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As
We Say Goodbye
The Light of Freedom Shines On
EDITORIAL
Frank Salvato
June 6, 2003 |
I sit here not surprised at the announcement
of President Ronald Reagan’s passing but incredibly affected. While it was
understood that his time was drawing near I can say with all certainty that
I was unprepared for the actual moment, the event, his passing. In the end
it was the effects of Alzheimer’s doing what both political foe and mortal
enemy could not do to "The Great Communicator.”
It is always a somber time in America when a former president passes away.
While some have passed in moments that are tolled by the ringing out of a
shot, most go quietly into the afterlife, fading away like the old soldiers
that they were whether they served in the military or simply affected the
military as Commander in Chief. Ronald Reagan cheated the assassin’s bullet
and lived to fulfill one of the most important presidencies to which our
country has ever stood witness.
While I could list a litany of Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments,
accomplishments that include the demise of the Soviet Union, the winning of
the Cold War and a period of prosperity and security that history will smile
upon, to me it will be the meaning of his political life that I believe the
world has lost this 5th of June 2004.
Politics, and the pursuit of political gain, in the United States today, has
never been more ruthless, more malevolent, more vindictive. In this day of
"win at all cost” politics, the spin doctor and a mainstream media that not
only embraces a political agenda but sometimes doesn’t hold itself to the
standard of making sure they are telling the truth, there is a void; a moral
void. When I say moral I speak of a pure common sense of right and wrong.
Today that line is blurred beyond recognition as hatred and narcissism reign
supreme in the political arena. Ronald Reagan had that common sense
knowledge of what was right and wrong. He made the United States better for
it, too.
Today
as we watch history repeat itself I am inclined to recall the awful things
that Ronald Reagan’s foes said about him while he was campaigning and even
after he took office. To listen to his detractors Reagan’s election was to
have brought nuclear war upon the earth, to listen to those who literally
despised the man he was a cold-hearted warmonger who was hell-bent on the
world’s destruction. Yet it was Reagan who was instrumental in ending the
Cold War and who brought to fruition the disassembly of the Soviet Union.
While the citizens of East Germany and the former Soviet Bloc celebrated a
true visionary, a crusader for freedom, there were those here in out own
country that not only embraced their hatred for the man but bolstered it at
each achievement, all for their misguided ideologies, their elitist vision
for an almost socialist change.
We are seeing the same thing happening to our current president, George W.
Bush only this time the opposition is stronger, better funded and has the
mainstream media squarely on their side. I am sure as Ronald Reagan looks
down upon the country that he did so much to make safer he is wondering why
such hatred is allowed to exist in the human soul.
While the people of the United States need to understand just how lucky we
were for fate to have intervened on so many occasions so that we could have
Ronald Reagan as our president for eight years, irony would have it that
Reagan himself understood the honor bestowed upon him by the American
people. He took our trust to heart and led with conviction and strength all
the while using his sextant of common sense to navigate the seas of global
and national politics. He took the title of public service to heart and kept
it there, a trait that many who have ascended to the office of President of
the United States easily forget. It is not the president’s house to use or
abuse as he sees fit but the people’s house to be respected and care for.
The same can be said for the office itself. It is a title bestowed upon a
man who is chosen by the people to lead not a destiny to be achieved. Ronald
Reagan understood that. His humility and respect for the office exemplified
the fact that he did.
Reagan was the definition of a compassionate conservative. While he
negotiated on behalf of the United States from a seat of conviction,
strength and confidence, his vision for the country and his belief in the
ability of the American people was awe-inspiring. His love of country was
second to none; it was contagious. Reagan allowed the people of the United
States to believe in themselves again, to be proud of themselves as a nation
after it had been divided by the Vietnam War and Watergate and had drifted
in purpose. He restored our ability to believe that because of our belief in
freedom, democracy and a moral common sense we were a great country and a
country that took pride in being the shining light of the free world.
This week we say goodbye to one of the great American presidents, and simply
put, a great American. Our country is a lesser place for his loss but it is
richer for having had him as a leader. We benefited from Ronald Reagan. In
his spirit, in his honor, we need to obligate ourselves to embrace a common
sense morality, to see through the fog of ideology and narcissism to do what
is right for our country both now and for the future so that we can leave
the United States of America a better place from whence we began.
We need to win this battle of ideologies so that our country perseveres. We
need to win this one for "The Gipper.”
God bless Ronald Reagan, thank you and may you rest in peace.
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