Obama: The Anti-Reagan
One was quick to defend America and stand for freedom everywhere. One is the polar opposite.
Among the 43 men who held the office of president before Barack Obama, the late Ronald Reagan stands out as one of few who defended America and her interests regardless of the political costs.
It was Reagan who told us that we were exceptional because our nation was exceptional. It was he who pulled us from the mire of the Carter years by reminding us we had a rendezvous with destiny and an obligation to be a shining city on a hill. And it was he who won the Cold War through an approach combining diplomacy with the willingness to employ guns and bombers when pens and papers weren’t enough.
But the pendulum has swung, and Obama stands before us as the anti-Reagan.
The first few months of Obama’s presidency have been marked by apologies for American arrogance, claims that no nation can force its morals on another, and Obama’s refusal to credit Reagan — or even the West in general — with having won the Cold War.
Although Reagan put America first, he used his presidency to promote freedom across the globe. From his 1985 State of the Union address:
Freedom is … the universal right of all God’s children. Our mission is to defend freedom and democracy. … We must not break faith with those risking their lives on every continent [as they seek] to defy Soviet-sponsored aggression and secure rights that have been ours from birth.
Reagan’s words were not hollow. He fought from “Afghanistan to Nicaragua” to bring freedom where it had not been.
But what has Obama done on behalf of “those risking their lives … [to] secure rights” in Iran in the wake of a false election?
As freedom-starved Iranians took to the street to protest that Iranian President “Ahmadinejad was declared re-elected by a wide margin” over Hossein Mousavi in a fraudulent vote count, Obama remained silent. As the peaceful protests were shattered by government-sponsored shootings of Mousavi’s supporters, Obama’s silence continued. Eventually, with a weakness only John Kerry could love, Obama gathered the courage to say he supported “human rights in Iran generally.”
Whatever that means.
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AWR Hawkins is a conservative writer who holds a Ph.D. in military history from Texas Tech University.
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43 Comments
1. Absurd:Trying to compare Obama to Reagan is absurd.
Reagan was a man, a leader, a statesman, a feared and respected warrior, a humane humorist and a staunch defender of America.
Obama is trash that has spent his life trashing America.
Jul 13, 2009 - 3:52 am 2. Bob:What do you expect from a guy who has been traveling around the world apologizing for America? He sees our country as essentially flawed and intends to remake America in his image of perfection – bigger government, more controls on the financial markets, government-business “partnerships” like GM, universal health care, lower CO2 emissions, etc. Only when we have ObamAmerica will he and his wife be proud of our country.
Jul 13, 2009 - 3:54 am 3. carly:Bad weekend of the Bush administration.time for justice. there is a related post at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?page_id=588
Jul 13, 2009 - 4:08 am 4. eon:The One holds that we cannot “force our morals on other nations”. Then he turns around and tries to do precisely that at the G8 summit, re “carbon emissions”. Of course, he is trying to “force” the same thing here, in spite of all the evidence that (a) it will make no measurable difference in “climate change”, and (b) will probably irreparably cripple the American economy. The logic apparently being that since he “believes” in it, it must be true.
The Honduran situation is similar. He holds that we can compel a nation to violate its own Constitutional restrictions, to restore a President to power after he violated same and was duly removed from office for doing so. His reason seems to be that he happens to like the way that President (Zelaya) does things, so for him the “rule of law” should not exist.
Perhaps what The One really means is, “I will not make any attempt to ‘force’ American legal or traditional values on any foreign nation.
“However, I fully intend to compel everyone, everywhere, to live by my personal beliefs. Including everyone in the United States.
“And I believe in Me, and leaders like Me, and policies which give Me absolute power.
“So shut up and obey Me. Now.”
clear ether
eon
Jul 13, 2009 - 5:09 am 5. kimo:Carly: Why change the subject?
The standard response of those in O’s camp when criticized is to somehow bring up a Bush failing rather than deal with their own shortcomings.
It’s Bush’s fault is getting worn threadbear and fails to “rally” as it once did.
Now it’s O’s fault…that is something long overdue.
Jul 13, 2009 - 5:28 am 6. Bonner:This says it all. Obama is not simply different than Reagan, he is Reagan’s antithesis. His refusal to help the people in Honduras tells it all.
Jul 13, 2009 - 5:29 am 7. William:Obama is purposefully allowing tyrants to run over people, to imprison and kill people. He is a leftist helping leftists and he’s no shame for doing it. He is truly against freedom, whether in the United States, Iran, or Honduras. Great piece Hawkins.
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:17 am 8. RE:There is only one way that Obama’s claim that “The stimulus is working as intended” can be true. That one way fully supports Mr. Hawkins contention. Obama is working hard to diminish America.
