Speaker Gerald Polley's Veterans Day Speech, 2,007<br>Text Version

It is said that I would not make a good President because I do not have enough military experience. Well, as a Spiritist I am in touch with many in the past that have had a great deal more experience than me and have taught me a great many things! Like (Nathan) Bedford Forrest, the great Confederate commander. Though the two of us would never agree on racial issues, none can deny his ability as a field commander. Many times I have studied him, and learned from him, and one of the things that he taught me is "Be audacity itself! Never let the enemy know what you are going to do. Take ahold of him and don't let go of him! Keep fighting! Keep pushing! Never give him an opportunity to rest." And with this philosophy Bedford beat several Union armies and if he had had a few more resources, and a few more men he would've probably beaten them all!

Ah, Bedford's commander, Robert E. Lee has also taught me several very important things, and one of them is these. "Never fight where the enemy wants you to fight. Make the enemy fight where you want him to fight. Draw him into such a position that he has to attack you, don't attack him. As much as possible make him come to you!" Now this is a very important lesson! I am sure that no one of any military organization would deny what this great man had to say, because it is a basic military truth.

Of course my favorite military commander is Patton! Because he taught me the most basic truth of all; "Find out what the enemy positively, absolutely says you can't do, and then do it! Never let a commander sleep peacefully. Never let the enemy have any idea of what is coming. Do exactly what he says you can't do over and over and over again, and you will win the day!" Now there is great military strategy!

And there is many more I have learned from. There are ages and ages of military skill behind me that I can draw upon and use any time I want to. And of course I will listen to the military commanders of today, get their advice, and, their opinion and decide what should be done. . If I was a military commander today, though, I'll tell you the one assignment that I would like to have; I would like to be in charge of the detail that goes to get Bin Laden! I'd like to have death warrants in my pocket issued by The President and signed, for Bin Laden and all of his cronies, and just as soon as we capture them slap them with them and say "Here! You're already tried, you're already convicted, you've admitted that you've murdered thousands of Americans, so you're gonna be shot right here, right now!" and take 'em out, stand 'em up against a wall, shoot them, and cremate them and scatter their ashes where nobody could find them so people wouldn't be coming and praying at their graves, and making them martyrs to their holy cause. No one would knwo where their bodies were, and they would never be at peace! You don't know how much I want that assignment! You don't know how much I want that job!

Unfortunately you probably couldn't do it that way under American law. We could do it that way under Spiritist law, but probably under The United States law we wouldn't be able to do it. We'd have to bring him back, try him, make a big show of it, give him all kinds of publicity and get all kinds of other people following him and going out and killing people to get famous. We wouldn't be able to do it quidc and easily under American law. I would still like to be the person that gets there, kicks the foot of his bed and say "Come on fella, it's judgment day! God is waiting! You don't know how much I'd like to have that job!

I have been asked what I think of The Veterans Administration. Well, I believe The United States has the best system for the veterans that has ever been set up anywhere in the world. But unfortunately, right now, it is overwhelmed. It is underfunded and there is an awful lot of misuse of funds, not illegal, but people just don't know what they're doing. There are some small adjustments that need to be made in The Veterans Administration. We need to get rid of some of the red tape and straighten out some of the bureaucracy and get things moving a little smoother. But this is a problem with any governmental agency, and it is going to take a little bit of work. We're going to have to get in there and straighten some of these things out! But even then The Veterans Administration is simply overwhelmed. There is simply too much for it to handle!

And I am going to have to ask the American public for more help. We need the churches to come forward. We need the hospitals to come forward. We need the doctors to come forward and take some of the pressure off from the veterans hospitals, to raise funds so that the veterans can be treated in local hospitals, and get doctors to donate services, and get hospitals to donate services, even reduce prices for the veterans; anything to make it easier for The Veterans Administration to handle this load, to take some of the pressure off them. The public really needs to help, and that's what's great among The American People, that they will help! They won't say, "Well, the veterans have done their job, they fought the battles for us, they made America safe, now we don't care about them. They can fend for themselves!" The American People won't do that. And that's what makes The American People so much better than any other people in the world, because they will rally to their veterans, they will help those who have been wounded. They will help those who have come home with shattered minds because of all the horror they have encountered, and help them put their lives back together, and get them back in the main stream of American life! That's what makes us different, and that's what makes us great!

Of course the burning question with many in America when anyone considers becoming president is "What would you do about the draft?" And I will tell you this right now, positively and absolutely; if I am President Of The United States there will never, ever be a draft! Because I firmly believe if a nation must enslave its soldiers, if a nation must take its soldiers by force and make them serve, and make them bear arms, and make them fight its enemies, it is already dead, it is already finished! It has lost its unity as a nation! If we cannot raise a volunteer army to defend The United States Of America, The United States is gone! If we must enslave our soldiers, The United States is finished!

The draft was a mistake, the draft has always been a mistake, and those that support it are absolutely wrong! We must make it better for those who serve in the military, we must do all in our power to see that they have every opportunity, that when they return to mainstream life that they are not taken advantage of by those who, in their greed will rob from them, and steal from them to better themselves after they have served their country. We must protect our veterans and protect their property and protect their families, and see that their sons and daughters get a decent education. We must serve the veterans as valiantly as they have served us!