The Black Republican

The next time you hear Al Gore or Howard Dean lose all control while screaming about taking back America consider this, Ronald Reagan left their Party because he realized that it had moved away from the best traditions of the American ideals. Luckily for all of us there was another Party Reagan could join, a Party where his leadership skills could flourish. James Baker says that Reagan, "restored America's pride and confidence once again", in other words Reagan took back America. He took it back from those 1960's radicals that demonstrated in the streets against this country,( though those who believe in dissent as an ends unto itself have yet to figure out that they are political dinosaurs). He took it back from the demoralization of Watergate. He took it back from those that believed that high taxes and regulation did not affect the economy, and in so doing he began an enormous economic recovery from which we still benefit. He took it back from a Party that believed in pie in the sky solutions to our apparent woes. "There you go again" he told Jimmy Carter, and thereby announced to the country that he wasn't going to take any half baked ideas as realistic. The air traffic controllers union learned first hand about his no nonsense approach when he fired the union-minded workers when they went on strike; Reagan knew that their grievances paled in comparison to the national interests that would be affected by an airlines shutdown, and he wasn't having it He was a big picture man parenting egocentric workers. He also took back America's international prestige. JFK/LBJ's war, Vietnam, gave us our first defeat, the domestic protest against that war (including John Kerry's testimony regarding Kerry's and other veteran's supposed war crimes) piled humiliation on top of defeat, Jimmy Carter catered more humiliation onto our plates by his ineffective response to the Iranian hostage crisis (remember the news byline, "America held hostage"), his only proactive response resulted in a debacle in the Iranian desert as a failed rescue left behind broken machines, dead military, and the hostages; a human and public relations disaster.

By the time Reagan left office, the economy was robust, the hostages were home, the Berlin Wall was no more, and the Soviet Union would soon go the way of the Berlin Wall( due in large part to the pressures his policies put on their economy), attempts by Castro to spread his influence in this hemisphere had been forcefully rebuked, our relations with our long time allies were strengthened, and America was respected around the globe once again. (Further examples exist, they are too numerous to list).

No reading of a listing of the positive changes attributible to President Reagan (Martin Luther King Day) can fully explain the effect of this man. His wit, his generous nature, his style, his vision, his consistency and a thousand other descriptive words can highlight aspects of his character, but only fail to capture the entire man, he was an original and we don't have a word that fully appraises his value. He was Reaganesque, a new word that fits only him, the defintion of which is lengthy and complex, yet as simple as, sincere. He sincerely believed in this country, its traditions, it people, its possibilities. And the nation felt his sincerity and gave back sincerely; we sincerely loved this man, we sincerely embraced the revitalisation of spirit he personified, we sincerely recognized ourselves in his vision of what America should be; and with our sincere help he took America back to where it came from, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. It is left to us to keep it there now.

So, beware the false prophets who now cry out for a return to the old ways, they (Kennedyman, Gore(lick)man, Kerry and Dean), are calling for a rebirth of a time that never existed, and would not work if tried. Reagan proved what we already knew, higher taxes hurt everyone, strength is respected, consistency is irreplacable, there is no free lunch, there is no substitute for integrity, and perhaps most importantly, you can not build up America by running her down. Reagan took us back to where we once belonged. To paraphrase the theme song from "All In The Family", mister we could use a man like Ronald Reagan again. We need a man who learned the lessons of Ronald Reagan, sincerity, decency, integrity and America first. I'm not going to pretend, I think we have a guy like that in the White House now, with our help, I think he will continue to keep America right back where it started from (with all of the improvements to human and civil rights intact), and that will be good for all of us.

So, farewell and thank you President Reagan. We will miss you, but we get it, and, God willing, we will keep it. It is time for you to relax and tell your stories; and know that we will tell your story many times over.