Posted on 06/07/2004 12:26:37 PM PDT by Pyro7480
AMERICA'S GANDALF [Jonah Goldberg]
From a reader:
Jonah (Goldberg), This will perhaps sound cheesy, but I've always thought of Reagan as America's Gandalf. If you read the Silmarillion--and pay careful attention to passages about Gandalf in LOTR--you learn that Gandalf is a figure sent to bring hope, encouragement, and wisdom to Middle Earth as it faced it's Great Enemy:
“Other evils may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." --Tolkien, LOTR (Bk. V, Ch. 9, p. 190).
"They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that "the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits -- not animals." And he said, "There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." -- Ronald Reagan
I was about 11 years old when Ronald Reagan took office and I will never forget the enthusiasm, the courage, the childlike joy that he conveyed to, and surely instilled in, my heart.
Best wishes to you & your family,
[Name withheld]
Wow. Never quite thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.
A colleague of mine is speculating that this was written by Hillsdale College history professor Bradley Birzer, a noted Tolkien historian and avid admirer of Reagan.
Tolkien ping!
Ping, Louie. Reagan the Red-White-and-Blue Wizard? Works for me.
Ring ping ping!
SO, is W Aragorn, or Frodo then?
I dunno... but I think it makes Kerry into Grima (Saruman's little henchman who asks his nation to appease evil).
Oh, and Michael Moore into the Cave Troll (though that comparison is pretty much non fiction anyway).
The scouring of the Shire remains to us...
You can stay the course with me and continue the fight for freedom, liberty, and the defeat of evil, or you can vote for my opponent, who's idea of accomplishing peace is to appease those who seek our destruction, who seek to destroy your freedoms and liberty and turn over the governing of this republic to those in the United Nations.
Those are your choices. They are simple choices. You either embrace freedom and liberty or you embrace socialism, communism and government by a so-called elite few who think that only the UN can successfully make those decisions. This country has survived for over 225 years without the UN making those decisions. Do you really think we need to change our form of government now? The choice is yours in November. Vote for whomever you trust with your life.
The shining city on the hill is the shining wizard on the white horse.
I thought Mikey was Smaug's overweight brother Laurd.
No doubt you ment that Moore was She-Lob. A large, fat, hulking thing that bleeds poison and smells awful.
bttt
Well said.
I had the supreme honor of meeting President Reagan in person. I am also a Tolkien fan.
I am respectfully laughing at the moment, because on Sat. evening I commented to my daughter that now I know how Frodo must have felt when he thought Gandalf had died! She quickly responded, mom, are you okay!
I told her that Pres. Reagan was such a great leader and a man of honor and integrity, he always gave you that feeling of being safe...like Gandalf's character.
Middle-earth ping.
Definitely, Reagan is Gandalf ... and, Dumbledore.
Me? I'm justa muggle.
Oh, that's such a good idea! Now I'll get to go read everything AGAIN, picturing Gandalf as President Reagan. Sorta like when I re-envisioned Elrond as Sam Neill.
Waiting for 'Ronald the White...'
I felt precisely the same.
I'm jealous. I've been wearing my GOP pin since I heard the news. I'd hate to tell you who gave me the pin.
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