Allen West brings the house down at CPAC

Just in case you haven’t seen it yet —
here’s Allen West’s closing keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference — in three parts:

The overall theme of his speech was something we’ve covered in this blog numerous times:  Reagan’s “three-legged stool” of conservatism — West calls them “three pillars”:  fiscal responsibility, national security, foundational values. He showed very persuasively that all three are necessary and how they interrelate.

I was grateful that he mentioned Hezbollah’s presence in South America and Mexico — not enough people even have that on their radar screens.

I was extremely impressed that, even though he has friendly relations with various gay people, and respects them as individuals — and even though CPAC has been riven this year by controversy over its co-sponsorship by GOProud, a gay advocacy group — West nonetheless had the courage to give a very articulate defense of the age-old definition of marriage.

Throughout his speech, West quoted from a luminous array of people including Abraham Lincoln, Alexis de Tocqueville, Sun Tzu and Edmund Burke.

The piece I liked best was near the end, where he showed how what are often called “family values” are key to everything else:

“If you break down the American family, that leads to government dependency —
which leads to the growth of government —
which … results in greater government spending.

The strength of America is in the strength of the bonds of the American family.”

The whole speech is solid gold.  In the comments section, tell us what you liked best.