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An 'Informed Patriotism': Lessons from Reagan’s Farewell Address
American Thinker.com ^ | April 5, 2021 | Nicholas J. Kaster

Posted on 04/05/2021 4:25:57 AM PDT by Kaslin

President Reagan was famously optimistic. He will forever be remembered for “Morning in America,” the campaign ad that inspired his 1984 landslide re-election, and for his policies that revived American confidence at home and abroad.

But the caricatured version of Reagan as a perpetually grinning and genial old man does him a disservice. He was multifaceted and just as capable of stern warning as of sunny optimism.

Reagan first appeared on the scene politically in October 1964, campaigning for the doomed candidacy of Sen. Barry Goldwater. He delivered a powerful televised address called “A Time for Choosing,” that galvanized conservatives and launched his political career. Later, it simply became known as “The Speech.”

It was a stark warning about the path that America was about to take in the 1960s with the passage of LBJ’s Great Society and about the choice that the country faced. And that choice was not merely between Johnson and Goldwater -- it was ultimately between the values of the country’s founders and the worldview of the Progressive Left.

“You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right,” Reagan said. “Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down: up to man's old-aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.”

This was not a sunny and optimistic speech. It was dark. There was no talk of Morning of America. Instead, he warned that America was on wrong path and needed to change course if it was to remain free.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: presidentreagan

1 posted on 04/05/2021 4:25:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The best there ever was and, unfortunately, the best there ever will be.


2 posted on 04/05/2021 5:36:48 AM PDT by ReleaseTheHounds ("The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." M. Thatcher )
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To: Kaslin

Reagan... my favorite President of all time.


3 posted on 04/05/2021 6:11:34 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Enough. Divide the country.. now. )
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To: Kaslin

That quote from Reagan always interests me.

What if more conservatives came to realize that they are not right wingers? That would change a lot of things and probably for the better.

We are not “right”, not according to Reagan. We are “up”.


4 posted on 04/05/2021 6:57:40 AM PDT by ProgressingAmerica (Public meetings are superior to newspapers)
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To: Kaslin

Sleep softly, President Reagan. A man of true dignity, who did the right thing even when no one was looking - all his long life.


5 posted on 04/05/2021 8:29:35 AM PDT by gloryblaze
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