Fairy Tale World of Obama

President Ronald Reagan was known as The Great Communicator, an apt descriptor on that historic day, June 12, 1987, when he appeared at the Berlin Wall and, speaking from the heart, challenged Mr. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"

Hence, it was jarring to hear the words of presidential hopeful Barack Obama as he attempted today in Berlin to summon the images of JFK and Ronald Reagan. The text of Obama's speech is available online (here's one site). Additionally, there will be plenty of columns devoted to the speech from commentators across the spectrum.

But I couldn't help reflect what is, to me, the significant difference between Ronald Reagan's 1987 Berlin speech and that of the current Democrat candidate. When Ronald Reagan spoke to the citizens of Berlin, he was there for them, he spoke on their behalf, he championed their liberty. (This wasn't a PR tour for him; he was at the tail end of his presidency.) In challenging Mr. Gorbachev to tear down the wall, President Reagan exhibited bold courage (audacity) on behalf of every man, woman and child living in the Eastern Bloc.

The contrast of that historic occasion to today's Obama performance is as stark as night to day!

Who would dare deny Obama embarked on his widely-hyped world tour to prop up an embarrassingly thin resumé? Five sentences into the speech, he claimed to be speaking "... not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen ... a fellow citizen of the world." Who does he think he's kidding? He was championing ... himself! He waxed eloquent with the predictable platitudes and puffery, demonstrating an "audacity" some might characterize a full-blown Messiah complex.

If it's a Savior you're looking for, Barack Obama appears eager to step up. He told the assembled Berliners: "Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands."

Floods, famines, destructive weather ... aren't these generally considered acts of God?? Even Wikipedia characterizes such events as "outside of human control." But apparently not in the fairy tale world of Obama.

With such ambition at his disposal, perhaps he'd be willing to tackle the age-old challenge of "spinning straw into gold"? Just a thought.

Coulter Nails It (Him) Again

No time to write an original post this morning, so I'll have to settle for a nod to the opinion of another.

Coulter: How to Keep Reagan Out of Office

Particularly relevant to this blog's usual object d'homage (how's that for imaginary French?), but also a powerful argument for those conservatives — and you know who you are — who see the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform" as "No big deal."

Proud of My Country

Almost anyone who has taken a gander at the blogosphere or recent news stories is probably aware of Mrs. Barack Obama's February 18th comments in Madison, Wisconsin.

I can't improve on the comments here and here so I won't try.

Candidate Obama's website prominently features the slogan "Change we can believe in." So I have to ask: what changed? The candidate's wife was, by her own admission —"for the first time in my adult lifetime" suddenly "really proud of my country." One must infer a notable CHANGE has, in fact, taken place in Michelle Obama's outlook. And I'm curious. What exactly sparked this swelling of pride?

The context of her comments was Mrs. Obama's contention that "hope is making a comeback" in America. [Especially when lacking experience or wishing to evade specifics, wily political candidates have relied upon a will-o'-the-wisp banner of "hope"as their substitute. Remember Clinton's oft-repeated slogan: "I still believe in a place called Hope."]

If hope is indeed "making a comeback," it's not because circumstances have changed but because some people (Michelle Obama?) choose to view their circumstances through a different lens.

When Ronald Reagan characterized America as "the last best hope of man on earth," it wasn't an accidental turn of the phrase. It was the Great Communicator's acknowledgment of the red-white-and-blue blood that courses through the veins of most American citizens — call it pride. We love our country, and no matter what her shortcomings, America is still land of the free and home of the brave. Proud of my country? You bet!

So what if it took Michelle Obama 40+ years to find in her heart some basic pride for country. I say, welcome to the party. Better late than never.

The Reagan Mantle

Flannery O'Connor characterized the South as "Christ-haunted." In the two decades following the Reagan presidency, it seems to me the Republican Party must likewise be described as "Reagan-haunted." The numerous Republican debates were a classic example of the Reagan one-upmanship, with frequent variations of the phrase: I'm the one most like Ronald Reagan!

For viewers, the charade resembled a modern-day version of Cinderella; every time a candidate pressed his claim, the Reagan mantle never fit quite like it should ... try as they might, each one came away looking like a pretender.

In a recent conversation with Reagan era deputy press secretary Karna Small Bodman, Glenn Beck broached the subject of the Reagan Mantle. (The pertinent remarks are more than halfway down the page.) Beck queried Bodman whether she saw any politician with Reaganesque qualities.

Her response was most diplomatic: "not exactly." She went on to point out this focus on the Reagan mantle indicates how much the man is justifiably admired. She referred to Reagan's core beliefs guiding him.

I can't imagine Ronald Reagan ever considered himself being possessor of a "mantle" over which others would conceivably wrestle ... simply because he was at the task, day by day, of being Ronald Reagan. (He'd have been unable to focus on the responsibilities of the day if he'd allowed himself to be distracted by what "history" might say about him.)

In his farewell address, Reagan stated: "... when I'm gone, I hope [history] will record I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts." Classic Reagan ... in being who he was, he brought out the best of who we were. That's why the remarkable "Reagan mantle" will never quite fit anyone else who tries to claim it.

Instead of trying to claim Reagan's mantle, wouldn't it be refreshing for one of them to confidently craft his (or her) own?

The Reagan Legacy

It's the political season. (It has been for what ... the last 3,000 days? But I digress.) Despite disapprobation from uber-partisans, even Democrat candidate Barack Obama has sought to tap into the mystical mantle of Ronald Reagan! Obama observed how Reagan "changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not." (View video here.)

Uh-oh. Obama could've gotten away with the first half of his sentence. But he crossed the line into Democrat heresy by daring to slam Bill Clinton!

[ASIDE: Therein lies one explanation for people's disdain toward politics in general and the incessant complaint of "too much partisanship." Perverting Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment ("Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican"), those who criticized Obama's comments live by another maxim: "speak no good of anyone who has an (R) after his name."]

I respect Barack Obama for conceding Ronald Reagan, as a person and in his capacity as President, is worthy of admiration for his noteworthy accomplishments.

(Reagan himself successfully transcended a good bit of the usual political party orthodoxy. In my view, his success in doing so was the direct result of Reagan's refusal to sacrifice core values. Instead, he allowed inner conviction to trump political orthodoxy and expedience.)

The rest of Obama's comments on Reagan are equally interesting ... and curious. "[Reagan] put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

Remember the malaise of the Jimmy Carter years? Yes, Reagan did take a "fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it." Ready? I'll say!

CHANGE seems to be the dominant theme of Obama's campaign, so this statement from him sounds curiously ... well, conservative ... when he speaks about how "government had grown and grown" and people were yearning for clarity, optimism and "a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing." Wow! A Democrat who views big government as troublesome, perhaps even problematic? Who'd a-thunk it?

Indeed, Ronald Reagan "changed the trajectory of America" and in doing so, left his mark on many of us — regardless of party affiliations. Reagan's unique clarity of vision enabled us to grasp the Rendezvous with Destiny he articulated. His irrepressible optimism mirrored the heart and soul of the American spirit.

History will confirm the breadth of Reagan's legacy; a lone Democrat has — at long last — acknowledged it.