Just as Paul Revere rode all night to warn “the British are coming,” you and I must consistently warn our friends, family, and fellow countrymen that the greatness of America is in danger of being lost.

I admit that I am encouraging you to get involved for a very selfish reason. It is because I know what you do will impact and affect my children. Whether or not Trey, Reagan, Kamryn, and Rhett enjoy freedom throughout their lifetimes will depend not just on what my wife and I do, but on what you do in your community as well. We are in this together.

John Hancock, who was one of the Founders largely responsible for the early days of the American Revolution, said: “I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred; not only that ye pray, but that ye act.”

We need to be careful that we are not so caught up enjoying the Blessings of liberty that we ignore the price, the burden necessary, for that freedom.

Some of us think that because we have the Constitution we do not need to be involved—our freedoms are already protected by the document. Here’s an answer to that thinking from John Francis Mercer, a Maryland delegate to the Constitution Convention. He said,

It is a great mistake to suppose that the paper we are to compose will govern the United States. It is the men who we will bring into the government, and the interest they have in maintaining it that is to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and the form, the men are the substance and must do the business.

You might recall the left leaning Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional a few years ago. In Newdow v. U.S. Congress, the Ninth Circuit quotes only one line from the Constitution; the decision ignores the men that drafted the document and focuses on the men and women who have handed down judicial decisions during the last forty years. It does not matter how well written the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence is if we do not have men and women in office and on the bench who protect the documents and preserve the freedom those documents describe.

A perfect example is Rabbi Gutterman and Lee v. Wiesman, the case where a prayer at a graduation was ruled unconstitutional because the Rabbi said the word “God” in the prayer. Those of us who supported prayer at graduations pointed to the actions of the Founding Fathers, such as William Samuel Johnson preaching at graduations. In his opinion, Justice Souter recognized our arguments and said in effect we were right about Founding Fathers praying at public school graduations. He then went on to say it just meant the Founding Fathers did not understand the Constitution. Clearly a ridiculous notion, but it proves the point that we need more than a good document.

If a Supreme Court Justice, like Justice Souter does not care about the intent of the document, we must be vigilant in educating others about the document and the original intent.  In order to defend and protect the Constitution, we need men and women in office who care about its true intent. It is our job as citizens to remove the ones who ignore original intent and replace them with those who understand and respect it.

To do that job well, we must become educated and equipped…which is why that was Step One in this series of articles. As you are getting informed, spread the word to others to do the same. Encourage your church to start a “salt and light ministry.” Use WallBuilders materials in your Sunday School class or start The Truth Project at your church (www.thetruthproject.org).

There is so much you can do to add to the discussion and influence the people around you. You just have to get started…today!

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“We’ve got to stop this before they destroy the country.” Or “what can I do…just tell me what to do and I’ll do it…but I cannot stand by and watch the nation I love be wiped out.” Or “Does anyone still believe in free enterprise? Can they really do all this? What happened to the Constitution?

I share your frustration. I literally fear for my Country.  I’m afraid my children will be forced to raise their families in a very different America than the one you and I have enjoyed. I use to mock people who said that. I use to say, oh, come on, it’s not that bad, we’re still the greatest nation on the planet…and we are…but not for long, not if we continue our current course.

Our nation is in crisis, but we’re so focused on the symptoms we are ignoring the root cause. This is not a crisis of economics; it is a crisis of leadership!  We are so lacking, yet so hungry for, principled, conviction-oriented, wise, servant leadership. For too long we have sat back and watched the leaders of both major political parties slowly move us away from the principles that made our nation great. And now in the last 10 months, the leaders of both parties have marched us towards socialism and the absolute ruin of our nation so fast that our heads are spinning. We’re in a state of shock, literally set back on our heels as our federal government has mortgaged our children’s future, throwing trillions of dollars at a mess government is absolutely incapable of solving (though government created the problem in the first place). Even worse, our federal government is now taking ownership in some of our largest private businesses and banks.

Socialism does not work, never has, never will…it ALWAYS destroys a nation. But our education system has so utterly failed our nation, that millions of Americans are embracing this “change” with absolutely no concept of the consequences.

But this is no time to grab your guns and canned food and go hide out at the ranch. It is time for a clarion call to acknowledge what we face and what must be done if we are to save our country.  Make no mistake, it is you and I who must do the saving. No presidential white knight candidate, no political party will save the day. The responsibility does not lie with them, it lies with us, you and me, a.k.a. We The People. We are the ones endowed by our Creator. We are the ones to whom the rights are given and we are the ones that must exercise them, must stand and fight for them, must let our voices be heard and our values counted.

This is the time to shake each other out of our slumber, to awaken our sense of patriotism and duty. All is not lost…yet…but it will be unless you and I acknowledge the fragility of our freedom, accept the duty that comes with the freedom, and start exercising our rights as free citizens.

So how do we change course and save our nation? It’s actually not complicated, it’s quite simple…it’s not sexy, maybe not even exciting…but it works every time it is applied.

Just showing up to vote in November is not enough (though most are not even doing that). We must raise our personal level of involvement so that we are influencing the process itself even before the choice is made in the November elections. It’s easy to just show up at a party and choose from the desserts on the table. It takes some effort to get in the kitchen and be a part of the preparation that will determine the results made available to the guests.

First, let me destroy two myths you may have been convinced of in your High School government class:

A.     Rid yourself of the fairy tale that representative government is just good people putting their name on the ballot and we all show up and pick the best one. The best candidate does NOT win…the winner will always be the one who BEST works/influences the process, or whose team/supporters best work the process.

B.     We do not get the leaders that a majority of Americans support, we only get the leaders supported by a majority of those who showed up to vote.

The system works, but we have to work the system. If you will join me in stepping up in the process, we can turn things around and preserve freedom for future generations. In the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging in more detail on each of the following Six Steps to Save America:

1. Get personally informed and equipped.

2. Become a Paul Revere and spread the word.

3. Help identify other patriots who want to save America.

4. Help create a better pool of candidates

5. Vote in BOTH the primary and general election.

6. Hold elected officials accountable.

Let’s start with Step One: Get Personally Informed & Equipped

If freedom is to survive, we must have an informed citizenry. Ignorance of our basic principles is rampant…and even worse among elected officials than among average citizens! 71% of all respondents failed a recent Civic Literacy test, yet 74% of elected officials failed. Less than half of those polled can name all three branches of government. 30% do not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence. 27% cannot name even one right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. And these are elected officials!!! 68% of elected officials cannot properly define the free enterprise system, and 59% cannot identify business profit as “revenue minus expenses.” An informed citizenry begins with each of us personally getting informed. Here is a quick and easy way to get started:

A.     Read the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This is the foundation, this is the formula for America’s success. If we do not know our rights, we will not know when they have been violated, nor will we know if a candidate supports the basic principles that made our nation great in the first place. If you do not have a copy, simple go online and read both documents here or turn to the Appendices in my book, Freedom’s Frame.

B.     Get Freedom’s Frame and read it cover to cover. It is conversational and a quick read, but it goes into detail on the four basic principles of America’s framework which you and I must fight to defend for future generations. Click here to get your signed copy!

C.     Attend Citizen Trainings. Just as the Founding Fathers prepared for the coming battle, we must get trained and equipped with the weapons of our warfare…ballots, not bullets. Go to trainings and seminars held by The Torch of Freedom Foundation, Heritage Alliance, and other organizations educating Americans about our foundations and how to work the process. If you are in Texas, mark your calendars now to attend the Capitol Conservative Caucus May 29-30, 2009. (watch this website and get plugged in below for updates)

D.     Get Plugged Into a Modern Committee of Correspondence. We have an amazing advantage over the Founding Era through our communication tools. Can you imagine waiting weeks for a response you may have sent to John Adams to inform him of certain actions of the British? Through internet tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogs and plain ol’ fashioned email, we can immediately communicate with an unlimited number of fellow patriots around the nation. I have to admit that until just a few weeks ago, I was not on Facebook and had never sent a “Tweet”. I was intimidated by a technology I did not understand, but now I realize how easy it is to sign up and use. So do not delay another day, get plugged in and get signed up on Facebook and Twitter today and connect to me as soon as you do. Click here for my Facebook page. My Twitter accounts are TexasRickGreen and WallBuilders Live.

