by David Bottomley
 I have
always been a strong Republican and Christian. I became interested in
politics in the 80s. My grandmother was always a strong supporter
of the Grand Ole Party and I followed suit. I still believe that Ronald Reagan is perhaps the best president this
country has seen. His strong diplomatic stance coupled with his common
sense approach to lean government made him a superb leader. He brought
patriotism and the pride associated with being an American back into
the forefront. He saw America as a shining city on a hill and he was
not afraid to speak his mind. He helped to polarize what he saw in the
world as wrong, and fought tooth and nail against it. He declared the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to be the "Evil Empire"
and pitted the United States as their foe, in the Good vs. Evil battle
for the world. Thanks to his superb leadership and a hearty belief in
"peace through strength" via a strong military, he perservered.
Today, in large part thanks to the strong-handed diplomacy of Ronald
Reagan, we no longer face the threat of the Soviet Union. He also did not tolerate terrorism or threats against the United States.
When Quadaffi was commiting copious acts of violence against the US,
Reagan responded by bombing Quadaffi's house. Needless to say, that
silenced him, and in fact in 2001, he expressed great support for the
United States' efforts in the War on Terrorism following the World Trade
Center bombing. He also brought the country back from a terrible depression in the
late 1970s when inflation was through the roof, and joblessness was
rampant. Gas prices were also ridiculously high. He did this through
a brilliant economic philosophy called, appropriately enough, "Reaganonmics."
Instead of raising taxes to increase government revenues, he believed
that by reducing taxes and allowing American citizens to control more
of their own money, that not only would the economy be stimulated through
increased spending and investment, but also governement revenues would
be increased in the long run by economic growth resulting in higher
tax revenues with lower tax rates. It takes time, but it worked. Reagan
believed wholehearedly that a small lean government best serves the
people. Before Reagan, people lost hope in the American economic and
political system. He restored that hope and pride in America, and at
the same time defeated America's greatest enemy. Something no other
President has done in the history of the nation.
I'll leave you now with some quotes from our great leaders: "No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." Ronald
Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981. "I hope you're all Republicans." Ronald
Reagan, To surgeons as he entered the operating room, March 30, 1981 Ronald
Reagan, Speech to Britain's Parliament, 1982 Ronald
Reagan, Address to the New York City Partnership Association, January
14, 1982 Ronald
Reagan, State of the Union Address, February 4, 1986 Ronald
Reagan, Remarks to the White House Conference on Small Business, August
15, 1986 Ronald
Reagan, Speech near the Berlin Wall, 1987. Two years later, the wall
came down. Ronald
Reagan, Notre Dame Univ., May 17, 1981 "Freedom
itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom itself
will be defended" George W. Bush, State of the Union Address regarding the War on Terror "A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us ." Margaret Thatcher "I owe nothing to Women's Lib. ." Margaret Thatcher "I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air. " Margaret Thatcher "Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past. " Margaret Thatcher, warning of the evils of socialism and what it would do to Great Britain |
The
photo at left is of two of the most powerful people in the world in the
1980s- Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Through their united spirit and determination, they brought the Russian
Bear to it's knees- militarily, economically, agriculturally, and industrially.
It was only through concerted effort of powerful leaders such as Reagan
and Thatcher that the greatest threat to the security of the free world
since Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich was halted and systematically
defeated without a single shot being fired. This is a truly incredible
accomplishment, and one that I do not believe is adequately understood
today by most. I truly believe that Ronald Reagan came along at the right
time in history to handle this threat in his unique way. If it were not
handled correctly, it could have easily broken down into World War III
and quite possibly the unleashing of nuclear weapons and the end of civilization
and perhaps all human life.
Perhaps
one of the most dramatic examples of Reagan's successes is the result
of the 1979 terrorist action in Iran where 66 American Diplomats were
taken hostage after Iranian Radicals seized the US embassy in Tehran,
Iran after President Carter agreed to admit the Shah of Iran (former leader)
into the US. Thirteen hostages were soon released, but the remaining 53
were held until their release on January 20, 1981. Amazingly enough, the
same date, and in fact the same hour as Ronald Reagan's Presidential Innauguration. The terrorists
did not want to unleash the wrath of President Reagan.
George
HW Bush did a good job of continuing the Reagan legacy of peace through
strength, and he did not hinder the military in Desert Storm with political
objectives as Johnson did in Vietnam. When Saddam Hussein decided to
invade Iraq's helpless neighbor, Kuwait, in 1991 Bush did not hesitate
to throw the complete backing of the United States behind the people
and country of Kuwait, then organized an unprecedented coalition of
nations to liberate Kuwait in the operation known as Desert Storm. I
will never understand how Bush was defeated in 1992 by Bill Clinton,
probably one of the most dishonest people in the country.
I won't even begin to list the topics that I disagree with Clinton
over. If I did this page would turn into volumes.
After
eight long years of control of the White House by President Clinton
and his liberal chronies, we have finally returned the government to
the competent leadership of the Bush family in 2000; specifically George
W. Bush, son of George Herbert Walker Bush. This victory was only gained
after a fierce election battle between Al Gore and George Bush, climaxing
in endless vote recounts in Florida. Gore simply did not want to concede
the election even though he had clearly lost. While the election was
close, there was no need for the endless vote recounts the democrats
were insisting on. Finally, the Supreme Court had to put an end to the
shenanigan. As you can clealy see from the below election map, President
Bush won the support of 2,436 counties vs. Al Gore's 676 counties. What
was interesting, was that the actual popular vote favored Al Gore, but
thanks to the forethought of our wise founding fathers, the United States
is a Republic (ie. representative government) and not a Democracy (ie.
popular government), therefore they designed a sophisticaled Electoral
College to based on representatives and districts. We are fortunate
to have this system, as a true Democracy is unstable, weak, and based
on the whims of the populace, which vary widely and erratically and
are very often NOT in the best interests of the country as a whole.
While reviewing the map below, it is important to note the very clear
distinction between urban voters and rural voters. Rural voters clearly
support Bush and the Republican Party while urban voters tend to support
the Democrat Party. Personally, I believe this is due to the large amount
of urban voters who are dependent on the government for their survival
and refuse to take responsibility for their own lives and destiny. Those
who live in rural areas are typically more independent and are influenced
less by government. They are also more likely
to share the Christian values of our founding fathers and a believe in
self-reliance and responsibility.
Here
is another example of the United States and Great Britain working together
to keep the world safe for freedom. After the terrorist attack in 2001
on the World Trade Center in New York City, President Bush has made
it his mission to work to prevent such an attack from befalling the
people of the United States in the future. This is evident in his push
for a coalition to remove Saddam Hussain from power, a dictator with
truly vicious goals, especially with regard to the United States and
it's people.