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:28 am 9. BCK:I can only pray someone will grow some and start the impeachment proceedings. I have had it up to my neck with the lawlessness of this creep. I want my country back.
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:30 am 10. savage24:I just can not understand why the minions who voted for him STILL think he is the greatest Pres.
TOTUS is a evil that needs to be in a Prison, as all Traitors should be
God Bless America
Obama is doing exactly what he set out to do, and that is to destroy this country. All those that wanted change have got it. I hope they can stand it. Reagan would never have allowed this to happen on his watch. Today we have more traitors than patriots in this country.
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:49 am 11. Concealed Carry Carol:I agree with BCK!
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:55 am 12. Jeff:It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the point in AMERICAN POLITICS where our own president sits quietly by while people longing for freedom are gunned down (ruthlessly) in other countries. He is so in love with the lefties in this world that he literally turns a blind eye to suffering if by so doing he maintains the praise of Chavez and Company. He is quickly making even Jimmy Carter look good.
Jul 13, 2009 - 7:12 am 13. HLH:I continue to be ashamed of our president. I am quite bothered that people (like those in Iran and Honduras) are treated as pawns in a game. They are hungry for freedom, as Hawkins points out, and they deserve our help.
Jul 13, 2009 - 7:26 am 14. blotto:Pres. Reagan loved America and Americans. Obama hates America and Americans.
Jul 13, 2009 - 7:27 am 15. Sebastian Shaw:President Barack Obama is the personification of the Anti-Life Equation; however, President Obama is also the antithesis of President Ronald Reagan. The Anti-Life Equation is all about absolute control of life & death, but more precisely death. Given the Democrats have long ago embraced Nihilism with moral relativism, supplication to our enemies, & want to control everyone’s lives in America, the Anti-Life Equation makes even more sense.
Jul 13, 2009 - 7:47 am 16. Ink:He doesn’t represent me nor many Americans (most of which voted for him). He is a paper president that does two things better than W:
1) speak English
2) spend our money
It is beyond me how this president hasn’t already been the focus of scandal upon scandal with the strong arm tactics to take over banks and other industry.
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:03 am 17. "progressive"watch:Barack Obama is the ultimate proof that race is meaningless. He is half black and half white. And neither half is worth a tinker’s damn. Character is all. Obama has none of it.
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:27 am 18. Ink:This just in from Newsweek:
It’s the morning after Independence Day, and Eric Holder Jr. is feeling the weight of history. The night before, he’d stood on the roof of the White House alongside the president of the United States, leaning over a railing to watch fireworks burst over the Mall, the monuments to Lincoln and Washington aglow at either end. “I was so struck by the fact that for the first time in history an African-American was presiding over this celebration of what our nation is all about,” he says. Now, sitting at his kitchen table in jeans and a gray polo shirt, as his 11-year-old son, Buddy, dashes in and out of the room, Holder is reflecting on his own role. He doesn’t dwell on the fact that he’s the country’s first black attorney general. He is focused instead on the tension that the best of his predecessors have confronted: how does one faithfully serve both the law and the president?
Does the AG really have to ask this question?
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:31 am 19. "progressive"watch:Here is a clarification of the real meaning of Obama’s hope and change: while Obama keeps changing America,Americans are supposed to keep hoping.
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:36 am 20. SusieQ!:It’s simple really…
Raegan loved America…his words and actions proved this his entire career.
obama obviously hates America, and anyone that strives for freedom, his words (+lack of) and actions prove this everyday.
…. In the time he has been in office he has turned Americas against each other like no other has been able to.
Obama the.. messiah? hahaha “words just words”…that are leading people down the proverbial “garden path” ..
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:46 am 21. Professor Guvinoff:Obama…. the anti-Raegan…seems to be true
Failing to support the iranian protesters and siding with Zelaya is only the latest round of a long string of actions running counter to what Americans know, believe, and hope for. Before that he had already elevated Chavez and failed to support Uribe, talked sweet to the arabs and asked for injust sacrifices to Israel while sending almost a billion dollars to Hamas, and even before that signed a so-called “stimulus” bill that cannot do anymore than stimulating an already overgrown government..
How much longer can one charm his way out of these transgressions of morality and derelictions of duties?
#9 (BCK) and #11 (Concealed Carry Carol) are already calling for impeachment. If he cannot stop driving a bulldozer instead of sound policies, it may come to that!
