Frank Gaffney and the folks at the Center for Security Policy have been doing the Lord's work bringing critical national security issues to public attention for 25 years. Since 1992, CSP has also presented an annual Freedom Flame Award to individuals who personify the ideals of freedom, democracy, economic opportunity and international strength. Past recipients include such notables as Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, former U.N. ambassadors Jeanne Kirkpatrick and John Bolton, Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese and many others. Thursday night last week, at New York City's famous Union League Club, the 2013 Award was shared between conservative philanthropist Richard Scaife and one of my favorite people, former Congressman Lt. Col. Allen B. West (USA, Ret).

His name is not widely known, but Richard Scaife, heir to the Andrew Mellon fortune, has been a stalwart supporter of conservative causes for decades, and some of the most influential conservative organizations today credit their existence to Scaife's generosity. He owns Newsmax magazine and has donated generously over the years to the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Pacific Legal Foundation, Judicial Watch, American Spectator and many others.

Scaife was unable to attend the event, but Lt. Col. West gave a stirring speech that made it all worthwhile. He touched on all essential points and pulled few punches. On the economy, he said:

"Yesterday we saw a 230 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Why? Because one person made a simple intimation that maybe we will stop printing money. That lets you know that this economy that we have is not sustainable. When you talk about freedom's flame, it's about our economic freedom. It's the right monetary policies; it's the right tax policies; it's the right overall fiscal policy, that inspires American ... ingenuity; that inspires our innovation; that inspires who we are - the greatest nation this world has ever known... It is not because an onerous, big government... It is because freedom's flame burns in each and every one of you.

He added, "We need people who will be committed to freedom's flame at this moment in time." West got particularly rousing applause when he contrasted Obama's anemic definition of "victory" with that of Ronald Reagan:

"It's the mission of the United States military to fight and win our nation's wars...  Unfortunately,... At the National Defense University, we saw a speech that basically said the United States would surrender... the President said, 'Victory will no longer be defined by people standing on a carrier deck and someone signing a piece of paper saying surrender.' That is not what we fight for. As Ronald Reagan said... 'We win, they lose.'"

Many people in attendance wondered aloud if West would be running for President. As for himself, West is keeping his options open. Currently he is director of PJ Media's Next Generation TV. When asked about his 2012 race, which was obviously stolen, and options for further legal action, he responded that he was "moving on." Others are not. True the Vote has successfully sued the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections and will have complete, unfettered access to all records relevant to Florida's 2012 18^th Congressional District race and other election roll data. We will uncover the truth.

As for Frank Gaffney and his Center for Security Policy, enough can't be said. Frank has an encyclopedic knowledge of foreign policy issues. He first became widely recognized for his expertise in the 1980s, when he held leadership roles in the Reagan Defense Department from 1983 to 1987.

Frank has never shied away from a fight whenever America's security is at stake. Recently, he co-authored, with Andrew McCarthy and others, an authoritative book on Muslim Brotherhood penetration within the U.S. titled "Shariah: The Threat to America." I reported about that here, and interviewed both Gaffney and McCarthy for that article. Frank also has produced a free online video series documenting Muslim Brotherhood penetration of the U.S. government, "The Muslim Brotherhood in America: A Course in 10 Parts."

The Center combines analysis and activism, providing insightful commentary on foreign policy issues, while utilizing contacts developed over decades to influence policy in a direction favorable to our national security. The website offers a wealth of resources such as their Occasional Papers page, a free resource for in-depth reports on numerous topics; the CSP Daily Brief, a free newsletter filled with insider information and incisive analysis of the day's news and issues, and much more.