Elective Decisions

Father’s Day is here! A day when dear old dad will receive another tie, pair of socks or if he’s lucky, that gift he really wants.  But other than the commercial aspects of the day, what is a father?  Is he just a man that is to receive a gift on his special day?  Or is he something far more?

It seems as though Americans are bombarded with commercial after commercial on the appropriate gift for dad.  They are free to choose to select a card, a gift, or celebrate Father’s Day in whatever manner they deem appropriate.  Having no children or father—who passed away four years ago—I am therefore free to celebrate that day the way I choose to celebrate it.  And I do.

But I don’t celebrate Father’s Day in a traditional way; rather, I pay tribute to those men that I have respect and admiration for—those that have contributed to my growth as a conservative man.  My father and the U.S. Army were the two largest contributors to my growth as a man.

Between the two, I was taught everything I needed to know about being a man in America.  However, there were many things I needed to learn when it came to my growth as a conservative.  And specifically, there were two individuals that would teach me just those principles:  Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.

I first encountered Rush Limbaugh while working at the Texas Department of Transportation in the fall of 1992.  There, I performed security work, walking through the three buildings that they owned at the time to make sure they were secure.  The buildings were made up of engineers, and there were always plans strewed about, as if they were desperately searching for something lost.

I happened to work the second shift from 4 p.m. – 12 a.m.  It was tedious work, frequently finding myself bored from the routine, and the lack of anything remotely eventful happening.  One night I turned one of the televisions on, flipping the channels to find something to break the monotony. 

I did find something—a man I’d never seen making fun of the Clinton administration, and making sense while doing it.  That man was none other than Rush Hudson Limbaugh III.  He was performing another flawless episode of Rush Limbaugh The Television Show.  He was espousing conservative principles.  This, of course, was in direct conflict to everything I’d known growing up.

He was funny and educating, and in a few shows, I began to question the liberal concepts I’d been raised to believe.  Before long, I was listening to his daily radio program and learning even more.  Eventually, all remaining liberalism was removed, as if a doctor had removed a cancerous tumor.  Rush had indeed brought me “home,” and for that I am forever grateful.

Over the years, he has continued to educate me in conservative thought, keeping me optimistic through the Clinton administration, and even today during Obama’s soft, oppressive tyranny.  Even more remarkably, Rush introduced me to Mark R. Levin—a gift for which I can never repay.

The introduction came when Rush had mention “F. Lee Levin,” on his radio.  He had done so many times on his show before, but this time, he noted that Mark had his own radio show on 77WABC out of New York.  It was in the winter of 2003 that I was able to start streaming Mark online.  And since, I have been given an education on the U.S. Constitution unequaled among his peers.

Now that Mark is nationally syndicated, he can reach people online, driving home or eating dinner while listening to his daily program that exhibits his own special brand of broadcast excellence.  From Men In Black to Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, Mark Levin offers me a look at the U.S. Constitution as if it were taken directly from the Founding Fathers.

When it comes to Constitutional law, there is Mark Levin, and there is every one else.  He is, in essence, one of the finest minds that America has to offer.  He inspires, educates and promotes liberty on his daily radio program.  Through his articles, he points out flaws in liberal thinking, and in Liberty & Tyranny, he defines conservatism and attacks the “Statist” mentality.

Where would conservatism be without Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin?  Are there two greater thinkers in America today?  Or as Mark Levin writes on page 10 of Liberty & Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, “The Conservative does not despise government.  He despises tyranny. This is precisely why the Conservative reveres the Constitution and insists on adherence to it.”

Over the last four years, I have chosen to celebrate Father’s Day by paying tribute to our Founding Fathers.  And in a sense, this year, I am paying tribute to men just as great, and just as devoted to American liberty, its cause and its people.  So, I choose to pay tribute to Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.

In simple terms, I think of the efforts of these two men as equal to the efforts of those men that stood so boldly in Philadelphia.  They may not be in fear of King George’s tyranny, but they face an equal threat in the soft tyranny of Barack Obama and today’s Democratic Party.

Yet, they remain ever vigilant in the cause of this Republic.  Much like John Hancock, Rush Limbaugh is a leader of conservatives and talk radio.  He uses every resource at his disposal to further liberty in America, and he has unanimously been elected this leader by the American people year after year.

In Mark Levin’s case, his gallant nature, and fiery commentary can only be equaled by Patrick Henry.  His daily show attacks the tyranny that liberals spread; his enthusiasm and love of America have been exhibited in his books, and his promotion of liberty can be heard on his radio program as if to say, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

I have no doubt that if the Founding Fathers were to listen to these conservatives on the air they would undoubtedly be proud—proud that their principles had not been forgotten, and sickened by the mantra of today’s left.  Where in deed would America be if not for these two?

So, I want to wish Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin a Happy Father’s Day.  And I would also like to wish Sean Hannity a Happy Father’s Day as well, for he is just as responsible as the other two.  Thank you for all that you do for the great American cause.