Dutch and Dubya
Joan Swirsky
Monday, June 7, 2004
You’ve got to give the Democrats credit. Reaching down into the nether regions of their psyches – where they occasionally trawl for remnants of good will – they managed to praise the late, great president Ronald “Dutch” Reagan, crediting him with many of the same accomplishments that George “Dubya” Bush, his heir in style and philosophy, is achieving right now!
Reagan was a giant whose conservative leanings became apparent in the 1940s when he spoke out against the Communists in the United States, and continued after he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1946, taking forceful stands and testifying before Congress against Communists trying to infiltrate Hollywood. It was at this time that he changed parties from Democrat to Republican.
Through a long life of astounding successes both in show business and politics, he never lost his sense of eternal optimism, a belief in his fellow man and a diehard conviction that “the land of the brave and the free” should remain that way. Most important, he never lost the core values that defined his vision of a strong U.S. and an end to the most malevolent regimes in the world.
As accolades and remembrances pour in from every country on earth – including from Hamid Karzai, the president of now-liberated Afghanistan (can another from Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of now-liberated Iraq be far behind?) – those who remember “the great communicator” always focus on five qualities that made Reagan a towering presence on the world’s stage.
Five qualities, by the way, that are shared in full measure by Dubya, but which some of the very people now praising Dutch use to vilify the incumbent.
BELIEF IN GOD
Like Dubya, Dutch believed that his “rendezvous with destiny” was part of God’s plan. “I have to realize that whatever I do has meaning only if I ask that it serves His purpose. … I believe that in my present undertaking, whatever the outcome, it will be His doing. I will pray for understanding of what it is He would have me do.”
Both modest men, neither ever entertained the conceit that they were anything but conduits in the great events of history.
BELIEF IN FREEDOM
Like Dubya, Dutch from the beginning of his long political career understood freedom to be more than an abstract notion that was fine for Americans but optional for those living under tyrants and terrorists. The pursuit of freedom for the 40th president was embodied in his successful efforts to dismantle the “Evil Empire” of the former USSR and to “tear down this wall” that separated East from West Germany, freeing millions upon millions of people in the process.
Both passionate about the universal allure and God-given right of freedom – as well as its precursor, a strong military – neither would ever consider compromising this “core belief” to accommodate appeasers or capitulate to partisan hysteria.
SENSE OF HISTORY
Like Dubya, Dutch sensed that his mission – and the judgment of history – was more important than himself. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Reagan's conservative counterpart in England, said upon his death that “millions of men and women … live in freedom today because of the policies he pursued.” Of course that’s true, as it is also true that millions of men and women live in freedom today in Afghanistan and Iraq because of the policies that Dubya pursued.
Both men were visionaries with the courage to buck conventional “wisdom” and literally change the world!
SENSE OF DECENCY
Dutch, like Dubya, had genuine respect for all the people he encountered, unfailingly sharing his warmth, humor and “it’s always morning in America” love of life with them and even by being punctual for meetings and dressing in apparel befitting a president.
Both of them almost courtly in their adherence to high standards and high-minded behavior, reinforcing the notion that greatness is often accompanied by modesty, even self-effacement.
INDEPENDENCE
Like Dubya, Dutch’s adversaries always derided him as being a “cowboy,” an “intellectual lightweight” and a man whose advisers ran the show. But in interview after interview, those who knew and worked with the “the Gipper” described a commander in chief whose ideas were so creative, even prophetic, that there was no doubt about who was boss.
Both of them vastly and laughably underestimated by the so-called intelligentsia in the media and by West and East Coast liberals who to this day cannot stand the idea that academic wonks and hippies from the ’60s are not in charge.
Interestingly, one of those liberals stepped far outside the “party line” to praise President Reagan’s legacy. “He brought back grace, strength and class to the American presidency,” said Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico.
Grace, strength and class – sounds just like Dubya to me!
God rest your soul, President Reagan |
