Reagan
posted at 4:15 pm on February 6, 2010 by Mitch Berg
I’d be remiss if I missed the fact that today is the official Shot In The Dark holiday – Ronald Reagan’s birthday.
Reagan is a great conservative hero for what he wasn’t as well as for what he was. In an era when people thought the entree to political leadership was a degree from an elite university and a lifetime spent currying favor and working within the establishment, Reagan was a small-town Midwesterner who’d gone to an obscure college and spent most of his adult life doing other things: a sportscaster, an actor, a pundit. He was well into middle age before he got into electoral politics.
This confounded his critics, who believed that the true measure of a 50-something man of accomplishment was a degree he’d gotten when he was 22.
He was, in short, pretty much like the rest of us – as Dinesh D’Souza noted, an ordinary man who became an extraordinary president.
He really had two great accomplishments. For starters, he had an uncommon gift for translating immensely high concepts – the economics of Hayek, the philosophy of the Federalists – into terminology that resonated with people who’d never sat through a political science seminar.
He also had a singular knack for envisioning a goal, and focusing on it with a genial ruthlessness that drew his supporters down the path, no matter how difficult, and outlasted his opponents, no matter how well entrenched.
He convinced a demoralized nation coming from an era of spirit-sapping lethargy that we were a shining city on a hill:
And he talked the greatest criminals in history into putting down the gun and putting their hands up:
Conservatives need to constantly remind themselves that a leader like Reagan only comes along once in a lifetime, if that.
And yet today we may be seeing the ultimate tribute to Reagan. Millions of Americans are rising up and doing the Reagan thing for themselves. Knowingly or not, they’re standing astride the Keynesian stream and yelling “Hayek”. They’re going to the polls in places like Massachusetts and saying “If you want prosperity, tear down this stupid statist tradition”. They’re gathering in their hundreds of thousands and saying “our nation is a shining city on a hill – and it’s not because of our bureaucracy; it’s because of our indivisible prosperity and sacred liberty!”.
That millions of Americans are channeling the best of Reagan as we approach his centenary – he’d have been 99 today – is perhaps the best legacy of all.
Cross-posted at Shot In The Dark.
This post was promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.
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Same here. I was a member of the Young Republicans in college in ’76 when I cast my first vote for him in the primary that he lost to Ford. I would go on to volunteer in his campaigns in ’80 and ’84. I’m way past 19 now and am grateful to have lived through his presidency. If it took Carter to get Reagan, I can only pray that the shining city upon the hill will emerge again when Obama becomes a part of the past. (And it can’t happen soon enough)
TxAnn56 on February 6, 2010 at 9:14 PM
I miss you, Mr. President, and thank you.
May your spirit forever light the American dream all over the world.
Saltysam on February 6, 2010 at 9:15 PM
may god bless you and may god keep you. happy birthday mr president.you will always be missed. america
lees on February 6, 2010 at 9:20 PM
I am a Reagan Conservative. Proud to be an AMERICAN and faith that my country will stand strong through the tough times. Thank you President Reagan for leading the way.
TN Mom on February 6, 2010 at 9:21 PM
Mr President, I will always remember how you made me feel, as a teenager, about this country! You were my inspiration then, I stand to be an inspriation now! We are proud, and we are strong, we are Americans!! Thank you!
May God bless America!
thare on February 6, 2010 at 9:26 PM
What ballot did they appear on? Oh? They didn’t? You mean they weren’t really better…. they were’t willing to serve… they didn’t have a since of duty to their country. How exactly is that better? If they refuse to get in the game, they are hardly better. As a matter of fact, they aren’t nearly as good.
CC
CapedConservative on February 6, 2010 at 9:34 PM
Good Lord, I cried when I saw this.
I voted for Ford, was distraught when Carter won; rightly so. President Carter was my CIC. We obeyed.
The great value of that time was that it put the present in context.
When Mr. Reagan won, everything changed. I talk to Obama people today who were alive then. They know. He’s not just not Reagan, he’s not in the same universe as Reagan.
