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“Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!!” One of those moments that sticks with you forever, especially having seen and experienced “the wall”.
…and they did!
It really was an interesting time. It felt very good for us as a country to be operating from a position of strength. And so very sad to see how far we have fallen.
Lefties will tell you that Reagan had nothing to do with the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of communism, but the Poles-who know better-named streets in his honor.
The truth is that the left hates Ronald Magnus for being right about how vile communism was while they were defending it, even lauding it as a more humane alternative to our system.
When it counted we had a great man as our leader-how we could use someone like him again.
The Soviet ideologues had a term for Western Leftists. They called them “useful idiots”.
Very apropos.
It all came together for me when I was actually stationed in The FRG. Before I ETS’d, we took the duty train because our CO- Colonel Vladmir Jarotzky felt it was a necessity for the unit. We had some folks do some unthinkable shit and get “banned” from crossing the border for a year. But the minute I saw the camera poke out of its hiding spot, I understood the blank stares from people in retail outlets and the shitty state of East Berlin over the Brandenburg Gate.
We have fallen by the government’s hand. But by the Peoples hands we can fight all the way back. We just have to be ready.
Of course the left hates Reagan. And they’ll never get over the fact that he showed that no matter how many times some idiot tries socialism/communism, it’ll NEVER work.
“How do you tell a communist? Well, they’re someone who has read Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? They’re someone who UNDERSTANDS Marx and Lenin.” -Ronaldus Maximus
BTW-since I just saw it the other day, I have to say that I cannot recommend “The Lives of Others” highly enough-both as drama and as insight into how creepy the DDR police state actually was.
I miss the cold war.
@5 – now the Useful Idiots have a different name “the cuurrent administration”
I am a Cold Warrior. When my President instructed the leader of the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall”, I knew it would be torn down!
I was in Aschaffenburg at the time and we were hoping that he’d add “…or I’ll send the 3rd Division to do it for you.”
I miss President Reagan more than any of POTUS. If only Obama was 1/10th the man he was, Obama would be stellar. That is how much I admire President Reagan.
I watched a thing on the History Channel about Reagan and when that speech was written. The guy they were interviewing said that the career State Dept. staff from the embassy wanted that part taken out of the speech, because they didn’t want to upset the commies. So; he took it out and Reagan put it right back in without telling anyone. The guy said that the State Dept. people went nuts, but he had a big grin on his face about it.
This speech is a timeless example of excellent writing delivered by a expert speaker. It’s 4 minutes and 53 seconds on how to make a memorable statement.
Ronald Reagan the Great wasn’t in it for himself, he always had what was best for our Nation as his top priority. He never took multimillion dollar vacations every month, he didn’t waste tax dollars by the barge full on parties for himself, and he just laughed and chuckled at those who denigrated him, he was a Real POTUS, and a man. He could also give a great speech sans teleprompter without a steady stream of “uuuhhhhmmm..” or “uhhhhhh” after every word. He also NEVER bowed to ANY Foreign Head of State!
I could go on and on, but like I’ve said before, I’d be “Preaching to the choir”!
A Postscript to Jonn’s article: less than two years and five months later, Reagan was proven prophetic.
The Berlin Wall persisted for another 881 days (2 years 151 days) after Reagan’s speech. On the 882nd day – 9 November 1989 – it fell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK1MwhEDjHg