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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
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
An unrelenting faith in America
By
David Limbaugh
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
I think that of all the gifts Ronald Reagan gave to this nation the most precious was his unyielding faith in America, the American ideal and the American people.
People say he was optimistic and, to be sure, he was. But he wasn't a blind optimist. He wasn't a naive sentimentalist clinging to a past America whose greatness could not be restored.
He was optimistic because he believed in the unchangeable values and principles that drove this country to greatness. And he also believed that the ideology driving those values and principles — conservatism — was one possessed by a majority of the American people, provided you could communicate directly with them, outside the filter of the mainstream media and popular culture.
When that ideology apparently suffered a devastating blow with Lyndon Johnson's landslide rout of Barry Goldwater in 1964, Ronald Reagan did not retreat into a shell of dejection and defeatism. He never considered for a moment that Goldwater's loss was a referendum of the American people rejecting conservatism.
In a 1964 editorial following the election, Reagan wrote: "There are no plans for retreating from our present positions, but we can't advance without reinforcements. Are reinforcements available? The answer is an unhesitating — 'Yes!' They are to be found in the millions of so-called Republican defectors — those people who didn't really want LBJ, but who were scared of what they thought we represented. Read that sentence very carefully because, in my opinion, it tells the story. All of the landslide majority did not vote against the conservative philosophy; they voted against a false image our Liberal opponents successfully mounted."
Reagan was exactly right. LBJ was able to convince a large number of voters, including untold Republicans, that Goldwater was a warmonger with an itchy finger ready to press the "nuclear" button. I was not quite 12 years old, but I remember Goldwater addressing the nation on television the night before the election. He virtually pleaded with Americans not to believe the propaganda that had been so brutally conveyed by an ad showing a little girl picking a daisy just as a nuclear weapon detonates and transports the young gardener to oblivion. Talk about dirty campaigning!
Goldwater's efforts to convince people he wasn't a jingoistic madman were in vain. We didn't really know at the time whether the taint was limited to Goldwater or if it had spread to all of conservatism. Nixon's two successful presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1972 didn't answer the question either because Nixon wasn't nearly as conservative as Goldwater had been. Remember wage and price controls?
But we got our answer in 1980, when Ronald Reagan's unwavering confidence in the conservative message and the sound judgment of the American people was validated. And let there be no mistake: He campaigned as an unapologetic conservative.
Reagan's achievement was no mean feat, considering that liberals, whose vision culminated in the years of Carter malaise, had written off our nation's greatness as a thing of the past. I'll never forget a visiting economics expert guest lecturing my labor economics class at the University of Missouri, telling us we could expect nothing but economic gloom and doom in America in perpetuity.
Reagan, obviously, didn't share that vision. He knew that America's greatness resided with her people, as long as they remained dedicated to freedom and were unshackled by oppressive governmental restraints. His goal was merely to give back the reins to the people.
Reagan proved that a conservative could win running as a conservative, provided he didn't allow the opposition to define him, as Goldwater had. But more importantly, Reagan governed as a conservative, shepherding through Congress monumental, growth-igniting tax cuts and single-handedly winning the Cold War against the Soviets by simultaneously defeating internal liberal opposition at home to our prosecution of that war.
Above all, Ronald Reagan was real; there wasn't an ounce of phoniness in him. He believed in and loved America with a passionate, contagious patriotism that rippled through the body politic into the national soul. He made it acceptable to believe in the greatness of this country again, in its economic potential and its benevolent military might.
We still have essentially two competing visions for America, one characterized by the Reaganesque belief in the uniqueness of the American constitutional experiment and the other longing to emulate the "enlightened" European continent with its socialist economies and pacifist foreign policies.
Ronald Reagan passed away, but his legacy and vision live on, more relevant and urgent today than ever before. The best way for the nation to repay its debt to his service is to return to his timeless prescriptions for America's greatness. Ronald Reagan, R.I.P.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
David Limbaugh, a columnist and attorney practicing in Cape
Girardeau, Mo., is the author of, most recently, "Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Creators Syndicate
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