearing government implementing a socialized system of sameness for all people.

- Mike Silverman