America – triumphing over darkness

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A REAGAN FOURTH OF JULY
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Monday, 04 July 2011
Grosvenor Square, London

2011 is the centennial year of Ronald Reagan’s birth, which is why this Fourth of July brings tears to my eyes like never before.

This morning at Grosvenor Square in front of the American Embassy in London, England, I was privileged to be at the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan, and heard him praised as one of the most beloved men and finest presidents in US history.

Yet it was not simply the praise of past greatness that was so inspiring – it was the optimism for America’s future.  Condoleezza Rice spoke so clearly of the moral certainty of Ronald Reagan in his goal of ridding the world of Soviet Communism – a goal in which he so triumphantly succeeded.

We forget how dark those days were, she said, when at the onset of the Reagan presidency the Soviets were on the verge of victory over us and hope of our winning the Cold War seemed ridiculously Pollyannish.

What we need right now, said Condi, is an infusion of Ronald Reagan’s unquenchable optimism that America’s best days are in her future, not her past, that a moral certainty in America’s principles and values will triumph over darkness.

Condi is right.  This is exactly what we need on this Fourth of July.  Zero will never get a statue in any of the world’s great capitals.  He will never be lauded and revered as Reagan was this morning.  He will be despised as a ludicrous failure, forgotten at the bottom of the presidential barrel along with (and below) Jimmy Carter.

If President Reagan were with us today, he would look upon headlines like the one on Drudge today – The United States of Gloom– with talk about “widespread pessimism… unprecedented uncertainty and self doubt” as a nation, shake his head, and tell us this is absurd.  If America could defeat the Soviet Union and win the Cold War, there should be little doubt it can defeat a bunch of pathetically incompetent Democrats.

The nation that defeated the greatest superpower of its day, England, to win its independence;  the nation that cleaned Hitler’s and Tojo’s clock;  the nation that eliminated the very existence of the Soviet Union, is going to be destroyed by some empty suit community organizer who can’t give a speech without a Teleprompter, never run a corner store, and has no experience in anything whatsoever??

This is a joke, right?

The joke is on Zero and it’s about time we began treating him as one.  Reagan is a towering giant.  Zero is a midget, a midget of history.

July 4th is Freedom’s Birthday. It’s not just America’s Birthday, but Freedom’s – the birth of the recognition that every individual human being has the moral right not to be tyrannized by some king or potentate, but has the moral right to his own individual personal liberty.

And we are not going to let that birthright of freedom be stolen by some grinning schmuck who hates us for it.    We are going to win it anew.

My suggestion is, amidst the fireworks and barbeques and flag-waving fun – all of which is great – that you take the time to feel good about America.

Put aside your worries and concerns, your frustrations and fears about what’s wrong with America. For one day, forget the negative – put it all in a zip-lock bag, hide it in the back of the freezer, and pretend it doesn’t exist.

Let’s have a fearless Fourth of July. Freedom and patriotism will triumph in November, 2012, and America will begin its moral regeneration. There is so much to feel good about being American. There is so much to celebrate on Freedom’s Birthday.

The best speech of this morning was delivered not by an American, but by a Brit – British Foreign Secretary (equivalent to our Secretary of State) William Hague.  It is a tribute worthy of Ronald Reagan.  Now we need to be worthy of him.  Have Reagan Fourth of July.

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