On the Passing of a Great American

There are times when words are not forthcoming, when a writer's thoughts are jumbled with much to write but with no way to put them coherently on paper, or on a website, or whatever. This is what I faced this morning as I tried to find the words to eulogize the great loss of our beloved former President, Ronald Wilson Reagan. While pondering, I went to a favorite blog of mine and found that Frank Salvato, editor of "TheRant.us", had said it all much better than I ever could. Therefore I would invite you to visit and read Frank's excellent piece "As We Say Goodbye the Light of Freedom Shines On", which eloquently expresses the thoughts of most Americans.

It is indeed unfortunate that qualifier "most" is needed above. There are some of those who, even during this time of mourning, are wont to display their total lack of taste, respect, decorum, and an understanding of the world around them by attacking this great man. On the other hand, it is fortunate that these insensitive clods are in a distinct minority, almost totally irrelevant in the field of public opinion, and completely out of touch with America. There are also the left wing rags such as the New York (out of) Times and the Boston Post who are doing their utmost to minimize Ronald Reagan's victories and accomplishments, suggesting that he was merely a man who happened to be in the right place at the right time, achieving his successes in spite of himself. One must wonder if these self-appointed elitists were actually sorry to see the Soviet Union disappear and the Cold War end, just as today's prancing primadonnas would seem to prefer that Saddam Hussein were still the President of Iraq if it meant that Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder were still among our best friends.

When President Reagan announced that the decades-old policy of containing the Soviet Union was being replaced by a
strategy of rolling back "the evil empire", there was much hand-wringing, pessimism, and fear of upsetting the current
international applecart that was called "deténte". His bold plan was ridiculed as being wreckless, and he was called a
"cowboy" by the elitists of the left. His adherence to principles and firm belief in the greatness of America were seen as a naive ignorance of reality by those who abhorred principle, those who were more interested in world harmony than in
America's national interests, and those who did not have the courage nor conviction to ever undertake any bold actions
of their own. His famous call for the tearing down of the Berlin Wall was seen as an undiplomatic gaffe that would infuriate the Soviets and bring the world closer to war. Later, when Reagan achieved his goals, these same nay-sayers attributed it to blind luck rather than bold leadership, while world leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev would later acknowledge the boldness, brilliance, and greatness of Reagan's actions.  

It is only now, almost two decades later, that one of America's greatest President's is getting the recognition and expressions of gratitude that he so richly deserves. But there are those still among us who abhor American success in the international arena, prefering to emulate the statesmen and politicians of a decadent Europe of the 1930's and 1980's, hoping to pacify those who would threaten our country by providing empathy to their cause, by refusing to confront a threat until we build overwhelming alliances, or by using the moral persuasion of world opinion. These methods failed to contain the Nazis and Fascists, failed to eliminate Communism, and will fail to eliminate the threats presented by the Islamic Jihadists who flew the aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the farm field in Pennsylvania. President Ronald Reagan, who these elitists looked upon as an ignorant country boy, had the wisdom to recognize a threat, the courage to deal with that threat head-on, and the common sense to ignore those who function more by expediency than by principle.

May he rest in peace.

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