Across the street from the Yankee Clubhouse store on 59th Street in Manhattan, Laura Ingraham accepted Talkers magazine’s Woman of the Year award Saturday night.
Author of The Hillary Trap, Ingraham gave a very different speech than the most talked about speech of the day, Hillary Clinton’s concession speech in Washington and endorsement of Barack Obama.
Ingraham thanked Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Don Imus, for three, among others, for giving her her start and encouraging her dreams of the going on air with a daily “rollicking ride through politics and culture.”
Ingraham conceded nothing but endorsed taking stock.
Instead of reveling in the identity politics such an award invites, this top-five ranked nationally syndicated host, challenged those men and women present — largely folks who make a living talking — to make sure they know what they are talking about in life.
Ingraham quoted Margaret Thatcher on “success”; “Success is having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that is not enough… you have got to have hard work and a sense of purpose.”
Anyone who listens knows Ingraham has the flair. Her purpose “goes way beyond advocating conservative ideas,” this movement conservative declared. She views her audience as her “extended family,” with whom she has shared “big ups and big downs.” Recently, she’s found purpose “in the eyes of a three-year-old beautiful girl” she’s adopted from an orphanage in Guatemala – news she couldn’t wait to share with her beloved audience, who she is “very protective of.”
“We are here for a very short period of time,” Ingraham, a cancer survivor, said. As talkers talk about the fleeting news of the day, she asked her colleagues, “Do you ever think about what you are leaving behind?”
We are having an “important conversation” with our audiences about politics and life. We must, she said, quoting Ronald Reagan’s advice to her on her last day as a young staffer in the White House, “make it matter.” Ingraham said, “I’m going to make it matter for as long as I’m on the air.”
Congratulations to Laura and thanks for the reminder to all of those of us who comment on the “fleeting news” of the day!
UPDATE: Here’s her speech.