Land of Dreams': This Is the 'Must Watch' Allen West Speech Everyone Is Talking About

Before a throng of enthusiastic supporters in Temecula, Calif., Congressman Allen West (R-Fla.) on Friday defended the principles of limited government and stressed the importance of the upcoming presidential election in what the conservative blog The Right Scoop describes as a “must watch” speech.

And it's burning up the Internet now.

“Two-hundred and thirty-six years ago, some men sat around and they thought about a land of dreams,” Rep. West said. “And they thought about a place where the individual and their rights and freedoms would be preeminent. They thought about a place where there would be liberties and freedoms. They thought about a place that could be a republic.”

“We cannot live in a land of dreams where we have record unemployment; where we have a record amount of Americans who live in poverty; where we have a record amount of Americans on food stamps and using EBT cards,” he added.

The Florida congressman continued, emphasizing the important role fiscal restraint plays in fending off the desiccating qualities of statism.

He concluded on a historical note: “The question that you have to ask yourself, between now and the 6th of November and continuing on, when you look at yourself in the mirror, ‘Was I a summer soldier? Was I a sunshine patriot?'"

Or did I make a stand to gain the admiration of subsequent generations, so that when the history books [are written], the history books will say: "On the 6th of November of 2012, the American people once again remembered what the land of dreams was about. They remembered their fundamental principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility. They remembered the great lesson of liberty that says, ‘It’s about their individual sovereignty.’ They restored the freedoms of their free market. They stood for their traditional cultural values and they made sure that the walls that protect the longest running constitutional republic that the world has ever known -- they stood as watchmen on the walls to secure those freedoms and liberties for future generations."

“That’s what you have to ask yourself!” Rep. West concluded. “That’s what has to be in the history books!”

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Front page photo courtesy the AP. This story has been updated.