http://youtu.be/St_ppgWT8I4

I wanted to start today off with something a little more upbeat and patriotic at the same time.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today’s tribute to Veterans is one of the most impactful few sentences I have come across. Below is the letter from Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby.

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

Please read and spent a quite moment in contemplation and thankfulness for our Veterans.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Next up in the tributes this week to our Veterans is a speech by Ronald Reagan.

Here is a link to this speech:

http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-d-day.htm

This one is a little longer, but I highly encourage you to read it.

It is a speech he gave on the 40th anniversary of D-Day.

What a powerful and symbolic moment in history.

This paragraph from the speech really stuck with me:

"The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers — the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machineguns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After 2 days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms."

I remember when "Saving Private Ryan" was released in the theatres. On one of the new shows they interviewed a gentleman that had been one of these Army Rangers on that fateful day.

He told the story of running on the beach and stopping behind a rock. For some reason he thought it would be a good time for a smoke and pulled out a cigarette. Only there was a problem. His hand was shaking so badly he couldn’t even get his lighter to work.

Can you imagine?

You can’t even light a cigarette but you still choose to press forward. To climb cliffs and face machine guns.

That interview has stuck with me since that day (I looked it up, that was 1998).

Remember today to be thankful for our heroes.

Make it a great day.

Jake

For some reason any time that I think of Veterans, I am reminded of Winston Churchill’s great speeches during World War II.

The British soldiers and their resolve are a true testament to what a Veteran stands for.

I have copied below an excerpt from one of his most famous speeches.

Some of the tidbits that left me inspired:

I have, myself full confidence that if all do their duty…we prove ourselves once again able to outlive the menace of tyranny.

We shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end.

We shall defend our island.

We shall never surrender.

Winston Churchill’s ability to rouse the troops and invigorate their spirit in opposition to their enemy shows what kind of a person a “Veteran” really is.

Someone who is inspired by pride in their country.

Someone who will never surrender.

Someone who will face evil in all its might and emerge victorious.

Someone who will risk his/her life while coming to the aid of others.

Someone who believes that ideals and principles are more important than even their own life.

I am and will be forever grateful for those American soldiers who fought in World War II. I am also thankful for their allies and their leadership as well.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Winston Churchill from “We Shall Fight on the Beaches”

“I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Full speech is here if you want to read it:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/128-we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches

Also, if you have some time to spend reading more of this stuff, go to this site:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill

In honor of Veteran’s Day yesterday, this week I am going to send out my favorite speeches, etc. that are dedicated to our Veterans.

Copied below is the Gettysburg Address.

The Gettysburg Address always reminds of the part that I (and we) play in honoring our Veterans.

Not only are we supposed to remember our Veterans on special holidays, we are supposed to be “dedicated to that great task before us”. We must make sure that those who have died have not died in vain.

We should be about the business of creating an America that they would be proud to have died for.

Let’s get started.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

"America’s veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world."

– John Doolittle

No management meeting today so just the one quote from me for you.

Veterans’ Day is Sunday.

As I get a little older and hopefully a little wiser, I realize more and more what our Veterans have done for us.

Having never been in the Armed Forces, I can only imagine what it is really like to participate in anything close to war.

I have come to one conclusion about it though. War forever changes a person. War forever leaves an impression so deep that it cannot be forgotten.

And everyone who has fought in a war has had to give something up in the process.

Some gave up a couple of years of their younger days in service to their country.

Some gave up their life.

Some gave up their grip on life and will never be the same.

And that brings us back to the quote above.

They gave something up so that we (and others) can have those precious gifts of democracy and freedom.

And how should we respond to their gifts?

Be thankful. Some gifts are so large that the only thing we can do is to be thankful. We have no way of repaying, we must humbly accept the gift with all the thankfulness we can muster.

Make the most of it. We must be careful not to squander something so valuable. Remember that Veterans didn’t give up their lives so that we could waste our life away watching reruns on TV and checking our FaceBox page every 5 minutes.

They gave up their life so we could accomplish great things. So that we could continue to be that beacon of democracy and freedom that is worth fighting for.

So, to the Veterans on the Mavidea crew (and the others that receive this email), I say "Thank You".

Thank you for your service.

Thank you for your inspiration.

Thank you for the gift you have given that I can never repay.

