The power of founding principles

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July 7, 2009

James a. leggette The Meridian Star Tue Jul 07, 2009, 11:22 PM CDT

On July 4, I was honored to participate in the Meridian Tea Party. First off, hats off to Wayne Lagrone and his team for making it happen. Without people like Wayne "real change" would never happen. When the soccer moms and the guys who run the pancake suppers of the world set their sights on something, the world is transformed for the better. They are a far more powerful force than armies of community organizers.

The marquee speakers were myself and Kim Wade, a talk show host from Jackson. If you study our life stories which are very different in nearly every way possible it is remarkable we both passionately embrace and defend these principles. For example, Kim was once very active in the Nation of Islam. That certainly is striking testament to the universal appeal of the founding principles.

Attending the event were folks from all walks of life. However, they all have a common goal to preserve the form of government that the Founders envisioned. What was the most powerful about the event were the speakers who spontaneously wanted to get up to say something. One was a young lady who spoke of the power of freedom and the role of her faith. Another was a vet who participated in the Berlin air lift.

President Ronald Reagan reminded us that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Let us as the signers of the Declaration did "pledge our lives, fortunes and scared honor" to make sure the torch of freedom does not go out on our watch.

James A. Leggette, Ph.D. is an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Belhaven and a talk radio host at WMOX in Meridian. His We bsite is www.profjim.com.

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