If you pay attention to politics, listening to speeches is routine. Each delivered by a U.S. President serves its own, specific purpose and is usually tailored to fit a current moment in history. Naturally, some presidents are better than others at communicating to the American people and the world. Few have their words and lessons remembered for decades beyond their tenure in the White House or away from the very lecterns where remarks were delivered. That isn’t true for President Ronald Reagan, who became known as “the great communicator” before, during, and after his time in the Oval Office. His remarks were always a spot-on analysis of current events and offered prescient wisdom for the challenges to come. The government’s reaction to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, at home and abroad, gives us reason to visit his wise words once again. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation,” President Reagan said during a speech to the annual convention of Kiwanis International in 1987.
At the time of his remarks, Reagan wasn’t referring to a fight against a foreign adversary. He was speaking about preserving freedoms at home by limiting the size and scope of government. It was a warning that unchecked power, especially for unelected bureaucrats fueled by desires to control the masses, would stifle dreams of the individual and therefore cripple the backbone of the country.
This is true today. After a year of shuttered classrooms and education officials denying pandemic science showing schools should have never been closed in early 2020, parents started to get organized. They showed up at school board meetings and demanded teachers get back to work. They rejected endless pandemic theater, demanded their children’s faces be freed from masks, and elected leaders who would protect them from government upending their lives.
“In this last election, we heard from more voters than ever before, 25 percent more, nearly 3.3 million Virginians who sent us here on a mission to restore trust in government, and to restore power to the people,” Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said during his inauguration speech in January. “We stand here today as the messengers of that movement. Entrusted to protect liberty create opportunity and build unity for the hard work ahead. This celebration is about that movement and not the candidates or elected-office holders. It’s not about me, but rather about us.”
“This movement continues to be fueled by the hopes and dreams and yes, the tenacity and grit of Virginians, of parents, students and teachers, of entrepreneurs and small business owners, of law enforcement and first responder heroes, of hard-working Virginians coming home from the midnight to 8am shift, of active duty military, veterans and their families, of farmers, factory workers, and healthcare heroes,” he continued. “Today we stand together on behalf of Virginians who’ve never lost faith, even when they have suffered loss. Of Virginians who have not stopped dreaming of a better life, even in the midst of trials and tribulations.”
Against the odds in a blue state, Youngkin sailed to victory with the backing of parents fighting to protect the freedoms of the next generation. The results in Virginia reverberated across the country, putting those stealing the future of America's children on notice.
This week, parents in deep-blue San Francisco recalled three school board members who kept schools closed while engaging in a woke campaign to erase America’s history.
“In a recall election fueled by pandemic angst and anger, San Francisco voters ousted three members of the Board of Education on Tuesday,” the New York Times reported. “More than 70 percent of voters supported the recall of each member when initial results were released just before 9 p.m. Pacific time, and one of the board members conceded defeat… 'It’s the people rising up in revolt in San Francisco and saying it’s unacceptable to abandon your responsibility to educate our children,' said Siva Raj, a San Francisco parent of public school students who helped lead the signature campaign to put the recall election on the ballot.”
Freedom is always one generation away from extinction, but America still has parents willing to fight for the future.
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