For the sake of my son, I support McCain

Alfonse D'Amato Jr. sleeps a lot in what had been my home office. He is surrounded by paintings and snapshots from my past. Yet he has his entire future before him.
In this world less than a month, he has already been visited by a troop of brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, cousins and nephews, grandparents and family friends. And yet, he will need to make his way in the world based on his own actions, integrity and work ethic. He will grow up in a world that is far more challenging than the one his father has experienced because, while the global threats are just as dangerous as the Cold War, these enemies are zealots who are far more subtle, far more rabid and firm in the belief that we are heathens worthy of destruction.

He will face a world where our religious freedom, gender equality and First Amendment rights will be under direct attack, perhaps for a generation or more. He will live in a world where children are taught by cartoon characters to kill Israelis, where women are stoned to death for being raped, and where sworn enemies of democracy have pledged to repeatedly attack the United States. And that is why Alfonse D'Amato Jr. came home from the hospital with a John McCain hat.

Much has been written about the oratory of Sen. Barack Obama, the charismatic senator from Illinois. He has electrified his political base by speaking of change, using words to describe a world that embraces all colors, creeds and religions. Regretfully, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't understand a word of English. Khaled Mashal, political head of the terrorist organization Hamas, champions a cause that recruits young children to blow up their enemies through the use of bombs strapped to their bodies. Syria and North Korea clearly have a series of diplomatic compacts that see sophisticated military technology funneled into that Middle East regime. No one there is listening to oratory.

Obama speaks of change. It is a recurring theme. He envisions an America embracing change. He advocates for it and has struck a responsive chord in the hearts of many young Americans. Ironically, it is the one common theme he inadvertently has with our radical Islamic enemies. They too intend to seek change in America, although it is certainly not consistent with that of Obama's intent. We are a nation at war and no one understands better how to preserve, protect and defend the United States against unprecedented threats than Sen. John McCain.

McCain does not wear a rigid ideological cloak. His public policy positions are honed on what he believes is the right course for this country based on his years in public service. He has been tempered by the horrors of war and imprisonment. He has been schooled in the harsh world of international alliances and confrontation. He knows what the stakes are, and they have little to do with oratory and everything to do with what other nations hear and how they perceive the words of the president of the United States.

So while Obama can effectively speak to the frustrations that many Americans have, he does not have the skill set, experience or pragmatic understanding of this very dangerous 21st century world to win the vote of Alfonse D'Amato or, more important, Alfonse D'Amato Jr.

The above article was featured in the February 22-28 issue of Long Island Business News www.libn.com

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