Marathon Pundit: (Video) Joe Walsh at town hall: "Your country that you love is going through a revolution to save its very soul"

Rep. Joe Walsh of Illlinois, who boasts that he is a "Tea Party conservative first...and a Republican second," was emotional and animated in front a packed house of 350 at a town hall meeting this afternoon in northwest suburban Elk Grove Village.

I've attended enough of these meetings to know that it's best to start with the speaker's conclusion--the ideas of the meeting our usually summarized nicely at the end of it. So it was with Walsh today.

He reprised the theme of being "prepared to go to jail" to defend freedom in our country, which was the heart of a speech he made in March.

"The subject of this town hall was 'What are you prepared to do?,'" Walsh summarized to the audience.

"But I think when you say--when you ask--are you prepared to go to jail, we understand what that means," Walsh said. "You're a small business owner who is trying to make a go of it, make a living, and provide for your family, and you have a government--especially if you live in Illinois--which is taxing and regulating you out of existence. Are you prepared to go to jail to defend your right to keep your money and to make a prosperous life for yourself?"

Cries of 'Yes' followed.

He asked the same questions of mothers, doctors, and religious believers.

As for the turnout for the town hall, Walsh mused, "I hope, I really hope this means that the sleeping giant has woken up again."

I hope so too.

In regards to the the fall elections, Walsh said, "I think if we don't get November right, I don't think we'll ever recover."

He quickly added, "Your country that you love is going through a revolution to save its very soul."

As for the tempestuous atmosphere in Washington, "If you're tired of us fighting in Washington..."

"Tough," he added after a pause.

In a statement about the town hall, Walsh said,

While I was extremely pleased with the turnout of concerned citizens, I am disappointed my opponent has yet to come out to discuss this ruling with the good folks of the 8th district. She has made it clear she supports the president's tax on the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans and is on the record to say it should have gone further by creating a single-payer government run health care system.