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Free Classifieds | Obituaries |

Shirley H. Perry

Shirley H. Perry, age 76, of Cantonment, went to be with her Lord Tuesday, January 22, 2013. She was born January 30, 1936, in Robertsdale to the late Charles T. and Myrtle L. Hedden, Sr.

Shirley retired from Southern Bell after over 30 years of service. She was very independent, she worked hard and was a caring, loving mother and grandmother.

Survivors include her daughter, Shelia Langford; two sons, Michael (Diana) Perry, all of Cantonment; and Dennis Perry of Gulf Breeze; two grandsons, Ronnie Langford and Dylan Ross; and five brothers.

Funeral services will be Monday, January 28, 2013, at 11 a.m. at Eastern Gate Memorial Funeral Home with Pastor Pam Avery officiating. Interment will follow in Eastern Gate Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 10 a.m. until the service hour.

Eastern Gate Memorial Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Escambia Man Gets Life In $5 Million Cocaine Conspiracy

An Escambia County man has been sentenced to life in prison on federal drug charges.

Clinton Williams, Jr. was sentenced  by Senior U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier to life in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Williams was also sentenced to a concurrent 360-month term for possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.

The testimony at trial established that Williams was a leader in a multi-state cocaine distribution operation extending from Texas to Florida. The group was responsible for distributing approximately 150 kilograms of cocaine beginning around August 1, 2011, with a wholesale value exceeding $5 million dollars.

Throughout the prosecution, Williams continually told the court he was a “sovereign citizen” and had no “ownership interest” in the name Clinton Williams. He said he believed the charges against him were “only civil disputes” that he wished “to settle” with the “claimant.” He challenged the authority of Senior District Judge Collier to preside over the case.

The conspiracy was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by the Pensacola Police Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. This on-going investigation has resulted in the federal convictions of several other individuals.

The investigation has also resulted in the seizure of multiple kilograms of cocaine, over $100,000 in illegal drug proceeds, vehicles, and other assets connected with this conspiracy.

In Depth: Clerk-Elect Pam Childers Letter To Employees

The following letter was sent from Escambia County Clerk-elect Pam Childers to employees:

January 4, 2013

Dear Fellow Employees:As your incoming Clerk of Court, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Happy New Year. I trust that you and your families enjoyed the holiday season, and I look forward to getting to know you and working with you beginning Tuesday.

I am sending you this letter so that there will be no confusion or misunderstanding about my intentions for this office going forward. My goal is not to “clean house,” nor is it to make life difficult for you. My job, as the elected Clerk of Court and Comptroller, is to serve the taxpayers in a fiscally responsible and efficient manner.

I want to inform each of you about the efforts that my transition team has made since the primary election to ensure a smooth transition for you, for the taxpayers, and for the agencies we serve. I started the transition process by requesting an internal transition team; however, I was met with a response many weeks later that I could meet the leadership team consisting of five people in early November. Since that first request on August 23, 2012, I have made repeated requests for information, names and addresses of staff to initiate correspondence, meet with each of you individually, and other basic transitional access. My attempts for information were frequently delayed or not taken with priority. Communication with the outgoing Clerk was one way; never did he reach out to have a conversation to assist with the transition or provide an environment open to interaction.

In addition to these disappointing transition steps, since my election there have been several aberrant financial decisions. In summary, over $1,000,000 of additional personnel expenditures have been expended or committed during the transition period, as well as nonmonetary actions that adversely affect the ease of transition. These include:

• September 19, 2012 – Revision of the leave buyback policy from a fiscally conservative, limited policy to an unlimited plan that cost several hundred thousand dollars.
• September 2012 – Bonuses totaling $225,913 (lump sum 3% of salary), FY2012
• October 2012 – Pay raises of 4% totaling $290,000 annually (3% for management), FY2013
• November 2012 – Buyback of leave totaling $290,230, including individual requests of over 400 hours, FY2013
• Approximately 17 new hires (both full time and student positions)
• Promotions to the highest paid positions (Administrators and Directors)
• Employees physically relocated to other parts of the building.
• Long-term front office employees moved to outlying offices or transferred to other departments.

All of these transactions occurred within three months of the August 14, 2012 election, with two of the largest financial outlays taking place within weeks of that election.

Most troubling about these expenditures is the fact that none of them appear to have been part of a clear budget process. In researching the budget submissions to both Escambia County and the Florida Clerk of Court Operations Corporation (CCOC), it appears that neither the FY2012 nor the FY2013 budgets included or projected employee bonuses or raises. Moreover, the Escambia County Commission specifically asked Constitutional Officers, who are funded by county revenues, to refrain from giving raises; likewise bonuses were never expected to occur. As a result, it appears that none of these expenditures was approved by the funding agency.