We are a great people; we are a shining city on a hill. Reagan knew that. Don’t forget it.
We must have a Carter to have a Reagan. What we are living through right now is a reminder of this, as painful as it is.
I remember a saying in those days: Cover the world with concrete, but it will crack, and the grass will grow in the crevices. Obama, Reid, Pelosi: they got their trowels down, hard at work.
Don’t worry, youngsters. I’m old enough to say, “Been there, done that.” We are still the Shining City. Ronald’s spirit lives on.
I sure do miss the old guy, though. You should have been there.
Pavel on February 6, 2010 at 9:39 PM
Cheers to defeating Communism.
PrezHussein on February 6, 2010 at 9:44 PM
That guy absolutely shaped me politically. I grew up in a family of Dems, but even at 13 years old I could see the difference between him and Mr Peanut. I loved that guy.
Southernblogger on February 6, 2010 at 9:56 PM
How picayune.
daesleeper on February 6, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Are you listening Barry? Foreign policy 101.
Mallard T. Drake on February 6, 2010 at 10:08 PM
Reagan (if he can) must have been smiling tonight watching Palin’s speech…..he would have loved it.
Thank you President Reagan for signing those books for our unborn son 15 years ago.
And thank you for your Conservative, founding fathers would have been proud, pride in the greatness of the American People.
Thank you for believing in us…….not apologizing for us.
PappyD61 on February 6, 2010 at 10:22 PM
Imagine, how we’re going to need this after Obama gets done “fundamentally transforming” America?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY
Morning in America!!!
PappyD61 on February 6, 2010 at 10:27 PM
Me too.
Vashta.Nerada on February 6, 2010 at 10:44 PM
I did not vote for candidate Reagan, but within 100-days I was his…forever! Coincidentally, two years later in 1982 my 1st son was born on his birthday! There is a God. He gave me my son and Ronald Reagan and I will be eternally grateful for both! Pray for us Mr. President! Pray that a leader will come forward and save the nation we all love. While it may be President Reagan’s birthday this clip, from his funeral, sums it all up for me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4oTrQgFYFI
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on February 6, 2010 at 10:51 PM
I joined the AF when Carter was president, but I am extremely proud to have served for almost all 8 years of Reagan’s term as CiC /salute Mr. President!
Mini-14 on February 6, 2010 at 11:04 PM
Notice at around 13:24, when The Gipper says, “What ails us can be simply put: the federal government is too big and it spends too much money.” House Speaker Jim Wright (crooked SOB!) is sitting back there, tapping his magazine on the desk, shaking his head with a sickening little smirk, as if to say, “The boy just doesn’t know what he’s talkin’ about.” No wonder Rush always called him Fort Worthless Jim.
I miss The Gipper so much. Happy Birthday, sir.
txleadfoot00 on February 6, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Happy Birthday, Mr. President. I was only a little girl when he was president, but as I grew up, I came to realize what a great man he really was. I understand now why my mother was crying watching him board the plane the day he left office. He was a wonderful leader who brought hope to a nation that had nearly given up hope, and then delivered on those promises – real Hope and Change!
I know they say a man like him comes to politics once in a lifetime, but since I was not yet 2 when he was sworn in, I hope to see another now that I’m old enough to appreciate him (or her).
RocketGirl on February 7, 2010 at 12:04 AM
hmmm. 2nd try at this comment…
Better yet was old Worthless Jim getting run out of DC when caught using his “book” deal to funnel campaign donations from friends of Jim.
That’s why the LSM couldn’t let go of Sarah’s book finances. A classic case of projection – since they do it, SP must have done likewise.
