Seven Reasons to Celebrate the Inauguration & Beyond

1. All of Michael Moore's vitriolic pre-election ranting and raving seems to have backfired big time! It appears that what I referred to in a song, and my honorable acquaintance, Dick Morris later referred to in a video as "FahrenHYPE 9/11" helped rather than hurt Bush's bid for the presidency.

2. Bush showed Springsteen who's
"Boss." Through his unrelenting passion for performance, and his songwriting prowess in the seventies and eighties, Bruce Springsteen earned the nickname, "The Boss." But in 2004, the musical efforts he "employed" to get his good buddy, Kerry to win the election fell flat. They probably had Kerry wishing he would have told The Boss, "You're fired!" Though Bush may not be able to carry a tune (neither can Springsteen, though he is a pretty good songwriter and an ebullient entertainer), he proved he can carry the vote. Kerry carried too little, too late, and ultimately lost the big ticket. If there were a song entitled "Unborn in the USA," (actually there is, but this is hardly the time or place to unveil it), about Bush's passion for the unborn in America, 2004 may be the year that it could have won a battle of the hits contest over Springsteen's Born in the USA. So much for Springsteen.

3. Bush's back-to-back election victories take the wind out of the sails of those who would discount the legitimacy of his presidency. Though we all know he won the first election fair and square, those who used the controversial nature of his 2000 victory as an excuse to discount the W. in "win," are now forced to face the music for another four years.

4. Swift Boat vets will be able to rest in peace. Those aging vets who tasted the bitter venom of his post-Vietnam-war-aspersions on their character and their country, would have surely gone to their graves with posthumous insomnia. Even heaven may not have kept the memory of a President Kerry out of their ethereal minds. But now they can grow old a little more gracefully and, live a little longer, and, when they die, they can rest in peace.

5. We're better off than we were four years ago. Sure, the march into Baghdad has been a bloody one at best, and we grieve for every family member who has lost a son, a daughter, a husband or a wife in the war. The tremendous cost cannot be brushed aside. But Bush's bold confrontation with forces of evil during the first four years of his administration have given freedom a posture on the world stage that affords lovers of liberty a great opportunity to advance the cause of freedom and liberty. The fruits of Bush's international policies, when they have ripened, could render him one of the greatest presidents who ever lived.

6. Morality matters in 2005. Before the election, values-spokesman, Gary Bauer was highly sought after for his willingness to take a stand on moral matters. Now that values and morals were determined to have such a profound motivating impact on conservative voters, this man, (the fan I'm the most proud to call a fan, and the fan I'm the biggest fan of), has become so sought after that I'm sure he's considering going into hiding. The very issues that divided the nation in 2004--gay marriage, freedom of religious expression, the the diminishing rights of the unborn, and the like, united Republicans like never before and motivated them to go to the polls in droves in the election of 2004.

7. Religion is alive in 2005, and I'm talking "old-time religion," not esoteric debates among the liberal elite, who know "God" only in an abstract, detached manner. The religion that is alive in 2005 is one that cannot be forced, feigned, or fabricated. The religion of Bush-supporters is a religion built on the foundation set forth by our founding fathers. Though Democrats will try to sound as religious as possible over the next four years, and "deathbed" conversions will multiply among members of the dying party, these so-called "conversions" won't pass the smell test.

Well, unless you are a member of the Beatles, there are seven days in a week. If you are a Republican, I've given you enough reasons to keep your post-inaugural celebration alive for the first week. But if you look a little harder, I'm sure you will find enough reasons to celebrate being a Republican to last you through the year, maybe even through Bush's new term. "We're Havin' a Republican Party." Don't be a party pooper. "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to," but if you see tears, let me assure you, they are tears of joy. If you hear a happy song, you'll know which "Bruce" it's coming from. And if you hear laughter, you'll know it's not coming from Michael Moore. Yes, we may be compassionate conservatives, but, Mr. Michael Moore, this time we get the last laugh, and we're laughing at you, not with you.