E.     Voter’s Guides. If strangers knocked on your front door would you give them the keys to your home and car, give them your Social Security number and your date of birth, or allow them to baby-sit your children or choose their textbooks or teach them morals? Too often we do worse by voting for total strangers to make, execute, enforce and interpret our laws … and then totally forget about them until it’s too late. If you are not in Texas, go to christianvoterguide.com to find organizations and voter guides in your area. If you are in Texas, then you are Blessed to have some of the best resources in the nation. To protect your family I urge you to take advantage of quick and easy FREE services from Heritage Alliance by receiving:

• Voter Guides providing conservative scores on all contested candidates – even county and judicial races.
• Names and conservative scores of your two U.S. Senators, U.S. Representative, State Senator and State Representative. (Source data provided so you can check the validity of the score.)
• Legislative Alerts that help you voice your opinion on key legislation.
• Names & pictures of key federal and state officials to pray for by name.

I urge you to sign up at Heritage Alliance TODAY to take advantage of these FREE services. You will also be a step ahead for my upcoming blogs about the remaining Steps to Save America.

If you have dared to allow yourself to sit there and think, “Rick’s only through step one and I can tell I don’t have time” or “I’m not qualified” or “I don’t think I can do any of this.” Then let me ask you a couple of very simple questions:

If not you, then who? I started this blog telling you of the emails and calls I’ve been getting. Most of those include the other person saying “Why doesn’t someone stop them?” Well friend, YOU are that “someone.”

If not now, then when? Believe me, I’d prefer to do nothing but coach my boys in baseball, attend my daughter’s recitals, and take my family traveling across the nation like we’ve had the privilege of doing the past few years. I am not at all suggesting that you put any of these efforts above your family, in fact I encourage the opposite. However, I am suggesting that you find a balance that allows you to devote at least SOME time to preserving our nation (see below section on Lives, Fortunes, & Sacred Honor).

If not here, then where? Do you think the answers and solutions and leaders of principle are going to come from Washington, D.C.? Not hardly. They will come from our communities, our churches, and our own homes. We must stop waiting and hoping that “they” will do something to change things because it is time for us to realize that we are the ones that must take action.

The wonderful thing about our system is that the sacrifices necessary to impact the culture are really not that hard to make. The Founding Fathers pledged their Lives, Fortunes, & Sacred Honor…and they gave every last drop of all three. They shed their blood, watched their sons die in the war, spent every penny they had, and gave more to launch this Nation than we can imagine. Because they gave everything and set in place the current system, we are able to give very little…indeed a small fraction…of our Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor and we can still make the necessary changes to Save America.

If we are to make a difference in the big picture of our country, we all must be willing to sacrifice on these 3 levels:

Lives. That’s our time. How much of your time is your freedom worth? Are you willing to give 1 hour a week? Our soldiers leave their families for a year at a time. They do much more than just risk their life…they watch their kids grow up over the internet, they go to sleep each night NOT getting to wrap their arms around their spouse. They give SO much to preserve our freedom. What are we willing to give? I’m asking you to give 1 hour per week and 1 weekend per year…that’s it! Not much considering what is at stake and how much others are giving for us.

Fortunes. That’s our money. We don’t have to give it all, just a very, very small portion from each of us will make a HUGE difference. I’m suggesting a mere 1% to 3% of our income should be invested in preserving freedom. Invest it in a good candidate or give it to a good organization that is defending freedom (like Torch of Freedom Foundation, WallBuilders, Heritage Alliance, ADF, and many others). For some of us, that would just be $20 to $50 per month. Others that are blessed more financially, could easily give $100 or even $1,000 per month. The point is that we all need some skin in the game, no matter how little or how large, because we all enjoy the benefits of freedom and we need to start doing what it takes to preserve her.

Sacred Honor. That’s our courage to take a stand. Be willing to write the letter to the editor, call the Congressman, comment on the blog or the youtube video, speak up at the school board or city council meeting, or maybe even just the courage to speak up over dinner with friends. Start being a voice that is heard by more than just the TV in your living room you’ve been yelling at when you see them destroying our nation.

It is not complicated and it is actually not that difficult. Saving America simply requires us to consistently do our duty and encourage others to do the same. Start getting informed and equipped and my next blog will discuss how you can become a Paul Revere and help to spread the word and sound the alarm.

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            The race for President was essentially over on February 5, 2008. 

