A Time For Choosing, 2025
By Paul Grant Truesdell, J.D., AIF, CLU, ChFC, RFC
The Truesdell Companies of Ocala, Florida
Thank you for the opportunity to share with you a talk I’ve titled: A Time For Choosing, 2025. I have borrowed the title from the October 27, 1964, speech by Ronald Reagan on behalf of Senator and Republican nominee for president, Barry Goldwater.
And so, I want to talk about something most Americans do not want to face
We Are At War Right Now.
Not a future war.
Not a hypothetical war.
A real war.
Now, this is not the kind of war we grew up watching on television. There are no G.I. Joe columns marching across Europe. There are no battleships parked off the coast of Normandy. And this is not the Gulf War. which, for many Americans, was the last time war felt familiar: tanks in the desert, jets taking off from carriers, a clear enemy and a clear front line. That era is gone. What we are witnessing today in Ukraine is the future — drones by the thousands, satellites blinking on and off, electronic warfare scorching entire brigades, artillery adjusted by cell phones, soldiers hiding under trees to avoid thermal detection, and billions spent on tanks that are being taken out by drones that cost less than a night in a Holiday Inn Express. Ukraine is showing the world exactly what the next war will look like — fast, chaotic, technological, and lethal beyond anything most people can imagine.
This war is multi-front and dimensional. It’s global, and relentless. It involves cyber warfare, industrial sabotage, drone swarms, satellite tracking, financial manipulation, propaganda, espionage, and psychological operations delivered straight through your television, your phone, your smart refrigerator, your security cameras — everything in your kitchen, everything in your garage, everything you plug in.
And I want to make this perfectly clear: the war is already inside the American home.
If you bought it from China — and most people have — it can be accessed, mapped, tracked, and manipulated.
If you hold a bundled financial product — mutual funds, ETFs, pensions, variable annuities — you are likely funding Chinese expansion whether you know it or not.
And if you trust institutional money managers who worship China’s growth story, you are allowing Beijing into your retirement portfolio.
This is not paranoia, but rather, blunt and unvarnished reality.
I recently gave a talk in Stone Creek, another 55 plus retirement community, titled: “War Is Coming to the Kitchen.” We were filled to the brim as I discussed how ever device you own — not just your phone — is part of the battlefield.
And I say that as someone who lived through another era of hidden tentacles. I served in law enforcement in the 1970s and 1980s during the cocaine-cowboy years, when Fidel Castro flood our streets with people, and Columbia with cocaine. I watched as drug money, murder, mayhem, and corruption stretched into every corner of Florida. Most people thought it was just Miami. It wasn’t. And it wasn’t a fake television show or movie. No, it was real and the tentacles were everywhere — from Key West to Pensacola. In 1980, TIME Magazine put Florida on the cover, the title read: Paradise Lost. They were not exaggerating.
Miami and South Florida had become the murder capital of the United States — bodies were turning up constantly — and that violence stretched all the way into Tampa, where we dealt with organized-crime families like the Trafficante mob, led by Santo Trafficante. They played hardball with us, including the assassination of one of our sergeants, Richard Cloud, by staging a fake UPS-style delivery and gunning him down in the doorway of his home.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am telling you right now: the spiderweb of war with China, Russian, and North Korea, is bigger, darker, and more sophisticated than anything we saw back then. And the stakes are much higher, but the game is the same.
Before I go deeper, let me step back for a moment — because history always tells us where we are.
When Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world, he was not bragging. He was sending a message: America is awake. America is capable. America intends to remain free. He understood something timeless: peace comes through overwhelming strength.
Decades later, Ronald Reagan picked up that mantle. When he launched the Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan was mocked by the leftist media as “Star Wars” nuts, saying “the old man has lost his mind. Old, yes, out of his mind? Not one bit. You see, Reagan set in motion the technological race that bankrupted the Soviet Union. He believed in power, innovation, and clarity. Reagan lived long enough to see the Berlin Wall come down and the Soviet Union collapse.
