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May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
June 8, 2004
/ 19 Sivan, 5764
Exit, smiling
By
Debra J. Saunders
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Ronald Reagan was a fluke. His career could have peaked as a local sports announcer, or as a B-movie leading man, or later as a career-going-nowhere actor new to the rubber-chicken circuit and touting conservative politics, or as the actor who stumbled into the governor's office. Unlike his critics, he didn't see his many limitations, and so he became the leader of the free world.
Reagan has little in common with the men considered the great figures who have shaped history. He wasn't martial, single-minded or ruthless. He didn't show off his intellect; he wasn't self-aggrandizing; he wasn't a user of women. His first wife divorced him, she said, because he bored her. People who worked with him described him as kind, polite and courtly.
He was distinctly American, and therein rests his greatness. A man of humble beginnings, he worked for everything he had. He ignored the whispers that warned that if he sought to rise too high he might fail and so kept reaching for the stars. As he said in 1992, "We were meant to be masters of destiny, not victims of fate."
In the very American tradition of the citizen-politician, Reagan ran for office only after he had succeeded in Hollywood. Critics would continue to dismiss him as an actor, a puppet who regurgitated words printed on index cards. When their jibes failed to dent his popularity, they came to call him the Great Communicator. Even that salute carried with it the snippy hint that Reagan could communicate but not necessarily think or govern.
Those who loved Reagan understood that he was a great communicator because he espoused great ideas. He believed in Americans, in their ability to do good things and in their personal enterprise. His proud legacy within these borders is that he inspired Americans to believe in their country again as he restored morale to a battered military.
Most important, Reagan changed the face of global politics. When the American president appealed to the Soviet leader, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," the rightness of the message resonated — even on a continent that considered Reagan to be dangerously naive, dangerously aggressive or both. No matter. Today, the wall is crumbled, and Gorbachev's homeland is called Russia.
Reagan's legacy also includes the illegal and downright boneheaded Iran-Contra affair (for which there is no excuse), an excursion into Lebanon that left 241 Marines dead for no apparent foreign-policy objective other than good intentions, and a big fat deficit that belied Reagan's balanced-budget rhetoric.
Yet his successes were great. As Hoover Institution fellow Bill Whalen noted, Reagan "moved the political center to the right of center." Thus, Bill Clinton had to run as a centrist Democrat — touting a middle-class tax cut, welfare reform and support for the death penalty. Even John Kerry, Whalen observed, now must exhibit centrist credentials.
Reagan's genius is that he prevailed in part because he was underestimated and underrated. Critics dismissed him as an intellectual lightweight who napped, eschewed detail and failed to convey compassion for America's poor.
I remember buying into the then-popular belief that Vice President George H.W. Bush, with his resume, his experience and his education, would take conservatism up a notch. When Bush talked of a "kinder, gentler" America at the Republican Convention in 1988, I nodded in approval, thinking that he meant kinder and gentler, but also smarter, more urbane and better at playing the Washington game. Wrong.
Four years later, the Bushies bumped the Gipper's GOP convention speech so that primary rival Pat Buchanan could deliver a sour screed on prime time.
Reagan's speech came later. Of course, he outclassed the Bushies by showing that real conservatism doesn't need to apologize for what it is. He told America, "I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others. And whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not to your worst fears, to your confidence, rather than your doubts."
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© 2004, Creators Syndicate
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