As the state conventions get underway and parties grapple with the direction they will take, I am reminded of Ronald Reagan's words almost 44 years ago when in the Cow Palace of San Francisco, Rockefeller's moderate and Goldwater's conservative delegates were clashing, Reagan said:
“It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." This idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. For almost two centuries we have proved man's capacity for self-government, but today we are told we must choose between a left and right or, as others suggest, a third alternative, a kind of safe middle ground. I suggest to you there is no left or right, only an up or down. Up to the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism; and regardless of their humanitarian purpose those who would sacrifice freedom for security have, whether they know it or not, chosen this downward path.” – Ronald Reagan, A Time for Choosing
It was indeed a time for choosing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment