“HEY BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE A TIME?”: REAGAN RETHOUGHT

Several years ago, many people sought to replace the dime image of Franklin Roosevelt with Ronald Regan. Conservative Bruce Walker said, “Franklin Roosevelt was a nebish, a frat brat, a Clinton.” Roosevelt did nothing to keep the Nazis from rising to power in Europe. I guess it would have been better to have Wendell Willkie and his isolationist policies then the Nazi problem would have gone away.
Regan on the other hand was a great American who won the Cold War and defended classic American values. He also made America a safer place with muscled rugged individualism. Yet, if you look at key parts of his record I might challenge this.
For the sake of this argument I wish to look at his international record. Therefore I will not mention or go into his domestic policies. You know like blaming trees for pollution, or blaming unemployment on women in the workforce, or trying to get ketchup as a vegetable in school lunch. And, I will ignore how unsafe he made air travel by firing the Air Traffic Controllers. I will also ignore the Left’s common practice of pointing out people’s grammatical issues in extemporaneous speech. (I guarantee I mess up as much as Dan Quayle in my everyday speech.)
So for the international record, let us look at what Reagan did.

Reagan Won the Cold War

If you say this enough times people may actually believe it. In fact, Reagan followed the same policy of containment that every president from Truman to Carter also followed. Some met with success, like Truman and Eisenhower in Korea, or Nixon in China. Some met with failure like Eisenhower and Kennedy in Cuba and Viet Nam and then Johnson and Nixon failing miserably in Viet Nam. But, he did not do any more than any of these other presidents. To claim that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War is like saying Truman and Clement Atlee won World War II since they delivered the knockout blows to Japan. Reagan did do his part, but based on a long tradition of bipartisan strategy dating back to the Long Telegram of 1946.

Russia

When Reagan entered the presidency, in the Kremlin, there was an authoritarian regime that controlled the industry of the country. The regime also suppressed nationalism through out its domain. And, the government rigged elections by limiting the balloting and denying freedom of the press.
Today, however, in the Kremlin, there is an authoritarian regime that controls the industry of the country. The regime also suppresses nationalism through out its domain. And, the government rigs elections by limiting the balloting and denying freedom of the press.

Iran

When Reagan entered the presidency, in Tehran, there was a religious fundamentalist regime. The fundamentalist regime, supported terrorism and threatened the United States. It also sought to destabilize American allies in the Persian Gulf for its own religious and political purposes. And, The regime supported a terrorist group in Lebanon whose number one goal was the destruction of Israel.
Today, however, in Tehran, there is a religious fundamentalist regime. The fundamentalist regime, supports terrorism and threatens the United States. It also seeks to destabilize American allies in the Persian Gulf for its own religious and political purposes. And, the regime supports a terrorist group in Lebanon whose number one goal is the destruction of Israel. PLUS, it is close to getting nuclear weapons.

Nicaragua

When Reagan entered the Presidency, in Managua Daniel Ortega was president. His Sandinistas were posed to attempt to use their leftist policies to help the workers of Nicaragua. They were reelected in the fairest election Nicaragua ever had (admittedly, this was still not a fair election), despite the US campaigning for another candidate.
Today, however, in Managua Daniel Ortega is president. His Sandinistas are posed to attempt to use their leftist policies to help the workers of Nicaragua. They were elected in the fairest election Nicaragua ever had, despite the US campaigning for another candidate.

Afghanistan

Thank God his support of Osama bin-Laden solved that problem!

The Dime

So, the dime probably shouldn’t be where I next see Reagan’s face. How about the fifty? After all, did Grant really win the Civil War? I mean he was a drunken frat boy who did nothing to keep the South from seceding!

Congratulations, Now Do Something

Dear Democratic Party,

Congratulations to the Democratic Party in its sweeping victory at the polls this Tuesday. For far too long the strength of the Republicans in Congress has made traditional American values null and void. Now, Dems, do something!
First let us get some things pretty straight.

The Democratic Party did not lose the 2000 election because 97,419 people in Florida voted for Ralph Nader. It was the 48 percent of Americans you could not convince that the Republican Party was bad for America.

The Democratic Party has not lost election after election because its values are not shared by the American People. The Democratic Party just cannot express its complex values in simple terms, so people just don’t get it.

The Democratic Party is not un-Patriotic. It just merely seems that way when you can’t convince the majority of voters in Georgia that Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Viet Nam, is un-American.

The Democratic Party is not losing the culture wars because it is too liberal. It is losing the culture wars because it is fighting the wrong battles.

All that now said, where does it go from here? Fighting the right battles with the right terminology is where to start. In 1994, over 60 percent of Americans believed the Federal Government should end Welfare. Yet, over 70 percent of Americans believed that the Federal Government should help the poor. Does this mean if you were pro-Welfare you were wrong? NO! That means that at least 30 percent of the people had no idea what they were talking about.
So the issues have been shown to not matter whether you are right or wrong but whether you can sell it. So now the Democrats must DO SOMETHING, as opposed to blaming the Republicans and Greens. I have a suggested 5-point plan:

1. Minimum Wage. $5.15/hr is not a living wage! Over a 40-hour week, that is $208.00 a week. Over 20 states have minimum wages over the national minimum. It is time to join hands with moderate Republicans in those states and increase the national wage. Two suggestions to it: First set two minimums one for workers 14-18 and another for those over 18. Secondly, chain it to inflation or a relevant estimate thereof.
2. Education. The United States deserves to have the best education system in the world. Yet, it does not. Increasingly even manufacturing jobs that stay in the country require more sophisticated skills that are neither taught in schools nor tested for on the standardized tests.
Someone once told me that the problems with schools were not the amount of money or quality of teacher, but the students. He said, “If you have the possibility to do school, you have to take advantage of it.” Now I ask those who think that the problem with schools is the students. If I bought a Yugo would it be as good as a Mercedes? No, you get what you pay for. Its time we protected our students futures, and pay up.
3. Fair Trade over Free Trade. I have often argued that the poor South of the world should be given fair trade. But, so do the typical American Workers. In the past thirty-five years wealth has become more stratified in the US. As jobs go overseas, the typical blue-collar worker is doing more for less money, despite tremendous growth in the US economy. Stop shipping jobs overseas to Authoritarian regimes in China and Burma. Let’s keep some of those jobs here, especially if your not going to pay for children to learn the skills to get good jobs.
4. Repeal the Patriot Act. Since the Alien and Seditions Acts, there has never been a document that flew in the face of American Values as the Patriot Act. Wire tapping, unlawful arrests, denials of speedy trials all fly in the face of our values as documented by the Bill of Rights. Oh wait, a terrorist can still buy a gun real easy – 1 out of 10 is not a good batting average.
5. Universal Healthcare. In its history the United States has built a railroad across the country, stopped the spread of Hitler, developed the largest economy in the history of the world, and put a man on the moon. You’re telling me we can’t guarantee every person can go to the doctor twice a year?
Now, I’m sure the Democrats will not actually listen to me. But, you got two years to get moving. Start with the easy one, minimum wage. Then people will see that Democrats have the best interest of their every day lives in mind.