But the story did not end there. Under Clinton, Obama, and Biden, the Soviet empire rapidly rebuilt itself. Putin reorganized the KGB. China surged into the World Trade Organization. Our manufacturing base was hollowed out. Critical industries were sold off. Supply chains were shipped overseas. And while our leaders patted themselves on the back, the CCP have run well-oiled espionage campaigns across Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, our universities, and even our farmland. And yes, our farmland, and they now own over one percent of our farmland. That’s one percent too much,
And this brings me to today.
I want to pause and say something personal — because leadership matters. Years ago, when Marco Rubio was a state representative, Speaker-elect of the Florida House, he traveled around the state gathering what he called “100 Ideas.” He came to the old Central Florida Community College — now College of Central Florida —I sat with him and we talked. I was impressed then, and I remain impressed today. Marco Rubio, now our Secretary of State, has always been serious about the threats facing our nation, especially from China, and he has never forgotten that government exists to protect the people, not the other way around.
The same goes for Senator Rick Scott. A Navy man. A man who understands that the aircraft carrier is not just a ship — it is the beating heart of American power projection. He has fought relentlessly to keep the carrier fleet strong, modern, and untouchable. And he knows better than nearly anyone in Washington what happens when a nation falls behind at sea. And we are falling behind at a rapid pace and scale
Those two men understand something too many in Washington do not: we are running out of time.
Fortunately we have leadership rising that understands the stakes. One of those key players was Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point — a young patriot who was assassinated on September 10th, of this year, for one reason and one reason only: he spoke the truth, and he lit fires in the bellies of young men and women who realized there is no turning back. His assassination did not to silence a man or frighten a movement. Instead, it did the opposite. It awakened a generation.
This now brings me to one of the most important American patriots alive today — a young man who gets almost no credit outside of defense circles. His name is Palmer Luckey. At age 14, Palmer Lucky was building virtual reality headsets in his garage. He founded Oculus. And Facebook bought it for $2 billion when Palmer was 21. And then, in 2016, they fired Palmer Lucky because he contributed $9,000 to Donald Trump for President Campaign.
Well, that firing was the biggest mistake the tech elites in California ever made.
You see, Palmer Luckey walked out the door, founded Anduril, and decided he would rebuild American defense technology from scratch. Today he has built autonomous fighters, undersea drones, border sensors, electronic-warfare systems, and next-generation military helmets. His work is transforming warfare faster than any legacy contractor has in 40 years. And he is not alone — thousands of young American engineers are joining this fight, many in secret.
And they are all saying the same thing behind the scenes:
We have two to three years to get ready.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
Two to three.
And the military knows it.
Every service branch is sprinting.
Every contractor is sprinting.
Every think tank, war college, and intelligence group I belong to and study, is sprinting.
And our adversaries are sprinting too.
This is a dead run.
Now let me connect the dots.
Today’s conflict is not defined by soldiers with rifles. Modern warfare is defined by satellites, drones, undersea systems, cyber operations, manufacturing capacity, energy grids, and supply chains. It is being fought above the atmosphere, across theelectromagnetic spectrum, inside semiconductor clean rooms, along shipping routes, and yes — even in your kitchen.
Donald J. Trump — say what you want — understood this before anyone else. He is rebuilding our readiness. He began modernizing our missile-defense capability. He recognized China as the strategic threat. He returned the Pentagon’s focus to warfighting rather than social engineering. And he openly stated what the media still refuses to comprehend: space is the next violent frontier.
Lose space, lose America.
Lose satellites, lose navigation, banking, communications, supply chains, and missile warning.
Lose the digital nervous system, lose the modern world.
Now, let’s bring it home.
Many retirees in Florida live behind gates, among friends, in a beautiful communities. It feels safe. It feels predictable. It feels comforting. But truth does not care about comfort.
I am a forecaster by both training and instinct. And I am telling you — as plainly as I can — “it“ is going to hit the fan far sooner than people realize. The tentacles that once stretched from Miami to Pensacola in the cocaine-cowboy days? Well, despite many of us carrying scars for life, that was child’s play compared to what’s coming down the pike today.
But here is the good news:
America still has everything required to win this new war.
We have the innovators.
