KF Note: This column was distributed on November 3.
According to the book cover, “Congressman Mike Waltz
represents Florida’s sixth congressional district. He is the first
Green Beret to be elected to Congress and a former White House and
Pentagon policy advisor. He has served worldwide with multiple tours in
Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. For his actions in combat,
Mike was decorated with four Bronze Stars, two of them with valor. He is
a nationally known leader in national security and with regard to the
threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and global terrorism.”
Waltz
wrote “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret,” a no nonsense
book about learning and practicing the hard truths of life in warfare,
government and daily living. His descriptions of special forces training
are so realistic readers brace themselves to take whatever jolt is
coming. Waltz put it this way: “I’ve tried to use the stories from training and combat to illustrate and explain some essential virtues — virtues that are in danger of being forgotten and abandoned — and how they apply to the tough political decisions I’ve had to make and to our broader national discourse.”
He illustrates twelve virtues with his stories: restraint, discipline, bottom-up leadership, adaptability, loyalty, resilience, determination, boldness, servant leadership, truth to power, persistence, and vigilance. A section in the first chapter sets up the twelve chapters that follow.
“Because I have served in so many difficult places around the world, I have a clear vision of what America is and what she is called to be. Those experiences abroad have strongly reinforced my belief in the principles of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, free markets, equal opportunity, and a strong national defense. I am often confounded and, frankly, angered by what I see as growing contempt for American exceptionalism and American virtues. It is a result of a generation of neo-Marxists who decided in the 1960s and ’70s to stop attacking American institutions from the outside with kidnappings and bombings but rather infiltrate and influence them from the inside. They started with academia and have produced acolytes in the media, Hollywood, sports, and now the grand prize, corporate America. They have influenced an entire generation to believe that the United States is a republic dominated by a capitalist patriarchy that is inherently racist, misogynist, and colonialist at its core. Because these traits are ‘systemic,’ American institutions must be torn down to the base and rebuilt in a more ‘equitable’ system. Of course, these academics ignore the millions of people the United States has liberated through multiple world wars, its own Civil War to end slavery, the increasingly equal opportunity and upward mobility provided to its citizens of all races and religions, and the phenomenal wealth generated globally by the liberal world order underwritten by American leadership since World War II. By no means is it a perfect country, but I thank God every time I land back here after traveling abroad.”
Needless
to say, Congressman Waltz is a Red-White-and-Blue patriot who has
learned and practices a lot of truths to guide coming generations as
well as those in power in Washington, D.C. Reading his book made me feel
like I was washing off months of mud and matter from all the political
lies that have polluted the air, water, and land around us.
Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
2 comments:
I have never heard it put so eloquently yet blunt. I have had the absolute honor, privilege and opportunity to know many special ops veterans from Vietnam to present. Some of the stories they tell are bone chilling. I hope this next administration listens to these guys and appoints many of them in key positions for the sake of this country. God bless our veterans: past, present and future.
I Just ordered this book. Thanks Kingfish!
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