January 26,2009: Jeff Limón's Speech to Republican Women

Let me first quote from an unknown author:

I am wounded, but I am not dead. And I will lay here and bleed a while, and then I will rise and I will fight again. OR...

I'm wounded, and I am dead. And when my last breath escapes me, I will whimper. And I will acknowledge that I have lost. And all of my principles, all of my being, will leave me, like... tears... in... rain.

WHICH IS IT?

Towards the beginning of the Korean War, Colonel Lewis Puller (commander of the first Marine Regiment of the First Marine division) found himself and his men surrounded by the Chinese 80th and 81st divisions at the Choisun Reservoir in South Korea. (THOSE FOLKS WERE IN TROUBLE.) But Colonel Puller saw things differently. He poked his head out of his embankment, surveyed the turf, and said to his men "Those poor slobs. They've got us right where we want them. We can shoot in any direction, and we will hit them.”

When his words reached his men, their eyes lit up. They began to feel that they could indeed win. That all they had to do, was to do what they had been trained to do.

AND SO THEY DID!

That day, Colonel Puller's Regiment lit up in every direction. They found a hole, and mauled the Chinese divisions. They escaped, and in doing so, and they put the hurt on the enemy.

History is replete with stories of men and women who, in the face of long, long, odds laid down and died. They didn't have to. They chose to. They chose to abandon their principles. They chose to acknowledge the ideology of the enemy was perhaps superior.

Now, we don't have tanks. We don't use guns, we have no flame throwers.

So, what weapons do we have? How do we arm ourselves? What weapon can we use?

Our weapon is our principles, and the history that has been shaped by those principles. Each of us must find one or more core principles that defines us as Republicans. And defend those vigorously and actively.

Personally, I am a Republican because I believe in the fundamental integrity, capability, and wisdom of the common person. I believe that ordinary citizens know what they're doing. They don't need government to help them. Just as Lincoln believed that the slaves could govern themselves, I believe that people can govern themselves, and take care of their own matters. They don't need a government "nanny" to "help" them. They don't need to borrow money, and saddle future generations with debt, in order to solve the problems of today.

And for me, the belief in the fundamental ability of "the common person" hearkens back to our roots, to the post-Civil War creation of the Republican Party.

In order to go forward, we will ground ourselves in the values of the earliest Republicans.

Lincoln referred to the famous writer Frederick Douglass as "one of the most meritorious men in all of America". Lincoln saw the value and the integrity and the wisdom that Douglass and the former slaves could possess.

Meanwhile, Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson (a racist southern Democrat), believed that if allowed to govern themselves, the former slaves would "descend into barbarism".

Obviously, Lincoln and Johnson had fundamental differences in their perceptions of the former slaves. Lincoln had faith in the common African-American, while Andrew Johnson did not. As with all of the former slaves, Johnson could only refer to Frederick Douglass using nasty racial slurs.

Concerned that Southern Democrats would repudiate the Emancipation Proclamation, the "Radical" Republicans passed the 13th amendment, which banned slavery. They then passed to the 14th amendment, which conferred "equal protection under the law" to the former slaves. They then passed the 15th amendment, which gave the former slaves the right to vote. Each of these amendments to the Constitution was staunchly supported by the Republicans and furiously opposed by the Democrats. In fact, when it came to voteing on the 14th amendment, every single Republican voted FOR the amendment, while every single Democrat voted AGAINST the amendment.

Every single one...

And it is true to say that no Republican ever owned a slave.

And it is fair to say that Republicans invented civil rights.

And we did not stop there. The Republican Party pioneered the right of women to vote. We are the first major party to advocate equal rights for women and the principle of equal pay for equal work.

The women's rights convention held in New York in 1848 was the beginning of the women's suffrage movement in America. Two years later there was a nationwide meeting in Massachusetts. By 1870 the Massachusetts Republican state convention had already seated two women as delegates. The national Republican convention of 1872 approved a resolution favoring the admission of women to "wider fields of usefulness" and added that "the honest demand of this class of citizens for additional rights should be treated with respectful consideration".

