By Ennealogic
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| A view of the YAF property that used to be owned and sometimes inhabited by Ronald Reagan |
(The official centennial celebration, closed to the general public, begins on February 5 with the unveiling of the newly-renovated Reagan Presidential Museum, about 50 miles away in Simi Valley at Reagan's Presidential Foundation and Library.)
From YAF's Web site,
The Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara is a “schoolhouse for Reaganism” where young and old alike can visit and learn more about one of America's greatest presidents.I glanced at the list of staff and governors for YAF. It might be interesting at some point to look into the backgrounds of these people...
Young America's Foundation stepped in to save President Reagan's Western White House, Rancho del Cielo, in the spring of 1998 to preserve it as a living monument to Ronald Reagan to pass on Ronald Reagan's ideas to future generations. President Reagan committed himself to reaching young people with his ideas—a goal that is also central to the Foundation's mission.
YAF proudly announces that Sarah Palin will be speaking at tonight's dinner and Dick Cheney will follow suit tomorrow night. I'm sure there are several young and not-so-young Republicans who are just all titillated about this event.
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| This is the first of five slides displayed on YAF's Home page today - doesn't Dick look like he just swallowed a canary? And Sarah's image is from 2006 - I recognize it as her official Governor picture. |
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We'll get started in just under an hour. I'll try to update the blog every few minutes, but I have not attempted this before so have patience! Meantime, any predictions on which topic(s) the infamous word salad tosser mentions tonight will show up in tomorrow's "OMG, did she say that" stories?
10:00 PM - Watching the CSPAN window for signs of life.
10:07 PM - The YAF people gave Dick the honor of showing up first on that slide. Wonder if SP feels slighted, since her picture is kinda cut off and shoved to the side.
10:16 PM - There's another live stream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Young-Americas-Foundation and it's active now. Waiters moving around several small round dining tables, looks like they seat 4-6 each.
10:19 PM - They showed a short movie in the dining room about RR. A mash-up, lots of American flag-ish-ness in the background. People clapping for it.
10:21 PM - Aww it's off air now. Was probably just a test. CSPAN video still dark.
10:26 PM - Motivation Truth was channeling the USTREAM feed.
10:32 PM - Would be funny if there was a little earthquake. Now that the USTREAM feed is back on, I can see the water in the goblets on the tables jiggling. Soft floor?
10:35 PM - The wait staff are dressed alike, with badges dangling around their necks, white shirts, black aprons, black pants. The guests look quite upper class, mostly older folks.
10:42 PM - I hope the lighting gets better, it's a pretty darkened scene. There are red flowers as a centerpiece for each table. Couple little candles... looks like our view might currently include a lecturn past the tables. Occasional camera flashes go off.
10:50 PM - CSPAN feed still off line. Noticing that this room is far from luxurious. Celiing is pretty low, ceiling fixtures are bland, room color is dark yellowy ochre?
10:56 PM - This is cool. Glad others are also watching because we'll catch more that way! Waiters are still serving... dessert maybe?
11:00 PM - Okay, where's Sarah? LOL I remember that bumper sticker from her gov days. The table arrangement is forcing the wait staff to pass the plates in like, a bucket brigade to get to the next table.
11:06 PM - Looks like there's some activity near what I think is the podium (I called it a lecturn earlier). It is made of wood, has a burned in logo, and is solid in front. Can't make out the logo though. Same image also appears tiled on the backdrop, and on the columns that define the rather small, no, very small 'stage' area.
11:08 PM - someone is on the stage... I wonder who it is? She's asking people to stay at their tables so SP can do a photo line... she's introducing her now.
11:12 PM - She's dark haired, thin, said RR didn't talk with a teleprompter, started by saying do you remember how hard it was to be a conservative? RR was 'villinized' by the media. "Seemingly out of nowhere another hero emerged, a woman ... who has taken on the establishment time and time again and won! She loved her freedom more than she loved her comfort. Stood tall for freedom even when told to sit down. Ignored the establishment, led the largest spontaneous grass roots movement... " Can I be sick now?
11:15 PM - Sounds like this intro speaker has bought the 'poor Sarah' bit hook, line and sinker. She's one of those who enables and promotes SP's victimhood. "Great leader for the cause of liberty and freedom!" Enter SP stage left. Yes, she's wearing red.
11:18 PM - Flag pin, also too. "I can't tell you how humbling this is... riding horses on trails that Ronald Reagan had cleared...building fences with his own hands... " She's comparing the ranch with all frontiers, incl Alaska.
11:24 PM - She's equating the 1964 speech .. swamp to stars, as metaphor for socialism to freedom. Oh, she's reading off notes, keeps looking down.
11:28 PM - Claiming that current outrage came with 'Obamacare' and American people "rose up and said enough is enough, but just a couple days ago at the SOTU,..." Here she goes, bashing the current administration. "An exceptionally big government..." "beaurocrats" .. "tax and spend" ... the "stimulus only stimulated the tea party" ... cheers from the assembled.
11:29 PM - "Bullet train to bankruptcy is all we'll get"... did she really say that?? DC stymies domestic drilling. Bad government. Big debt. "This is insane!" *clapping* "Investing in green jobs brought nothing but massive debt and job loss..." "This is social engineering, it is not the road to greatness, it is the road to ruin."
11:34 PM - "Government makes it increasingly impossible for anyone BUT cronies to get ahead." I think I need a barf break. She's saying RR was for the little guy, and by extension, herself. "When government picks the winners, we the tax payers subsidize the failures."
11:38 PM - Overregulation is the root of the problem. "20 lb weights on our ankles" "We are shackled with taxes, get big government out of the way and we will win..." "There is a fear in the air, the individual Amurican needs to fill (sic) someone cares, seek the spirit of God so we can make sound decisions..." *more applause* Ah, there's the 'hard work' phrase. Drink up!
11:43 PM - She's moving heavy into the preaching now. "Our ancestors put their faith in GOD, not government!" *more applause* "Here are the virtues of those in uniform.." Oh wait, she didn't mention any. Praising the Gipper throughout, literally having a lovefest with his holy memory. The speech is reminiscent of the cliches she used throughout the Stanislaus campus talk. Oh my god, "Don't tread on me!" Equating her audience with David and the government with Goliath.
11:46 PM - "last best hope" .. "a force for good, nothing to apologize for" ... "God bless you and God bless America" and thank god it's over. Lots and lots of catch phrases. Nothing of substance, per usual.
Phew.
Now we are going to hear the ground rules for the photo line. No book signings. If you came together, you have to be photographed together. Satellite room goes first. This room goes into the Atrium, take your time. Turn in your belongings and you'll get them back as soon as your picture is taken. Then go get on the shuttle bus.
Ta da!
