Opinion: Speak softly and carry a big stick

A proverb quoted by Theodore Roosevelt as a brief statement of his approach to foreign policy. There is an important truth about this that I will get into in a bit.

There can be no question that America is the most powerful country in the world. Our military is the best. Our solders are the best. Their equipment is the best. Our generals are the best, (although Wes Clark may have shaken that belief.) The entire world follows and tries to emulate our culture. And while we are the best and the most powerful there were countries that defied us and made us look like fools. Countries like France, Germany and others who defied our desire to fight terrorists by invading Iraq. Even Iraq defied us, or rather Saddam Hussein defied us. The reason, I believe is that they thought we were a paper tiger. We had a big stick and we spoke softly but they believed we wouldn't use the stick and they were right. For too long we did not stand up for our beliefs and the result was 9/11. Had we not tolerated the terrorists attacks before 9/11 we may have avoided it. I don't blame previous administrations, I blame us. We, all of us, did not put our foot down. We became soft and we let the appeasers rule when we should have taken a stronger stand. It happened so slowly we didn't realize it. How could that happen? Political Correctness, that's how. Political Correctness ruled our lives. Political Correctness dictated how we spoke, what we said and how we thought. "Be careful because what you say may not be Politically Correct." Political Correctness made us into a country of sissies, not able to stand up for the truth. Who, you might ask is behind Political Correctness? Nobody! We are all behind it. We, all of us, used Political Correctness so we could be Politically Correct and the terrorists saw that as weakness. They thought they could hit us and we would not respond and they were right. For a decade we did little or nothing when we were hit, time and time again. We were too big and too afraid that we would hurt somebody's feelings if we struck back. We didn't have leaders who had courage enough to fight the Political Correctness…

Until 9/11

9/11 quieted the Political Correctness. 9/11 shut up the appeasers. We were lucky that we had a president who didn't listen to the media, who wasn't afraid to use the power that is US. A president who knows that to defeat terrorists you can't listen to the Political Correctness, the appeasers and the weak. That you have to kill all the terrorists and anyone who helps them. And when the world finally realized that not only did we have a big stick, and we were not afraid to use it, then that made a difference. When Libya's Kadafi saw us go into Iraq against the demands of weaklings like France and Germany he became afraid for his life and he gave up his WMD. Others will follow. Iran is opening it's country to inspections, Syria and North Korea are next. They know that we are no longer afraid to use our big stick and the world will be a better place for it. Sure, we can all get along, as Rodney King said, but to do so the evil in the world has to believe that if they mess with us we will beat the hell out of them with our big stick. It is only then that they will 'get along'. Having a big stick is useless if you are afraid to use it. When I was a teenager there was a guy who was a body builder. He could have beaten any of us up, he was that strong. But he was a coward and as soon as you challenged him he would back off. His big muscles were meaningless and nobody was afraid of him. That is what we had become after years of Political Correctness and the media giving so much time to the appeasers. The media is still doing that and there are many who still follow the god that is Political Correctness. Thank god our president is not one of them and thank god we are no longer ruled by Political Correctness. We now follow this version of that old proverb:

Speak softly and carry a big stick… and be willing to use it.

This is the only sure course for true and lasting peace in the world.

And… it's working.