Must be great to have drugs for guns and deathsquad Ronnie as a hero..... what a fucking lying hypocrite he was.
On May 16, 9:31 am, Cold Water <[email protected]> wrote: > Notre Dame commencement speeches, then and now > > May 14, 2009 Posted by Paul at 9:05 PM > With President Obama poised to deliver the commencement address at the > University of Notre Dame, this seems like a good time to recall the > commencement address President Reagan delivered there on May 17, 1981. Here's > how Reagan concluded his remarks: > > The years ahead are great ones for this country, for the cause of freedom > and the spread of civilization. The West won't contain communism, it will > transcend communism. It won't bother to. . .denounce it, it will dismiss it > as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being > written. > William Faulkner, at a Nobel Prize ceremony some time back, said man > ``would not only [merely] endure: he will prevail'' against the modern world > because he will return to ``the old verities and truths of the heart.'' And > then Faulkner said of man, ``He is immortal because he alone among creatures > . . . has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and > endurance.'' > > One can't say those words -- compassion, sacrifice, and endurance -- > without thinking of the irony that one who so exemplifies them, Pope John > Paul II, a man of peace and goodness, an inspiration to the world, would be > struck by a bullet from a man towards whom he could only feel compassion and > love. It was Pope John Paul II who warned in last year's encyclical on mercy > and justice against certain economic theories that use the rhetoric of class > struggle to justify injustice. He said, ``In the name of an alleged justice > the neighbor is sometimes destroyed, killed, deprived of liberty or stripped > of fundamental human rights.'' > > For the West, for America, the time has come to dare to show to the world > that our civilized ideas, our traditions, our values, are not -- like the > ideology and war machine of totalitarian societies -- just a facade of > strength. It is time for the world to know our intellectual and spiritual > values are rooted in the source of all strength, a belief in a Supreme Being, > and a law higher than our own. > > When it's written, history of our time won't dwell long on the hardships of > the recent past. But history will ask -- and our answer determine the fate of > freedom for a thousand years -- Did a nation borne of hope lose hope? Did a > people forged by courage find courage wanting? Did a generation steeled by > hard war and a harsh peace forsake honor at the moment of great climactic > struggle for the human spirit? > > If history asks such questions, it also answers them. And the answers are > to be found in the heritage left by generations of Americans before us. They > stand in silent witness to what the world will soon know and history someday > record: that in the [its] third century, the American Nation came of age, > affirmed its leadership of free men and women serving selflessly a vision of > man with God, government for people, and humanity at peace. > > A few years ago, an Australian Prime Minister, John Gorton, said, ``I > wonder if anybody ever thought what the situation for the comparatively small > nations in the world would be if there were not in existence the United > States, if there were not this giant country prepared to make so many > sacrifices.'' This is the noble and rich heritage rooted in great civil ideas > of the West, and it is yours. > > My hope today is that in the years to come -- and come it shall -- when > it's your time to explain to another generation the meaning of the past and > thereby hold out to them their promise of the future, that you'll recall the > truths and traditions of which we've spoken. It is these truths and > traditions that define our civilization and make up our national heritage. > And now, they're yours to protect and pass on. > > I have one more hope for you: when you do speak to the next generation > about these things, that you will always be able to speak of an America that > is strong and free, to find in your hearts an unbounded pride in this > much-loved country, this once and future land, this bright and hopeful nation > whose generous spirit and great ideals the world still honors. > > Congratulations, and God bless you. > > I'm confident that Obama's address will contain nice phrases and, perhaps, > soaring rhetoric. But will Obama express anything even approaching Reagan's > pride in America? It's difficult to how, since he clearly does not share it. > > Nor is it likely that Obama will side with Pope John Paul II in opposing > "certain economic theories that use the rhetoric of class struggle to justify > injustice." For the former "community organizer" has already shown his > willingness to use the milder forms of such rhetoric to justify restrictions > on economic freedom. > > Reagan's speech at Notre Dame was not a defense of the status quo. In the > first half of his address, Reagan was so critical of the current state of > American affairs that he joked, "Now, after those remarks, don't decide that > you'd better turn your diploma back in so you can stay another year on the > campus." In fact, Reagan viewed himself as leading a "revolution" just as > surlely as Obama does. > > But the Reagan revolution was based on an appeal to "the noble and rich > heritage rooted in great civil ideas of the West" and "left by generations of > Americans before us," as well as to "the source of all strength, a belief in > a Supreme Being, and a law higher than our own." > > The Obama revolution, skeptical as it is about the nobility of our heritage > and unwilling to invoke a Supreme Being, is based on an appeal to European > notions of social justice and to the opinions of Europeans and other > foreigners generally. Like Reagan (and like most other commencement > speakers), Obama can be expected to implore the graduating class to do great > things. But I doubt that he will implore them to "be able to speak of an > America that is strong and free, to find in your hearts an unbounded pride in > this much-loved country, this once and future land, this bright and hopeful > nation whose generous spirit and great ideals the world still honors." > > http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023561.php?format=print --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
