Posted on 02/05/2011 11:29:15 AM PST by techno
If Ronald Reagan's speech in 1964 was A Time for Choosing, this was Sarah Palin's Past is Prologue speech.
What started off as a paean to the multi-layered personality of Ronald Reagan and a reminder of the greatness of his ideas that came to define a generation of conservatives eventually became through the narrative and eloquence of Sarah Palin our passport to re-enter and our invitation to re-discover the kernel of America's greatness and then to reveal to us in stark language what Americans have forsaken and relinquished since the Reagan Presidency by allowing or acquiescing to the socialist or collectivist mentality as embodied by a small body of intellectual elites as Reagan called them in 1964 to tyrannize over our lives.
How they have done that is through increasing the size and scope of government while attempting to dictate to us how we should conduct our lives and at the same time chipping away insidiously at the ability of individuals to achieve the American dream by acting independently of government rather than one of its crony capitalists, by constantly erecting roadblocks to success, introducing regulatory obstacles that stifle entrepreneurial activity (eg, preventing drilling offshore in northern Alaska till 2012 at the earliest)and imposing penalties and taxes that make American business less competitive opposed to the rest of the world( cap and trade legislation). In addition while all this has been enacted or has been advocated Americans have become less free and less able to maximize their pursuit of happiness, more dependent on the largesse of government programs and services and become more anxious and fearful because America has gradually grown weaker in strength and stature.
Last night, Sarah Palin laid out a broad political platform without sounding like a partisan political hack. She provided American patriots a springboard and a rallying cry from which they can move ahead in the next two years if they so choose. She clearly defined the central issues that will be fought over and vigorously debated in the GOP primaries and the general election. She left no stone unturned but at the same time chose not to throw any stones at individuals but only to dwell on ideas. Palin understood the need for civility in her speech while in the presence of Nancy Reagan so she conducted herself with the utmost decorum while indicating metaphorically and purposefully that she intended to follow the same trails that Ronald Reagan had cleared and blazed many years ago, and walk in the same footsteps that he did when he encountered similar issues that she will be facing and dealing with in the next decade. There is no greater tribute that anyone could pay to the widow of a great man.
And finally what Sarah Palin did last night was to affix her stamp as Reagan's successor, as Joshua was Moses' successor. As there was only Ronald Reagan, there was only one Moses. Joshua never tired to imitate Moses or claim he was Moses and Palin has never implied she is Ronald Reagan or that she wishes to emulate Reagan. But as Joshua learned about leadership from Moses, Palin has learned the time-tested of conservatism at the feet of the master from afar. And lest we forget it was not Moses who led the Israelites to the Promised Land but Joshua and it may be Sarah Palin who leads America permanently back to American exceptionalism and "the promised land" of limited, Constitutional government and not Ronald Reagan.
And folks instead of criticizing Sarah Palin for the virtue of being such a good student of Reagan, perhaps we should spend a lot more time heaping scorn and derision on Republicans who have not been as diligent in absorbing the enduring lessons of the Reagan Revolution and who have instead been much too willing or casual in abandoning the legacy of Reagan conservatism which he worked so hard to build only to see it go up in smoke in one generation.
Sarah Palin now carries the torch of liberty. It is up to we "Davids" to see that its flame is never extinguished while she carries it as our standard-bearer.
her “breaking glass ceiling” and “governing with servant’s heart” was her prologue speech
There are run on sentences, then there are sentences that never seem to end. Quintessential.
Nice sentiment, intellectually interesting. Completely unreadable.
bttt
very nice piece....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.