The Movement You Need…

I stumbled across a very touching YouTube video today linked by RedState.com (below). Being a communicator at heart, I put a lot of value on the use and meaning of words and phrases. I am most appreciative of those who through their words, delivery and inflection can touch people’s very souls.

The 1980 presidential election campaign was the first one in which I truly became involved, and it is the only one in which I’m glad in retrospect that my candidate of choice actually lost. At the time I was a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Political Science.

Having been deeply repulsed by President Carter’s “malaise speech” and the folly that was his handling of the Iranian hostage crisis, I wanted change. But quite frankly the thought of Reagan replacing Carter scared me too; I’m probably not too far off the mark in blaming my immersion at the time in the liberal idealogical cesspool that was (and is) academia for leading me astray. But my other reason for opposing Reagan was my mother’s adoring support for him. (I’ll write more about mom’s love for Reagan sometime soon.) I don’t consider it unusual or wrong for a 20-year-old to fear leaders his parents support, especially when it was my parents who instilled in me a strong sense of civic responsibility. In opposing Reagan, I was simultaneously embracing the lessons mom taught me and rejecting her politics because, don’ you know, all college students are smarter than their parents! ;)

So, my thinking at the time was that I would actively support an alternative candidate. I supported John Anderson and sought petition signatures to get him on Florida’s ballot, though today I cannot tell you specifically why. But I can say that I do recall that he did energize me and I still think of him fondly. Years later, after Anderson moved to Fort Lauderdale, I ran into him while shopping in the produce section of Alberstons and had the opportunity to thank him for getting me involved in the poliitical process. Surely my career would have taken a markedly different course were it not for him.

But enough about the others. This post is about Reagan, the Great Communicator. I think one of the most wonderful things about all this new technology is that we, and future generations, will have access to not only the written text of our best and brightest leaders, we will also have access to the actual tone, inflection, emotive qualities and delivery of master communicators from the latter half of the 20th century onward.

Think about this: The Gettysburg Address is probably the briefest eloquent statement about who we are as Americans and where we came from as a culture and society that has ever been written. Unfortunately, we can only read Lincoln’s words. How wonderful would it be if we could actually see and hear that great American’s voice speaking what had to be one of the most painful to deliver speeches in the history of Western thought?

The spirit of keeping great words, delivered by a great orator and leader of men, Ronald Reagan, is a gift that could not be given to any previous generation. I deeply treasure and take great comfort in knowing that my daughter will forever have access to the actual emotions conveyed by this great leader, and others.

Tags: ronald reagan

Sometimes the European left gift wraps presents for American conservatives:

European Socialists eager to work with U.S. Democrats | Politics News | Reuters.com
Socialist leaders attending a meeting of the European Socialist Party pledged that with the Democrats on the rise, strong ties could be renewed with the United States after years of cool relations with Republican President George W. Bush.

Howard Dean, chairman of the national committee of the U.S. Democratic Party, is attending the two-day conference together with the leaders of leftist governments of several countries and party leaders from across Europe.

“We are not anti-American, we want the real America, your America,” former Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the European Socialist Party, said in remarks directed at Dean.

It’s usually John Kerry on the receiving end of this sort of accolade. I wonder if Howard Dean was proud of this. Then I wonder if he’s smart enough to figure out that having this sort of statement reported might not be such a good thing back home.

Naaaah. Not a chance.