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Gary R'nel: Bring Back That Shining City On The Hill

by Gary R'nel - 06/01/12 -

Ronald Regan referred to America as the shining city on the hill in his 1984 acceptance of the Republican Party nomination and in his January 11,1989 farewell speech to the nation. On January 9, 1961 President-Elect John F. Kennedy used the phrase during an address before the General Court of Massachusetts. It was puritan John Winthrop's sermon in 1630 where the phrase was first recognized as an example of what would become known as American Exceptionalism. In 1999, Gary Bauerused the same image and explicitly presented himself as a Reagan-devotee while chasing the Republican nomination. Michael Regan's 1997 book was entitled The City on a Hill: Fulfilling Ronald Reagan's Vision for America.

Mitt Romney please return America to the proud portrait of being that Shining Cityon the Hill. Restore faith in the American Dream. Restore confidence to the middle class decimated by the economy under Obama and his predecessor (yes, even John Bolton, Bush's ambassador to the U.N. said W needs to share in the criticism for the shape the economy is in).

May's unemployment numbers are dismal at best. Sixty-nine thousand jobs were created when most economists were looking for an increase of nearly 150-thousand. March and April's numbers were revised downward. Consumer spending has grown minimally while confidence continues to wane and wages for the most part remain stagnant. Millions of jobs remain lost.

Willard Mitt Romney. You are the artist here. The canvas is yours. The palette is yours. We need you to be our 21stcentury Norman Rockwell. Create and renew for us that portrait of the Shining City on the Hill. Bring it to life. Make it a reality by restoring fairness to the tax system, making health care affordable, and ensuring the middle class has the stamina, durability and confidence to restore America to her greatness.

 

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