July 5, 2004
KILT HIM A BAR:
Will George W Bush be remembered as another Reagan? (Stephen Barton, June 29, 2004, Online Opinion)
There were two simple strands to Reagan’s foreign policy, the first is best summed up by the famous “Bear in the Wood” advertisement:There's a bear in the woods. For some people the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it's vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear - if there is a bear?
The second strand involved making America that “shining city on the hill”, recalling the image of the Vietnamese boat-person greeting the US sailor, “Hello, American sailor. Hello, Freedom man”.
The two strands are mutually supportive, the latter justifying the first.
While contestants of Big Brother might think Berlin is a country in Europe and that the Wall existed to divide the “rich communists” from the poor west, Reagan knew better. He sensed that the Communist system was flawed and doomed - a thought that seems so obvious in hindsight but was regarded as dangerous and heretical at the time. It could be said of Reagan, without fear of hyperbole, that he helped free millions of people. Although some might dismiss that freedom with a suitable sneer, and say “Well at least they didn’t have MacDonald’s or Coke” but, to paraphrase Kipling, what do they know of freedom, who only freedom know?
Bush’s foreign-policy approach shares the simplicity of Reagan’s; if we replace the Soviet bear with Islamic terrorism they are almost identical. It is an approach that is “simple, but hard”, as Iraq reminds us. But hard isn’t impossible. Who would have thought in 1980 that in 1989 the Berlin Wall would fall; nuclear war seemed more probable. Supporters of the war in Iraq should take some comfort from this.
It’s not unreasonable to think that some years into the future, at the death of George W. Bush, people will fondly remember a folksy president, so polarising in his day, who somehow managed to bring democracy to a region where the experts said it would never take hold.
There was nothing more enjoyable in 1984 than watching the talking heads pan The Bear ad for being too elliptical for anyone to understand, thereby demonstrating its essential truth. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 5, 2004 8:44 AM
Reagan took the country fundamentaly right,Bush has taken us fundamentaly left.
Posted by: at July 5, 2004 11:09 AMLimits on abortion, stem cell research, gay rights, government funding to church groups, war against Islam, privatization of health care and social security, vouchers for education, tax cuts, control of the House and Senate...
If only Reagan had been this conservative....
Posted by: oj at July 5, 2004 11:39 AMLimits on abortion-was happening long before W and PBA was too hot for even most pro-choicers to defend.
stem cell research-is and will happen anyway,we will simply be consumers rahter than producers,economic benefits will go to others.you neo-cons are exporting industries before they even really exsist!
gay rights-a non-issue,he'll fold as he did on AA.
government funding to church groups-federal funding coming to a jihad mosque near you,thanks.
war against Islam-hard to wage war on Islam when your on the South Lawn doing a photo-op with prominent proponents of fundamentalist islam and your homeland security director has now announced an end to visa restrictions from dangerous countries like Saudi and Sudan,kinda like the Brits announcing new air corridors for the convience of the Luftwaffe
privatization of health care-a huge new drug entitlement is "privatization"?there goes the tax cut
and social security-call me when that actually happens
vouchers for education-gee,was that in the Ted Kennedy Education Bill,too?Does Ted know?
tax cuts- won't last and he's spending more than Clinton on gov;t programs.net benefit?zero
control of the House and Senate-margianl control by people who are acting more and more like Democrats is an underwhelming achievement.
Posted by: at July 5, 2004 1:33 PMAnonymous:
Well, if you want to deny reality then whatever delusions float through your head can be your own version of the truth.
Posted by: oj at July 5, 2004 1:51 PMI was 9 years old in the '84 election, and even I understood what the Bear ad meant.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at July 5, 2004 3:03 PMoj,a response worthy of a lefty at DU,ignore the facts and make nasty comments.
Where did I deny reality?If so,point it out and I'll withdraw my comments,otherwise you owe me an apology for your's.
I'm holding my breath,of course.
Posted by: at July 5, 2004 4:14 PMAnonymous:
Here's just one example, though you were wrong about all your points. The beauty of this one is that it shows you share your misunderestimation of the President with Ted Kennedy:
http://www.brothersjudd.com/blog/archives/000442.html
Posted by: oj at July 5, 2004 4:58 PM