AH_C on February 7, 2010 at 12:35 AM
President Reagan,
I was three when you debated Carter. I remember watching it with my Dad, and I remember you mopping the floor with him. The 80′s were great for me, and I owe it to my strong conservative parents and to your leadership. I am in the Navy now, largely because of your farewell speach to the nation where you told me to call my parents out if they were not talking about the Constitution and this great country’s history at the dinner table. Rest In Peace sir, we have the conn, and we will not let your legacy die in vain no matter how many Noonan’s, Brook’s, or Frum’s in the world there are.
alohapundit on February 7, 2010 at 1:35 AM
It’s interesting that even in this thread there are people arguing about Reagan’s Conservative credentials. The high deficits and tax burden are always used as some kind of hammer by the Democrats to try and make Conservatives question whether they really knew what Reagan was about. The 1988 SOTU address was the FIRST TIME you were hearing the call for a LINE ITEM VETO and a BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT. Clinton didn’t come up with that stuff. Funny how Clinton gets credit for taking Reagan’s ideas and Obama gets elected by praising Reagan. But why was Reagan be dramatic about all that? Because at that time he had a Democratic Congress that stuffed pork in bills then if he didn’t sign them or what-not the MSM screamed that he was shutting down Government or taking lunches away from school kids and starving them. If he wanted any of his legislation he had to take the whole thing or nothing at all. That included ALL the liberal spending. He constantly told them they need to find more ways to cut spending but that he wasn’t gonna do it at the expense of the military that deserved a decent wage for a stressful, and dedicated job. There was no one in my life time who explained and exemplified the Conservative Ideal more than President Ronald Reagan.
Lastly, I had met one of the twin sons of the French Ambassador to Japan during my time attending Japan High School at Utsunomiya Kita High School in the Tochigi province. A year after I returned home from that trip having met this gentleman, my family invited him to stay with us for the summer. He accepted. Ironically, it was during the Iran/Contra Hearings when Col. North was being interrogated. I watched a lot of those hearings with my French friend, whose family was highly political obviously, and he berated me because I was basically pumping my fists every time Col. North was giving these guys the invasive hard time. My French friend told me that I should be ashamed of support a criminal and even more ashamed to believe that Pres. Reagan didn’t play a key role in it all. I told him that all those Senators up there doing the questioning should be ashamed of supporting Communism in our Hemisphere and that he should be thanking President Reagan for removing Communism for his Hemisphere. Ironically, nowadays those very same people have the completely opposite view of Pres. Reagan in hindsight. Now they tell me he was the best President ever. I feel wonderful that I realized and understood that all along, regardless of how horribly the Left tried to take him down.
Sultry Beauty on February 7, 2010 at 2:32 AM
I was a young adult during President Reagan’s terms and I still remember the sense of security I had, knowing he was in charge. Always witty, always genial…
And I tear up when I see pictures of him.
God bless you, Mr. President. My President.
atheling on February 7, 2010 at 2:51 AM
I joined the USAF at the age of 19 in 1981. I had just voted for Reagan in my very first ballot. I didn’t truly understand what a Reagan conservative was. I learned very quickly to RESPECT Reagan as our CIC and became a young republican (conservative) over the next eight years. I miss him more now than ever. I have been in the military for 29 years now and it is hard to watch what Obama and the progressives in congress have done to this country. My greatest hope is that we can find another true leader like Reagan in my remaining lifetime and that it won’t be too late.
God Bless you in heaven Mr President Ronald Reagan!
dddave on February 7, 2010 at 7:01 AM
When Reagan got shot I went in to the office at work and two of the sales men are laughing about Reagan getting shot.
Both of them dick sucking liberals.All you liberals are shit.Go to hell liberals
Denniscat on February 7, 2010 at 7:50 AM
I visited Germany in 1987, near Hamburg. We went to a carnival on the Western edge, where there were street vendors, balloons, music, candy, etc. Across the way was the Eastern border. Large wall, barbed wire, soldiers with guns strapped to their backs. Beyond the wall, silence.
I stood and stared at that wall. My German friend came and tugged on my sleeve, begging me to join the fun. Finally she just stood next to me while I took it in. To her, this was nothing…a fact of life. To me it was as close to totalitarianism as I had ever come, physically, and it opened a whole new worldview.
The day the wall came down was very real to me. I understood it’s import.
God bless America.
