Penny Thoughts: It May Be Sooner Than We Think

I have just returned from listening to my friend and former colleague at Auburn who is running for the Republican nomination for United States Senator, Coach Tommy Tuberville.  I enjoyed working with him when he came to Auburn as Head Football Coach in 1999 and I served as Assistant Athletic Director for Student Services, which was academics.

I was immediately impressed with his candor and treatment of players back then.  He lived by the directive that a leader should say what he means and mean what he says.  From his first announcement that he intended to run for this office I knew I would support him.  What he had to tell the gathering at Rooster Hall on Tuesday morning did not disappoint nor was it inconsistent with my original assessment of this man.

And while I must emphasize that I am not speaking for nor do I present that this is an endorsement by the West Alabama Watchman for his candidacy, what I do present is my personal, unqualified endorsement for Coach Tuberville for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator AND for his eventual election as an Alabama Senator.

Tuberville represents everything I believe and respect.  He supports our President.  He believes in the history of the United States. He believes in our Constitution.  He believes we MUST improve our educational system.  He believes in a sound program to reduce our federal budget deficit. In short, from my perspective Tuberville believes in the same America I believe in.

One significant point – of the many he offered – was the fact that we are now at a significant crossroads for our nation.  Tuberville believes in our system of capitalistic economics primarily because it promotes competition.  In so discussing he made it clear that our national decision in the 2020 election is, in real measure, the choice between capitalism and socialism.  If one takes time to listen to the current national discussion, this dichotomy of ideas is apparent.

The last time this discussion became front page fodder was when President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were leading the Free World.  Thatcher observed, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”  She further added, “It was not a Government that built up the skill and craft of this country…It was private individuals who patiently persevered, building up their businesses bit by bit…Their success provided employment for others and greatly benefited the community as a whole. This was the spirit that made England great and can restore her once again. Do you want it to perish for a soul-less socialist system, or to live to recreate a glorious Britain?”

In a real sense, President Reagan equated capitalism with “freedom.”  His belief in capitalism was implicit in all he said and did.  His reference for “socialism” was always in the context of Russian Communism and because the Soviet Union operated under such an oppressive system it was not difficult for any of us to understand his allusions to it.

And President Reagan offered this admonition: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same.”  Relate this to concepts of “government” which promote the idea that the only way for a people to succeed or to thrive is to have large “governments.”

If we apply Reagan’s views and concepts to the systems of economics now in contention in our nation today, we find another of his apt quotations. “To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I have just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy.”

In sum, then, what Tuberville is espousing is a direct extension of both Reagan and Thatcher – a sound economic concept rooted in the fundamental principles of what our Founders had in mind.  Coach Tuberville firmly believes in the fact that there is a clear urgency to the decisions we make in the 2020 elections.

As for me and my household, we will vote for Coach Tuberville because the choices we must make in 2020 cannot wait, and the urgency accompanying this election may portend what President Reagan warned – that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

And I believe that if we are not vigilant, it may be sooner than we think.