Against All Odds Part 2

Last month, I like many others watched as ten presidential hopefuls strutted their stuff on stage at the Ronald Reagan Library. While CNN’s Chris Mathews tossed questions ranging from predictable to off the wall the inevitable Reagan name dropping began. During the course of that evening each of the candidates mentioned Reagan’s name and attempted to align them with the Reagan “legacy”. There was however a single exception. Ron Paul, libertarian Republican from Texas. Not once that night did Paul mention Reagan.

 It was not until the second debate in South Carolina, that Paul brought up Reagan. In describing the “irrationality” of middle eastern politics, and making the case for non-intervention there, Paul cited Reagan’s reflections on the attack in Beruit that killed 241 US Marines stationed there. Paul then reminded us that in spite of his promise that we would not turn tail and leave Beirut, Reagan later did just that. Following a re-evaluation of the situation in Beirut, Reagan corrected what he had come to see as a mistake and pulled the US out of Beirut.

 Eluding to the Iraq war, which he opposed from the beginning, Paul closed by saying “We need the courage of a Ronald Reagan”.

 Some may not know this, but when Ronald Reagan, ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976, it was Ron Paul who led the Texas delegation in support of Reagan. Reagan of course won the nomination and the election in 1980.

 As a teenager, I cast my first presidential vote for Ronald Reagan and have always had a certain nostalgic view of him. It was after all Reagan’s words (rhetorical or not) that encouraged my skepticism of “government programs”. It was Reagan that compared politics to prostitution, it was Reagan who developed a message that Freedom and Prosperity would be the natural consequences of smaller, less intrusive government. And it was Reagan who talked of an America that would emerge from the overcast political and economic climate of the 1970’s as the city on the hill, and example of freedom for the world to see, and hopefully emulate.

 In his words, Reagan blended the small government libertarian views of Goldwater with a passionate optimism for the future and some tough talk against those “commie bastards” I learned about in our government schools. For anyone who remembers “fallout shelters” you know that by the first or second grade it was clear who the enemy was. So as I reached official adult hood, Reagan was my man. True he was no longer the under dog he was when Ron Paul led the Texas delegation on his behalf, but as Reagan’s second term came upon us there was, at least for a young adult like myself a feeling of optimism. I grew up hearing about “inflation” and gas rationing.

 In my young mind, the defining moment of a new decade was in 1980, at the end of Jimmy Carter’s term of office, the amateur USA Olympic hockey team pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history, defeating the big, bad, professional, communist Soviet team in what would become known as the “miracle on ice”. And later of course Reagan would demand that Gorbachev “tear down this wall” (video).

 There is of course no more “ Soviet Union”, we alone are the world super power (for the moment). As a reaction to a neglected immigration policy, we find ourselved contemplating the construction of our own walls. Our amateur  olympic teams were in large part replaced with “Dream Teams” of proffessional players who often won gold medals in a cakewalk. We have openly adopted a policy that has transformed the “city on the hill” into the center of a supposed “benevolent”, and arguably declining, empire. And perhaps, I wonder, American’s may have lost their affection for the “underdog”.

 Years and facts have tempered some of my admiration for Reagan, but he certainly said many of the right things and those things he said had a lasting impact on me. Recall too, this statement to Reason Magazine in 1975 when then Governor Reagan said:

“If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism… The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.”

 Reagan of course oversaw the real beginning of unbridled deficit spending that planted the seeds for the big government conservatism we see today. While some of this can be blamed on the Democratic Congress of the time, it is clear that Reagan justified Government excess. Nonetheless an element of my nostalgia for Reagan remains and perhaps more importantly, for those we wish to reach with the Ron Paul message, it remains even stronger.

 Thus, I shall step perhaps beyond the bounds of good judgment and say that I believe that had Reagan had the benefit of twenty five years of history regarding his own policies, he would be even more libertarian today than he was in 1975 and throughout his presidency. And though I cannot prove it, I cannot help but wonder if Reagan might not just have felt compelled to endorse Ron Paul for President.

 And so with this thought in mind, I leave you with a couple of photos that were passed along to me. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.