Grace_is_sufficient on February 7, 2010 at 8:21 AM
A little off topic but similar to the “man telling the truth”. This comes from Pat Condell speaking on the upcoming trial of Geert Wilders’ and the disgusting behavior of the Dutch Court bending over and taking it up the@$$ from Islam.
I think Reagan would have flown over their himslef to put a stop to this crime.
The Crooked Judges of Amsterdam
ronnyraygun on February 7, 2010 at 8:56 AM
1980 was the first election I could partake in. I was young and ill-informed and voted for John Anderson (independant). I was anti-liberal but had not understood Reagan’s message at the time. I made up for that error four years later. And to this day I am still with you Mr President.
Happy birthday sir. You left the world a much better place then you found it.
mechkiller_k on February 7, 2010 at 10:25 AM
ReagansRight on February 7, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Reagan made a comeback in this video
TheRiddler on February 7, 2010 at 11:44 AM
This makes me miss my dad who was the same age as Reagan. And a cowboy. And so many things that this generation of Americans can never fully understand.
They came of age in dark and troubled times but came out of the depression and the war with such and optimism! And they had such an ability to really accomplish things! I mean real things.
Like build an entire house! At least twice my Dad built his own house. And modern houses too! I’m sure the electricity in that first one was dangerous… laws were loser then.
And take land out of sage brush and make it a farm! How did they do stuff like that. My parents did that in the 1950s in Eastern Washington. They dug wells and ditches and cleared rocks leveled the land for gravity irrigation. I barely get the lawn mowed and the garbage to the curb!
Life has certainly changed. We’ve lost so much of who we are. Now so many expect the government to do everything. Back then the government encouraged self-reliance.
Of course it was the government that built Grand Coulee Dam and opened up the land by building canals. The environmentalists would never let that happen today.
The pendulum has swung against the pioneering spirit.
petunia on February 7, 2010 at 2:55 PM
Chill bumps……..
Neo-Chase on February 7, 2010 at 3:07 PM
Great piece, Mitch. Thanks so much for reminding people what a great American Ronald Reagan was. He has been villanized by the left since the 60′s. They had him wrong then and still do. Reagan restored our national identity and optimism and did more to bring this country together than anyone in my lifetime. God bless his soul.
simkeith on February 7, 2010 at 6:53 PM
The Grand Father I never had.Happy Birthday Mr. President.
5u93rm4n on February 7, 2010 at 7:49 PM
We need another like him today to straighten out this mess that Barry has gotten us into. I don’t think Dutch would be bowing to anyone.
chewmeister on February 7, 2010 at 11:01 PM
I really miss him.
OSUBuciz1 on February 7, 2010 at 11:27 PM
He was simply…the best..may you rest in peace, faithful warrior and servant.
Xango Annie on February 8, 2010 at 1:01 AM
This is a conservative blog site and a post honoring Ronald Reagan on his birthday has generated only 2oo-some responses. Very disappointing.
The next time anyone asks what’s wrong with the Republican Party…
pugwriter on February 8, 2010 at 10:06 AM
Simply the best.
Happy (late) Birthday President Reagan.
You are sorely missed.
rukiddingme on February 8, 2010 at 11:01 AM
You truely are my hero and a great man. May you rest in peace and watch over this great country.
KDANAZ on February 8, 2010 at 11:12 AM
Count me as one of the lucky souls that had to live through the disasterous Carter Administration only to find the light under the leadership of that great American statesman, Ronald Wilson Reagan. I pray that the current generation will find their RWR before Barry O destroys what is left of the last bastion of freedom on this earth.
Zorg on February 8, 2010 at 2:15 PM
God Bless President Ronald Reagan, he will live forever in our hearts.
What made Ronald Reagan not just a great President but a great man was his Love of America, his belief in the American people, and his strict adherance to his philosophy.
The Tea parties we see today are very much an extension of what this great man gave to all of us: A belief in national sstrength, limited Government, reduced taxation (something he proved was the best path to economic success), and one of the greatest speaking abilities in America History.
There are many great speakers, but only the greatest among them believe all that they say. Ronald Reagan was such a man.
darkmetal on February 8, 2010 at 3:00 PM
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