As we approach the 100th anniversary of one of America's greatest Presidents, Ronald reagan, I can't help but point out that many of our intellectual superiors have been completely wrong on their call (read "their wish") regarding the end of the Era of Reagan. Newt Gingrich, of all people, tried to say it was over. He was wrong.
But isn't interesting how, for the most part, it is "leaders" on the right who try to claim the end of Reagan's influence? On the left, we see President Barack Obama trying his hardest to cloak himself in Reagan's aura. Also note that to do so, lefties have been twisting history to reflect their views.
Commentators have been quick to say how much Obama is like Reagan because he is appearing to shift to the middle in his tone and rhetoric. The problem with this analysis is that very few people actually believe Obama means what he says. Democrats have failed to heed Obama's call for a "new tone" and while some will point to the "Date Night" at the State of the Union, we have already heard from Democrats that that was nothing more than a one night stand.
Reagan would have hated it anyway.
What the liberals mean when they call for bi-partisanship and a change in rhetoric is that conservatives ought to just shut up. Basically, the left got a severe butt-kicking in that last election and now they need time to recover. I can't help but think of Yassir Arafat who would do the same thing. The PLO Chairman would ramp up hostilities and some faction would attack Israel, but Arafat would play the Victim Card when Israel retaliated after Palestinian aggression.
America has real problems and we deserve to have a real debate about the direction our country has been taken. This isn't the time for political correctness. Our political elites have been kicking the can down the road and now we've reached the dead end. We should be talking about a Constitutional Amendment that requires a balanced budget. We ought to be having a conversation about eliminating ineffective government programs and consolodating redundant ones. We could be chatting about reducing spending to levels that are manageable with the resources we have available. Government is not the solution. Government is the problem. Ronald Reagan said that... He was right then and he is right now.
