Brushstrokes

I’d like to welcome you to the Medina County Lincoln Day Dinner. I think it’s tremendous that you’re here. I’d like to take a moment right up front to thank the Lincoln Day Dinner committee, and in particular Sandy Calvert, for making the effort to reach out to grassroots organizations this year. Doing so was a risk; it’s just not how things are done, you know. My bride and I agreed to be involved this year because we believe that good can come of this when we work together towards a common purpose without sacrificing our principles. We believe that that is possible.

I’m going to talk a bit about the grassroots folks that have sprung up over the past 18 months. I want it to be known that I do not, and cannot, claim to speak for the movement in general, or any grassroots organization in particular. Just as we do not have a single leader but many; we also do not have a single spokesperson – we are each our own. I have far too much respect for the people within the movement – many of whom I am proud to call my friends – to presume to speak on their behalf.

So, my thoughts here tonight are just that. My thoughts. My perspective. Others might have perspectives that differ from mine and I encourage you to reach out to those folks in order to learn them. And I in turn encourage those gestures to be returned. That’s what this evening is all about.

So, who are we?

We have been called a variety of things. Grassroots; 9/12ers; tea partiers. Right-wing nutjobs, astroturfers, and other less flattering names. Some have even gone so far as to falsely blame for us for lawlessness, including this week’s tragedy at the IRS office in Austin.

Quite frankly, you can call us whatever you want. But the truth is, we’re just ordinary Americans. That’s it. Ordinary folks.

Up until 18 months ago, many of us – myself included – weren’t involved in politics. Most of us followed politics, but getting involved was another matter entirely. We were busy with our lives – with our work, with our kids, with our stuff. We were distracted easily by shiny things. In the meantime, we either trusted others to represent our interests, or we had written off the system as unfixable, knowing that our voice wouldn’t be heard anyway.

We were, in a word, apathetic.

Then, in the election of 2008, we saw two parties nominate two people, and quite frankly we didn’t think that either of them represented us. Now, John McCain is an honorable man. A good man. An American hero. But he is a man that, regrettable, doesn’t share many of our conservative views. Barack Obama? Well, we had a tiny suspicion that, he just might be a flat-out Marxist socialist.

It turns out we were right.

So, with two parties nominating people that barely represented their own parties much less the electorate, we began to get engaged. McCain may not have been our first choice, but when faced with the alternative, we were willing to swallow hard. We worked the phones, walked the precincts, and delivered the flyers.

But it wasn’t enough. We didn’t carry the day. And, beginning not in January, but in November, our concerns began to turn into reality.

And our fear turned into anger.

Ours is a country founded on ideas. God-given rights, not man-granted privileges. Responsibility, not dependence. Liberty, not tyranny.  And for over two centuries, this grand experiment, borne out of the blood of patriots, has been the envy of the world. This is the country that freed the slaves, that stormed the beaches of Normandy, that first set foot on the moon.

And now, we are at a crossroads. We fear – we genuinely fear – that the country of Madison and Jefferson, of Lincoln And Reagan, is in mortal peril. We do not say that as an exaggeration. This is not hyperbole. We literally fear that our children will not have a shining city on a hill to pass on to generations yet to come.

That is why we’re angry. That is why we’re here. And quite frankly, we cannot fathom why more Americans are not as terrified as we are.

Now at this point, some of you may be thinking to yourselves, “yes, we do share that fear. But where were you? Where were you 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 25 years ago? You call yourself grassroots. Well, so do I. And I’ve been grassroots for longer than some of you have been alive.”

I have an answer to that.

You’re right.

Many of us weren’t there. We don’t have the history. We don’t have the tenure. We don’t have the experience. You’re absolutely right. And I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you for all of the heavy lifting and thankless hours you have devoted to the cause.

Many of us weren’t there. But we’re. Here. Now. We’re here now, and although we may not have as much tenure as you in grassroots building, we are every bit as American as you, and every bit as concerned as you. And, where our Principles are Common, we want to work with you toward our Common Cause.

Where our Principles are Common. That touches on another point, a point that is of great concern to many of us here. It can perhaps best be illustrated by a quote:

“I consider myself a progressive Republican. I am liberal on social issues and I think the party is at a place where social issues shouldn’t be the issues that define the party. I’ve taken heat, but in fairness to me, I’m a different generation than the people that are giving me heat. I’m 24 years old I”m not in my forties, I’m not in my 50s and older and I think there’s just such a generation gap that the people who don’t understand me I actually take it as a compliment. Sort of this new young Republican can come forward and make progress and be successful in ways that this party has currently failed.”