Budgets for most, if not all, Florida governmental agencies have been tight for over five years. Most government employees at the state and local levels have not had raises during this period of time. In fact, only four years ago the Clerk’s office had to layoff twenty (20) upper level and key staff employees because of a fiscal crisis, making these recent expenditures even more puzzling.

It is for these reasons – a lack of transparency and full disclosure on the part of the outgoing administration, unbudgeted financial expenditures, and questionable employee policies- that as of January 8, 2013, the pay raises for Clerk’s employees given on October 8, 2012 will be suspended pending further budget review and audit. This decision is based on an effort to protect Clerk’s employees from layoffs due to these unexpected, unexplained, and imprudent financial decisions by the outgoing administration. Without adequate information and justification from my predecessor and his administration, these unbudgeted expenditures cannot continue without potentially incurring employee layoffs.

For twenty years I have worked at the City of Pensacola finance department. I have been in your shoes, I have faced the challenges you face. I know that this decision will cause difficulties for some of you, and that many family decisions are made based on financial expectations. I firmly believe that each of you is deserving of these raises, but for the sake of all of us and out of respect for the taxpayers whom we serve, we must be wise and prudent.

Hopefully this letter has given you some perspective on my decisions and my efforts to reach out to you prior to now. I would have preferred to meet with all of you personally, but unfortunately that was not permitted by the outgoing Clerk during this transition. I look forward to talking with you at an introductory meeting I have scheduled for Friday, January 11, 2013 at 7:15am to talk about my plans for the future.

Sincerely,
Pam Childers
Clerk-Elect

Video: Northview Dance Team Performs

Video: The Northview Dance Team performs at the NHS Christmas Variety Show Friday night.

If your can’t see the video above, it is because your work, school or personal firewall is blocking external videos from YouTube.

Video: NHS Band, Glee Club ‘Little Drummer Boy’

Video: The Northview band and glee club perform “Little Drummer Boy” at the NHS Christmas Variety Show.

If your can’t see the video above, it is because your work, school or personal firewall is blocking external videos from YouTube.

Video: Northview Cheerleaders At Tate Competition

(If you do not see the video above, it is because your home, work or school firewall is blocking YouTube videos.)

31 Fire Safety Tips: Keep The Wreath Green

As part of the “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign, Escambia Fire Rescue and the City of Pensacola public safety officials have joined forces to promote fire safety during December with a month’s worth of holiday safety tips:

