In Honor of a Patriot - Donald J. Rumsfeld

Last evening was truly one of the more special evenings of my life, as my hometown of Newport Beach, CA played host to the Annual Churchill Dinner of The Claremont Institute, at which Secretary Donald Rumsfeld received the 2007 Statesmanship Award. Bill Bennett, host of Morning in America and former education secretary under Ronald Reagan, introduced the Secretary, and Vice-President Cheney appeared via video presentation to also offer his two cents. To spend an evening surrounded by some of my favorite like-minded Americans (the Claremont Institute), at an event named for a personal hero (Winston Churchill), was delightful enough. But to spend time talking with William Bennett, whose masterpiece, America: The Last Best Hope, will be required reading for people growing up in my home, was an honor I will never forget.However, all of the above are but a fraction of the privilege that it was to meet the American patriot hero who is Donald J. Rumsfeld. To hear him deliver the keynote address, only 20 feet from the podium, was a dream come true for me. I said in 2003 that they do not make em' like Donald Rumsfeld any more, and that observation has only been dramatically reinforced ever since I first said it. Last night, one of the most influential institutions in the country paid homage to one of the greatest men in the country, and at an event named for a man who absolutely saved the world. And like Churchill before him, Secretary Rumsfeld has identified an enemy resolute on destroying western civilization, and like the great Prime Minister, Secretary Rumsfeld has dedicated his life to keeping that objective of fanatical terrorists from ever coming true. Every man, woman, and child owes a debt of gratitude to this fine man.He and his wife of over fifty years were honored by Claremont, a group dedicated to "the study of statesmanship and political philosophy", for their lifetime of service to the defense of the free world. Donald Rumsfeld is one of the least politically-oriented people who has ever served in the cabinet, barely able to hide his contempt for the parasitic media personalities who erroneously challenged him over the years. Secretary Rumsfeld does not enjoy popularity in the modern press, but I have no doubt that history will remember him differently. He speaks with a clarity that you could not imagine coming from a man of his pedigree, and he operates with a moral compass that few statesmen have in the contemporary age. He understands the nature of the enemy before us, and he understands the failure (both morally, and tactically), of hoping the enemy will merely leave us alone. He speaks and acts as if popularity is not even a minor after-thought to him, but rather a nuisance and distraction in the task at hand - protecting this great land of ours from the greatest threat she has ever faced. Like Churchill before him, to be right, is primary to being liked. And like Churchill before him, his validation is only a matter of time.My wife and I discussed last night how important it is that our children read and study history - particularly the history of legends like Churchill, Reagan, and Thatcher. It is a complete misreading of history that leaves people like Ron Paul so incapable of discussing the present danger with any moral or political intelligence. It is a revisionist view of history that has produced the MoveOn.org folks who bleed contempt for America.But it is those that have been guided by a knowledge of the past, like Donald Rumsfeld, who have prepared us for the crisis of the present, and the challenge of the future. May God bring forth generations of men like this great statesman and patriot. We owe our way of life, and our very civilization, to men like him.