The musings of one Andrew Langer - defender of liberty, passionate protector of individual rights, foodie. (Note: Said Musings of Andrew Langer are his own, and the views represented herein are likewise his views, and not the views of any other people, entities, foodstuffs, etc [unless otherwise specifically and explicitly noted].)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Have You Migrated With Me?

I was talking to a friend the other day who asked me, "Why haven't you updated your blog in so long?"

It's a good question - and the answer largely centers on the fact that most of what I'm up to, professionally, at least, can be found on the Institute for Liberty website (which in and of itself was redone over the summer). Of course, IFL can be found right HERE.

Politically, I'm still as active as ever - trying to strike a balance (and keep a line) between what I do for work and what I do in the context of partisan politics.

I realize that the time this blog went silent coincides pretty well with the birth of the Tea Party movement, and if you have been following what I'm up to (on FACEBOOK and TWITTER [click those links to follow me there] you know that I've been active there, especially on Twitter).

Tremendously active. I'm giving a speech in a Baltimore suburb on the subject tonight, have been talking quite a bit about the impact of the Tea Parties, and am actually writing a book about the movement itself.

And I'd thought I'd share with you, since I haven't shared it here before, my speech at the 912DC event. My numbers put the crowd count at 600,000 - but no matter how you slice it, it was the largest gathering of limited government activists in the nation's history, and far exceeded the 50,000 number originally anticipated.

A bit of background here, by the way. I had been originally allotted 5 minutes to speak, and while I normally speak "off the cuff," sometimes using an outline or the barest of notes, because of the importance of this speech, I'd actually done some serious prep work - there were messages I felt needed to be conveyed, and had gotten them, cogently and coherently, into the 5 minute limit.

But, literally, as I was stepping onto the stage, I was told by one of the event organizers that my time had been cut to 2 minutes, less than half of my original allotment! I asked, "what happens if I go over?" and was told that I'd be played off, like at the Oscars.

So here's what I was able to pull together, out of those remarks and what I felt needed to be said at that point. As you can see, I just went slightly over.



I hope you enjoyed it. And please, follow me over to the IFL page. Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook. Check out IFL's Keeping Small Business Healthy Project

And thanks again for your support!

- Andrew Langer