I have many responsibilities to the American people, and I take them all seriously. But I have one responsibility that outweighs all the others and that is to use whatever talents I possess, and every resource God has granted me to protect the security of this great and good nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. And that I intend to do, even if I must stand athwart popular opinion. I will attempt to convince as many of my countrymen as I can that we must show even greater patience, though our patience is nearly exhausted, and that as long as there is a reasonable prospect for succeeding in this war then we must not choose to lose it. That is how I construe my responsibility to my country. That is how I construed it yesterday. It is how I construe it today. It is how I will construe it tomorrow. I do not know how I could choose any other course.
Two hundred miles south in Las Cruces, Barack Obama hold a “Memorial Day Veterans Town Hall” with Gov. Bill Richardson at the Farm and Ranch Museum, just down the road from Fort Bliss. Seeing as the Land of Enchantment was decided by less than one point in 2000 (48-48, Al Gore) and about one point in 2004 (50-49, George Bush), expect both candidates to make plenty of return trips before November.
Hillary and Bill Clinton attend a grand total of nine events–what, no double digits?–in the upcoming primary territory of Puerto Rico, including a joint Memorial Day rally on the south side of the Capitol in Old San Juan this evening.
Meanwhile, the rest of us honor the sacrifices of the men and women–our friends, our family and those we’ll never know–who left their homes to serve this country and lost their lives on the field of battle. They’re the reason we’re free to barbecue, sightsee and spend this day with the ones we love.
Happy Memorial Day. We’ll be back tomorrow.