Super Tuesday night, John McCain and Barack Obama became the choice of each party and the networks all juxtaposed the two nominees side by side on the screen giving their victory speeches. Obama was surrounded by thousands of fired up citizens as he smoothly worked the stage and delivered his powerful rhetoric. Next to him on the screen was McCain with ten politicians standing behind him as he squinted and struggled to read the teleprompter and muddle through yet another incoherent speech. The Democrats nominated the best communicator of our day, while the republicans nominated the worst communicator out of the republican field. The debates were an absolute rout, actually embarrassing for the republicans as Obama managed to serve up lies and deception on a silver platter with all the fancy fixings and McCain whiffed at softball after softball.

Should style and communication skills trump substance and positions on the issues? Of course not. But they do. It is not enough to have the right position or idea. If one cannot communicate that idea or position effectively, it goes nowhere. When the opposition lies and deceives, it is not enough to whine about the media not doing their job, you have to point out the deception and do battle effectively in the arena of ideas.

So lesson number one in this election is that we ignored the first part of God’s command for how we choose our leaders. He said in Exodus 18:21 for us to “choose out from among you able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness.” In the sound bite world we now live, a candidate that cannot communicate is not an able man (or woman!).

Lesson number two is simply that the American people only choose leftist leaders when those leaders deceive the people into believing they are something they are not. Florida and California voted to define marriage as one man and one woman and on the exact same ballot elected a man who is against doing so. Does anyone actually believe that Obama would have won if every single voter knew about his relationships with terrorists, felons, and Marxists? Or just how radical his pro-abortion positions are? That he supports socialist policies of redistributing the wealth? The only people aware of these positions were the ones watching Fox News because the rest of the media avoided these issues like the plague and the McCain campaign made the foolish decision of playing nice and ignoring most of these issues as well. So if a candidate is good at deception and the opposition is lousy at exposing it or unwilling to do so, the result is a foregone conclusion.

Lesson number three:  whoever works hardest and smartest has the advantage. Let’s face it, the Obama campaign ran circles around the opposition. They were more organized, more creative, worked harder, and simply executed their game plan better. Yes, they had more money because of Obama’s broken promises on campaign finance and because they accepted $200 Million in undisclosed internet contributions, but it was more what they did with the resources they had than the fact they had more resources with which to work. As Thomas Umstattd, a Patriot Academy graduate, told me this past summer, the democrats figured out the medium has changed to the internet and republicans have not…the same as in 1960 when television became the new medium. Once again, it cost us an election.

Lesson number four: traditional values Americans are too busy enjoying the fruits of labor from the last generation and too few are accepting their responsibility to participate actively in their government and do their duty. It is time to wake up. It is time for Pastors to be more vocal on the issues, as they were in California with Prop 8, and they must also be more vocal about connecting the dots between the issues and the candidates. We need spiritual leaders willing to speak the truth and we need to be hungry for that truth and act on that truth.

Lesson number five: when republicans act like democrats, we lose. When democrats talk like republicans, they win. We nominated a republican who prefers to talk about what he has in common with his opponent rather than point out the differences, which only confuses voters and opens the door for the opponent to define the differences. The last thing republicans need to do now is run to the middle believing that is where the voters are…wrong conclusion! We need to get back to the basic traditional American values that made the nation great and that win elections when articulated correctly by a candidate like Ronald Reagan. And we must make a pact with the people that we will govern by those values and not abandon them as conservatives did over the last few years.

We now have a clean slate and an opportunity to raise our standards. Let us look for conviction oriented conservatives who can articulate our values and who will stand by them. It is time to speak truth in love and not a time to dance around the major issues facing our nation. Certain issues should be non-negotiable and never trumped by style, race, or party…they are listed in our Nation’s birth certificate as “…unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” For a more detailed description of what issues fall under these rights, read my book Freedom’s Frame, which also discusses in detail what we can each do to preserve that frame. Or for a quick reminder of those values, watch one of the following videos from the next generation:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is time to equip, inspire, and engage conservatives to get off the sidelines and into the game.  Sulking under the bleachers is not an option. If you care about this Country and the future your children will inherit, then step up. You do not have to have all the answers to get involved, just showing up is half the battle. If you are looking for a place to start, join us in training and equipping young people through Patriot Academy, or get involved with a local political party or “salt and light” organization in your church, or just simply have some friends and neighbors over to start talking about how to get involved. There will be plenty of opportunities in the coming months and we’ll do our best to keep you informed of ways to get involved when you listen to WallBuilders Live! on your local station or at www.wallbuilderslive.com

Take heart, there is a HUGE remnant of people in America that share your values and are disgusted by this election and anxious for our future. Pray for God to raise up leaders of conviction that fit the description he gave us…able, God-fearing, honest, selfless individuals who without hesitation will put the good of the nation above their own.

