My dad was the district attorney of New Orleans for about 30 years. And when he opened his campaign headquarters back in the early '70s when I was 5 years old my mother wanted me to play the national anthem. And they got an upright piano on the back of a flatbed truck and I played it.
Our young people have come to look upon war as a kind of beneficent deity which not only adds to the national honor but uplifts a nation and develops patriotism and courage.
The 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium which I helped to conceive is designed to embody the Olympic spirit of 'fair competition.' It tells people that freedom is possible but needs fairness courage and strength.
I was asked to do a test commercial shoot for an Apple product which didn't mean much to me at the time. Some music player that holds all your songs. Sounded cool to me and I never gave up an opportunity to work especially with the possibility of it turning into a national commercial. Coolest job I did in that time.
That is who Barack Obama is - a person of admirable character - and that is who he has remained for me over these last four years. I have not agreed with his every decision but never once have I seen him break his cool lose his composure or abandon his insightful perspective - even during the most serious and/or absurd national disasters.
While the recent addition of the National Guard providing a support role manning computers and cameras has allowed more Border Patrol agents to work the field more agents are still needed.
We shall never be able to remove suspicion and fear as potential causes of war until communication is permitted to flow free and open across international boundaries.
Maybe more climate activists will think about the climate change not as an international problem to be resolved in an air-conditioned meeting hall but as a guerilla war to be fought in the streets.
People feel that the EU is a one-way process a great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments to the European level until everything is decided by the EU. That needs to change.
Unless there is meaningful change in Syria and an end to the crackdown President Assad and those around him will find themselves isolated internationally and discredited within Syria.
We the people. Manifest Destiny. Conceived in liberty. Fear itself. Ask not. Morning in America. United we stand. Yes we can. In times of great change and tumult presidents seek to inspire beleaguered Americans by reminding them of their national identity.
I had some vague memory of visiting Canberra as a lad when we came up with my father by car. But when I made the long train journey from Sydney to Canberra and arrived at the little stop I did wonder slightly whether this really was the national capital.
Some people think my father was a spy because of working for that government agency in Vietnam but he can't find his car keys much less keep a national secret.
Family trips to Yellowstone and to what are now national parks in Southern Utah driving the primitive roads and cars of that day were real adventures.
Married couples who work together to build and maintain a business assume broad responsibilities. Not only is their work important to our local and national economies but their success is central to the well-being of their families.
Christ would be a national advertiser today I am sure as He was a great advertiser in His own day. He thought of His life as business.
Whether you were talking about Pillsbury Burger King Godfather's the National Restaurant Association in each one of those situations I had a daunting problem that I had to solve. And I used the same business principles to approach the problem and more importantly solve the problem in every one of the situations.
Business underlies everything in our national life including our spiritual life. Witness the fact that in the Lord's Prayer the first petition is for daily bread. No one can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach.
Government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.
The will to work of everyone in the country is the best guarantee of national survival.
No matter the nationality no matter the religion no matter the ethnic background America brings out the best in people.
If the United Nations once admits that international disputes can be settled by using force then we will have destroyed the foundation of the organization and our best hope of establishing a world order.
A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in.
Shortly thereafter some friends encouraged me to try out for the Miss South Carolina World beauty pageant. To my surprise I won - and was sent to New York City to compete nationally.