2012 Republican Party Platform: The Preamble

In annotated bits and pieces.

• The American Dream is a dream of equal opportunity for all. And the Republican Party is the party of opportunity.  [But curiously, not the party of equal opportunity.]
• Our nation faces unprecedented uncertainty.....
• ......four years of lost American leadership.....
• Put simply: The times call for trustworthy leadership and honest talk  ["Ignored factchecks and the media’s crisis of confidence."  Columbia Journalism Review, 8/30/2012] about the challenges we face.
• Providence has put us at the fork in the road......
• .....or a positive, optimistic view of an opportunity society ["The Not-So-Much Opportunity Society, The New York Times, 3/19/2012], where any American who works hard, dreams big and follows the rules can achieve anything he or she wants.
• [The American people] are the most generous people on earth, giving sacrificially of their time, talent, and treasure.  [U.S. ranks 1st on World Giving Index 2011.]
• ....if we return government to its proper role, making it smaller and smarter.  ["National debt graph by President.  zFacts.]
• As President Reagan ["10 Things Conservatives Don't Want You to Know About Ronald Reagan".  ThinkProgress, 2/5/2011] issued the clarion call to “tear down this Wall,” so must we always stand against tyranny and oppression.
• We possess an owner’s manual: the Constitution of the United States, the greatest political document ever written. That sacred document shows us the path forward. 
• Trust the people. ["Rule changes makes way for special interests."  Daily Iowan, 8/30/2012]
• Limit government.    ["America's Peculiar Amnesia:   People have already forgotten how George W. Bush and the Republican Congress expanded government spending."  Slate, 8/2/2010.] 
• Respect federalism. 
• Guarantee opportunity, not outcomes. ["The Conscience of a Liberal:  Economics and Morality.  Paul Krugman in The New York Times, 1/18/2011]
• Adhere to the rule of law.  ["Iowa View: State's GOP leaders undermine rule of law.  Altoona Herald-Index, 8/25/2012]   
• Reaffirm that our rights come from God, are protected by government, and that the only just government is one that truly governs with the consent of the governed.