Snowed In
I'm sitting in my hotel room on the campus of Hillsdale College, which I'm visiting for the purposes of teaching a speechwriting seminar. Last night, the night I arrived, the power went off for about 8 hours; it's been on and off this morning, so school has been cancelled. The water is too cold for a shower.
The upside? The power is now on, and when I turned on the television, C-SPAN3 was re-running Ronald Reagan giving his "A Time for Choosing Speech." It's one thing to read that speech, as I have done many times. It's another to sit through and listen to it. What a different Reagan from what most people remember: here he is young, vigorous, and even angered by the problems America faced. Delivered without a single flaw or stutter or missed word. This isn't the kindly grandpa that the left says it loves. This is a man in his prime standing up for what he believes in, in language as plain and forceful as ever he used.
What a wonderful little reward on a morning where little else is working.
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Dec '10
Re: Snowed In
My father was speaking at a conference in Michigan this weekend and wasn't able to drive home yesterday because of the snow storm. I hope he's watching Reagan speeches too!
I actually just emailed him the YouTube of the "A time for choosing" speech because of your post here. He is the one who instilled in me a deep respect for The Gipper. I remember as a little kid driving to see our relatives in MN every winter and listening in the car to "An American Life" on tape. (Now I feel old talking about cassette tapes.)
You hear the moral clarity in his voice and the un-apologetically conservative content of his words and it can't help but give a product of today's relativistic, multicultural culture serious goose-bumps.
Stay warm up there!
Edited on Feb 21, 2011 at 8:56amAug '10
Re: Snowed In
Now imagine Carter as the cold shower that he remains.
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Thanks, Robby. Without the snowstorm, I probably would have had other distractions, and not simply sat through and listened to the whole speech. It was great to see how passionate he was -- and hear the message still undimmed by time.
Re: Snowed In
You realize, of course, Brother Bill, that "A Time for Choosing" is the wrong speech to be talking about to students who want to become speechwriters. The Gipper wrote it himself.
Stay warm, and tell Paul Rahe we all say hello.
Re: Snowed In
I'm still waiting for the water to heat up, flownover.
Anyone who doesn't think the Gipper would have been right at home at a Tea Party hasn't watched this speech.
Am looking forward to dinner at brother Paul Rahe's home tonight.
Re: Snowed In
We can offer you a hot shower as well -- if you still need one come evening.
Re: Snowed In
The storm Bill described is, by the way, a real doozie. We have 31 trees in our back yard, and there are huge branches down on the ground everywhere. No damage to the house, thank God. It is a 101-year-old Victorian -- built back in the days when things were meant to last.
Re: Snowed In
Funny. A nasty storm and I haven't been dispatched smack in the middle of it.... My company is growing complacent.
Re: Snowed In
It started out as a snowstorm on Sunday at about noon. After laying down three inches, the storm turned to rain, and it rained and rained and rained through the night as it got colder and colder. Everything is coated and whenever there is the slightest hint of a wind down come the branches. We broke two scrapers this morning while trying to get the ice off our cars. The weather report suggests that there is more to come. Morning classes were cancelled, and now afternoon classes have been cancelled. If you wander around outside, you might get hit by a tree branch.
Dave, you would love it.
Re: Snowed In
Paul A. Rahe: It started out as a snowstorm on Sunday at about noon. After laying down three inches, the storm turned to rain, and it rained and rained and rained through the night as it got colder and colder. Everything is coated and whenever there is the slightest hint of a wind down come the branches. We broke two scrapers this morning while trying to get the ice off our cars. The weather report suggests that there is more to come. Morning classes were cancelled, and now afternoon classes have been cancelled. If you wander around outside, you might get hit by a tree branch.
Dave, you would love it. · Feb 21 at 9:53am
Clearly, my dispatcher has botched things. I should be in the thick of the storm, complete with bottled water and beanie weenies.
Nov '10
Re: Snowed In
Robby Moeller: My father was speaking at a conference in Michigan this weekend and wasn't able to drive home yesterday because of the snow storm. I hope he's watching Reagan speeches too!
I actually just emailed him the YouTube of the "A time for choosing" speech because of your post here.
Thanks for the link. I'm listening to it while doing some mindless tasks at work.
Jun '10
Re: Snowed In
I find it fascinating how relevant Reagan's "A Time For Choosing" speech is for today's political climate and given who our current President is. It should be required viewing not just at Hillsdale but on every college campus and every high school in America. And perhaps it should be aired over the radio in every oppressive regime in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, every evening.
Perhaps had America fully appreciated what Reagan was saying in 1964 we wouldn't be where we are today. Unfortunately East Coast establishment Republicans stalled his ascendancy to the White House until 1980 and in the interim the government continued to expand and closet socialists gained a foothold in the Democrat Party.
Given the outrageous growth of the federal government, Obama's socialist background and agenda and the attempt to institute socialized medicine, pardon me, Obamacare, that the "...Time for Choosing" Reagan is now what is needed. Where is the Republican candidate who can and is willing to articulate what Reagan did in '64 and with the same passion? Still waiting for them to emerge.
Re: Snowed In
Now a feel a little guilty, because I was watching an old "Bonanza."
I took a little stroll on campus. I could live without snow, but it does make the campus look beautiful.
Re: Snowed In
It continues to snow pretty steadily here. I just came back from a campus walk.C-Span has had other speeches on -- JFK's inaugural, FDR's nothing to fear but fear itself, etc. But "A Time for Choosing" is different, because Reagan was not president when he gave it and it shows him at the moment he is really just entering politics.
For the record, and not to frighten the Rahes, the power has been on awhile and the hot water heater apparantly working, so I have in fact showered. I would have cold showered if necessary, but was grateful for the hot shower.
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I'll be there next Monday. Please think "melting."
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I'll still be here. And so will the ice!
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Dave Carter
Paul A. Rahe: It started out as a snowstorm on Sunday at about noon. After laying down three inches, the storm turned to rain, and it rained and rained and rained through the night as it got colder and colder. Everything is coated and whenever there is the slightest hint of a wind down come the branches. We broke two scrapers this morning while trying to get the ice off our cars. The weather report suggests that there is more to come. Morning classes were cancelled, and now afternoon classes have been cancelled. If you wander around outside, you might get hit by a tree branch.
Dave, you would love it. · Feb 21 at 9:53am
Clearly, my dispatcher has botched things. I should be in the thick of the storm, complete with bottled water and beanie weenies. · Feb 21 at 10:02am
We were supposed to have Bill McGurn to dinner at the house tonight, but the electricity went out at 3 p.m., and the cold set in. We ended up at a local greasy spoon as the snow came down by the bucketsful.
Jul '10
Re: Snowed In
They are predicting 4-8" here in DC, North and West thereof. With a nice layer of ice for a base. Dave, if you phone the dispatcher now and drive all night....
Feb '11
Re: Snowed In
Dave Carter
...I should be in the thick of the storm, complete with bottled water and beanie weenies. · Feb 21 at 10:02am
If you head over to Hillsdale I'm sure a Freshman would loan you his beanie. As for the weenie, as cold as it is I'm sure Al Gore will be along any minute...
Re: Snowed In
profdlp
Dave Carter
...I should be in the thick of the storm, complete with bottled water and beanie weenies. · Feb 21 at 10:02am
If you head over to Hillsdale I'm sure a Freshman would loan you his beanie. As for the weenie, as cold as it is I'm sure Al Gore will be along any minute... · Feb 21 at 8:54pm
This is just too good...