Continuing in our name. That means writing up ads in the newspaper. Writing letters to the editor. Those are not difficult to get published. He begged them to a particular new story or editorial. They count the number of letters from a particular perspective and will publish letters from that perspective. So it means demonstrating, First Amendment protected activity, going to the drone base and protesting in upstate new york, going i know it is not convenient, but if you have the opportunity going to the air force base where the drones take off, working in any way that you can organizing and pressuring the government. That is the only way. I think that is a wonderful question and comment to end our discussion because again, before i read this book i mean, i had gotten another book on drones. There are drones and things going on out there, someone else is doing it. It does not affect me. But then when you say,say, what is going on with these drones, what is happening . What is being done in our name . And then you see how horrible, as was said in the 1st chapter, these are a dark new weapon of war, you know, a dark weapon, and we really need to realize this, how dark these things are. Thank you so much for coming , and thank you for your questions and comments. I do hope you will get this book. We have copies that you can buy. Please fill out the evaluation form and say what you thought about this thing because, asbecause, as i said, this will strengthen the festival of the books. Please lineup, if you want to get your book autographed thank you. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] every year online bookseller amazon puts out a lista list of the 20 most well read cities across the us based off of sales data of purchased books, magazines, and newspapers. Seattle, washington tops off the list, home of amazons corporate headquarters. Portland, oregon comes portland, oregon comes in 2nd followed by the Nations Capital in 3rd place. San francisco and austin, texas round out the top five most well read cities. The list goes on with las vegas, tucson, denver, albuquerque, new mexico, and baltimores number 11. To find out which other cities made the top 20 list click for the article on business wire. Com. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning, welcome to the heritage foundation. We,. We, of course, welcome those who welcome who join us on our website. For those guests inhouse, we ask that last courtesy check that cell phones another noisemaking devices have been muted as a courtesy to our speaker. Our internet viewers are welcome to send comments or questions simply emailing. Of course, we will post the program on the heritage homepage for everyones future reference. Posting our event is doctored james j carafano. He is also our ew richardson fellow, graduate of west point and a veteran of the army and has served as a visiting professor at the National Defense university. He serves on the board of trustees at the Marine Corps University foundation and Advisory Boards for the west point center of oral history, hamilton society, and operation renewed hope. [applause] well, thank you for coming to what should be an extraordinary event. Not only a great friend, but he defines the definition of a great american, graduate of princeton and harvard, but we wont hold that against him. He served in the u. S. Army. Right . Another mark in his favor. Three combat tours, right . Three chores. Three chores. Extraordinary career in the public sphere including now working with fox news. So having put his life on the line, im not really sure what possessed him to write this, but in the arena as courageous, dangerous, and politically incorrect, write a book about who we are and who we should be just seem something quaint and oldfashioned and distasteful to address anymore, but for those of us who have walked around the island and the potomac and walked by the roosevelt statue and seeing some of that close and remember not just his legacy but the legacy of those who think this does matter, maybe there is not a better time for this book and certainly i applaud petei applaud pete for taking it on and coming here today to share his thoughts. Pete is going to talk, and then we will take you and i q a. When we get to q a, if you would wait for the microphone so that folks that are listening online can here the question as well and state your name and affiliation, that will be awesome. Sometimes we start late here , but we always end on time. Please join me in welcoming the author of in the arena. In the arena. [applause] well, thank you very much. I am grateful for this opportunity. You got the book early, reddit, engaged with it, offered to host. This feels like a Family Reunion basically. I think all of you for being here. So many wonderful faces, people i have known and worked with. Folks online, thank you for sticking with us. My former colleagues make up a big bulk of the audience. I am grateful that you are here. I wrote this book from four to 8 00 a. M. Many mornings while running cba. It was what we did that was an inspiration for me and i think you will find that it is a call to action that is exactly the call to action that is the organization. It is a pleasure to work with you. I appreciate the work you do even my brother in the front row. I want to thank all of you. Of course, kate palm right, also inspiration for me to write this book. She told me, you have got to write it,it, you need to write it. Thank you for being here. I also want to thank my good College Buddy who is here and is acknowledged as well in the book. This book would not have happened without him teaching me how to think and write in argue in college and pulling me back from the brink of some absurd things i put in the pages of publications. Content editor, and for good reason. Thank you for your help on this project. And then so many others that are out here, my wife, our boys who i dedicate thisi dedicate this book two. Yes. I always get laughs out of that. Good southern names. My parents. My brother, a man in the arena