Ronald Reagan was a leader for the ages. A man who stood for principle and brought the nation to his side when most establishment-types dismissed him as a has-been actor with simply, out dated and foolish ideas.

Beyond his right principles, Reagan was a leader. He inspired the American people to believe in their country once again after the demoralizing years of Vietnam, Watergate, Iran hostages, and inflation. Reagan was a breath of fresh air who stood tall and eloquent have voice to the American spirit of freedom and greatness.

No leader today - not Obama, not anyone - matches Reagan in strength of character, inspiration and wisdom. He was one of a kind, and I never truly knew him but miss him. I miss the moment he represented and the values he espoused. No leader today is so clear about the wisdom of limited government and individual freedom as Reagan.

45-years ago Reagan gave a speech endorsing Republican conservative nominee Barry Goldwater. It turned Reagan into a national conservative icon and became to be known as “The Speech.” Reagan was never an identified libertarian - as I am - but he stated that libertarianism is at the heart of conservatism and “The Speech” is a great libertarian declaration. It deserves to be remembered this year more than most in a time of ever-increasing government, debt and negation of individual freedom in the form of Obama. It deserves to be heard so as to remind us of our common liberty heritage and to educate those of us who are not aware of that history, and to inspire all of us to renew that heritage:

This idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order — or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, “The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.”

The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. [Pure genuine and brillance. And idiot elites think Obama with his washed-up socialist talking points is eloquent. Obama is no Reagan, not even close. Reagan was the greatest president of the 20th century.]

Hopefully we will see a leader of his caliber soon again.