In what I’m told is the most conservative county in America — Utah County, home of Provo — about 400 folks came out on a gray chilly morning to join the TPX III as we brought words of encouragement and conviction to them.
Diana Kelsey was among them. She’s a County Delegate, and a graduate of Brigham Young University. She told me that her Dad told her he’s worried that not enough Americans have turned to God in this battle for the principles and values that founded this great country.
She’s not giving up hope. She’s a fighter. And she spent a few moments telling me how much she appreciated us being here on this chilly morning to bring the words of REAL hope and change.
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Today I opened my remarks with an Associated Press report of what Obama said about the Tea Partiers during a morning interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer.
“…says he believes the Tea Party is built around a “core group” of people who question whether he is a U.S. citizen and believe he is a socialist.
But beyond that, Obama tells NBC he recognizes the movement involves “folks who have legitimate concerns” about the national debt and whether the government is taking on too many difficult issues simultaneously.
In an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show, Obama said he feels “there’s still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy.” But he said he didn’t want to paint Tea Party activists “in broad brushes” and he hopes to win over members who have “mainstream, legitimate concerns.”
It got their attention.
Later, a radio reporter stopped to ask what town I lived in and why I came out this morning. He seemed surprised when I told him I came all the way from Cape Canaveral, Florida! I answered a handful of questions and handed him my card. “I am the Radio Patriot”, I told him. And I am.
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While chatting with Diana Kelsey, I noticed a huge “Y” on the side of the mountain. I asked her its significance. “That’s for the Brigham Young University”, she replied, “and people hike up there all the time to see it up close.” She said each Spring, BYU students hike up to it as part of a kind of ritual.
I looked it up on Wikipedia and here’s what I learned:
The large white Y on the side of Y mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called “the Y”. It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). No other college in the United States has a larger symbol, in fact, the Y is even larger than the letters in the “Hollywood sign” in California.
There are 14 strands of lights around the perimeter of the Y, which are lit five times a year by the Intercollegiate Knights. It is lit for Freshman Orientation, Homecoming, Y Days, and graduation in April and August. When the Y is lit, club members are selected to guard the Y in the night and make sure it remains lit until dawn.
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A gentleman approached us at that point and told me that “The 5000 Year Leap” was written by a former mayor of the great town of Provo — Cleon Skousen.
Some photos of our TPXIII entertainers and speakers:
More to come later today from Salt Lake City!
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