Beck is wrong and he knows it!

Newt has written two books where he “praises” FDR, both of which I’ve read.  In a 1995 book “To Renew America” is praise is based on Roosevelt spirituality.  Newt praised Roosevelt for appealing to nation’s sense of faith and religion to help defeat the Nazis. He wrote ““With the attention of the entire nation riveted upon him, President Roosevelt did a remarkable thing. After telling the nation in one sentence that troops had landed, he said: ‘And so in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer.’”

In the book he cites the New Deal and recognizes that it extended the Depression and did not solve the problems other than to provide a morale boost to the American people in a difficult time.  He then goes on to lay out a new program that is built around 8 steps.

• Shifting from caretaking to caring
• Volunteerism and spiritual renewal
• Reasserting the values of American civilization
• Emphasizing family and work
• Creating tax incentives for work, investment, and entrepreneurship
• Reestablishing savings and property ownership
• Learning as the focus of education
• Protection against violence and drugs

 

He repeated this claim in his 2006 book “Rediscovering God in America”  In that book he wrote “Many consider Franklin Roosevelt to be the father of modern liberalism, so it may surprise you that he was a man of deep religious conviction who unapologetically linked the preservation of our nation during World War II with the preservation of religion,”

Rather than simply relegate FDR to the role of Progressive DEMON that Beck as placed him in, Gingrich looks at the whole presidency and points out his strengths and his weaknesses.  Like the Progressive re-write of American History where only the flaws of the Founders are focused on (they were human, they had flaws) Beck is trying to re-write modern history by doing the same thing to all Progressives.  If it is wrong for the Progressives to re-write history in such a manner isn’t it also wrong to do the same thing.  That is when education becomes indoctrination.  You remove anything contradictory to the position you want to make and then cite only the “facts’ that promote your position.  This is propaganda.

Newt fully recognizes FDR’s flaws but does not ignore his strengths as well and for Beck followers that might come as a shock.  FDR did have strength’s-he wasn’t the Anti-Christ with absolutely no good in him at all.    Newt offers alternative plans to what FDR accomplished that are not big government takeovers but incentives for individuals to become more involved starting in their own communities.

Like many conservatives Newt understands that situations sometime create problems that need temporary fixes.  Newt also recognizes that solutions to those problems must include a plan to move a person from a temporary state of need to a position of self-support.  This was the welfare reform plan he pushed through the House and it was the welfare reform bill that the same Republican Senators who trumped up ethics violations to remove him from power did everything in their power to stall and then, under a Republican President changed to begin the expansion of the Welfare State once again.

During a speech in 1982 Ronald Reagan said Reagan called FDR “one of history’s truly monumental figures,” “an American giant, a leader who shaped, inspired, and led our people through perilous times,” one who could “reach out to men and women of diverse races and backgrounds and inspire them with new hope and new confidence in war and peace.”

Ronald Reagan also said this about FDR “Every generation of Americans has faced problems and every generation has overcome them. Like Franklin Roosevelt we know that for free men hope will always be a stronger force than fear, that we only fail when we allow ourselves to be boxed in by the limitations and errors of the past. This is not a political gathering. It’s a celebration of a great man who led our nation through historic times. It’s a celebration shared here today by many who knew and loved him well. Friends, colleagues, and relatives—and for my part, a young sportscaster who first felt the awe and majesty of this office when that familiar caped figure drove down the avenue in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1936, the figure who proved to us all that “Happy Days” could and would come again.”

Ronald Reagan also had this to say about FDR “”The months before FDR took office are far behind us now. We forget what they were like—the pink slips handed out at factories across the land with no jobs anywhere if you lost yours, the soup kitchens in every major city, the look of desperation in people’s eyes. And we forget that, in the unprecedented economic crisis, many had begun to question our most basic institutions, including our democracy itself. And then along came FDR, who put his faith, as he said, “in the forgotten man.”

Now many are destroying the character Newt Gingrich because he had the audacity to “praise” FDR”.  I wonder, does this mean that next week the Beck show is going to focus on the revisioning of Ronald Reagan to expose to American how much Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama are really the same thing.  Will Beck resort to the politics of personal destruction to take down Ronald Reagan as well.  So much for Restoring Love!

 

Just some of my own thoughts on the Election of 2012

America has some serious problems and when the next election cycle comes around I want a President who isn’t going to spend the next four years explaining why everything we did in the past is the problem. I want a President who isn’t going to be spending the next 4 years apologizing for what they interpret as interfering in Foreign Policy. I don’t want a President who makes promises that they have demonstrated they cannot keep. I do not want a President who continually points out the flaws of America as though he is apologizing to the world for the greatest Nation in the History of the World.

I do not want to hear about consistency without accomplishment. Consistency without accomplishment is proof only that you are a consistent failure. If, while serving as a lawmaker you have been unable to communicate, in a persuasive manner, the job you think we need to accomplish, what could possibly make me think you will be able to do so as President unless you abuse the powers of your office. I want to hear about real solutions. Explaining how we got in this mess doesn’t mean you know how to get us out of it. Cutting and running from our military obligations is not a solution, it is a surrender. Worse yet, it demonstrates a willingness to betray our friends to the will and whim of our enemies.

I know the economy is bad, but there is more to America than the economy and if the government gets out of the way, after some difficult times, the economy will repair itself due to the Spirit of Americans and their will to succeed. But when the tyrants of this world wage war against our friends and we do nothing, we will soon lose our friends and, as history has demonstrated time and again, when America entertains isolationism, the world goes to war.

Our politicians are not Greek gods who occasionally descend from some Olympian Vestibule to grace us with their miraculous perfection. I do not need to worship them in their perfection and I refuse to entertain any such cultic notion of the perfect candidate. The Perfect Candidate does not exist. They are human beings with flaws. Being religious, or claiming some from of Christianity does not make them flawless. If anything, it should make them more in tune to their own imperfections. Doesn’t the Bible say “ALL have sinned, all have fallen short of the Glory of God!’ If you have embraced any candidate as the Perfect Candidate, you will be disappointed.

The next President needs to know that after we vote, we are not going home to let them do as they please. The next President needs to know that the people of this country do matter and without the Consent of the Governed it is all in vain. Character does matter. Admitting a mistake in judgement can be a strength, not a weakness so long as they have learned from that mistake. Pointing at others while denying your own weaknesses and mistakes also reveals character and it is not a good revelation. Deliberately lying about another candidate through misrepresentation is yet another demonstration of bad character. Telling me you are a Christian or claiming any form of faith while you do it is even more offensive to me.

I am proud of my country. I have spent the last three years with a President who has taken every opportunity to denounce what it means to be American, apologize for America and betray our friends while embracing our enemies, all of whom would stab us in the back the first chance they get. I do not want to spend the next four years listening to another President blaming their inability to do what needs to be done on all the past problems. That isn’t a solution, that’s an excuse.

When I hear the President of the United States of America speak about America I want to feel the way I did when I heard Ronald Reagan speak about this country. Ronald Reagan was far from perfect. At times he compromised his conservative values and he began taking this country on a path to prosperity. He made me angry at times but he never once made me feel ashamed to be an American.

Yes, the National Anthem can bring a tear to my eye and hearing children recite the Pledge of Allegiance can put a lump in my throat. I am not ashamed at that and I do not want to feel as though my President is.

When I hear the next President take the Oath of Office, I want to know that they truly believe in what they are saying, that they believe in America and that they believe that America is worth saving and defending.