We have the engineers.
We have the resources.
We have the manufacturing capacity — once we bring it home.
We have the will — once we wake up.
And we have the youthful leadership rising that understands the stakes.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet showed the world the strength of the United States. Ronald Reagan proved that resolve could defeat an evil empire. And Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have shown us what principled political leadership looks like.
Palmer Luckey shows us that one determined American can change the trajectory of global conflict. Charlie Kirk showed us that youthful spirit is alive and well.
And Donald Trump reminds us that peace is achieved only through power, clarity, and fearlessness.
The only question left is whether we — yes, we, the American people — are willing to see what time it is.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a war. And yes, there are some in this room who will say hogwash and poppycock. There are others will whole heartedly agree. Regardless of your view, I believe absolutely, unequivocally, without any doubt or hesitation, the next two to three years will determine whether America remains the world’s ruling republic or becomes another cautionary tale.
Let us choose strength.
Let us choose vigilance.
Let us choose courage.
And let us choose the future our parents fought for — and our grandchildren deserve.
Next, there are moments in a nation’s life when reality hits so hard that even the most distracted among us looks up and takes notice.
This moment came upon us recently, one after another.
Not in some forgotten corner of America, but in Washington, DC, our nation’s capitol, just blocks from the White House. A twenty-year-old National Guard soldier, a young woman standing her post in the capital of the United States, murdered in cold blood. Barely an adult, a lady who could have been any one of your granddaughters. And only steps away, a fellow Guardsman—a young man who took the same oath with the same sense of duty, was shot in what can only be described as a cold-blooded terrorist-based assassination.
Two uniforms.
Two patriots.
Attacked in the shadow of the White House.
Now that alone should stop the country in its tracks.
But in today’s America,
tragedy no longer travels alone.
On September 10th of this year, the nation watched the gut wrenching assassination of Charlie Kirk—a man who spent his entire adult life building a national movement, bringing millions of young conservatives into the political discussion. They thought they could silence him. Instead, they ignited a cause that is now burning brighter than they ever expected.
And the violence did not stop with public figures. In Washington—supposedly the safest square mile in the nation, On Sunday, August 3rd of this year, a young DOGE employee was beaten nearly to death while walking home.
No fame.
No politics.
Just a young American trying to get home alive.
He may physically recover, but the emotional impact will be with him forever.
And the national press barely whispered a word. Why? Because the storyline did not fit their preferred picture of the world.
And still, the horror continued. On August 22nd of this year, a young girl, only 23 years of age, a Ukrainian refugee, was stabbed to death on a bus. A life just beginning having fled a war-torn nation; gone because someone who should never have been free was allowed to roam the streets.
This is what real government and social collapse looks like—not from speeches, spreadsheets, expert panels. Collapse looks like soldiers murdered in the homeland while in uniform. It looks like children dying on buses. It looks like citizens beaten on sidewalks. It looks like national leaders gunned down. And it looks like a president—Donald J. Trump—surviving two assassination attempts: one from a rooftop in Pennsylvania; another on a golf course in Florida. Two attempts on the life of a sitting president, shrugged off by the media as if he had simply twisted an ankle. And yes, let us be honest—if either attempt had been aimed at Biden, the networks would have held vigils so long you could have planted and picked tomatoes in the dust in the corner of your porch.
Now, after all of this, we the people must ask ourselves one question: what kind of people will we be?
• This is not the time for emotional chaos.
• It is not the time for rage-based theatrics.
• It’s not the time to “get worried into a lather.”
It is the time for clarity. Calm. Discipline. In other words, the adults in the room must step forward.
We must be a united front that understands: results matter more than feelings.
Now, before we talk about action, we have to address a certain group that needs a firm and regular tap on the shoulder: the Republicans In Name Only - RINOs and the EMRs: The Entertain Me Republicans.
Ladies and gentlemen, RINOs and EMRs are often the folks who
• love to complain,
• love to criticize, and
• love to say “someone ought to fix this”
but somehow cannot find the time to attend a meeting, knock a door, or make a phone call.
These are the people who want America saved… as long as someone else saves it.
