When we live through history, we tend to not notice the major mileposts until they are well in the rear view mirror. I'm not going back to Gettysburg today, although I have been there both physically and intellectually. I will return to Brandenburg for a bit, because I think it is the most recent model that helps us understand the potential parallels to Trumps speech in Warsaw.
Reagan and his battle against the forces of socialism and communism had a very happy ending for those of us who believe in God, Family and limited government. I covered a good book on the subject here, a key quote from that book is a message between an East German leader and the leader of the USSR, Khruschev:
My contentiion is that the forces of "progressiveism" are generally intelligent, (or at least their leadership is). There have been WAY too many historic (USSR, East Germany) and current (Venezuela, North Korea) examples of the failure of Godless Socialism to provide anything but both physical and spirital poverty to the bulk of the people under its control, but they feel their superior intellects are just too great a blessing to deny the masses their" benevolent" authoritarian rule. They know what the common man needs, FAR more thant he common man.
"The experience of the last years have proven that it is not possible for a socialist country, such as the GDR to cary out peaceful competition with an imperialist country such as West Germany with open borders".
Trump calls out these adversaries here:
Finally, on both sides of the Atlantic, our citizens are confronted by yet another danger -- one firmly within our control. This danger is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles: the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people. The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies.
Americans, Poles, and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty. We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are. (Applause.) If left unchecked, these forces will undermine our courage, sap our spirit, and weaken our will to defend ourselves and our societies.Trump is making Trumpism, which is essentially a return to Western civilization, very clear in the above -- and here as well:
We have to remember that our defense is not just a commitment of money, it is a commitment of will. Because as the Polish experience reminds us, the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail and be successful and get what you have to have. The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?
Our elite generally hates Western civilization, covered well here. Their attacks on this speech are largely along the lines of "Western civilization is Christian and white, and therefore exclusionary and racist, and it, along with Trump, must be repudiated".
The whole speech is WELL worth taking the (fairly short) time needed to read it. It also covers the little reported fact that we are now deploying Patriot missles in Poland.
'via Blog this'
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