by Mike Anderson

HUNTERSVILLE – Radio commentator and provocateur Jason Lewis brought his firebrand conservatism to the North Mecklenburg Republican Women’s meeting June 14, taking aim at President Barack Obama’s policies and advocating for more state rights.

Lewis was one of several guest speakers who’ve been invited to speak at the group’s monthly meetings at the NorthStone Country Club.

“We’re becoming a country our founding fathers would not recognize,” he told the scores of audience members.

Lewis, who was there promoting his new book “Power Divided is Power Checked,” shook hands, signed copies of his work and snapped photos with some of his fans. Lewis is a former commentator for WBT talk radio and currently hosts The Jason Lewis Show, a nationally syndicated radio program based in Minneapolis, Minn.

His speech was a State of the Union address of sorts, as he criticized Obama’s response to the recession, big government and the U.S.

Supreme Court rulings, both recent and historical.  Lewis’ solution to these problems is also the argument of his recent book.

The speaker’s reflections on the recession led to his proposal for a solution to our woes, economic and otherwise: a nation that empowers the states and muzzles the Supreme Court.  He targeted court mandates and alluded to cases like Roe v. Wade and Plessy v. Ferguson, which legalized abortions and racial segregation, respectively.

Lewis envisioned a country with markedly different policies state by state.  California can have big spending, abortion and same-sex marriage, while North Carolina can have smaller government, be pro-life and maintain traditional marriage, he proposed.  These state-by-state rulings would be a change from “liberals imposing their will,” he said.

Lewis softened that anti-liberal sentiment, though, as he acknowledged that Obama inherited a mess.  Behind closed doors, many Republicans lament George W. Bush’s time in office, Lewis said.  Good guy, bad policy, the speaker concluded of the former-president.

Lewis was a crowd pleaser. Along with his stern warnings about America’s current path, he cracked jokes to the friendly audience.

“I do have the heart of a liberal …” he said.  “I keep it in a jar on my desk at the office.”

The North Mecklenburg Republican Women will meet again in September.