Jul 13, 2009 - 9:05 am 22. Gina:The essence of Obama’s criticism of America lies in his self identity. Even if you accept his birthright, his formative experience was not American. Obama does not love America in the same sense that most of us do, because he cannot unlearn his earliest impressions. His sense of America’s role in the world was sullied at an early age, and he has been unable to hide this comtempt on the world stage. He presses on with his plan to fundamentally change America, while we cower from the challenge of being ruled by a Muslim Communist. Our silence is deafening.
Jul 13, 2009 - 9:06 am 23. Gary Ogletree:Reagan is rightly celebrated for pushing over the rotten snag that was Soviet totalitarianism. But he funded Central American thugs that murdered their opposition. Reagan’s friend Rios Mont murdered entire villages of Mayan Indians, put thousands into concentration camps, and vowed to wipe out whole tribes if they continued resistance. Nicaragua was headed for a European style mixed economy with a representative democracy until Reagan unleashed the contra terrorist against farmers, rural doctors and teachers, waging war against the supporters of a democratically elected government. Reagan was a disgrace in Central America while he was a hero against the Soviets. He also cut and ran from Lebanon, sent weapons to the Ayatollah, and invaded Grenada when the anti Castro socialists ousted the pro Castro socialists, wagging the dog after Beirut. However, Mr. Hawkins is right in that Reagan was an active patriot and Obama seems to love all those who hate America.
Jul 13, 2009 - 9:18 am 24. Realist:Obambi LIED and Democracy DIED
Jul 13, 2009 - 9:42 am 25. Marc Malone:#23 Ogletree – Your points are valid. Just one caveat: sometimes, these thugs we support in some of these countries are the best we have to work with. Broken societies produce broken leaders… like Obama.
We are getting the kind of government WE deserve. Obama is the proper leader for our sad times.
Jul 13, 2009 - 9:46 am 26. Moogie:Gina: Our silence is no longer deafening. We can hear it loud and clear, but the rest of the contented masses have NO idea that Obama’s real objective is to remake America in his image. Why? Because the MSM refuses to do their job.
The Tea Parties are working. They are attracting more and more people who are thinking the same thing: What the hell is going on here? But the MSM is ignoring our rallies.
It’s time to take our rallies to the front doors of the MSM. It’s time to overload their email servers with our letters demanding journalistic integrity and professional, unbiased reporting. It’s time to let their advertisers know we will not buy products advertised during the MSM’s news programs. This includes newspapers.
Jul 13, 2009 - 10:19 am 27. john m e:Carly..to be” so annoyed” is akin to being” so misinformed”.
Jul 13, 2009 - 11:21 am 28. lou1785:Carly,
You’re a misguided and easily manipulated fool if you think these CIA investigations are of utmost importance for America/Americans – but if ignorance is bliss……..
Jul 13, 2009 - 12:06 pm 29. Войска ПВО:Its pro(re)gressive benefits and “payback-blowback” possibilities escape the adolecent mind of a Lib who feels this is for the betterment of us all, and marks “closure” for all the wee-little souls who *suffered greatly (*sarc off) under King W & Darth Cheney. Its July 13th btw – Do you know where your economy is?
A truly progressive mind could see the folly of this selective serving agenda which is nothing more than a smokescreen to protect Queen Nans indiscretions and divert attention from the ill-conceived policies, Chi-town political thug tactics/corruption, and the destructive future legislation under “this administration”.
Some recognize the past 8 years as forgettable or disasterous, while others may find no fault with it, but others, like yourself, feel “scarred” by them – and furthmore, “scarred” by others who don’t share your views or simply could give a sh** about them.
But, continue your Libiotic pursuit of championing past injustices; real or imagined, with or without purpose, eyes wide open or shut…if it gives you some comfort; or at least, gives Libs a way to extend the expiration date on blaming the Bush administration and distracting focus from the current mess Barry O and his Marxist Orchestra have created.
26. Moogie writes:
“It’s time to take our rallies to the front doors of the MSM. It’s time to overload their email servers with our letters demanding journalistic integrity and professional, unbiased reporting. It’s time to let their advertisers know we will not buy products advertised during the MSM’s news programs. This includes newspapers.”
Again, Moogie, these are great ideas. I am going to take these suggestiosn to the people here in the SoCal tea Party organizations and suggest that all who read/post here do the same in their neck fo the woods!
Jul 13, 2009 - 12:12 pm 30. karlinsync:Obama is not a man of character. He has lied cheated and stolen from the American people a sense of respect. Regan was a man of honor and compassion. I belive America is the greatest nation in the world.
Jul 13, 2009 - 12:58 pm 31. Moogie:Войска ПВО: That would be a terrific idea. I have posted my own blog about this, plus posted the same blog on Smart Girl Politics.