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None of these worst case scenarios mattered to me and nothing was going to keep from honoring, in whatever way I could, the man whom I consider the epitome of leadership and the embodiment of all that is good about America.

Much to our surprise, not one of the above mentioned problems became reality. It was as if the Lord parted the way at every turn we made. His favor allowed us to be in the right place at the right time for an experience I will never forget and will cherish sharing with my grandchildren and beyond.

It’s really quite surreal and very difficult to express in words, so I’ll just tell the story as I remember it…

First of all, you’ve got to understand why I would have been willing to stand in that line for the full 36 hours even if I knew I would be told at the doorway that no one else would be allowed inside. To say that I love and respect Ronald Wilson Reagan is a bit of an understatement. My 2nd son is named Reagan Kyle Green, after the President. My 4th child, much to my delight, was born on February 6, 2003, the 92nd birthday of President Reagan. To top things off, my dog is named Dutch, the nickname given to the President by his father.

My first memory of President Reagan is from the day he was shot in 1981. I was barely nine years old, but the surroundings of our living room and the sight of my mother crying as we watched the breaking news are crystal clear in my mind.

In the fall of 1993, my friends and I had become so tired of the distortions of Reagan’s legacy that we decided to do something about it. Clinton/Gore had repeated “worst economy in 50 years” and other lies so many times that the public was buying into the revision of history. Along with two of my friends from College Republicans (we were only 22 at the time of the project), Debbie Mundt (now Debbie Pabian) and David Guenthner, and the man who would later work at my side in the Legislature, Greg Tolen, I produced “The Legacy of President Ronald Reagan: The Truth About the Eighties” and also put together a compilation of his greatest speeches. As part of the project, we went to Washington, DC to interview Dick Cheney and Trent Lott. While there, we attended President Reagan’s birthday gala. It turned out to be the very last public speech he would give and I was able to meet him for a very brief moment backstage. It was that night that I dedicated myself to becoming a student of freedom and working to preserve it and pass it on to future generations.

Now back to our story… Dad was with me at that dinner in 1994 and here we were, a decade later, making our way to the Capitol to see President Reagan again.

A friend, who happens to be a Congressman, offered to take me in with his sons to the private ceremonies at which Vice-President Cheney was speaking in the Rotunda. But since they were only allowed to bring family, we figured my dad would never pass for his son like I would. I knew I could watch the ceremony on TV when I got back home…but I would never have the chance to experience this day with my father again, so my decision was easy.

Dad was unable to book a flight that would land any earlier at BWI than 4:30, so we assumed we would miss the 6:00 PM processional wherein President Reagan’s remains would be carried down Constitution Avenue on the horse drawn carriage. Just in case, dad got to the airport at 5:30 AM and was able to fly standby and arrive at BWI at Noon, which changed everything for us.

I picked dad up in my rental car and we started talking about how hot it was going to be and what to wear. Those of you that know me, know that you will not catch me in a coat or tie unless it is an absolute must and we were about to be in 95 degree weather for at least 7 hours and possible for two full days. But we kept thinking about President Reagan not taking his jacket off in the Oval Office and decided that we’d sweat this one out for the Gipper (there’s nothing in the folk lore about a tie, so you can bet the jacket was my limit!).

We arrived in DC pretty early and decided to park as close to the new WWII Memorial as possible so we could see it on our trip. I wanted to take pictures of specific sections of the memorial to take back to two of my heroes, Bill Johnson and Jim Roddie of Wimberley, Texas. Knowing that more than 100,000 people were descending on this area in the next couple of hours, I assumed there would be no parking spot in sight. But I also had heard that the Metro would not be running after midnight, so we really didn’t have a choice. Much to our surprise, we drove maybe two blocks past the monument and found a perfect parking spot.

