Anticommunism's Triple Threat A joint biography of Reagan, John Paul II and Thatcher

Opinion Journal ^ | 12/27/06 | THOMAS J. BRAY

[Valin]

It was, as they say, a close-run thing. Within the brief space of 26 months, attempts on the lives of the three leaders who would see the curtain ring down on Soviet communism--Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher--failed. If any one of the killers had succeeded, history might have turned out very different.

That's the thesis of John O'Sullivan's "The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister," and it's hard to dispute. The British-born Mr. O'Sullivan, currently editor-at-large of National Review and a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute, covered the Reagan presidency as a Washington journalist, wrote frequently about John Paul II and served as a special adviser to Lady Thatcher. He weaves the major strands of their lives together in a highly readable--and mercifully concise--fashion.

[VOA]

That's the thesis of John O'Sullivan's "The President, the Pope, and
the Prime Minister," and it's hard to dispute.

I've seen O'Sullivan's interviewed about his book on BookTV (C-Span2;
weekends).

An interesting thing is he shows that while the Soviets understood their
problem when a Pole became Pope (i.e., that they had to contend with
a nation with real religious fervor)...
The NY Times was totally clueless about how JPII would stoke the
anti-Communism fires in Poland.

No difference with today when the NY Times fails to understand
militant Islam or American Christianity.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[Salvation]

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[Armando Guerra]

From the article:

And then there was Sen. Edward Kennedy's disgraceful visit to the Kremlin in early 1986 after Reagan had returned home in triumph from the Geneva Summit, where both sides pledged, in principle, to reduce nuclear arms. Mr. O'Sullivan cites a secret report by the deputy head of the Soviets' International Department that became available after the fall of the Soviet Union. In it, Mr. Kennedy is alleged to have expressed the thought that, "from the Democrats' point of view, all of this is very bad." He warned the Soviets that Reagan might "abuse a good thing for bad purposes," entering into arms-reduction dialogue while still pursuing "military preparations." The senator expressed his willingness "to suggest some specific ideas" to "keep increasing pressure on the administration." In a footnote, Mr. O'Sullivan notes that Sen. Kennedy's office says he had a "close working relationship" with the White House during his Kremlin visits.

Why he still keeps being re-elected and has not been tried for treason instead is a mystery to me.

[trisham]

The book cites a Soviet note-taker's admiring assessment of Reagan during the lengthy, exhausting talks: "He is like a lion! When lion see antelope on the horizon, he is not interested, he go to sleep. Ten feet away, too much, leave it. Eight feet, the lion suddenly comes to life!"

[Valin]

Stupidity?

[Incorrigible]

Amen