I attended one of our state Tea Parties on the Fourth. About 1,500 people showed up – a smaller crowd than the Tax Day Tea Parties, but still pretty impressive given that it was a holiday and a weekend. And that was just one town out of many that held rallies (Olympia, Washington, our state capital).
Sadly, not one representative from the press was there. As I said before, the MSM treats our activities as though we’re holding a bake sale or a car wash. We need to force them to acknowledge what we’re fighting for! If it takes drawing attention to us at their front doors, I say let’s get this party started!
Jul 13, 2009 - 4:46 pm 32. BC:Not to put a damper on all this Obama bashing and Reagan sanctifying, but does a few phrases like Iran Contra, CIA death squads, Rex 84, and “Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein” ring any bells? If not, maybe you should use Google for its intended purpose. Gawd….
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:03 pm 33. Sebastian Shaw:BC, you’re an idiot. We were at war with Iran than Iraq since Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait until 1990, 3 years later. Iraq was an uneasy ally since Iran was more of a threat at the time. The parellel is similar that the Soviet Union was a member of the Allies in War World II with the UK & France against Nazi Germany & Japan. Get your history right before you attempt to slag Reagan. You look like a fool.
President Reagan is also responsible for the break-up of the Soviet Union which the MSM still refuses to accept to this day. All President Obama can do is grovel to dictators.
Jul 13, 2009 - 6:23 pm 34. Pat J:Unfair comparison. Reagan had two full terms as President. Obama’s been at it 7 months. Get back to me in 2013.
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:22 pm 35. SallieP:Reagan did not put America down and talk down to us.
Jul 13, 2009 - 8:24 pm 36. ellasgranny:I feel sorry for all the young people in America today. You are going to inherit whatever is left, after Obama is thru destroying it. He’s got us in debt to the Chinese, for heavens sake!He’s ruined our reputation all over the world. I would love to line up all the ignorant people that voted for him & say’WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?”. I am very sad for us.
Jul 14, 2009 - 10:02 am 37. Blarty Blarckleblart:Reagan had no real accomplishments before getting elected president.
Not many afterwards, either.
RR was mediocre at best, a caretaker president.
Jul 14, 2009 - 2:04 pm 38. BC:To Sebastian Shaw: the point kind of was that Hussein was just as much a murderous dictator back then as he was later, and that Reagan not only felt that there was nothing wrong with this, but apparently looked the other way when Hussein started using biochemical weapons, a chunk of which came courtesy of the US. Don’t forget that the Shah of Iran was installed via a CIA operation, so you can’t entirely blame the Iranians at that point to be a bit annoyed with us. Even that later business with Kuwait apparently wasn’t exactly as cut and dry as we were led to believe.
Jul 14, 2009 - 3:08 pm 39. steveg:One thing for certain, Communist hated Ronald Reagan.
Jul 14, 2009 - 6:29 pm 40. Sebastian Shaw:Blarty Blackheart, Ronald Reagan did many things & most of them were not mediocre:
1) He cut taxes & got rid of several liberal programs which caused the recession to worsen under Jimmy Carter; he is indirectly responsible for the boom time in our economy. When the stock market crashed in 1987, the Democrats urged Reagan to “do something,” but instead allowed the free markets to heal itself & it returned to normal in a much shorter time than had he “done something.”
2) President Reagan is responsible for the break up of the Soviet Union & the Berlin Wall in Germany. He also stayed true to his word & was not afraid to use force against terrorists. President Reagan always stood for America, love of country, & spread freedom around the world.
BB, you’re confused. President Obama is the mediocre President, but even this is saying too much. He’s far worse than mediocre.
Jul 15, 2009 - 7:02 am 41. Sebastian Shaw:BC, your misdirection is taken, but it is only misdirection & obfuscation. This is a typical liberal tactic. I won’t tolerate such nonsense. Go play with the other children in the kiddie pool & leave the adult discussion to the adults.
Jul 15, 2009 - 8:11 am 42. Marc Malone:Yes, Reagan was so mediocre that he was re-elected with the greatest landslide in history in 1984. He carried every State but MN (and DC, of course). He even carried MA! Even the Kennedy clan voted for him, all but two of them. Did he make a few mistakes? You bet! But he got the really big things right! He was so good that his mediocre VP, Bush 41, carried 41 States! Mediocre, my ass!
Jul 15, 2009 - 2:25 pm 43. Steve:I remember right after the election when Ronald Reagan was elected I set out to disprove his philosophy and the more I learned about Ronald Reagan and his views the more I realized the the democrats were just a bunch of liars and had been misleading me all my life, and have been a staunch conservative ever since, with the exception of lets say Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman I see no democrats that I would ever agree with.
Jul 15, 2009 - 2:44 pm