The Reagan Legacy

This session is back in the big room -- with all conference attendees invited to one place at one time. Scheduled speakers are:

Craig Shirley, author of the "Reagan Revolution;" Frank Donatelli, Former Director for Political & Intergovernmental Affairs in the Reagan White House; Frank Gaffney, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense in Reagan Administration; Patrick McHenry, NC Congressman [Ogre's Representative]; and Jim Gardner, Former NC Lt. Governor.

Once again we find ourselves waiting for people from Washington who are delayed! In the meantime, we're being entertained against by the Wake Forest Rowesville High School choir. They are absolutely excellent.

There appear to be some areas of the country that are having weather problems. The flight that three of the panelists were on has been canceled; so they are not able to attend. Only two of the panelists are participating: Congressman Patrick McHenry and Jim Gardner. Mr. Gardner was the person who seconded Ronald Reagan's nomination in the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami.

Congressman Patrick McHenry:

Every Republican candidate today claims they are the next Reagan. There is no way any presidential candidate can be another Reagan. We need to take the current policies and apply Reagan ideas to them. We need market-based reforms. We need education reform -- not Ted Kennedy style. We have to take what Reagan left us and apply those principles to a wide array of instances. You have to apply that mindset to our modern challenges.

Peace through strength is an important idea that we need to apply today. We have to apply Reagan principles to modern time. We have to have a clear agenda. When Reagan ran, everyone knew what he stood for. He gave people hope. The reason Republicans lost the Congress is because they ran out of ideas. They gave people no reason to vote for them.

Jim Gardner:

Mr. Gardner ran for Congress back in the late 1960s. He heard Reagan speak during Goldwater's run for president. He heard Reagan speak when he was governor of California; and he heard Reagan speak as president. One of the biggest reasons that Reagan was so popular and so good is because he had not only a clear message, but a very consistent message.

When Jim Gardner was running for governor, he was looking around for ideas of things he could do for the state. All he had to do was look at California. He saw Reagan not only destroy a deficit; when he left CA there was a large surplus.

He told a story about Reagan on a traveling trip and said that Reagan was an absolute true gentleman. Ronald Reagan was a rock-ribbed, no-nonsense conservative. When they lost the nomination in 1968, Reagan won two state: California and North Carolina.

Lots of stories about personal meetings with Reagan and what a great man and great communicator he was. One story is about how Reagan acted in his later days in the presidency -- he would act as if he couldn't hear the press when they were in the room, but the moment they left the room; he was sharp as a tack.

He talked of the shining city on the hill. He read a portion of Reagan's last address to the nation:

And that's about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the `shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

Just arrived is Frank Gaffney, who was the assistant Secretary of Defense for Ronald Reagan:

The most important Reagan legacy is that he freed the Soviet Union and freed thousands of people. To those who would claim he had nothing to do with that, Mr. Gaffney has one word: rubbish. Ronald Reagan dramatically changed the entire face of the world and international community. As communism was trying to enslave people around the world, Reagan accomplished the destruction of the Soviet Union without actually having to go to war (at least the old-fashioned way).

While the yoke of totalitarian communist slavery has greatly been lifted -- with various notable exceptions like China; another political ideology has risen that attempts new totalitarian slavery: islamofacism. And that movement is not about religion or faith, but about power. Four or five ideas from the Reagan legacy that helped destroy the Soviet Union that might be used today to destroy islamofacism.

Reagan was very clear of the identity of the enemy. Referring to the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire" was a powerful force. Reagan promoted the idea that communism was evil incarnate and HAD to be resisted -- no matter the number of "smart" people who tried to live "in peace" with them. Just as we identified and were not afraid to call the enemy the enemy then; we need to do that today. Political Correctness must go away and we must clearly identify the enemy. We need to differentiate between pro-American Muslims and islamofacists.

Reagan used the military and intelligence services of our country. The war we are engaged in, the war for the free world, is a global conflict with people who are determined to destroy us. It's not just Islamists, but China, North Korea, and Hugo Chavez. Our military needs to be able to respond to this threat. If we follow Ronald Reagan's playbook, we can reduce the need for a direct military conflict. "Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL" was a political confrontation. It was a political battle. It undermined the self-confidence of the Kremlin. It emboldened people had been oppressed and yearned for freedom. And it made it clear that it didn't have to be this way. It showed that people had a champion. We need a political champion to discredit these enemies and encourage people like anti-Islamist Muslims: those who will stand up and challenge the islamofacists. It's not just a few, it's a rising force.

Reagan also had a regional strategy for countering the Soviets. It was a strategy of pressing our enemies anywhere we found them and never ceding ground to them. If we leave them safe haven anywhere, it will be used to attack us.

Reagan went after the cash flow of the Soviet Union. They had an economic warfare strategy to cut off the funding that the Soviets obtained from western forces. As Reagan went after the sources of life support; so must we go after the funds that finance these islamofacist forces today. We need to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in oil transfers to people who are trying to kill us.

It took us a long time to get into this incredibly stupid and untenable position, and it will take us a long time to get out of it. We can take a lot of money from them if we recognize that many people are investing in companies that are doing business with countries like Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. There are about 450 blue-chip foreign owned and operated companies today that are providing life support to these oppressive regimes. Everyone should go to your brokers and Congresmen and say, "Is my money being invested in companies that do business with our enemies?"

Everyone has an opportunity to tell these companies that you can do business with our enemies or you can do business with me, but you cannot do both. This will do much to cut off the cash flow of the money that our enemies have access to. We need to start NOW to fight against these enemies as Reagan did, or will we be making the task of dealing with the islamofacists later on -- and it will be much more dangerous and most costly for everyone.

During Reagan's time, the left was just as insane as today's. There were many that believed it would be the end of the world if Reagan called the Soviets the "Evil empire." Only revisionist history claims that everyone was united against the Soviets. Today we need to find more people that understand that our enemies want us dead -- and we need those people in Congress.

We're fighting an ideology of hate. Terrorism is just a tactic they're using. This is not an elective war -- we did not seek out this war. They hate us because they want to rule us. Until we understand that, they will succeed.

Patrick McHenry suggests that we have had today's Tet Offensive to break our will, causing us to lose this war -- if we let them.

They suggest the book "Why They Hate Us," a book that deals with what happens to a country when you refuse to confront this islamofacism. They suggest divestterror.org and terrorfreeinvesting.com

Ogre's notes: This guy (Mr. Gaffney) is excellent. He is a great speaker and isn't afraid to say the truth. It appears that much of Reagan has rubbed off on him!

Posted by: Ogre at 08:40 PM

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