Greg Gutfeld Comes to the Lincoln Club of Orange County

The Lincoln Club of Orange County, where I serve as the vice-president, turned 55 years old this week.  As we do every year, we celebrated with an annual black tie gala.  This year's keynote speaker was Greg Gutfeld of Fox News's hit show, The Five.  The following is the transcript of my brief introduction.  Greg was, of course, hysterical,.  He was provocative, edgy, and fun.  And above all else, he spoke truth.*****I have frequently had the good fortune of introducing the Lincoln Club annual dinner speaker over the years, attempting in those privileged moments to publicly articulate my appreciation for what has generally been highly pedigreed public officials or thought leaders who were here to give a keynote address to our club.Well. I am just as excited to introduce Greg Gutfeld to you tonight.In all seriousness, I am as honored to introduce Greg as I was to introduce Karl Rove, John Bolton, Larry Kudlow, Mark Steyn, Rick Perry and other illuminaries. But I risk being misinterpreted when I say that it is not necessarily for the same reason as it was when introducing such distinguished and reputable men as the aforementioned folks. Don’t get me wrong, we are really blessed to have Greg Gutfeld tonight, but he will be the first to tell you he wasn’t the highly successful Governor of Texas, or the foreign policy visionary Ambassador to the UN, or the political genius who masterminded President Bush’s two victories. So why am I as excited to introduce Greg Gutfeld as I was Karl Rove, John Bolton, and Rick Perry?Because, my friends, we live in an era where the media is in complete and utter disarray. I do not mean by this what a lot of my friends mean - that the left is biased and mean to conservatives. I mean much more. Yes, the leftist media is biased, but they are corrupt, and they are evil. They are not the left-wing media of a generation ago, that didn't care for Ronald Reagan, but still mostly believed in American ideals. They are a whole new kind of horror show - so unbecoming of a responsible national press, that I shudder to think what their next low will look like.And I am not so sure every media character on the right deserves vindication all the time either. Integrity and character are simply not prized the way they once were. I think of the men and women who represented the thinking part of the op-ed press in my youth, and believe our nation should turn its lonely eyes to them. The standards are too low.But this is where tonight's speaker comes in.  Funny when we are too often completely lacking in humor.  Honest when we too often lack spine. Clever when we have become fond of simpletons.  Greg Gutfeld does on The Five and The Greg Gutfeld Show what we should expect from a thinking media class - he challenges, entertains, and provokes, but does so with regard for the American experiment, and with regard for the intelligence of the audience.We live in interesting times.  I, for one, am grateful to still have some people to replay those times for me, in my case every day in my office from 2:00-3:00, as the TV goes from Fast Money on CNBC to Fox News when his show comes on.  Greg Gutfeld is one whose lens on these interesting times is all at once profound, entertaining, and above all else, refreshing.Ladies and gentlemen of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, let us all be refreshed tonight by our friend in the movement of personal liberty, tonight's keynote speaker, Greg Gutfeld.