“Not Easy, But Simple”
June 17, 2004
The messenger is dead, but never let the message die.
The liberal media is apoplectic over “the masses” of this nation grieving Ronald Reagan’s passing. But, then again, they were apoplectic over his A Time for Choosing speech, his gubernatorial trouncing of liberal archetype Pat Brown, his two landslide presidential victories and his unnerving way of earning the American people’s love. It’s insufferable for a liberal to imagine that anything can be loved more than one’s own vanity.
With the urgency of an Upper West-Sider whose soufflé is about to go flat, the liberals are once again on their dead-end quest to deconstruct the Reagan legacy. In its very backhanded, and not very clever, archive on “The Life and Presidency of Ronald Reagan”, the New York Times highlights such watershed moments as “Reagan Terms Nicaraguan Rebels 'Moral Equal of Founding Fathers’” and “Inquiry Finds Reagan and Chief Advisers Responsible for 'Chaos' in Iran Arms Deals”.
Look at the issues the liberals use to discredit President Reagan. The best they can come-up with is “Iran-Contra”. Guess what? Nobody from “the masses” gives a hoot about this chaff. These criticisms have nothing to do with the people who really matter...the people who serve this nation in the military and industry, the people who pay the taxes, the people who donate to charity, the people who raise their families and the people who vote (as opposed to the socially superior liberal intelligentsia).
But, over time, the liberals will keep chipping away at Reagan, the man, and they probably will create some historical mutilation of the legacy. Let’s face facts...liberals are insidious when it comes to revising the truth. The National Education Association (liberal HQ) has done such a great job with American history that most high school students think that “Pearl Harbor” is a drink special in an Asian fusion restaurant.
With the benevolence that only Reagan could muster, he knew that, “...the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so.”
President Reagan always recognized, and emphasized, that the message, not the messenger, is what matters. Reagan was specific about this messenger/message delineation in his 1989 Farewell Address to the Nation, ”...I won a nickname, ‘The Great Communicator’. But I never thought it was my style...that made a difference: It was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and...they came from the heart of a great nation....”
Ironically, in his last public address at a 1994 celebration of his 83rd birthday (and his last living visit to D.C.), Reagan warned, “And what we accomplished during our years in the White House must never be lost amid the rhetoric of political revisionists.” He further advised that, “...our task is far from over,” because, “Our friends in the other party will never forgive us for our success and are doing everything in their power to rewrite history.” Reagan understood the shenanigans of liberal “scholarship”.
There is no great mystery to the Reagan message...it is the original message of our Founding Fathers. Starting with his seminal address, A Time for Choosing, Reagan, the man, espoused a consistent set of “simple” guiding principles. He believed in God, the Constitution, the American people and the future. Everything had to meet this muster. As Reagan so “simply” observed, “Well, perhaps there is a simple answer--not an easy answer--but simple.” Even Einstein reduced the Theory of Relativity to E = Mc2. Not easy, but simple.
Perhaps the simplest of the Reagan beliefs is the belief in God. This is the foundation from which all other good things can grow. Reagan was impressed by the advice that Senator Goldwater gave to the Senator’s son, “There is no foundation like the rock of honesty and fairness, and when you begin to build your life upon that rock, with the cement of the faith in God that you have, then you have a real start.” For liberals to imagine a life built around strong moral character is neither simple nor easy.
Strong moral character has a way of insulating one from the tempting seduction of liberal “less than truths”. A weakness of moral character plays directly into the hands of dependence. Don’t take responsibility, don’t feel any obligations above self...if all goes wrong, don’t worry...the government will take care of you (on its terms and conditions). As Reagan pondered, should “Our natural, inalienable rights...be a dispensation of government”? Simple enough question.
Reagan’s “simplicity” infuriates liberals. Simplicity is understandable and...understanding threatens liberal elitism. Liberal government is similar to liberal agriculture. You take food from one person and just give it to another...instead of teaching the hungry how to plant and harvest. The former creates dependence; the latter is the gift of independence. Since most liberals have never been independent of their trust funds...how could they expect “the masses” to be independent of them?
And speaking of “the masses”...Pennsylvania’s former Senator Clark once offered this “articulate” definition of liberalism, “...meeting the material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government.” The Reagan response? “Well, I for one resent it when a representative of the people refers to you and me--the free man and woman of this country--as ‘the masses’. This is a term we haven't applied to ourselves in America. But beyond that, ‘the full power of centralized government’--this was the very thing the Founding Fathers sought to minimize.”
As Reagan himself believed, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size.” With his classic humor, he observed, “...a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this Earth.” This speaks to Reagan’s concern that, “A government can't control the economy without controlling people. And...when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose.” Again, the choice is between dependence and freedom...and isn’t that what the Constitution is all about. Not easy, but simple.
As I sat and watched the 100’s of thousands of people file by the President’s flag-draped coffin, I suddenly smiled to myself...these Americans from all walks of life, in all styles of clothing, in all colors and races and sexes, fit—fat—handicapped, Democrat and Republican, Jew—Christian—Muslim—Hindu, cell phones ringing a myriad of tunes...these are “the masses”. These are the people Reagan loved and these are the people whose love Reagan earned in return. Again, it was “simple”. Reagan energized the American people because he had faith in them. He trusted them because he respected them. Neither easy nor simple in the rarefied world of liberal elitism.
If you believe in God, the Constitution and the American people...it’s a short path to a belief in the future. In his November 1979 Announcement for the Presidency, Reagan was clear and to the point about the future, “To me our country is a living, breathing presence, unimpressed by what others say is impossible...and always impatient to provide a better life for its people in a framework of a basic fairness and freedom.”
Ronald Reagan refused to believe that, “...we must learn to live with less, and teach our children that their lives will be less full and prosperous than ours have been; that the America of the coming years will be a place where... it will be impossible to dream and make those dreams come true.” Reagan knew that the gift of freedom is the belief in a better tomorrow.
In 1994, when faced by the reality of his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Reagan wrote a letter to the American people. And did he whine about his own demise? Quite to the contrary. First, Reagan hoped to use his bad luck to “...promote greater awareness of this condition”. His biggest burden with the disease was his inability to, “...spare Nancy from this painful experience.” Reagan was almost clairvoyant in his faith that, “When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.” And indeed she did.
And what were his very last concerns? First, he wanted to, “...thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President.” Next, he reaffirmed his core beliefs...“When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will face it with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.”
In his very last written sentence to the American people, Ronald Reagan bid farewell with his eternal faith ”...that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.” For President Reagan, this couldn’t have been easy, but it was simple.
With his passing, our individual worlds will be a little less bright. But, because of his life, this world can be forever brighter. He gave conservatives an enduring message. His part wasn’t easy, our part is simple.
A faith in God, the Constitution, the American people and the future...that is the message that will endure past the life of President Reagan. A “simple” person might just think of this as a belief in God, country and family. To a liberal...such pedestrian values!
All good policy decisions, from reduced government to strong national defense, spring from these “simple” beliefs. Reagan nurtured us to value citizenship; he coached us to transcend evil with goodness and, for millions who knew only darkness, he brought light. The President would never want us to look back to the Reagan Era as a zenith now dimming into history.
We have no choice but to look towards the future. As President Reagan once reminded us, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.” It won’t be easy, but it sure is “simple”.
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