Beloved Winston and His Brooklyn Breeding

 

In a prophetic speech concerning the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan predicted that “the march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history.” Today is my last post of an excerpt from  one of Reagan best speeches ever.  He addressed the members of the British Parliament on June 8, 1982.

British people know what it is to fight for their freedom (WWII)

 
The British people know that, given strong leadership, time and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil. Here among you is the cradle of self-government, the Mother of Parliaments. Here is the enduring greatness of the British contribution to mankind, the great civilized ideas: individual liberty, representative government, and the rule of law under God.

I’ve often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world. This reluctance to use those vast resources at our command reminds me of the elderly lady whose home was bombed in the Blitz. As the rescuers moved about, they found a bottle of brandy she’d stored behind the staircase, which was all that was left standing. And since she was barely conscious, one of the workers pulled the cork to give her a taste of it. She came around immediately and said, “Here now — there now, put it back. That’s for emergencies.”Well, the emergency is upon us. Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.

During the dark days of the Second World War, when this island was incandescent with courage, Winston Churchill exclaimed about Britain’s adversaries, “What kind of a people do they think we are?” Well, Britain’s adversaries found out what extraordinary people the British are. But all the democracies paid a terrible price for allowing the dictators to underestimate us. We dare not make that mistake again. So, let us ask ourselves, “What kind of people do we think we are?” And let us answer, “Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.”

Sir Winston led his people to great victory in war and then lost an election just as the fruits of victory were about to be enjoyed. But he left office honorably, and, as it turned out, temporarily, knowing that the liberty of his people was more important than the fate of any single leader. History recalls his greatness in ways no dictator will ever know. And he left us a message of hope for the future, as timely now as when he first uttered it, as opposition leader in the Commons nearly 27 years ago, when he said, “When we look back on all the perils through which we have passed and at the mighty foes that we have laid low and all the dark and deadly designs that we have frustrated, why should we fear for our future? We have,” he said, “come safely through the worst.”Well, the task I’ve set forth will long outlive our own generation. But together, we too have come through the worst. Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best — a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.Thank you.





Satellite view of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Wednesday 16 March, confirming damage to reactors 1, 3 and 4. Steam can be seen venting from the reactors 2 and 3 reactor building

Feb. 12, 1974

Sen. Bob Dole and then-California Gov. Reagan at a Wichita political rally

Ronald Reagan, as the Republican candidate for governor of California in 1966, shakes hands at a shopping center in a Los Angeles suburb for a campaign rally. The former radio announcer and movie actor burst onto the political scene after a rousing television speech for Barry Goldwater on the eve of the 1964 election. Reagan was elected governor of California by a landslide in 1966 and was reelected in 1970

My NCAA tournament bracket is not looking good since I had Louisville winning the national championship and they lost in the first round when Morehead State beat them by 1 with a 3 point shot at the buzzer.

I will be quoting from an article “Five Myths about Ronald Reagan” (Washington Post, Feb 4, 2011) by Edmund Morris.

5. He was an “amiable dunce.”

Yeah, right, Clark Clifford. Ronald Reagan only performed successfully in six different careers: radio sportscaster, movie actor, trade union president, corporate spokesman, two-term governor and two-term president of the United States. Lucky for him he wasn’t hampered by Jimmy Carter’s intelligence!

Edmund Morris was the authorized biographer of Ronald Reagan. In addition to “Dutch,” his life of the 40th president, he has published a trilogy about Theodore Roosevelt.

In December 1967, an angry Gov. Reagan called upon San Francisco State College officials to take “whatever action is necessary” to maintain law and order during a sit-in on the campus, which was then a hotbed of political activism and the scene of sometimes violent confrontations between student demonstrators and California law enforcement officials.

Kentucky Wildcats beat Princeton by 2 and Louisville loses to Morehead State by one in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

I will be quoting from an article “Five Myths about Ronald Reagan” (Washington Post, Feb 4, 2011) by Edmund Morris.

4. He was only a campaign Christian.

On the contrary, Reagan was a “practical Christian,” that being the name of a mainly Midwestern, social-work-oriented movement when he was growing up. At 11, young Dutch had an epiphany, prompted by the sight of his alcoholic father lying dead drunk on the front porch of the family house in Dixon, Ill. In a moving passage of autobiography, Reagan wrote: “Seeing his arms spread out as if he were crucified – as indeed he was – his hair soaked with melting snow, snoring as he breathed, I could feel no resentment against him.” It was the season of Lent, and his mother, a devotee of the Disciples of Christ, put a comforting novel in his hand: “That Printer of Udell’s” by Harold Bell Wright. Dutch read it and told her, “I want to declare my faith and be baptized.” He was, by total immersion, on June 21, 1922.

I read a speckled copy of that book in the Library of Congress. Almost creepily, it tells the story of a handsome Midwestern boy who makes good for the sins of his father by becoming a practical Christian and a spellbinding orator. He develops a penchant for brown suits and welfare reform, marries a wide-eyed girl (who listens adoringly to his speeches) and wins election to public office in Washington.

Shy about his faith as an adult, Reagan was capable of conventional pieties like all American politicians. He attended few church services as president. But on occasion, before critical meetings, you would see him draw aside and mumble prayers.

No. 24: Duke’s monster rally

Final Four, March 31, 2001 — No lead is safe. The Blue Devils trailed ACC rival Maryland 39-17 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half, but staged a comeback that you had to see to believe. Behind a flurry of 3-pointers and defensive pressure, the Devils trailed by two just minutes into the second half. They closed on a 19-7 run and claimed a 95-84 win. Yes, that’s 78 points in roughly 27 minutes. Loyola Marymount, eat your heart out.

n pictures: Japan earthquake and tsunami

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Even though California was itself in the path of the tsunami, these firefighters in Los Angeles were preparing equipment ready to deploy to Japan and help in the rescue effort.