Well, those days are over.
Finished. Done.
Folks, there are times when you “reach the end of the sidewalk,” and in my opinion, we are there.
• When soldiers are murdered in uniform…
• When national leaders are assassinated…
• When presidents are targeted—twice…
• When children are stabbed on buses…
• When workers are beaten nearly to death…
• When the streets of the capital city look like the opening scene of a crime documentary…
• …then the time for passive conservatism ends.
• And the time for action is now.
Now let’s be real and bring it home for a moment. When you live in Stonecrest, or most gated 55-plus communities, life is quiet, orderly, and safe. You do not see muggings, smash-and-grabs, or street robberies. Sure, people will be people, and every community has the occasional knucklehead who does something foolish, but by and large, you live in a bubble of civility.
But the second you drive outside those gates, the world changes.
• The roads are different.
• he tone is different.
• The expectations are different.
Suddenly you are dealing with corner beggars, parking-lot hustlers, and people who treat panhandling like a full-time income tax-free occupation. You see them outside Publix, Costco, Sam’s, BJ’s, and half the restaurants in the area. And you need to become and remain situationally aware—not paranoid, just awake.
• You worked.
• You saved.
• You invested.
• You retired.
• You earned the right to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
But retirement does not mean disengagement. It does not mean drifting off into comfort while the world slides in the wrong direction. Because the truth is simple: it never ends. There is always another generation coming behind us, and someone has to guide them, protect them, and keep the guardrails from falling apart.
Generations before us did their part, now it is our turn to do ours.
My fellow Americans, residents of Marion, and proud Boomers, this fall’s election is not just an election. It is another national test.
• A test of who shows up.
• A test of who still believes in a country worth defending.
• A test of whether conservatives actually mean what they say when they talk about law and order, equal opportunity based on ability, fair taxation, border security, and overall sanity.
If Republicans, conservatives, and independents get out and vote in real numbers—a real turning point turnout rather than sloppy bar-stool enthusiasm—then this will not be a red wave. It will be a Republican tsunami. A landslide so large that historians will be writing about it long after cable news has melted into the background.
But it requires one thing: getting off the couch.
Every precinct.
Every block.
Every likeminded neighbor.
Every meeting.
Every phone call.
Every ounce of adult responsibility that can be squeezed out of each of us to Get Out The Vote is needed, because winning requires time, effort, money, and grit.
• This is not about vengeance.
• It is not about anger.
• It is not about shouting at the television.
This is about restoring a government that protects its soldiers, defends its citizens, safeguards its children, does not shrug when the president of the United States is targeted by assassins, and says no to the leftist lame-stream media’s encouragement of violence.
It is about bringing back
• calm,
• competent,
• common-sense leadership.
Leadership that punishes criminals, not citizens for going to church without a mask.
Leadership that understands borders matter.
Leadership that knows safety is not a luxury.
Leadership that knows citizenship is earned, not found as a prize in a box of Cracker Jack
Leadership that remembers the government’s first job is to protect the people—not entertain them.
So tonight—as you listen to me here in Stonecrest or by audio by way of my podcast, airing as I speak, you may be rocking on a porch, sitting at your kitchen table, or doing household chores —understand the moment. This is not a moment for panic. It is a moment for clarity. A moment for duty. A moment when every Republican must decide whether they are a spectator or a participant.
Because when we move together—steady, calm, united—there is nothing the opposition can do to stop us. Nothing.
This is our time. Our test. Our responsibility.
Your phone calls.
Your neighborhood chats.
Your precinct door knocking.
Your vote.
Your steady hand is needed now and during our 2026 elections, because failure is not an option.
America is counting on us to show up
• calm,
• united,
• disciplined, and
• unstoppable.
And if we do, and if we do:
America will be greater than ever before, and the America we love, know, and grew up in, the America worth fighting for, as many of us did, will stand taller and brighter than the brightest shining city on the hill for all to see.
That is the choice.
And now I ask:
• If not now, when?
• If not us, who?
Thank you for your time, consideration, and may God bless each and every one of us, and may God continue his blessing upon the United States of America.
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