We toured the monument and many tears and two rolls of film later, starting making our trek to the Capitol. I thought the staging area for the transfer of President Reagan from the hearse to the caisson was on the other side of the Capitol (a full 30 blocks from where we were), but as we were walking up Constitution, we ran into a ton of metro cars and found that we were right at the staging area and it was about 3:00 PM. Three hours from now, there would be tens of thousands in this very spot to watch the transfer and the beginning of the procession, but as we looked around, there were very, very few people and we could pick virtually any spot we wanted and be in the very front row. We had to decide whether to take a spot here or move on closer to the Capitol so that we could immediately get in line for the viewing after the procession (we were still 16 blocks, over a mile and a half, from the Capitol). We opted to keep moving. As we walked up Constitution, tracing the very route President Reagan’s casket would take in a few hours, people were sporadically beginning to take places along the road. We kept going until we got to the corner of the Capitol grounds where Pennsylvania and Constitution converge. The line for the viewing had begun early that morning and was right around the corner, so we knew we could go right to the line after the procession.

We picked a spot where there was a bend in the road so our view of the procession was unimpeded by those standing next to us and we literally stood on the front row, right next to the barricade.

The two and a half hour “wait” flew by. On our right was a fellow Texan from Dallas, Jim, with his brother and sister who lived in Maryland. On our left was a 12 year old girl named Megan and her mother, Karey. They had flown all night long on Tuesday night from Oregon, arriving in DC at 7:00 AM without sleep. Megan had just written a paper and given a speech on President Reagan. This Twelve year old was breaking down President Reagan’s 93 years for me into the six major “lives” that he lived from radio to Hollywood to politics. Absolutely amazing. I exchanged photographs with other parents who had named their children after President Reagan and we all shared how he had touched our lives and changed the world. Colby, the brother from Maryland on my right, is an Army veteran and he told me that he could think of no more important way to be serving his Country at this moment than to be standing on that sidewalk honoring the Commander and Chief that had restored our nation’s heart, soul… and backbone.

We were all calling home and getting reports on what was happening around us. Jim said he was just told that we were standing in the very spot between 4th and Pennsylvania where the 21 Fighter Jets would be flying over. About that time, there was an evacuation of everyone just to our right… some kind of security concern, but everything settled down within twenty minutes or so.

After the transfer had been made from the hearse to the caisson (which we could not see at all and were more than a mile away from), my wife, Kara, called and described it to me over the phone. They were still a mile away, but the tears already started and the magnitude of the moment began to hit me.

As the procession approached, the crowd became completely silent. Once the first band had passed, all you could hear were camera clicks and the soldiers marching. Each service was represented and it was an awesome, awesome site to see. Such a massive military presence was a fitting tribute for the man that respected and honored them more than any since Eisenhower and for whom their was a mutual level of respect between he and those in uniform.

Following the military was the motorcade leading the caisson. As the motorcade passed, you could see the flag draped coffin atop the caisson as the horses rounded the corner. What had been near silence seemed to grow even more hushed as the atmosphere transformed from one of anticipation to something I can only describe as surreal.

As the caisson approached us, the moment was forever powerfully etched into each of us as the silence was broken by the roar of the first jet flying overheard. Twenty more jets flew over us in groups of four. The final group screamed by and a wingman broke away and rocketed upward to signify the loss of a comrade. The last group went overhead literally at the very moment the men leading the caisson reached the point where we stood.

To be anywhere near this procession was powerful by itself. To have the jets fly directly overhead at the very moment President Reagan’s coffin was reaching us is an experience impossible to describe with words.

With tears running down my face, I was trying to keep my hand over my heart while also taking pictures for my children to share this moment in years to come. My father was like a statue next to me… standing at erect attention with his hand over his heart. Somehow, I think we had the same thoughts as most everyone around us.

Our memories of President Reagan raced through our minds, as we tried to measure the impact of this man, now reduced to dust as we all will be someday. My first thoughts were how he had impacted me personally. While producing the documentaries, the words of his speeches became imbedded in my mind and a passion for this nation was ignited in my heart. I kept hearing the final words of his 1981 inaugural speech. After extolling the virtues of America and the importance of tackling the issues we faced, he challenged us to “believe in ourselves” and “believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.” He closed with the timing of his words as only he could deliver by saying “…after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We… are Americans.”

With President Reagan, it was always “we” and hardly ever “I.” The man that passed before me was best summed up and most honored with exactly the same description he honored and inspired each of us twenty-three years ago. He… was an American.

The most powerful site to me was the empty horse with President Reagan’s actual boots backwards in the stirrups. It was a site that would send chills up any spine.

