Thursday, June 17, 2004
Ronnie: There Is No Substitute
After the passing away of Ronald Reagan, I saw at least a couple of articles proclaiming President Bush to be his successor in protecting America's safety against a totalitarian enemy. I saw the superficial similarities, but I doubted that Bush is in any way a real "successor" to Reagan besides those similarities. I wanted to write about it, but was never able to quite put it all together.
So thank the Almighty for Mark Steyn, 'cuz he puts it together in so well in his latest Spectator piece.
President Bush understands the threat of militant Islam, and he is obviously working towards eradicating it, but he certainly does not have the philosophical clarity, foresight, and eloquence of Reagan. Granted, Ronald Reagan grew up at a time when communism was already a menace to the world, but considering the conventional "wisdom" of the day when he was first elected President, how he single-handedly moved America towards victory was a feat few will be able to repeat.But even FDR couldn’t have done it without the help of Wall Street and bread lines. What makes Reagan the most impressive president of the century is that he shifted the landscape without any external assistance — no Depression, no 9/11, no nothing: like the Queen and Comrade Bishop, everyone was in 'Can’t we all just get along?' mode vis-à-vis the Soviet Union as it gobbled up more and more real estate. Reagan got a notion to win the Cold War at a time nobody else had. And he made it happen.
What a great man we lost.
And speaking of Ronnie, consider this gesture by the Parliament of Grenada (via Neale). After 21 years, the first tiny patch of land liberated from Communism by Reagan still hasn't forgotten. Reagan, of course, would move on to even bigger prizes, to the benefit of millions.
Comments:
Post a Comment
