Posted on 02/06/2011 8:20:52 AM PST by jfd1776
Learning a lesson in Iceland.
Ronald Reagan was not always “conservative,” and for this, conservatives love him.
The modern conservative mind thinks in a certain box – a good box, not a bad one, but a box, nevertheless. We have an ideology: government can do these specific things, and no more. Tax something and you’ll get less of it, subsidize a thing and you’ll get more of it… etc. We have a host of such pronouncements, and we are usually right. We advocate the limited government of the Constitution, and the free economy of Hayek and Hazlitt, because we believe in free minds and free markets, and we know this is the way to a prosperous, thriving, and happy society.
Ronald Reagan knew this, and could explain it so that non-conservatives could understand it as well. This was his gift in domestic policy.
These approaches, however, don’t work in the international arena; people united on the domestic front can splinter on foreign policy issues.
The simple box of laissez faire capitalism just doesn’t quite take into account the great struggles of nuclear superpowers and the threat of global communist aggression. So when Ronald Reagan arrived on the scene, there was no single “conservative” approach for foreign policy. There were isolationists, detentists, even warmongers who thought, like Macchiavelli, that “there is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to your enemy’s advantage,” so let’s just get to it!
(Excerpt) Read more at illinoisreview.typepad.com ...
To All: Consider ignoring “the interview” today, and use that time to read this article.
AND - Consider posting an invite to your FR State message Board. I posted the following on the California board: (No html markup required on state boards)
Ronald Reagan: Conservative, Confident, and Visionary
Learning a lesson in Iceland - By John F. Di Leo
Visit the Link to Illinois Review; and then Bump the FR Thread / Comment
Consider ignoring “the interview” today, and use that time to read this article.
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2011/02/ronald-reagan-conservative-confident-and-visionary.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2669427/posts
From the article: "Ronald Reagan was the first president to take his career path to get there. No legislator or military man,..."
So RR was NOT Ike or Grant, etc. Could someone give a brief overview of Reagan's service in the US military. Army Air Corps...?
Good morning!
Thanks very much! Glad you liked it. I’m flattered at your strong endorsement of the piece!
(and yes, I’m John F. Di Leo; I use JFD1776 for email, postings, and comments.)
Grazie! Keep Looking Right!
JFD
Re the question of Reagan’s military service...
Reagan did serve in WWII, in a way, but they kept him close to home. He made training films and propaganda films for the military during the war.
The reports I’ve seen indicate that he was willing to serve normally, but his eyesight was so bad, this healthy, robust man failed the physical. They said if they sent him into battle, he’d shoot a general, and not necessarily the enemy’s!
So he stayed here in-country and did what his country asked him to. The crummy films they had him make during the war did irreparable damage to his movie career.
So my point wasn’t that he hadn’t served in the military at all, just that he didn’t take the usual paths to the White House of coming up through politics or from being a famous general, that’s all. For a Republican candidate to have been an actor and a union president was a mighty strange career path!
Cheers,
JFD
For the Gipper! 
California
For newbies: I had to `right-click' on the Calif flag, and "Copy Image Address".
exp: http://www.freerepublic.com/images/flags/us/califC.gif
<img src=" http://www.freerepublic.com/images/flags/us/califC.gif"> <p>
California
Post 5 - There’s my answer - Thanks!
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