As the caisson continued making its way past us and out of sight, I began to realize that even as momentous as this ceremony was, it barely touched the surface of measuring the impact of this great man. Around me were members of the WWII generation, my parent’s generation, my own, and then there was little Megan, all of twelve years old. Not even born when he left office, barely two when he gave that very last public speech in 1994, here she stood as living proof that President Reagan’s impact would be felt for many generations to come.

Nancy Reagan’s car approached and she waived out the window to all of us. Though it had been probably twenty minutes of continual procession passing before us, the ceremony seemed to suddenly disappear.

We made our way to the line, preparing to wait three hours before it would even begin to move as the first of the public would enter the Rotunda. The line was positioned directly in front of the West steps, though at a considerable distance. We were able to watch as the Honor Guard carried the casket up the 99 steps and we could even see Ms. Reagan at the top of the steps.

Once the entire procession was inside the Capitol, we began what would turn out to be a five hour tribute as we made our way through the line to the Rotunda. Somehow the line continued to move forward, even during the hours prior to the person first in line entering the Capitol. We met people from around the country. Everyone was polite, even sharing their snacks and passing out bottles of water. Little Miss Megan gave interviews to television reporters from around the world. No one complained or questioned as people slipped out of line for restroom stops and slipped back into their original places.

Five hours later, as we passed through the last security checkpoint and made our way up the ramps to the Capitol entrance, I thought of how I wished my wife and children could be with me. At the same time, I was both comforted and honored that I would be standing there with the man who had first instilled in me a respect for the things I would grow to love about President Reagan.

As we entered the Capitol, we were warmly greeted by a highly decorated member of the Capitol Police. He was so genuine as he thanked us for attending and we thanked him for his service.

We made our way up the steps inside the Capitol and as we approached the entrance to the Rotunda, we could hear the echoes of steps being taken. Every sound reverberated throughout the room. There was an obvious desire on everyone’s part to linger as a long as possible, but our pauses in front of the casket were brief. A few steps in front of me, a marine in plain clothes stopped for a formal salute. A few steps behind me, a naval officer in full dress uniform did the same. The Honor Guard stationed around the casket was a magnificent sight that I will never forget.

We were handed an embossed card memorializing the ceremony, a treasure for my family for generations to come. We made our way outside and to the street, struggling to let the moment register in our hearts and minds.

We were physically and emotionally exhausted and had a two mile walk to where our rental car would hopefully still be parked. Megan and her mother had no way to get to their hotel as the metro was about to shut down and neither of them had slept in twenty-four hours. Proving chivalry is not dead for Texans, dad waited with them on a bench and I started the hike to the car. Before I could get one block, in what could only be an answer to prayer, a taxi approached from out of nowhere and I had a ride to our car, which was still where we had left it.

We took Megan and her mother to their hotel, found our own, and got a few hours sleep before I did an early morning radio interview and left for the airport. Not one of my concerns had come to pass, yet everything I could have hoped for in the trip had occurred.

If one were to say it was hero worship for so many of us to go to such lengths to watch a casket go by, or to walk by it in the rotunda, they would clearly miss the point. In many ways, this had nothing to do with seeing the procession or approaching the casket. I believe most of us would have done all of this if only to walk by a picture of Reagan or anything that symbolized his contribution to our Nation. In other words, it was not about getting to see or touch or experience anything nearly as much as it was about doing something, though something small, to simply honor him and everything he represented. It was the idea of putting our lives on hold for a couple of days, inconvenient as it may have been, to pay our respects. For hundreds of thousands to do so this week is a small indication of the impact made by the man we honored.

I pray the words and images of this week not only remind us of all that President Reagan accomplished, but also inspire us to pick up where he left off… to accept that torch of freedom he so ably guarded and passed to our generation. There was a common theme to be found in the faces of so many young people that I passed in the lines as we weaved our way back and forth towards the Capitol for five hours. You could see the determination, the inspiration, the desire to be a part of the next wave of the Reagan Revolution.

I could once again hear President Reagan’s words from that first inaugural:  “Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children and our children’s children.”

To those of you who were a part of the Reagan Revolution and have been concerned about whether or not my generation would carry on, I would simply ask that you believe in us as you did in President Reagan. After all, why shouldn’t you believe…

WE… ARE AMERICANS!

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