What is a Conservative . . . according to Glenn Beck

My sister, Heather, and I went to see Glenn Beck Live, which was simulcast across 350 theaters, at Provo Town Centre last Thursday. What an incredible experience. I laughed, I cried and pride for America burned deeply and strongly in my heart. My friends, if you ever get the chance to see this man's live show you will not want to miss it. It so very NOT PC.

So many things he said literally rocked my heart. Yes, his language can be a little salty but not bad. Meaning he pretty much stuck to h***, d*** and a**. And he used those very sparingly.

Apparently someone called into this show last week and asked him, "What is a Conservative?"

Glenn responded,

"A conservative is a person who uses common sense. A conservative is a person who believes in dreams. A conservative is a person who has taken him/herself from nothing and reached the heights of success. A conservative is a person who has failed, picked themselves up by the bootstraps and kept moving forward. A conservative is a person who believes the Constitution of the United States is a living and divinely inspire document. A conservative is a person who believes firmly in the America the Founding Fathers set up. A conservative is a person who believes in freedom, personal responsibility and God."

Yup, that's a conservative all right. I cannot tell you how privileged I feel to be an America. It is wrong that people don't like it when we say "I am an American and proud of it!" This nation is one of the most blessed on the face of the earth. Glenn said last night that even the most poverty stricken child born into this nation is still far luckier than anyone born outside of this nation.

You might be startled by this statement, but he said it with tears in his eyes and his voice choked up. He did not state it as an elitist. But as man who understand the dreams, hopes, possibilities and responsibilities of being an America. Eight years ago he had trouble meeting the $695 rent on his tiny apartment in Hamden, Connecticut. Last week, he was able to write a check to the Ivy League school of his daughter's choice. (Huge mistake in my opinion, but that's neither here nor there.) This is what America is about. We are allowed to educate ourselves so that we can have the jobs we choose.

Now, if you choose not to finish your high school education, that's up to you. It can, and often will, limit your choices in life. If you choose stop learning the day you leave high school, whether college or self-education, it can and often will, limit your choices in life. But you know what? That's your choice.

Yes, I've heard men say, "Well I got my girlfriend pregnant and we had to get married." Uh huh, you made a choice, to have sex, and paid the consequence. It changed your life and possibilities forever.

Yes, I've heard women say, "Well I got into drugs and had a hard time shaking the addiction." Uh huh, you made a choice and paid the consequence. It changed your life and possibilities forever.

The wonderful thing about America is simply this . . . sometimes even self-sabotage or self-indulgence which results in a course change can still result in wild success. If you're willing to eschew the behavior, pay the price and work your butt off until you've accomplished your dream. Witness, Glenn Beck. Raging alcoholic, his words-not mine, divorce and his world crashing down around him could have, and has for many, marked him as a failure forever. But not in America. He dried up. He changed the man he was into the man he became. He married again and has a family and is very happy. He has a wildly successful radio and t.v. show and tours the country to sold out venues . . . only in America, my friends.

• Government does not dictate to us what career path we must follow.
• Government does not dictate to us whether we can leave our neighborhoods and travel sixteen blocks over.
• Government does not dictate to us what we may say.
• Government does not dictate to us who we must worship.
• Government does not dictate to us that we are less than the bugs in the field and therefore are not capable of making our own decisions. (Although, I gotta say--Chico, California may have me on that one. Check out their new "No nuclear detonations within city limits" ordinance. Oh yeah, it'll cost you $500 if you do that . . . so maybe someone does need to do the thinking for them until they've rejoined the human gene pool.)
• Government does not dictate to us what cars we can drive, how warm we keep our homes and how much we can eat, although Barack Obama would like to change that too.
  

We inherited a nation of hope, dreams and possibilities. Americans put the first man on the moon, invented the car, the television, the radio, the internet (nope, even Glenn Beck agrees that Al Gore did not invent the internet.) and so much more! Glenn pointed out the millions of people we've saved in the last seven years and the hundreds of millions we've saved in the last century. "We have freed man's mind!" he said.