• Dec. 1 - Prior to buying a live tree, test its freshness by pulling along a small branch. If the needles fall away in your hand, the tree is already too dry.
• Dec. 2 - Prior to buying an artificial tree, make sure the tree bears a UL label of approval and be certain the tree is made of fire retardant materials.
• Dec. 3 - To keep a live tree fresh cut 1-2 inches from the bottom to expose fresh wood and place it in water. Make sure your tree stand can hold water. Check the water level every day, and add water as needed. Do not place trees near sources of heat like radiators, space heaters or heating ducts.
• Dec. 4 - Use candles with care. Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets. Burn candles inside a 1-foot circle of safety, free of anything that can ignite. Use sturdy candleholders that will not tip over. Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Dec. 5 - Make sure all holiday lights are UL labeled and inspect them prior to use. If possible, use LED lights since they burn cooler. Check each set of lights for broken or crushed sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Discard all damaged lights.
• Dec. 6 - When hanging holiday lights, either on your tree or outside, make sure you follow the manufactures guidelines on how many strands can be connected together. Usually it is not more than 3. Make sure you do not overload electrical outlets or circuits. Do not run power cords underneath rugs or carpets.
• Dec. 7 - When decorating, remember not to block stairways, doors, or windows. Remember to always unplug lights and extinguish candles before leaving the house or going to bed.
• Dec. 8 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 1 – Design a plan for your home and your family. Make sure every one understands exactly what to do and where to go in an emergency. Also, make sure you have enough smoke alarms.
• Dec. 9 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 2 – Know two ways out of every room and practice them to make sure you can do it.
• Dec. 10 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 3 – Make sure you crawl low under smoke and feel closed doors for heat. If you come to a door that is warm, find another way out.
• Dec. 11 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 4 – If you become trapped, close doors and stuff the door cracks to keep smoke out. Try to call 911 and let them know exactly where you are and signal for help from a window.
• Dec. 12 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 5 – Pay special attention to young children, elderly people and the disabled. Be sure to include them in your plan.
• Dec. 13 - Have a plan in case you have a fire:
  • Step 6 – Get out as fast as you can and stay out. Never go back inside. Once you’re safely outside have someone go to a neighbor’s house and call 911.
• Dec. 14 - Remember, matches and lighters are tools for adults. Store them in a safe place above the reach of children. Also teach youngsters to never touch them, instead tell a grownup.
• Dec. 15 - Have a fire extinguisher readily available in your home and make sure it is fully charged. Know how to use your fire extinguisher.
  • Remember the PASS system:
    • Pull the pin,
    • Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire,
    • Squeeze the trigger lever, and
    • Sweep the stream side-to-side at the base of the fire.
• Dec. 16 - Have your chimney and fireplace inspected by a professional to make sure it’s clean and free of obstructions. Never burn paper or trash in the fireplace.
• Dec. 17 - Be sure your fireplace is covered with a metal screen or glass doors to prevent the spread of sparks and fire.
• Dec. 18 - Make sure to have a working smoke alarm outside of every bedroom and on every level of your house. Make sure to test monthly and change batteries every time you change your clocks.
• Dec. 19 - With children out of school, people doing yard work, dry vegetation, high-winds and low-humidity, remember that wildfires can happen quickly.
• Dec. 20 - If you are enjoying the great outdoors during the holidays, don’t leave campfires or warming fires unattended – make sure they are completely out!
• Dec. 21 - Never leave cooking food unattended. Handles on stovetop pots should be turned away from the front, so they won’t be accidentally tipped or knocked over.
• Dec. 22 - Before you cook that holiday dinner be sure that the oven and stovetop are clean, free of grease, and are in good working order.
• Dec. 23 - Keep cooking areas clean and free of grease and other combustibles (e.g. potholders, towels, rags, drapes, and food packaging), which can catch fire easily.
• Dec. 24 - Do not burn wrapping paper in the fireplace because of the high flammability, dangerous sparks and possibility of flash fires.
• Dec. 25 - Remember to be safety conscious and have a happy holiday.
• Dec. 26 - When purchasing a space heater look for heaters that have safety features such as cut-off switches that turn the heater off if they accidentally tip over or overheat.
• Dec. 27 - Space heaters need space. Make sure they are at least 3 feet away from combustible materials such as draperies, furniture, bedding, clothing and decorations. Also teach youngsters to keep away from them.
• Dec. 28 - Use only UL labeled space heaters and follow the manufactured instructions. Never use stoves, ovens or other cooking appliances to warm your home.
• Dec. 29 - Turn space heaters off when you leave the room. Also, remember to constantly supervise children and pets when space heaters are in use.
• Dec. 30 - Don’t cut up and burn your tree in the fireplace. Burning evergreens give off tar and creosol, which can ignite and cause a chimney fire. Dispose of your tree by following the instructions of your local trash disposal service.
• Dec. 31 - Don’t drink and drive, have a designated driver or call a friend.

Richard Billy Williams

Richard Billy Williams, born January 17, 1936, in New Orleans, to the late Willie and Lucille (Campbell) Williams, died on November 3, 2012, after a long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was a long time resident of the Dixonville Community. Richard retired from Chemstrand. He was a member of the Berrydale Baptist Church, the Dixonville Fire Department, the Red Lodge Masonic Lodge #97, The Scottish Rite, the Hadji Shrine Temple and Jay #208 Order of the Eastern Star. Richard was a “die hard” NASCAR fan, he loved to travel and sit around and “shoot” the breeze with family and friends. Richard had a “soft spot” for the needs of others, especially children. His “mailbox” money went to help many good causes.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 57 years Sabra; brothers, Julius, Kenneth, Frank and Leslie.

He is survived by his son, Rick; granddaughter, Ashley (Joshua) Stringer; great-granddaughter, Sophia Stringer, and great-grandson, Calleb Stringer of Groten, CN; sister, Maxine of California; sister-in-law, Amanda (Kevin) Thorne of Tennessee, and many caring family members and friends.

A special thank you to Heath Owens, Kevin Borders, Gary Nelson, Aubry Phillips, and Arnold Stowers.

A Masonic and Eastern Star service will be held on November 7, 2012, at 11 a.m. at Jay Funeral Home.

Jay Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Northview, West Florida Only Area Teams State Ranked

Two Escambia County football teams are in the state rankings this week.

The Northview Chiefs (2-1) held on to their No. 4 ranking this week in Class 1A behind Union County (3-0), Trenton (3-0), and Holmes County (3-0),.

