Posted on 04/09/2007 8:55:39 AM PDT by IrishMike
O'Sullivan begins his admirable study by making the arresting point that the times seemed to have by-passed Reagan, Thatcher, and Karol Wojtyla, who embodied such seemingly "fading" virtues as faith, self-reliance, and patriotism. But the unexpected death of the Italian John Paul I led to the election of the Polish John Paul II in 1978; Jimmy Carter's monumental ineptitude at home and abroad prepared the way for a conservative alternative in Reagan in 1980; and Britain's accelerating economic decline coupled with a series of often violent strikes in the winter of 1978-79 brought the country to the edge of anarchy. Thatcher offered a strong purgative -- economic liberty, traditional Christian values, patriotism, and a strong attachment to the United States and like-minded nations -- In the ensuing chapters, O'Sullivan deftly traces the interactive careers of the three leaders. There were, for example, the attempted assassinations: Reagan narrowly escaped death at the hand of John Hinckley on March 30, 1981; John Paul II barely survived an attempted assassination only 43 days later, on May 13. Three years later, on October 12, 1984, Thatcher miraculously escaped an IRA bomb intended to kill her unscathed (five people died in the blast). Not widely understood at the time was that both Reagan and John Paul II almost died from their wounds. Each, according to O'Sullivan, had the same explanation for his survival: "One hand fired and another hand guided the bullet."
All three individuals were self-confident charismatic leaders who achieved greatness through dedication and hard work. Each believed that he had been created for a purpose. For Reagan it was to hasten and bring about the collapse of Communism. For John Paul II (at least in the political realm) it was his diplomatic offensive for religious liberty behind the Iron Curtain, especially in Poland.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Three of the most inspirational people in modern history. Back when Ronnie and Maggie were in charge no one dared mess with either of us. Libya and Argentina both found out the hard way.
I believe that book title was already taken. I did a paper for an “isms” class once and may main source was a book titled, Three Who Made a Revolution. The “Three referred to Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. It really was a good book, which I combed many times cover-to-cover.
This one sounds pretty good two, as the one trumps the other.
One problem the Democrats have today is that they have no one that has the guts to stand up to any aggressor. They just want to talk and that’s like talking to a school bully...........it does no good at all. Only way to handle a bully or dictator is to take them down. We have lost that will to succeed and the socialists understand that. The Republicans need to hunker down and get things done or they are out of the picture.
Mike if you believe Godfather 3 the movie you know the Pope was done in by the Mafia LOL!
I always call them the one, two,three knockout for the Soviets.
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