The American Spectator held its annual Robert L. Bartley dinner last night at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, DC. The dinner included speeches from the Spectator’s President Alfred S. Regnery, it’s Editor-in-Chief R. Emmet Tyrell, and Republican Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana.
Pence rallied the crowd with a thoughtful address about the need to preserve the ideals of the American Revolution.:
“According to our second President, the real American Revolution was a revolution of self reliance and independence, casting off dependency on the crown, in the hearts and minds of the American people. It was a rejection of the spirit of dependence in favor of a society of free and independent people.
“As Thomas Sowell wrote, ‘What the American Revolution did was give the common man a voice, a veto, elbow room, and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of his “betters.”’ And, I submit, it is that revolution of independence and self reliance that liberal elites are seeking to overturn. Barney Frank recently said, ‘We are trying on every front to increase the role of government.’ Not just the size but the role.”