A Founder’s Birthday — Rob Long

 

My friend — and yours — Peter Robinson is celebrating his birthday today.  That’s him and his family in the photo above, congratulating the very first Thatcher level Ricochet member.

Well, “celebrating” may be putting it too grandly.   I haven’t asked him, but I know him well enough to guess that at least part of him is ambivalent about the passage of time.  He’s a conservative, after all. He likes to stand athwart history — and creaking joints and wrinkles — and shout, “Stop!”

But he’s also a deeply religious guy — one of the many, many reasons I admire him so much — and I know that he sees getting older as a natural, even beautiful, part of our lives.  If you want to build something meaningful, raise a loving and large family, have an impact on your country, and gather a large and deeply-held group of friends — all of which, by the way, Peter has accomplished in spades — well, getting a little older and wearing a few more wrinkles is a tiny price to pay.  

So, join me in wishing my friend and co-founder, and our fellow member, the happiest of birthdays.  And many many many more.

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 70 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. AUMom Member
    AUMom
    @AUMom

    Happiest of Birthdays, Peter! May you be blessed in ways too many to count this coming year.

    • #1
  2. Whiskey Sam Inactive
    Whiskey Sam
    @WhiskeySam

    Happy birthday, Brother Robinson!  You picked a great week of people to share a birthday with!

    • #2
  3. Asquared Inactive
    Asquared
    @ASquared

    Rob Long:

    I haven’t asked him, but I know him well enough to guess that at least part of him is ambivalent about the passage of time. He’s a conservative, after all. He likes to stand athwart history — and creaking joints and wrinkles — and shout, “Stop!”…So, join me in wishing my friend and co-founder, and our fellow member, the happiest of birthdays. And many many many more.

     

    As my father says about every birthday, I will take every one of them I can get. It’s better than the alternative.

    Happy Birthday Mr. Robinson and “Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson”

    • #3
  4. user_1938 Inactive
    user_1938
    @AaronMiller

    Happy birthday, Peter!

    • #4
  5. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    • #5
  6. user_7742 Inactive
    user_7742
    @BrianWatt

    Like Peter, dude…like have a happy like birthday y’know and like enjoy it. Yar!

    • #6
  7. user_240173 Member
    user_240173
    @FrankSoto

    Happy Birthday Peter.  May death come swiftly to your enemies.

    • #7
  8. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    Happy Birthday, Peter.

    I still smile every time I remember that I actually got to shake Yer hand:

    Jimmy Meets Peter

    • #8
  9. George Savage Member
    George Savage
    @GeorgeSavage

    I am back from Ethiopia today, just in time to celebrate this significant national holiday.  Happy Birthday, Peter!

    • #9
  10. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    You and Podhoretz aren’t going out drinking tonight, are you? For Ricochet to unleash one drunken birthday boy on the world would be one thing… Two would be inexcusable.

    • #10
  11. azborn Inactive
    azborn
    @azborn

    Concentrate now. Breathe in, breathe out. Now, keep it up. Happy birthday!

    • #11
  12. user_30416 Inactive
    user_30416
    @LeslieWatkins

    Hope you have a wonderful day, Peter. You have aged well–and you make a fabulous muppet! (EJ captured the essence of all three of you, but you in particular.)

    • #12
  13. Kr5s Inactive
    Kr5s
    @Kr5st5

    Happy Birthday!

    • #13
  14. Goddess of Discord Member
    Goddess of Discord
    @GoddessofDiscord

    Happy birthday Sir Peter!

    • #14
  15. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    He’s not older, he’s just more – distinguished!
    Happy Birthday, Peter!

    • #15
  16. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    Have a happy, Mr. Robinson.  I’m still amazed, every time I hear the beginning of the podcast, when Reagan speaks your words aloud.

    You’ve made a difference.  Not all of us can make that claim.

    Chris

    • #16
  17. user_4462 Member
    user_4462
    @JeffPetraska

    Happy birthday, Peter.  May God continue to bless you.

    • #17
  18. user_316485 Member
    user_316485
    @ManOTea

    With your sweater sleeves athwart your shoulders and neck…  I say Well Done Old Chap!

    • #18
  19. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    Thanks to you all–and especially to Brother Rob, for a post that I found, well, surprisingly touching.  

    I’m pretty sure I’m getting old, though.  Since it’s been awhile since I wrote a really long, beefy post, I put one up just today…and it’s so boring that, a) it has received only four comments, and, b) even I nearly nodded off when I attempted to re-read it just now.

    How Paul Rahe can write one long post after another–and sustain everyone’s interest in every post, from beginning to end, so thoroughly that he never seems to receive fewer than sixty or seventy comments–how he pulls that off, I will never know.

    Brief and punchy.  In my decrepitude, that’s the mantra.

    But thanks again.  I’m touched.  Really.

    • #19
  20. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Gives another meaning to “good” Friday. Happy Birthday, Peter. You’re a blessing to us all.

    • #20
  21. Peabody Here Inactive
    Peabody Here
    @PeabodyHere

    Happy Birthday Peter.  Thanks for helping brighten my every week while I listen to the Ricochet podcast.

    • #21
  22. user_536506 Member
    user_536506
    @ScottWilmot

    Happy birthday Peter. It has been fun to get to know you through this site. May God continue to bless you abundantly.

    • #22
  23. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Peter Robinson:

    How Paul Rahe can write one long post after another–and sustain everyone’s interest in every post, from beginning to end, so thoroughly that he never seems to receive fewer than sixty or seventy comments–how he pulls that off, I will never know.

    I’m pretty sure part of the secret is that he’s more irascible than you ;-)

    You’re our kind and gentle Pooh-bear, a temperate influence that a lot of us crankier types sorely need. Happy birthday, and here’s to many happy, healthy more!

    • #23
  24. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Hey, Peter, this is an awesome week for Ricochet birthdays!  RushBabe49, Red Feline, Percival, and The One And Only Peter Robinson!  Happy, Happy Birthday!

    • #24
  25. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    Peter Robinson: a) it has received only four comments,

     I’m sorry for trying to have a conversation.

    Good Grief. 

    • #25
  26. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    Jimmy Carter:

    Peter Robinson: a) it has received only four comments,

    I’m sorry for trying to have a conversation.

    Good Grief.

    Since you account for 50 percent of those four comments, Jimmy Carter, you’ll always have a special place in my thoughts.

    • #26
  27. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    Above, Rob posted an old photo showing the missus, me, and our three older kids with a certain former prime minister of the United Kingdom.

    Earlier today, in Hanover, New Hampshire, posing for a pic to send their father on his birthday, those same three kids:
    Screen Shot 2014-04-18 at 7.29.56 PM

    • #27
  28. Pseudodionysius Inactive
    Pseudodionysius
    @Pseudodionysius

    • #28
  29. Kim K. Inactive
    Kim K.
    @KimK

    Happy Birthday, Peter! I consider it a major plus that I’ve gotten to “know” you via Ricochet. Maybe someday in person…

    • #29
  30. A Murder of Cows Inactive
    A Murder of Cows
    @DanielAdamMurphy

    A very happy birthday to you, Peter. I’ve been a fan since I first discovered, quite by accident, Uncommon Knowledge on PBS, when I was much younger, and much more liberal.

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.