Make it a great weekend and thank a Veteran.

Jake

http://youtu.be/oLhS5RkAi4Y

Last night Maggie’s school sang this medley as part of their music program.

They had the Veterans in the crowd stand as their branch’s song came on.

It was a great moment of recognizing our Veterans.

Think of the Veterans in your life as their song plays.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

Bruce Lee

One of the important lessons to learn from politics is this concept of bending a little with the winds of the day.

Good politicians have learned how to work with each other through their differences and competing interests to get to a solution that is best for everyone.

Sometimes having the "right" philosophy or the "right" solution (no pun intended) is not the most important thing. Sometimes the best way to win the argument is by not entering into it at all.

Like a lot of things in life, this is something that must be done in moderation and with wisdom.

Bend too much and you lose all your values and standards. Before you know it you have lost yourself and the faith of those who depend on you.

We must the find balance between values that we are willing to give everything for and all of those little compromises we make every day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Well, the election is over. No more TV ads to look forward to and not really sure how I will spend my time.

But wait, maybe there is something we can do.

Maybe we can work together, support the office of the presidency and do our best to move the country forward.

Below is a speech that was given (maybe performed would be the better word) by someone in our Toastmasters group last week.

I wanted to send it after the election as a reminder that now is the time to work together.

Take the time to read it and honestly think about what your role in working together might be.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.

But unfortunately one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24 hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic.

If we amplify everything we hear nothing. There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate–just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe not more. The press is our immune system. If we overreact to everything we actually get sicker–and perhaps eczema.

And yet, with that being said, I feel good—strangely, calmly good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a fun house mirror, and not the good kind that makes you look slim in the waist and maybe taller, but the kind where you have a giant forehead and an ass shaped like a month old pumpkin and one eyeball.

So, why would we work together? Why would you reach across the aisle to a pumpkin assed forehead eyeball monster? If the picture of us were true, of course, our inability to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists actively subverting our Constitution or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own? We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is—on the brink of catastrophe—torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day!

The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. But Americans don’t live here or on cable TV. Where we live our values and principles form the foundations that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done. Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats, Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Americans live their lives more as people that are just a little bit late for something they have to do—often something that they do not want to do—but they do it–impossible things every day that are only made possible by the little reasonable compromises that we all make.

Look on the screen. This is where we are. This is who we are. (points to the Jumbotron screen which show traffic merging into a tunnel). These cars—that’s a schoolteacher who probably thinks his taxes are too high. He’s going to work. There’s another car-a woman with two small kids who can’t really think about anything else right now. There’s another car, (referring to the Jumbotron blowing in the wind) swinging, I don’t even know if you can see it—the lady’s in the NRA and she loves Oprah. There’s another car—an investment banker, gay, also likes Oprah. Another car’s a Latino carpenter. Another car a fundamentalist vacuum salesman. Atheist obstetrician. Mormon Jay-Z fan. But this is us. Every one of the cars that you see is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear—often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers.

And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile long 30 foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river. Carved, by the way, by people who I’m sure had their differences.

And they do it. Concession by concession. You go. Then I’ll go. You go. Then I’ll go. You go then I’ll go. Oh my God, is that an NRA sticker on your car? Is that an Obama sticker on your car? Well, that’s okay—you go and then I’ll go.

And sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute, but that individual is rare and he is scorned and not hired as an analyst.

Because we know instinctively as a people that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light we have to work together. And the truth is, there will always be darkness. And sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land. Sometimes it’s just New Jersey.

But we do it anyway, together.

If you want to know why I’m here and want I want from you, I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. Your presence was what I wanted.

Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. To see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you."

Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Closing Remarks:

Election Day. Time for one last sales pitch.

No, I am not going to put the hard press on you to vote for one candidate or another.

I am, however, going to suggest that you go vote.

And I came up with a reason that you probably haven’t heard much on TV.

Go vote for what it will make of you.

Go vote because it will cause you to have to think a little about what you really believe in.

Go vote because it will cause you to think a little about what it really means to live in a democratic and free society.

Go vote because it will afford you the opportunity to research a little and understand our government and system a little more.

Go vote because every time you do you become a little wiser and purposeful about how you vote.

Go vote for a better you.

Make it a great day.

Jake