Posted on 06/04/2006 2:24:14 PM PDT by nuconvert
Bush is the Next Reagan
Jun 4, 2006
Slater Bakhtavar - Persian Journal
The same people who heavily criticized former President Reagan for his tough stance against Communism and for his aggressive push for democracy in Eastern Europe are now attacking President Bush for his tough stance against fundamentalism and his aggressive push for democracy in the Middle East.
-They argued then that Communism would never fall - it did They argue now that Islamic Fundamentalism will never fall - it will
-They argued then that the Soviet Union is too strong - it wasn't
They argue now that the insurgency is too strong - it isn't
-They argued that Reagans vision of democracy in East Europe would never work - it did
They argue now that Bushs vision of democracy for the mid-east would never work - it will
They argued then that Reagans evil empire speech was a failure - it wasn't
They argue now that Bushs axis of evil speech is a failure - it won't be
-They argued then that former soviet bloc countries wouldn't embrace democracy - they did
They argue now that middle east countries would never embrace democracy - they will
-They argued then that Eastern Europeans nations would never be our allies - they are
They argue now that middle eastern countries will never be our allies - they will be
-They argued then that people without God could never embrace democracy - they did
They argue now that Muslims will never embrace democracy - they will
-They argued then that President Reagan was unrealistic - he wasn't
They argue now that President Bush is unrealistic - he'll prove he isn't
-They argued then democracy isn't universal to former Communists - it was
They argue now democracy isn't universal to Middle Easterners - it will be
-They argued then that funding of pro-democracy groups in Eastern European countries won't work - it did
They argue now that funding of pro-democracy groups won't work in the Middle East - it will
The same exact critcism was directed at Reagan. The future will be the judge of President Bush and my guess is that he will be judged as the Great Liberator of the Middle East.
"You seem more than willing to engage in speculation when it suits you"
Again, do not attack me personally. If my opinion doesn't suit you, then disagree.
I speculate thusly because GWB's solutions are typically rooted in Big Government. I expect his future actions to be similarly structured. Of course I could be wrong, but I don't think he will change, as he is famously stubborn, for better, or (in this case) for worse.
Bingo!
you are the one who thinks so much of himself that he judges another by WHAT HE THINKS WILL HAPPEN!!! I judged your opinion by your own words! And by stating that there were people like who who thought the very same thing about post war germany and japan, and i was judging you BY WHAT I THINK YOUR RELATIVES were like, since that is where we get who we are as a person....don't like that do you. What is the difference in what you are doing to President Bush and what I was doing to you??? Or is your opinion the only one written in marble?
This is truly rare. "Lincoln, Reagan became great by actually solving a problem unambiguously." Aren't we still working out the ambiguities of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation?
My Reps Burr, Dole and Hayes seem good to me. How about yours?
(Sometimes I need to be slapped upside the head about trying to deal with these deliberate mockers).
Once again...the point you bring up about Reagan's presidency is winning the cold war...
But, for Bush's you bring up immigration...
REAGAN SET THE PRECEDENT FOR AMNESTY...
Don't you ever say I'm Bushbashing you 29%er.
I disagree with many of his policies, I don't dislike the man, I dislike his policies and think thet are about to take the GOP down the tube.
U feel me!
Codswallop!
"I agree Afganistan will be a disaster if we remove our funding. But ask Isreal (3 billion) and Egypt (1 billion) how they are doing?"
Start a thread on Israel and Egypt. ping me, I'll participate.
On Egypt and Israel, GWB merely continued the momentum of previous policy, so it is irrelevant to this discussion, I believe, as it doesn't affect his place in history.
They go there for reinforcement, and then come here to try to divide and conquer.
AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!!
We have some good people in the Congress, in the House, particularly. My goal is to send them reinforcements, from wherever we can find them.
Again I disagree. I love the fact that he is battleing the Islamofacists, I love the fact that he is fighting to keep taxes low and I love Alito and Roberts. His policies are at least 60/40... I'd argue 80/20
Amen EV Amen
Great article. Great President.
Newt dropped the baton early on in '95.
By the end of '95 Newt was sitting on it. Few in the country liked him. The Clintons and the MSM had successfully demonized him. Conservatism was in ruins.
To say that Newton high-handed the baton to Bush is revisionism.
I said that you felt free to speculate if it made President Bush looked bad.
You did just that, so you obviously do. That's not even close to being an 'attack.'
Regarding big government, I agree that President Bush uses government itself to accomplish conservative goals.
Perhaps that's because he learned from Reagan's (failed) attempts to cut government, and has decided that realistically, the way to win the fight for conservatism is to restructure and reform government to accomplish conservative goals.
Reagan began his fight against communism in the 40's and had many decades to think about how to handle the challenge. In the end, I believe he adopted Casper Weinberger's strategy of the arms build up to bankrupt the communists.
We are learning on the job in the WOT fight as we are learning on the job how to fight insurgents and infiltrators in Iraq. We didn't have decades to ponder the subject and thinktank our strategies.
In the Revolutionary War, in the Civil War, and in WWII, Washington, Lincoln and FDR did a lot of the same thing.
What made all of them respected by historians as great was that they never gave up. They believed in total victory and kept going till they found the winning strategy.
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