Two Republican delegates from Wyoming were seated at the 1892 Republican national convention. This convention was also the first to be addressed by a woman (Jay Ellen Foster) chairman of the women's Republican Association of United States, a strong believer in the organization, Ms. Foster said her association had prepared plans for women's involvement in national politics.

When the 19th amendment was submitted to the states, 26 of the 36 states that ratified the amendment had Republican legislatures.

Of the nine states that voted against ratification eight were Democrat legislatures.

12 states, all Republican, had given women the right EVEN BEFORE THE FEDERAL AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED.

That means something...

Not only are we the party of civil rights, we are also the party of women's rights


For me, this too hearkens back to the Republicans fundamental belief in the intelligence, wisdom, and capability of all people.

Yet somehow, when people think of civil rights, and women's rights, do they think of the Republican Party? Is that the organization that is in the front of their minds? And if it isn't, why not? Why have we not stood up and defended our legacy?

Why is it that Republicans never get credit for these things? Why is it that the Democrat, Senator Robert Byrd (of West Virginia) who joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1942 is still referred to by Democrats as the "Conscience of the Senate"? Why is it that the Democrats are able to get away with that. Why is it that no one mentions that up until 1934, EVERY SINGLE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ELECTED TO CONGRESS WAS A REPUBLICAN!

Why is it that no one mentions it as a percentage of the party, more Republicans voted for the civil rights act of 1964 than Democrats? Why is it that no one acknowledges that the Democrat Senator, Robert Byrd, filibustered for 14 hours against the passage of the Civil Rights Act before the final vote?

Why is that?

I will tell you why.

What has happened, is that we have not defended our legacy. All that is required for evil to prosper is for good men, and women, to do nothing. Whose fault is it that our legacy has been stolen from us? Is it the media's fault? Is it the Democrats fault?

No, I think we should assume full responsibility. We have not defended our legacy. We have not armed ourselves with facts. We have not expressed our principles. We have not argued.

John McCain did us a great disservice by being moderate. You cannot bring a knife to a gunfight, and that's what John McCain brought to the campaign. You have to stand on your principles and vehemently defend them. When you stand for principles, you win. When you compromise your principles, when you try to present a "watered down" version of your principles, you lose.

Never bring moderation to an ideology fight. If you're going to go toe to toe with Democrats on principle, go for the throat. Remind them that we are the party of civil rights. Remind them that no Republican ever owned a slave. Remind them of their history and ours.

Remind them that the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist wing of the DEMOCRAT party, whose sole purpose was to stifle the Republican agenda in the South. Don't be afraid to remind them of events, such as when a white Democrat mob killed 300 African-Americans in an attempt to oust a black Republican sheriff from office in Jackson Mississippi in 1874. Remind them, that in 1872, in Colfax Louisiana, following the 1872 election campaign, after a three-week siege, a white (DEMOCRAT) mob killed 200 African-Americans defending the county courthouse from a Democrat takeover.

Arm yourself with facts. And go for the throat. Crush your enemy. Do not let him think, do not let him breathe. Be tough, and stand your ground. Define for yourself why you believe you are a Republican, and do not back down.

This is our opportunity.

When the American public realizes that they have been "had’, when they realize that they are not getting a check in the mail. Higher taxes does not result in higher prosperity. Government bailouts will not help the long-term health of the economy. When the failed policies of the Carter administration are again attempted, and result in failure, they will be looking for alternatives.

You will be that alternative.

When people talk about "the Republican Party", what do they really mean? Do they mean this building? Do they mean me? Do they mean John McCain, or George Bush? What do they mean?

The Republican Party is the people guided by Republican principles. The party is you, and is me, but only to the extent that we ground ourselves in principle, arm ourselves with facts, and are willing to stand tall.

Read history. Find a Republican hero that you identify with, and read their work.

Read the speeches of Ronald Reagan. Read the history our early party. Read how conservative ideology triumphs again and again. Read how liberal policies fail, fail, and fail again.

Pause

Be proud of your legacy. Be proud to be a Republican. AND BE TOUGH -

YOUR TIME IS NOW!

Jeff D. Limón is the 2009-2010 Chair of the Benton County Republican Central Committee and resides in Corvallis, Oregon