I got suckered on that whole, [paraphrase] "fierce moral urgency of change" deal with Obama. Still detaining people indefinitely for possibly dubious reasons; "Gitmo" is still open; American troops in two hot theaters of war; Lots of other stuff. But I don't agree with Roger Simon, here. I was eager to hear what the president would say, and particularly on Egypt. I understood the president to say, if you listen between the lines, as it were, that he had no idea what would happen, but it was up to Mubarak. What is almost unbearably irritating about Victor Davis Hanson is that his hawkish neoconservatism comes as a package deal with his anti-socialism. And with Obama, it's personal. I think that Obama's economic policy is totally wrong, as I have said a million times. But if he makes any gesture of nonviolence toward anybody, he is an "empty suit" who has "sold out our friends to our enemies." Or other such nonsense. One of the underappreciated aspects of Reagan that a few noted this week is that he was a true peacemaker. He didn't always apply American principles consistently, and our clarity on human rights was clouded by anti-communist efforts. But we did find out that he was a tireless negotiator, even with our greatest enemy. And that peace was a goal down to the core of his being. He dreamed of nuclear disarmament since his college days. One of Obama's selling points was a willingness to negotiate without preconditions with governments and groups unfriendly to the US. It is the same wager Reagan made with the Soviets: No matter what they say for public consumption, they are people, by and large, who want tranquility and flourishing for themselves and their loved ones. Any one of such groups may be tainted by bitterness and a cycle of violence, but if you can find those beyond the crazy and the power-hungry, there are possibilities. Which is why we can't simply assume that everyone associated with "dangerous" groups must be a terrorist committed to our destruction. Socialization is not a simple matter.
You might fault Obama for being explicit about what Reagan generally kept hidden. But there is no doubt that if one can secure prosperity and safety without violence, one should do so.
You might fault Obama for being explicit about what Reagan generally kept hidden. But there is no doubt that if one can secure prosperity and safety without violence, one should do so.
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