Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The day America died

True, but it is the end of the Era of American ascendancy. It's also the beginning of America as a Socialist democracy (?).

So now a true partnership with Old Europe can begin, not because they've gained any ground but because today we've begun the (hopefully slow) descent toward their level of government-subsidized mediocrity.

Complete Text of Arizona Senator John McCain's concession speech, Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 4, 2008

MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

[APPLAUSE]

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him. [BOOING]

Please. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. [Complete text of President-elect Obama's speech is available here.]

In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine....

... at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now...[APPLAUSE]

Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. [APPLAUSE]

Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Sen. Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans...[APPLAUSE]

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that. [APPLAUSE]

Arizona Senator John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

We fought -- we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours.

[AUDIENCE: No!]

I am so...

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

[AUDIENCE MEMBER, OFF-MIKE: We do, too]

The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother... [APPLAUSE]

... my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign.

All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

I am also -- I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen...[APPLAUSE]

... one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength... [APPLAUSE]

... her husband Todd and their five beautiful children... [APPLAUSE]

... for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country. [APPLAUSE]

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

Political button for John McCain and Sarah Palin

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

[BOOING] Please. Please.

I would not -- I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

[APPLAUSE]

[AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA.]

Tonight -- tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Se. Obama -- whether they supported me or Sen. Obama.

I wish godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. [APPLAUSE]

We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.

Ruger 4570, you are absolutely right, it is not only white against black. It's also black against white, black against hispanic, white against hispanic, hispanic against white and many other combinations. Desegregation has been achieved, but true intregation is unfortunately a long ways off. I apologize for implying that rpowell is a racist. It was out of line if that was the perceived implication.
Selmer

We need another Newt Gingrich, fast.

It's one thing to comment on the American election.

It's another to suggest Canada is anything but a great place to live.

Perhaps "Brother Keith" - you should begin looking to move elsewheres...

Newt. What a joke. He led the republican revolution of '94 when the GOP had the White House and both houses of Congress. He squandered the best chance Republicans had in decades to effect real change.

This just bites!

Ruger 4570 is exactly right. We still have racism in America, but it's not limited by any means to white against black, or even to those two groups. We have achieved desegregation in this country, but we have hardly achieved true integration as a nation. I apologize for implying that rpowell is a racist. That is a strong accusation and was not trying to say that he specifically is a racist.
Selmer

I thought McCain gave an excellent concession speech too.


We still have our American system of government, therefore we are not powerless. The U.S. has not become a dictatorship. Taking a defeatist attitude uses up energy that could be used to become more politically active and help guide the nation.

Government of the people, for the people, and by the people is NOT dead if the citizens of the U.S. will take it seriously.

The GOP didn't have the White House in 94. Clinton took office in 93. You're right, Newt could have done better but without him there might not have been a Congressional "Republican Revolution", it made some difference for a while.

Republicans in Congress could always do better. They seem to think if they appease the democrats on some issues the MSM will cut them some slack. It's never happened and it's not going to. The media will always give democrats a pass for playing hard ball and giving no quarter. The only compromising that's acceptable to the media is by Republicans so the Republicans keep trying to get the MSM to like them a little bit. It's like watching Charlie Brown believing he's going to get to kick the football.

Just think, If John Wilkes Booth had killed linclon five years earlier than he did we would still have VERY cheap labor for people to use. and definately would not be in this situation

Very Low and Very Cheap

hey if they can be racist towards whites we have EVERY right tofeel that way back.

We survived Nixon and Bush for a total of 14 years; we'll make it through the next 4 and hopefully, do better than we did under either of these Bozo's!

If Obama can improve the fiscal situation and reduce the massive National Debt, we'll all be better off. Less than 5% make more than $250,000 and about 75% do not make more than $50,000. So most will not be affected.

One site that might be of interest is:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/small_business_v_small_busines.php

In case you are wondering, I consider your post wrong and stupid for so many reasons I won't even bother. But answer me this, how come everytime I refute your posts with facts you choose to ignore them? jorge

Hawk hit the nail directly on the head right here!

Sorry Jorge, I don't spend my entire day just looking at replies to my posts (I use the 'fire as a diversion between never ending meetings and follow-up). I just pop in and see what is going on and sometimes reply - or not.

Hi Jorge:

You say my post is wrong and stupid (there you go again, if someone does not agree with you they are stupid!). Since you did not say why it is wrong, I'll just have to guess.

I posted �We survived Nixon and Bush for a total of 14 years; we'll make it through the next 4 and hopefully, do better than we did under either of these Bozo's!

I don�t believe that you differ with the (Bozo) characterization of Nixon (a President who required a Presidential pardon) or Bush (a man leaving office with massive deficits and a ballooning National Debt, plus a never-ending war or two, plus a legacy of eliminating oversight so no one understood Wall Street�s financial engineering, etc.). So, we agree on this point.

I also posted �If Obama can improve the fiscal situation and reduce the massive National Debt, we'll all be better off.

Certainly you agree that if Obama can improve the situation he inherits, we�ll all be better off, so there�s no real argument here.

I also said �Less than 5% make more than $250,000 and about 75% do not make more than $50,000. So, most will not be affected.� Here is where I was wrong; it is not that 75% make less than $50,000; it is 84.5% that make less than $50,000 (2006), according to the Tax Foundation.

I should have said �Of those reporting �small business income�, less than 3% make more than $250,000 and about 84.5% do not make more than $50,000. So, most will not be affected.� See: (see Tax Foundation: http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/23824.html )

Sorry for citing wrong information. I do try to be accurate.

Well the Carter fiasco gave us Reagan so maybe this horrific experience will give us Palin or Jindal in 2012. Hopefully we can stand 2 years of Pelosi and Reid and take back Congress in 2010. I also pray that the only SCOTUS retirements will be the most liberal ones.

Your figures are wrong and not stupid. IT does not include the overwhelming majority of small business owners reporting the gross incomes of their businesses on their 1040s. While the 1040 might show in excess of 250K their personal income is far below 250k and it still doean't answer the Obama shell game about 95% when 40% don't pay Fed income taxes. Blaming the Wall Street mess on Bush is totally and 100% wrong and we've discussed this before (one of those many posts you ignored) even clinton admitted his own party blocked attempts to fix Fannie & Freddie and Republicans including Bush were blocked at every turn by democraps like Todd, Schumer & Frank to fix the problem. If you actually believe it was Bush's fault, well that is stupid.

Calling President Bush & Nixon Bozos while leaving Carter, Carter! and of course the dope-smoking, draft dodging rapist clinton out was stupid if you didn't realize it and smart if you purposely left it out. Like I said, I don't think you are stupid, but if you are a democrat, my signature line is what I believe you stand for. If you have a particular ideology fine, we;ll agree to disagree, but everytime I see you post stuff that is factually wrong, I'm going to call you on it. jorge