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‘Proven lessons of President Reagan’

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12:58 PM Friday, November 13, 2009

What a difference a president makes. The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was just celebrated in Germany. What an incredible moment in history.

How did this occur? I remember laughing when President (Ronald) Reagan gave the speech saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Lo and behold, the wall came down. Nobody laughed anymore.

Within hours of President Reagan taking the oath of office, the Iranians released the American hostages who had been held hostage for 444 days under President (Jimmy) Carter. Carter always wanted to negotiate with someone to solve problems. Carter always wanted to talk.

The Iranians, on the other hand, were so afraid of Reagan that they sent the hostages home without discussion. Why? Because they knew that Reagan wouldn’t just talk; he would act.

President Reagan met with (Mikhail) Gorbachev in Iceland. Reagan didn’t get what he wanted and walked away. We could have had nuclear disarmament. I remembered the pundits at the time saying that Reagan was bringing us to the brink of World War III. The result? The Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain collapsed. President Reagan didn’t just talk; he acted.

Now we have President (Barack) Obama who, like President Carter, loves to talk. He wants the world to love us. He wants to negotiate. He thinks that, because of his charm, he will get his way. ... His foreign policy record to date? A big fat zero. We’re still involved in two wars. Afghanistan is getting worse. ...

Your supporters keep talking about hope and change we can believe in. Mr. Obama, maybe if you learned some of the proven lessons of President Reagan, (you would learn that) talk alone is not sufficient. You must also be prepared to act. Someday, if you ever learn this lesson, you might be a better president. ...

Hall M. Thompson

Hamilton

After four years of Carter’s sweater wearing, acquiescent style it’s clear that Reagan restored this nation as the leader among this world’s nations. Obama seems to want just a seat at the table, the actions of which will negatively reverberate economically long after his term in office expires.
Acquiescence isn’t Leadership
10:20 AM, 11/17/2009 REPORT ABUSE
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Which was after the Nixon and Ford "nightmares." I'd take Carter ANYTIME over Nixon and Ford AND Reagan. Carter didn't lie.
EasyAces
10:39 AM, 11/19/2009
After four years of Carter’s sweater wearing, acquiescent style it’s clear that Reagan restored this nation as the leader among this world’s nations. Obama seems to want just a seat at the table, the actions of which will negatively reverberate economically long after his term in office expires.
Acquiescence isn’t Leadership
10:20 AM, 11/17/2009
Ronnie, you are correct in your post. People think Reagan was a great President. What they do not know is that his wife, Nancy made many decisions in the White House, especially during his 2nd term. Reagan was the President who happened to be in office when the Berlin Wall came down. He didn't bring it down. The Iranian Hostage situation was decided in "behind the scenes" deals to unseat Carter, put Reagan in office for "future" considerations. Reagan was not as great as people think he was.
Scott
5:21 PM, 11/16/2009
That's because good old Ronnie was a CROOK!!! Remember his famous line..."We don't negotiate with terrorists!" What did he do? Sold our weapons to terrorist countries to fund the overthrowing of another government! Then when called on it he says..."Oh I can't recall"! He found A DISGRACE of a Marine - Oliver North - to be the fall guy, so now Ollie is CONVICTED FELON who is on Fox News with the other dirtbags on there! If you recall G. Gordon Liddy is another republican CROOK!
ronnie
11:09 AM, 11/15/2009
Mr. Thompson's history will record that in the eight years of Reagan's presidency no meteors or comets hit any metropolitan areas of the US. I guess that Ronnie gets credit for that too?
Paul
8:23 AM, 11/15/2009
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