one himself and i always want to recognize a good friend of mine, fellow traveler of vets for freedom and author himself. To the book itself, i carried with me a quote in a black frame, a durable black frame. Teddy roosevelts man in the arena. It is not the critic who counts but the man who is in the arena his face is marred by blood and sweat and dust who strives valiantly, errors and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming but who does strive to do the deed, knows great enthusiasm, devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause, if he fails fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who no neither victory nor defeat. It is a famous quotation. This book aims to ask those questions. This book is not about my life. I am not audacious enough to believe i should be writing a biography at the age of 35. I am not a state senator from illinois. [laughter] this book is also not about Teddy Roosevelt. It channels his historic speech, but it is not about him. I am aware of his progressive lurch and what he gave us in 1912 in his candidacy and the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. Wilson. To say that he failed while daring greatly is generous. This book is not about me or roosevelt or litigating where he is on the political spectrum. It is a call to action and is meant to inspire, motivate, and remind americans of every generation. And some of us carried a rifle and many still do, you do not have to. It is our job to instill the principles that perpetuate what is an experiment in human freedom. You see, if the 21st century is not an American Century, than the 21st century will not be a free century. There are threats loaned them ideologies something up in the book is the phrase history is not over. All we have to do is look to western europe today to realize that when you decide to get your military to pay for your welfare state and you forget who you are you have a tendency to end up writing the way of history as opposed to shaping it. The guy who charged up San Juan Hill in 1898, simply great white fleet around the world, and you really was a chief agitator Woodrow Wilson declared peace without victory which would be quite difficult and be a difficult piece. In many ways it was a century on the back of Teddy Roosevelt. Why then, as i think about it, when i read the entire speech, that is when i woke up to the power of the quote. It is powerful. Motivating. In some ways there is no value assertion. What is the arena . What does it mean . It is not yours or mine or you do you. There isthere is the arena for this exceptional american experiment gifted us 240 years ago and has to be perpetuated. We all know the quote, never more than one generation away from extinction. A stark reminder and the more difficult reality of daily basis. Just one of the larger speech. Roosevelt gave it in 1910 in front of 3,000 french elites at the university of paris and sorbonne. When i read the speech for the 1st time after looking and never really thinking of the context, i was blown away. It is on pc before there was pc. It struck me as the roadmap of what we need in America Today in order to restore the republic. Why should we stand up and declare what i think the direction of america should be when instead i can channel a fantastic speech, historic speech that has timeless resonance today and reminds us of the very ingredients of republics required in every generation of matter what weather we have twitter or facebook or any other number of modern developments, the ingredients, the basic seeds of the republic of the same. The average citizen must be a good citizen is Great Republics are to succeed. Good citizens in a gritty, personal way and understand what it takes to keep and make america the greatest country in the world. Good citizens are the only antidote to big government. As history shows us, good citizens who understand why america is exceptional and special our american experiment truly is exceptional. Not because we are proud of boastful but because we understand this american experiment when it was started was just that. Europe laughed at us and said a piece of paper, constitution is what is going to stand between you and a tyrant . You are going to hand over power peacefully . There is a sense that it just wasnt powerful. Our founders remind us that our rights come from a creator and not a government checking the tendency toward tyranny and ambition, understood freedom of religion as opposed to freedom from religion, understood amendments like the 1st and 2nd are indispensable the free peoples, the ability to articulate speech and ideas across the spectrum which roosevelt talks about powerfully. The Second Amendment to the right to bear arms and protect yourself and understand that we are country of laws, not men. The men were angels, were angels, we would not need these type of arrangements. We talk about good citizens in good patriots. That is the breakdown of the book, and it is intentionally in that order because i talk a lot about foreignpolicy in the military and national security. You cannot talk about American Leadership until you talk about restoring and maintaining citizenship. If you do not understand what you are and who you believe that you can forget about attempting to be the leader in the world or attempting to project power in controversial and difficult places. Need to shore up, you might say, the homefront 1st. Not just voting for jury duty, not protesting necessarily. Those are ingredients of what we do. Of course all those things are good points out it is the gritty, homely virtues, he uses the word efficient which is usually what we think about with lightbulbs and starting pitchers. His view is 1st and word. He uses the 1st principle is work, earnedwork, earned success, and willingness to keep her job and provide for your family. Fight, strong and zero people, masculine spirit for men and women, strength, vigor, and power. We are awe are a bike helmet culture when we should be thinking about the barbarism of female subjugation in the