Hope is Not a Foreign Policy » George W. Bush http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org Conservative commentary on foreign policy, American politics, and current events Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:57:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Fran Townshend Speech at National Defense University http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2010/06/25/fran-townshend-speech-at-national-defense-university/ http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2010/06/25/fran-townshend-speech-at-national-defense-university/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:15:39 +0000 Tom Skypek http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/?p=1981 Fran Townshend, the former Homeland Security Advisor to George W. Bush, speak the other night at National Defense University at Ft. McNair.  I was fortunate enough to get an invite through my affiliation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and their Nuclear Scholars Initiative program.  She gave a solid speech about the continued threat of terrorism and how it's important for the government to clearly communicate threats to the American people.  People get anxious when they're kept in the dark and only told bits and pieces of a story, she argued.  She also provided some lessons she learned navigating the sprawling national security bureaucracy both as a civil servant and a high-level political appointee. I asked her during...]]> I heard Fran Townshend, the former Homeland Security Advisor to George W. Bush, speak the other night at National Defense University at Ft. McNair.  I was fortunate enough to get an invite through my affiliation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and their Nuclear Scholars Initiative program.  She gave a solid speech about the continued threat of terrorism and how it’s important for the government to clearly communicate threats to the American people.  People get anxious when they’re kept in the dark and only told bits and pieces of a story, she argued.  She also provided some lessons she learned navigating the sprawling national security bureaucracy both as a civil servant and a high-level political appointee.

I asked her during the Q&A whether she thought it was productive for the administration to describe terrorism as a “man-caused disaster” and refer to Islamic extremism as a “far-reaching network of violence and hatred.”  Some observers think this is purely semantics.  I think it’s important to identify threats in clear and unambiguous terms. Evidently Fran feels the same way.  She called the move by the administration “dangerous” and unproductive.  It got back to her point about keeping the American people informed.

]]> http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2010/06/25/fran-townshend-speech-at-national-defense-university/feed/ 0 His Speech: Riddled with Fabrication and Inaccuracies http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2008/08/29/his-speech-riddled-with-fabrication-and-inaccuracies/ http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/2008/08/29/his-speech-riddled-with-fabrication-and-inaccuracies/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:59:35 +0000 Tom Skypek http://www.hopeisnotaforeignpolicy.org/?p=407
  • Sen. McCain did serve bravely in the United States Navy, but he also has a distinguished record as a United States Senator. He has consistently fought waste and corruption, sometimes to the chagrin of his own party. Sen. Obama failed to represent this accurately last night. Sen. Obama said that John McCain has voted 90% of the time with President George W. Bush. This is highly inaccurate. Presidents of the United States do not vote in Congress, despite what the Obama campaign tells you. ...]]> Last night’s speech was filled with platitudes and distortions. It offered little in the way of substance, which is not unusual for the Obama campaign. Here’s a few points:

    • Sen. McCain did serve bravely in the United States Navy, but he also has a distinguished record as a United States Senator. He has consistently fought waste and corruption, sometimes to the chagrin of his own party. Sen. Obama failed to represent this accurately last night. Sen. Obama said that John McCain has voted 90% of the time with President George W. Bush. This is highly inaccurate. Presidents of the United States do not vote in Congress, despite what the Obama campaign tells you. The Vice President can cast a vote in the Senate, in the event of a tie, but this is not what the Obama campaign was alluding to.
    • He said businesses and corporations should be creating new jobs. What Sen. Obama fails to realize is that his punitive tax plans will stymie growth. A punitive tax system hinders job creation; it does not facilitate it.
    • Sen. Obama made some comment about John McCain being in Congress for almost three decades. He failed to mention that his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, has been in the Senate longer than McCain.
    • Sen. Obama made a bunch of over-the-top promises he can’t keep. My friend summed it up this way: “Everything for everyone.” More importantly, these promises can’t be found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution.

    I could go on, but what I found most troubling was Sen. Obama’s continued proclamation that there is “something wrong with America.” America continues to be a land of unparalleled opportunity. In 2004, Barack Obama said himself that his story is possible in just one country–America.

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