This is not your ordinary, run-of the-mill, woman-on-the-street. No, this is the woman the State-Run Media is working hard to cultivate as the heir-apparent to the Republican brand. This is Meghan McCain.

And so, for us, it really isn’t about party. For too long our nation – and no doubt many of the people in this room – have viewed the ideological battle being waged as being between Republicans and Democrats. I’m here to tell you that I don’t see it that way at all, and I don’t think that many of the ordinary Americans in this room and across this nation who have melted switchboards and crowded townhalls and filled public squares see it that way. For us, there is little difference at this point between Republicans and Democrats.

That’s not the battle. The real battle is instead between Progressives and Conservatives. And while you may not find many conservatives in the Democrat party, you will find a dismaying number of progressives in the Republican party. This is not a new problem, of course. The disease of progressivism – which has as its basis a reverence for Darwin with a little Marx thrown in – can be traced at least back to Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican. It was personified in Woodrow Wilson, and has been present in varying degrees ever since – FDR and LBJ. Carter and Clinton. And now, Bush and Obama. Progressivism knows no party lines.

Where, then, is the party to represent Conservatism – which has as its basis a reverence for God, for country, for Constitution? Where, then, is the party to represent the ordinary American? The marketing materials of the Republican party would have you believe that it is them, but I would submit to you that if that were the case, we wouldn’t have Lindsey Graham or Olympia Snowe in the Senate or John McCain as a former Presidential nominee.

Where do we, as conservatives and Constitutionalists, as the heart of this country, go?

I believe the answer to that is still in the hands of the leadership of the Republican party at the county, state, and national levels all across this country. I believe there is an opportunity to reach out to these ordinary Americans, and say “we hear you, and we want you involved.” I believe that can be done.

But if it is not done soon the opportunity will be lost. The window will close. And the party will never recover. And I fear – and again, I say, this is only my perspective – that if that happens, if that gap is not bridged and that anger translates at the ballot box, then not only will the party not recover, but the country may not either. Because if we’re divided, they win. And we cannot afford that.

And that is why I am here tonight. Because I want to help bridge that gap. I want to seize the chance for a healthy exchange of ideas. And I believe that there are enough people in the party and in the movement who genuinely want to do that as well.

But for those conversations to be constructive, they can’t be had with ulterior motives, or ill intent. Do not come to the discussion thinking that principles are on the table. Do we have a lot to learn? Certainly; absolutely. Party politics is intricate, and messy, and entirely illogical. But Principles are none of those things, and they are not things that we must “learn.” Principles just are; so if your intent is to tell us how we sometimes must compromise our principles for the sake of getting something done, save your breath. There’s been far too much of that to go around.

I submit – and I say this for everyone in the audience, even those ordinary Americans that may disagree with me – that for the sake of the country, the movement and the party need each other. The party needs the new energy, the passion, and the principles of the grassroots movement, and the movement needs, to be blunt, the access to power, favorable election laws, and money of the party. That’s ugly, but from where I stand it’s the truth. We must find a way to work together without sacrificing our souls.

And my message to the grassroots (this won’t take nearly as long):  it can be done. Too often we all paint the Republican party with broad brushstrokes, using paint diluted by compromise. I’m here to tell you that there are good, good people in this party. People that share your views, your anger, and your concern. People that I’m proud to know, and that I think you’d be proud to know too.

Time is of the essence. Even now, the democrats are working to ram through the cornerstone of socialism – universal healthcare – against the will of the people and with only a passing glance at congressional rules. After that it will be cap and trade – no matter how much it snows. After that it will be comprehensive immigration reform. After that it will be card check. The progressives know that a rare moment is upon them – for the first time in a generation, finally, their dark stars have aligned – and they are working tirelessly to slam shut the door of liberty forever.

We cannot allow that to happen. The stakes are too high.

I’ll end with a quote:

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. This is that moment and you are that generation.”

That was said by Judge Andrew Napolitano at last year’s Ohio State Sovereignty rally. But he was not the first to utter the beginning of that phrase. No, it was first uttered in 1962, by a democrat – by John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address. The stakes were as high then as they are now.

The only difference, is that this time, the enemy is from within.

It is not too late to summon the American spirit of the founders. It is not too late to meet our moment.  Let us do now what was done at the birth of our nation and pledge together our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, so help us God.

Advertisement