In this land of the free and home of the brave, and only in America, could God have restored His kingdom on the face of the earth. And yet, after all these years, we are a nation at the brink. But it does not have to be so. The people in Washington D.C. have no idea, nor do they care to, what is important to the American people. My Congressman is no longer on the table, so at this point, I say wipe 'em all out. Uh, metaphorcally speaking. Meaning, they all need to lose their jobs in September.

• Under our Democrat controlled Congress and Senate our gas prices have soared.
• Under our Democrat controlled Congress and Senate our economy is tanking.
• Under our Democrat controlled Congress and Senate proposed tax hikes are underway. Barack Obama wants to raise individual income taxes, the capital gains tax, he wants to keep the death tax, he wants to raise Social Security taxes. Oh yeah, that's going to make it better. Bankruptcies will soar far higher than they are right now under his presidency.
  
• Our Democrat controlled Congress and Senate have stated: No new drilling or refineries will be built. Barack Obama is opposed to nuclear energy and he wants to tax natural gas and coal, our major domestic energy sources. (Oh, because we don't pay enough tax on those already!)

President Bush said: "When Congress lifts the legislative ban, I will lift the executive prohibition... The only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress. Now the ball is squarely in Congress' court... For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. And now Americans are paying at the pump."

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader and traitor to the American people was reported in an article by CQ Politics:

"House and Senate Democratic leaders plan to bring energy legislation to the floor this week, using procedural tactics designed to block Republicans from offering amendments that would lift the drilling ban."

"In the Senate, Democrats hope to take up as early as Wednesday a still-un-drafted bill that would tighten regulation of speculation in energy futures, which some lawmakers contend adds as much as 30 percent to the price of crude oil.

"Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nevada, said he would block any effort to propose amendments to the bill that did not deal directly with the speculation issue."

So, Senator Reid has made the decision that there will be no relief at the gas pumps. This day has long been expected, when America's reliance on foreign industry would come back to bite us on the butt. Well, it's happened. Senator Reid and every other Democrat is doing the biting.

• Under our Democrat controlled Congress and Senate two universities can now drill for . . . wait for it . . . ice in ANWR to see what happens when it is exposed to heat. (I do not lie.) But there will be no drilling for oil to free us from dependence on foreign oil.

America can be turned around. She can be saved. Her Constitution can be restored . . . but only if we stand up and make our voices heard at the polls in November. A hue and cry so loud it reaches the heavens is the only thing which will stop our current Congress from destroying all that we hold so dear. Your politicians DO NOT KNOW BETTER THAN YOU. (Again, unless your Chico, CA.) The time for turning our backs, or sticking our heads in the sand is gone. We must be heard and we must demand our politicians respond accordingly.

• The Fairness Doctrine MUST be struck down. If it is not, freedom of speech is forever gone. And you do need to contact your congressman tomorrow on this one.
  
• The southern border fences must be built. Along with those seeking a better life, our enemies and criminals are pouring over the border unchecked. Latin and South American gangs, drugs and illegal arms are pouring over the border completely intact, by the tens of thousands.
  
• Current illegal immigrants must pay a fine, register themselves into the system by paying taxes, social security, etc. for five years and then get in the back of the line for citizenship.
• We MUST drill for oil off our shores, in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, in ANWR, thereby ending our dependence on foreign oil.
• We MUST develop SENSIBLE alternate energy and fuel sources.
• We MUST become a literate people once again. A literate nation always remains a superpower.

Here are poll results of public opinion on drilling for oil in America:

Rasmussen, June 17: 67% Favor, 18% Oppose ("67% Support Offshore Drilling, 64% Believe It Will Lower Prices")

Reuters/Zogby, June 18: 60% Favor, 40% Oppose ("Most Americans support more oil drilling")

Gallup Poll, June 19: 57% Favor, 41% Oppose ("Majority of Americans Support Drilling Off-Limits Areas")

Pew Research Center, July 2: 57% Favor, 41% Oppose ("As Gas Prices Pinch, Support for Energy Exploration Rises")

My friends, it is up to us. This nation that we love so fiercely can and must be saved. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh echo this cry daily on radio and television. Prophets and apostles across the ages have begged for this promised land, that her people might always be worthy of her great promise. And I beg of you this day: Stand and be counted, stand and be heard, please, stand for what you believe.

Click here to read the day-to-day diary of Glenn's national tour and the live simulcast show I was privileged to see.