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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
June 8, 2004
/ 19 Sivan, 5764
Exit, smiling
By
Debra J. Saunders
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Ronald Reagan was a fluke. His career could have peaked as a local sports announcer, or as a B-movie leading man, or later as a career-going-nowhere actor new to the rubber-chicken circuit and touting conservative politics, or as the actor who stumbled into the governor's office. Unlike his critics, he didn't see his many limitations, and so he became the leader of the free world.
Reagan has little in common with the men considered the great figures who have shaped history. He wasn't martial, single-minded or ruthless. He didn't show off his intellect; he wasn't self-aggrandizing; he wasn't a user of women. His first wife divorced him, she said, because he bored her. People who worked with him described him as kind, polite and courtly.
He was distinctly American, and therein rests his greatness. A man of humble beginnings, he worked for everything he had. He ignored the whispers that warned that if he sought to rise too high he might fail and so kept reaching for the stars. As he said in 1992, "We were meant to be masters of destiny, not victims of fate."
In the very American tradition of the citizen-politician, Reagan ran for office only after he had succeeded in Hollywood. Critics would continue to dismiss him as an actor, a puppet who regurgitated words printed on index cards. When their jibes failed to dent his popularity, they came to call him the Great Communicator. Even that salute carried with it the snippy hint that Reagan could communicate but not necessarily think or govern.
Those who loved Reagan understood that he was a great communicator because he espoused great ideas. He believed in Americans, in their ability to do good things and in their personal enterprise. His proud legacy within these borders is that he inspired Americans to believe in their country again as he restored morale to a battered military.
Most important, Reagan changed the face of global politics. When the American president appealed to the Soviet leader, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," the rightness of the message resonated even on a continent that considered Reagan to be dangerously naive, dangerously aggressive or both. No matter. Today, the wall is crumbled, and Gorbachev's homeland is called Russia.
Reagan's legacy also includes the illegal and downright boneheaded Iran-Contra affair (for which there is no excuse), an excursion into Lebanon that left 241 Marines dead for no apparent foreign-policy objective other than good intentions, and a big fat deficit that belied Reagan's balanced-budget rhetoric.
Yet his successes were great. As Hoover Institution fellow Bill Whalen noted, Reagan "moved the political center to the right of center." Thus, Bill Clinton had to run as a centrist Democrat touting a middle-class tax cut, welfare reform and support for the death penalty. Even John Kerry, Whalen observed, now must exhibit centrist credentials.
Reagan's genius is that he prevailed in part because he was underestimated and underrated. Critics dismissed him as an intellectual lightweight who napped, eschewed detail and failed to convey compassion for America's poor.
I remember buying into the then-popular belief that Vice President George H.W. Bush, with his resume, his experience and his education, would take conservatism up a notch. When Bush talked of a "kinder, gentler" America at the Republican Convention in 1988, I nodded in approval, thinking that he meant kinder and gentler, but also smarter, more urbane and better at playing the Washington game. Wrong.
Four years later, the Bushies bumped the Gipper's GOP convention speech so that primary rival Pat Buchanan could deliver a sour screed on prime time.
Reagan's speech came later. Of course, he outclassed the Bushies by showing that real conservatism doesn't need to apologize for what it is. He told America, "I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and for others. And whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not to your worst fears, to your confidence, rather than your doubts."
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© 2004, Creators Syndicate
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