CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri — Shortly after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin exited the stage to close out CPAC on Saturday, David Limbaugh, conservative political commentator, author, and attorney, took the stage in his hometown of Cape Girardeau in Southeast Missouri to keynote the 2014 Lincoln Day Celebration & Dinner. His speech was both an expression of frustration with the leftist agenda currently permeating America and a declaration of hope that the nation can rebound.
To start his speech at the annual event presented by the Cape Girardeau County Republican Women’s Club, Limbaugh, younger brother of radio host Rush Limbaugh, said, “I love God. I love the United States of America. I love you fellow patriots, and I love this great city.” He immediately drew in the crowd, which included U.S. Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO) and a host of state representatives, the lieutenant governor, and local elected officials and candidates.
Even as many observe with great dismay the direction in which President Obama is taking the country, Limbaugh boasted that even with Obama, we are still the greatest country on the face of the earth. Refusing to embrace a pessimistic attitude, he said, “I believe we will beat back this threat against America.”
However, he made it clear that he believes that America faces a serious threat under the leadership–or lack thereof–of Barack Obama.
Stating that he is “not mincing words,” Limbaugh went on to describe the President as a “nightmare,” “destructive,” and a “menace.” Obama doesn’t love America as it is, he said. If he did, he would not have vowed to “fundamentally transform” it. The president’s vision of the country is more like a “utopian hallucination,” he said, an “unsustainable” one at that.
The problem the country faces, Limbaugh opined, is that Democrats are committed to walking “lockstep” with Obama, no matter how “noxious” his actions. Unlike Democrats, he said, conservatives know that what is before us is bigger than party. We don’t believe in our party to the point of disregarding right and wrong, he said, adding, “This isn’t about party; it’s about the United States of America” and our belief in America.
He did, however, call the right out for displaying fear rather than courage, for not always taking the stands that need to be taken. Whether it was Romney’s backdown in his debate against Obama when the subject of Benghazi surfaced or people who refuse to stand with Tea Party members, whom he called “the heart of the conservative movement,” the right has not always shown a willingness to push back and stand up for their principles.
Instead, Republicans have too often allowed accusations of being “divisive and extreme” control them. He used his brother, Rush Limbaugh, as an example of one who has been charged with such allegations. To that he said, “I am most proud to call [him] my brother.” In fact, he said every person who is standing for the principles of the party should “proudly plead guilty” when those accusations are hurled. The right must be “guilty” of embracing a commitment to fight against the tragedy of what the left is doing–because continued tragedy is avoidable if people will do something.
But action requires courage, rather than cowering. History teaches us, he said, that the left treats the right’s compromise as an opportunity to bully Republicans, which has amounted to Democrats getting most of what they want.
Interrupted often by applause, Limbaugh continued to rally the crowd, particularly as he reminded everyone that Republicans, not Democrats, have what it takes to turn the country around. Republicans understand, he said, the need to restructure entitlements, take on oppressive regulations, resist the welfare state, restore economic growth so we can fund the military in the midst of threats from countries like Russia and China, and repeal Obamacare. Republicans, he said, have proposals to free people from inner city schools. “We are the ones who are compassionate,” he declared.
He said he was fed up with the accusations of being “sexist,” “racist,” and “uncompassionate,” labels thrown out by a party of Democrats determined to “destroy, impoverish, and enslave those they claim to care about the most.”
Obama, he said unequivocally, has waged an “overt war on the work ethic” and has made a habit of “demonizing achievers and those daring to earn their own way in this climate of government-encouraged sloth.”
Obamacare is yet another attack on Americans, Limbaugh shared. Obama promised that his healthcare plan would increase choice and decrease cost, but it does the opposite.
The bottom line is the country cannot sustain the direction in which it is currently heading, but he said nothing will change as long as Democrats are in power.
Limbaugh acknowledged that ultimately conservatives’ focus must be on conservatives. “What about us?” he asked. “What do we believe in? Do we still believe in America and its founding principles?” He took it a step further and asked, “Do we still believe in American exceptionalism, in liberty, in equality of opportunity, in the rule of law, and in the Constitution, which was designed to safeguard all these things?”
In answer to his own questions, he said, “I’m betting that we do.” Otherwise, he added, they would not have gathered there that evening.
David Limbaugh left the Lincoln Day attendees with some marching orders. Conservatives, he said, need to stop diluting their message, to stand up and fight, and to be proud of their principles. In fact, alluding to a President Reagan directive, he advocated for bold colors, not pale pastels.
This approach must be combined, he advised, with a commitment to unity. He said that Tea Party patriots are mistaken if they think they can defeat the left’s agenda without establishment Republicans, and the establishment are delusional if they think they don’t need the Tea Party. The only choice, then, is to do it together. “Let’s join hands,” he implored. In expression, once again, of his great hope for America, David Limbaugh concluded his speech by telling the inspired crowd:
“Let’s join hands; let’s crouch in the same foxholes to take America back, and to work toward our common goal of restoring it as the glorious land of liberty our ancestors established and spilled blood to protect, and as the shining city on a hill that remains the envy of the rest of the globe. With our undying dedication, steadfast prayers, and God’s blessings, we can do this. So let’s do it.”
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