Fred nails this one at the Citadel

Look, as I've said several times now, the guy gets it. He understands the central problem of defending a democratic country--credibility and resolve:

I spent some time recently with a book called A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, by the historian Andrew Roberts. He describes the strengths that have seen America and England through danger and adversity. But there's one quality in particular that no nation can do without in such a time. As Roberts observes, "The will of a people is at least as important as their military might in overcoming an enemy."

This is true in our day as well. But in some ways it runs against our nature to accept and deal with the world we live in. We're a free society, and it's not really in the character of free people to seek conflict. We prefer to go about the business of life - to work and raise our families in the security of communities achieved by hard-won struggles. And though these traits speak well of us, they are now being used by our enemies against us.

That's resolve; as for credibility, that comes from having the means to act on our resolve:

This radical threat we face today is committed to a hundred year war, and has been waging one against us for decades ... in Beirut, Somalia, embassies in Africa, Saudi Arabia, on the USS Cole. Each time Americans were killed. Yet each time our response sent the wrong signals. This is an enemy that understands only the language of power. Today, the focus of this war is Afghanistan and Iraq, but it is clear that this struggle and our enemies extend far beyond those borders. To defend ourselves, we in the democratic world must assert our intentions in the clearest possible terms.

Diplomacy, economic influence, and other means of persuasion are always to be preferred in our dealings with dangerous regimes and rival states. But the words of our leaders command much closer attention from adversaries when it is understood that we are prepared to use force when force is necessary. And for that deterrent to exist, the will of our people and the strength of our military must be unquestionable.

I hope Thompson is the nominee, but if he's not, I hope he remains in public life where he can deliver this message. This speech may be his best yet; he's engaging history and learning from our recent mistakes without casting blame. He's not only right and inspiring on the grand principles, but he also is able to translate them into policy recommendations (and without putting me to sleep!) Go read the whole thing.

I hope the Fred campaign gets some video of this event out there pretty soon. I bet it will generate some talk.