Posted on 06/10/2004 9:20:55 PM PDT by Tamzee
GDANSK, Poland--When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal. We in Poland took him so personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty. This can't be said often enough by people who lived under oppression for half a century, until communism fell in 1989.
Poles fought for their freedom for so many years that they hold in special esteem those who backed them in their struggle. Support was the test of friendship. President Reagan was such a friend. His policy of aiding democratic movements in Central and Eastern Europe in the dark days of the Cold War meant a lot to us. We knew he believed in a few simple principles such as human rights, democracy and civil society. He was someone who was convinced that the citizen is not for the state, but vice-versa, and that freedom is an innate right.
I often wondered why Ronald Reagan did this, taking the risks he did, in supporting us at Solidarity, as well as dissident movements in other countries behind the Iron Curtain, while pushing a defense buildup that pushed the Soviet economy over the brink. Let's remember that it was a time of recession in the U.S. and a time when the American public was more interested in their own domestic affairs. It took a leader with a vision to convince them that there are greater things worth fighting for. Did he seek any profit in such a policy? Though our freedom movements were in line with the foreign policy of the United States, I doubt it.
(snipped)
--Mr. Walesa, winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, was president of Poland from 1990 to 1995.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
But the poster had the opposite impact: Cowboys in Western clothes had become a powerful symbol for Poles. Cowboys fight for justice, fight against evil, and fight for freedom, both physical and spiritual. Solidarity trounced the Communists in that election, paving the way for a democratic government in Poland. It is always so touching when people bring this poster up to me to autograph it. They have cherished it for so many years and it has become the emblem of the battle that we all fought together.
Bump!
I sure think more highly of the Polish people than I do the selfish French. The true colors of France are starting to get very very clear. Selfish self centered country, it's all about me, me, me. No wonder they like the crass gigolo.
Maybe we should do more to help them? Poland has about half the population of France, that should be enough to out produce them easily.
One of my favorite pictures.
Wonderful article (wiping away the tears).
We won that war. It was not without cost.
We were not allowed to count the costs, and mourn our dead, at the time.
####
So true, and it irritates me when I hear the mantra of "winning the cold war without firing a shot." The leftists try to make it sound like the doofus in the White house or at his ranch was "just lucky," and events "just happened."
Without Reagan, the freedom movements of Eastern Europe would have been crushed as in 1956 and 1968. The Western response would have consisted of handwringing, crocodile tears, and protests to the UN. God Bless Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Including every National Guard pilot who died flying a dangerous supersonic interceptor jet. They all died fighting in the same Cold War. It was one war, from 1945 to 1990.
If the Carters, Clintons and Kerrys had been President, the Soviet Union would still be intact, and Eastern Europe and Nicaragua would still be communist. Probably a lot of the rest of Central and South America too: Peru, El Salvador etc. Or go back to Chile: a 'rat president would have had no problem propping up Allende, instead of helping to take him out.
Lech Walesa, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II. Giants all. And we knew it at the time. Their legacies have only increased over time.
I was reading an article in Readers' Digest a few months ago written by the speech writer who penned that line. The line was taken out and put back in several times. Various departments wanted to water down the statement.
In the end, RR gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up 8-)
so I call on FReepers to continue. . . .Consider it done, of course ! :^D
Ronald Wilson Reagan, by defeating communism, gave these rights to enslaved populations of central and eastern Europe. Ask the populations of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, East Germany and Poland. Abraham Lincoln will always be remembered as the Great Emancipator, but Ronald Reagan freed many more people than Lincoln ever did.
Exactly so. Reagan gave that to the people who had been oppressed by Communism, just as W will give it to those oppressed by radical Muslim regimes, if we have the courage to support him.
Thanks for the tagline, Mr. Walesa.
BTTT!!!
I, too, have continued to pray over the years for the blood spilt by unsung heros so that these peoples might go free.
Every time I hear "bloodless" I know that there are lists in all the nations of those who gave their lives for the wellbeing of others. May God reward them for we may not.
I pray the God will raise up such in Iraq who will stand for what is right and what is good.
Change the picture of Walesa to Larry Flynt and you will have Bill Clinton's funeral.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.