middle east. We teach our kids to be wimps. We turnwimps. We turn our men into women and their women into men. We need to be willing to fight. The 3rd ingredient is large, patriotic families. Roosevelt wrote a lot about demographics. The anecdote i use often is of an afghan interpreter i spent time with afghanistan, not a radical young kid, in the United States today. He would risk his life for me and i for him command we were talking about faith, religion, christianity, islam, it is inevitable that islam will rule the world, the prophet foretold it. It. We are having ten kids, and you are having one. There was powerful poignant and that phrase. When you look at western europe, i mentioned that they are getting their militaries to pay for their welfare state, you forget who you are and dont demand allegiance and assimilation from populations that separate themselves and then have ten kids what you are having one, that is how london the most popular name in london becomes mohammed for newborn boys, and for us to think that things like that just goes away his willful blindness. So western europe will look different, and that is not an anti muslim phrase, it is aa reality that because they dont do integration, have not done that well, not the melting pot, there going to have massive cultural clashes as we have already seen, things like the migrant crisis only accelerate the problems we see, as many of you know europe is a preview. The 2nd chapter of the book is about france and all we can learn from france that was a formerly Great Republic that decided to give away at status by making intentional decisions at home, and america can learn from that. We have massive advantages, but it still a lot to learn. The aspect you can put 1st his character, whether it is faith believing in something greater than yourself, George Washington said religion and morality are indispensable supports were public. Without faith and then wonder why we get what we get in our culture. Im not talking about social conservatism. I am a social conservative conservative in many ways, both former ardent social conservative, you go to war, learned some things, see some see some things and realize there are other things in my mind that are more important priority. Im not talking about prolife issues. I think we have says over things like samesex marriage, and it inhibits our ability to talk about the real challenges facing families, the real challenges facing parents and kids. Then he talks about after you focus on yourself looking outward and equal opportunity which should be the lone star conservatives and republicans, the party of equal outcome. If we are not the strident we dont strive daily to be the party of equal opportunity, then we will miss the mark, and it is fair to say republicans and conservatives have missed the mark for a long time talking about things like marginal tax rates of peoples mindsets are different than they are seeing massive shifts in the economy and the way lives are lived all we have to be clear eyed meaning not just unburdening regulations and problems are pushing back against dependency for those at the bottom the making sure those of the top play by the same rules. The regulations, the tax code, the lobbyists the rig the system so that those of the top are able to game it to their advantage and in many ways block out those who would otherwise have social mobility. Left talks about income inequality all the time. We should talk about his social mobility, the ability to rise, the ability to have every opportunity that your parents or others had. You have to start with citizenship. He talks about what undercuts good citizens, and it is a citizenry focused on rights instead of duties, a citizenry the bluesman is perfected are perfectible and therefore you learn through utopia and utopian ideas, citizenship invested in moral relativism, there is no right or wrong. Take Something Like the abu ghraib prison scandal which was terrible, but there is no reason why the New York Times had to put it on the front page 32 Straight Days in a row. There is no home team in america. It is passe to say that america is good for passe to say that i am an american and therefore support the causes we undertake, even if they are difficult ones and in many ways often controversial and open to dissent. And the 4th is class warfare. Roosevelt talks about, he said the end of the republic is at hand in class warfare commences which is what we have seen in many ways. We have seen classes and genders pitted against each other which is toxic to the body politic and to citizenship. We start with citizenship because without citizenship you cannot create the good patriots or bewill be the good patriots on the world stage that you need to be. You guys have all seen i dont know if you have seen the Bumper Sticker think globally act locally. It is a popular environmental Bumper Sticker, and i think roosevelt would rip that often say think locally act globally. Meaning remember who you are and be willing to act globally in defense of those principles which are indispensable, america is good, worth fightinggood, worth fighting for, truly exceptional and has been a force for good in the world. And by the way, warning the wars we fight is a good thing. He talks about that in the speech. It sounds like a basic, simple question, but there are critical moments in the right in the book, the surge , and i see people hear , the line of freedom and tyranny is often decided is difficult moments when half the country or a lot of people want to take a politically expedient route. It has been difficult, controversial, costly, lets pop smoke and leave the difficult battlefield. The other half says this is the exact moment you need to be willing to double down and take the fight to the enemy, and i have never been more proud than january 102007, did the right thing in the face of Massive Public pressure, double down to defeat a vicious enemy saying the future of our security depends on the battle. Ask yourself today feels right . Unfortunately, of course he was. It