Over the past few weeks, as happens every year, I’ve been asked, “what do you want for Christmas?” And, as happens every year, I really can’t think of anything. It’s not that there are not materials things out there that would be nice to have—there are. But, I really don’t want them.

Then it struck me. Last night, as we put the presents under the tree for the kids to open this morning, it hit me: There really isn’t anything that I want in the material sense, but there are things I want for my country and for my children:

I want my children to grow up knowing that America can once again be the land of the free;

I want my children to know that, whether they live richly or poorly, they have a nation that lives by its founders’ principles;

I want my children to have a government that fears its people, not the people fearing the government;

I want my children to live a country that does not hate and punish success, nor reward mediocrity or failure;

I want my children to grow up knowing that no matter how high or low they set their sights, they still live in the land of opportunity, that nothing (except themselves) can hold them back from achieving their dreams;

I want my children to live in a country where wealth is created and produced and not stolen by some redistributive petty bureaucrat;

I want my children to grow up without being saddled with the debt accumulated by whorish politicians and the masters they serve;

I want my children to live in a country where politicians do not sell themselves to the highest bidder and whose sole responsibility is to respect the Constitution;

I want my children to know that, win or lose, for all these things we fight for, we have not and will not give up, that we will continue the fight until the end;

I want my children to know that, even if it means we tear it down and rebuild it with our own hands, that living free is far greater than living under the yoke of a tyrannical state;

I want my children to know that, should we lose, there once stood the greatest country on this earth, a nation that was toppled only by the avarice of its politicians and the apathy of its citizenry; and,

I want my children to know that, should we lose, America was once the shining city on a hill for millions of people throughout the world, a land where Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are and always be inalienable rights and that these are self-evident truths.

I wish, when I’d been asked over these past few weeks what I want for Christmas that, instead of saying “nothing,” I would have answered bluntly: I want my children to grow up knowing that America is secure. But, of course, these are things that cannot be wrapped with a bow, nor placed under a tree.

These are things that my children don’t yet understand, but I do…and so do you.

In your heart of hearts, you know, like I do, that 2010 was the easier fight. You know that the next two years (and beyond) are going to require greater actions, greater coordination and greater sacrifice, if we are going to save this nation for your children and my children.

In a week, we need to start 2011, hopefully, refreshed and renewed, but start we must. The fight over the next few years will be more brutal, as the stakes for them and for us are so high. But, it is a fight that must continue until either they lose, or we lose and America is lost forever.

Now that the mid-term elections are behind us, the battle must begin at the precinct level. If you are not involved in your precinct, then that is the place to start. With the majority of precinct committee positions vacant, if we are to save the nation, we must first have a ground game and that ground game begins and ends at the precinct level.

The other side has a ground game that has already been proven successful. It will be used again. Their coordination (even among rivals) is ahead of ours. Their boots on the ground, their voter registration programs, their phone banks and precinct walks, are all ahead of ours.

The first step for you, for us, must be filling the unfilled precinct committees. Over the last couple of months, Ron Robinson has been significantly expanding Procinct, ColdWarrior has been tireless in his efforts to enlighten and energize people to get active in their precincts, as have others as well.

Our nation is far from secure, our childrens’ futures far from certain. We are the generation on whose shoulders this falls. No one else will do it for us, or for our children. We must do it—all of us.

Today, after all the toys have been unwrapped, take a moment to pause and look at your children. Do you think that in 10 years they’ll still appreciate that new X-box or doll house more than a free nation? In 20 years, do you think they’ll still be squealing in delight over unwrapping that toy made in China, or will they be crying in anguish over a nation lost?

As you ponder this, think about how hard you work to provide materials things for your children throughout the year. What good is any of it without a nation? Perhaps instead of watching that football game today, you could spend an hour reading Blackwell’s plan for a Conservative Resurgence. Perhaps instead of working that extra hour of overtime, you could take an hour or two per month and spend them at a precinct committee meeting.  Don’t assume someone else is doing it for you or your children—because there probably isn’t.

As you settle down with your friends or family over Christmas dinner today, take a moment to talk about how you can help save this country for all of our children. Make a solemn vow, together, to do what is necessary and right to get involved in 2011 and beyond. If you can take action and help save this country, it will be worth more than any present that you can put under a tree.

Merry Christmas!

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.”  Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

X-posted.