A Speech for the Ages?

I might need to keep this short.  For I’m a bit tired this morning, perhaps because Paul Ryan’s speech revved me up so much that it took me a while to get to sleep.

Now I am not one to just love every Republican speech.  To be honest, I think Tuesday night was a disappointing dud.  But last night Ryan’s speech soared beyond my high expectations.  Ryan was clear, earnest, upbeat, and winsome; and at the same time his critique of the Obama administration was devastating.  Here’s a good summary.

And the reaction of the Obama camp shows they know they just took a big hit.

Love or hate Romney, you got to give him credit for making a smart pick for Veep.

I think Ryan’s speech might be remembered for a long time.  It is the best convention speech by someone not named Reagan I can remember.  This part alone could make it one for the ages (And I’ll conclude with it because I cannot do better.):

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us. Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.  It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio.  When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life.  I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself.  That’s what we do in this country.  That’s the American Dream.  That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.