The West Florida Jaguars (3-0) debuted in the state rankings this week at No. 10 in Class 5A.

Pictured top: The Northview Chiefs, ranked No. 4 in the state in Class 1A, defeated Chipley last Friday night. Pictured below: The West Florida Jaguars, ranked No. 10 in Class 5A, beat 6A Tate High School last Friday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Full Text: Paul Ryan’s Remarks To The Republican National Convention

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States.

I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity – and I know we can do this.

I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old – and I know that we are ready.

Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment – to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words. After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney.

I’m the newcomer to the campaign, so let me share a first impression. I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power.

They’ve run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they’ve got left.

With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money – and he’s pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can’t be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious – and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney.

For my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. It certainly came as news to my family, and I’d like you to meet them: My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our boys Charlie and Sam.

The kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in Florida. There she is – my Mom, Betty.

My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he’d be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I’m sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin.

I live on the same block where I grew up. We belong to the same parish where I was baptized. Janesville is that kind of place.

The people of Wisconsin have been good to me. I’ve tried to live up to their trust. And now I ask those hardworking men and women, and millions like them across America, to join our cause and get this country working again.

When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, “Let’s get this done” – and that is exactly, what we’re going to do.

President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory.

A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: “I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.” That’s what he said in 2008.

Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can’t find the work they studied for, or any work at all.

So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?

The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama’s first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion – the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government.

It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs, and make-believe markets. The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal.

What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn’t just spent and wasted – it was borrowed, spent, and wasted.

Maybe the greatest waste of all was time. Here we were, faced with a massive job crisis – so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file, that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire American continent. You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation, and nothing else, his first order of economic business.

But this president didn’t do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all-or-nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care.

Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country.

The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare.

And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly.

You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn’t have enough money. They needed more. They needed hundreds of billions more. So, they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it.

In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville. My wonderful grandma, Janet, had Alzheimer’s and moved in with Mom and me. Though she felt lost at times, we did all the little things that made her feel loved.

We had help from Medicare, and it was there, just like it’s there for my Mom today. Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it. A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom’s generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours.

So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn’t going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.

Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close.

It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis.

It began with a housing crisis they alone didn’t cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn’t correct.

It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America.

It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new. Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.

President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, “I haven’t communicated enough.” He said his job is to “tell a story to the American people” – as if that’s the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?

Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What’s missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago – isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?

In this generation, a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time. Back in 2008, candidate Obama called a $10 trillion national debt “unpatriotic” – serious talk from what looked to be a serious reformer.

Yet by his own decisions, President Obama has added more debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined. One president, one term, $5 trillion in new debt.

He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.

Republicans stepped up with good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. How did the president respond? By doing nothing – nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue.

So here we are, $16 trillion in debt and still he does nothing. In Europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse, and still he does nothing. And all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious.

They have no answer to this simple reality: We need to stop spending money we don’t have.

My Dad used to say to me: “Son. You have a choice: You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution.” The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours: Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems.

And I’m going to level with you: We don’t have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this.

After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we’ll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.

My Mom started a small business, and I’ve seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn’t just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn’t just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model.

Behind every small business, there’s a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores – these didn’t come out of nowhere. A lot of heart goes into each one. And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them. After all that work, and in a bad economy, it sure doesn’t help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. What they deserve to hear is the truth: Yes, you did build that.

We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years.

In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.

I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms – the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now.

And in our dealings with other nations, a Romney-Ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity. Wherever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the American president is on their side. Instead of managing American decline, leaving allies to doubt us and adversaries to test us, we will act in the conviction that the United States is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known.

President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record. But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it.

College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.

Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.

It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream. That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.

By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president.

We’re a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we’re a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I’ve heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it’s not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin.

A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter. Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again.

We’ve had very different careers – mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business – that’s a good thing.

Mitt has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not. He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption – sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in ten legislators are Democrats, and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded.

Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I’ve been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he’s a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country.

Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life.

We have responsibilities, one to another – we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.

Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government – to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America’s founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.

The founding generation secured those rights for us, and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. They are protecting us right now. We honor them and all our veterans, and we thank them.

The right that makes all the difference now, is the right to choose our own leaders. And you are entitled to the clearest possible choice, because the time for choosing is drawing near. So here is our pledge.

We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead.

We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility.

We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles.

The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us – all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this.

We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this.

Whatever your political party, let’s come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let’s give this effort everything we have. Let’s see this through all the way. Let’s get this done.

Thank you, and God bless.

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