The President brought his A game today.  Finally, after months of suffering the most outrageous slanders his political opponents could dish out, the Commander in Chief answered the bell and came out swinging.

The weak response from the likes of Ted Kennedy and John Kerry only shows how devoid of honor and dignity the Democrats truly are. The President had finally had enough of their lies. And this President has finally learned that these are not his friends, nor are they reasonable people with whom one can find some common ground. Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest seem so small and shrill and insignificant in the wake of the President's thunder.

The Democrats like to say that they support the troops, but do not support the war they fight. Nothing could be more untrue or disingenuous. For the troops believe that the war they fight is just, and noble and necessary. They believe that every brother or sister in arms who has fallen or will yet fall, did and will do so in the defense of freedom and security — ours, theirs, the Iraqis and the millions upon millions of people across the globe and as yet unborn who but for their devotion would have no hope of either freedom or security.

Again, one cannot support the troops and dishonor the mission they so firmly embrace. The Democrats believe they can have it both ways.  The President has signaled that he will not let that happen. We must answer his call and answer it loudly.

Now, at the risk of injecting some politics into this, I raise this question: Who do the troops support? Is it Harry and Nancy and Howard?  No, they overwhelmingly support George W. Bush.

That is as close to an objective fact as there is in this world. 

There is a reason that the members of our armed forces, including veterans, are overwhelmingly conservative and vote Republican. Duty, Honor, Country. They see in conservatism the steadfastness, the empowerment of the individual committed to excellence, the standards and codes and faith with America's founding principles.  They see in liberalism the excuses, the lack of standards, the moral relativism that, were it to seep into their world, would wreak havoc, ruin, death and defeat.

It is the modern liberal, housed in the Democratic party, who blames America for all the worlds’ ills first and always. It is the modern liberal who sees in George Washington, nothing but a rich slave-owner. It is the modern liberal who disdains the mere idea "Semper Fidelis" because to honor it and live it would mean self-sacrifice for the good of others — a concept wholly foreign to them. It is the modern liberal who cannot understand why anyone would carry a rifle and a rucksack, sleep in the woods or the sand, slog through rain, face the fire, stand against all manner of evil and violence and the forces of Hell itself just to ensure that far away, people they have never met but who they know so well, will sleep safely in a bed, in a warm home, on a full belly, under God's stars in peace and freedom.

What must they think when they hear their political leaders lie in an attempt to slander their Commander in Chief?  They know that George W. Bush, in sending them to Iraq, to Afghanistan and to other points across the globe has kept the faith with them, with their traditions and with the ideal we call America.

To the Democrats who would dispute this, particularly the notion that our soldiers are overwhelmingly conservative, I'd ask this: Why did Al Gore and the Democrats fight so hard to disqualify each and every overseas military ballot during the Florida recount in 2000? I rest my case.

Today, George W. Bush reminded us and our men and women in uniform why we fight and why we will win. And there is nothing that John Kerry, Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can say or do to change that. 

God Bless you Mr. President. God Bless each and every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine. God bless their families who know that to be a military family is to live in a state of constant sacrifice and separation.

Mr. President, this veteran of the US Army Infantry could not be prouder on this Veteran's Day. Hooah, Sir.