Of courage and President Reagan

Thos.P.Jackstraw  Updated: 2004-06-11 08:32

"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." -- Ronald Reagan, announcing his Alzheimer's disease, 5 November, 1994.

I think he knew he wasn't the brightest guy around, but he had a way of putting together a good team -- a Republican trademark, something he no doubt learned from Nixon!

I like Reagan because he was not intimidated! He faced life straight on, I think. He goofed up a lot, and he laughed at himself! But, he didn't let the think-tank geniuses get the better of him all the time either -- something Nixon and LBJ could have learned from him! He had the courage to stand by a fiscal policy that was not well tested and tried, despite the grueling amount of time it took for things to change. It culminated in one of his phrases during the Presidential debate in his re-election bid, wherein he simply retorted, "... ask yourself if are you better off now, than you were four years ago?" -- he was reelected.

He had a wild untried idea for recovering the financial mess the US was in, he simply doubled the national debt (the debt that will never be paid, BTW -- this is a smoke and mirrors device of the confidence game, I think!) and lowered taxes; the banksters, industry and the stock market all eventually bought the pitch and the wonderful thing about ignorant confidence is that it and the economy seem to move forward together, lost in fantasy and make-believe!

But Reagan was a showman! The Panama thing was a disaster! Grenada was a joke? The CIA and the arms deal thing was not just a reflection of a poor and undeveloped foreign policy, but of poor grade administrative construction, both of which appear to persist to this day! He appeared more interested in trying to create an image of American resolve and pride towards the world, an image that he could pitch, rather than having any good creative ideas to solve the real crisis in the world. The break up of the Soviet Union and the removal of the German Divide were not things that really should be attributed to Reagan, just to his watch!

He was a good guy, had some good team players that knew how to run business things, he was a good pitch man, but he tried to too hard to create an image that was not always founded on the creative genius and discipline of listening and acting from one's real heart, he let his desire to pitch a message of vanity get the better of him, I think. But he had the courage of his convictions! Of that alone, he has bound a great and genuine honor! Thank you, Mr. Reagan for trying to give us your best!

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