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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (79536)	2/7/2010 3:33:54 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 89467

Lech WALESA in the WSJ, upon Reagan’s death in 2004: GDANSK, Poland–When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal. We in Poland took him so personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty. This can’t be said often enough by people who lived under oppression for half a century, until communism fell in 1989. Poles fought for their freedom for so many years that they hold in special esteem those who backed them in their struggle. Support was the test of friendship. President Reagan was such a friend. His policy of aiding democratic movements in Central and Eastern Europe in the dark days of the Cold War meant a lot to us. We knew he believed in a few simple principles such as human rights, democracy and civil society. He was someone who was convinced that the citizen is not for the state, but vice-versa, and that freedom is an innate right. I often wondered why Ronald Reagan did this, taking the risks he did, in supporting us at Solidarity, as well as dissident movements in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, while pushing a defense buildup that pushed the Soviet economy over the brink. Let’s remember that it was a time of recession in the U.S. and a time when the American public was more interested in their own domestic affairs. It took a leader with a vision to convince them that there are greater things worth fighting for. Did he seek any profit in such a policy? Though our freedom movements were in line with the foreign policy of the United States, I doubt it. I distinguish between two kinds of politicians. There are those who view politics as a tactical game, a game in which they do not reveal any individuality, in which they lose their own face. There are, however, leaders for whom politics is a means of defending and furthering values. For them, it is a moral pursuit. They do so because the values they cherish are endangered. They’re convinced that there are values worth living for, and even values worth dying for. Otherwise they would consider their life and work pointless. Only such politicians are great politicians and Ronald Reagan was one of them. … Every time I met President Reagan, at his private estate in California or at the Lenin shipyard here in Gdansk, I was amazed by his modesty and even temper. He didn’t fit the stereotype of the world leader that he was. Privately, we were like opposite sides of a magnet: He was always composed; I was a raging tower of emotions eager to act. We were so different yet we never had a problem with understanding one another. I respected his honesty and good humor. It gave me confidence in his policies and his resolve. He supported my struggle, but what unified us, unmistakably, were our similar values and shared goals. … As I say repeatedly, we owe so much to all those who supported us. Perhaps in the early years, we didn’t express enough gratitude. We were so busy introducing all the necessary economic and political reforms in our reborn country. Yet President Ronald Reagan must have realized what remarkable changes he brought to Poland, and indeed the rest of the world. And I hope he felt gratified. He should have. Pres. WALESA today: “The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope that whenever something was going wrong one could count on the United States. Today we lost that hope. But today we have hope in Mr. Andrzejewski and his generation to put in one more time the proper values.” “I admire Adam Andrzejewski because I see in him a young Ronald Reagan, my great friend, who helped free Poland from the tyranny of Communism and gave us a road map for economic success. Mr. Andrzejewski has a vision, and more importantly, a worakable plan to bring economic growth to Illinois.” Part of the energetic young Andrzejewski’s plan is to use all the transparency Obama promised but isn’t using and conduct a deep audit of Illinois, which should be like finding, oh, $3 billion on the sidewalk. When Lech WALESA and his nation were held hostage by Communism, Ronald Reagan and America stood by them. And now that America is plagued by “Socialism-Lite”, WALESA is returning the favor and standing by us. That is a true friend. Solidarity Yesterday, Today…and Forever! I note that WALESA came to Chicago to speak at a Tea Party rally. Our Solidarity.