In Reagan’s Army we just called it “the speech”, and we all knew what it was. Called “A Time for Choosing” he delivered it in late October, 1964, and it made him the political heir of Barry Goldwater and the undisputed political leader of the conservative movement. I was a political foot soldier for Reagan, and became a state legislator because I believed everything he said.
Ivanka needs to give such a speech. I think it’s gotten to the point that she needs to step up and speak out for him. She needs to look the American people, especially the women, right in the eye and assure them that he will be a Peace President. That far from getting us into needless wars, like Iraq, he’ll keep us out of them. The Democrats are Wilsonian idealists, on a mission to save the world, and make it more like us. Trump would be President, in foreign policy, like Dwight Eisenhower. He ended the Korean War through a show of strength, and kept us out of war for his entire eight year term. The Democrats don’t fight wars for the national interest these days. They fight because they’re idealists. Kosovo had absolutely nothing to do with the national interest of the United States. That’s why Clinton was attracted to it. That made it more noble. He was Like Ferdinand II of Austria, who actually believed Bellum non tuum, sed Dei esse statuas. Wage war not for yourself, but for God. This attitude helped lead to the Thirty Years War and the death of one third of Germany’s population.
I’m sure she’d do a great job, and would have an impact. Soccer moms will love her. She’s what they want their daughters to be. Although, after Trump’s remarks today about “the 2nd Amendment people” you have to wonder if there’s any point to it all. Donny Deutsch on With All Due Respect called him a lounge act, and he’s right. He likes to entertain people, and his crowds love being entertained. What that has to do with running for President is beyond me. But Ivanka’s speech could be a way to establish a public identity separate from her father’s. The way it looks right now, being associated with his identity looks like a loser. She should salvage her own reputation if she can.
It seems to me that these rallies are a self indulgence. They’re something that he enjoys, is good at, and he draws energy from the crowd. But they’re not working right now. The press is waiting to pounce on everything that comes out of his mouth. In order to entertain his crowds, he’s got to be a little outrageous. That’s what they expect. The Donald is not politically correct, and they want him to demonstrate that to them. But these crowds are not a cross section of America. At most they may represent a third of the country. They’re not enough. He’s preaching to the choir. Maybe he should go to a black church.
We are a polarized nation, more so than any time in my life. We will remain polarized if Clinton wins. Except it will get worse. Right after Romney lost, I was thinking about the possibility of Alaska seceding. If Clinton wins, it will again be something to think about. The country wasn’t ready four years ago. We wanted to try and take our country back from Washington D.C. What we got was Trump.
We do have Irish democracy to fall back on. We just won’t obey their laws. Here in California, I don’t pay any attention to their stupid gun laws. A lot of people don’t. We’re heading towards Atlas Shrugged.
I feel a darkening coming. The sky darkens and the sun disappears. But it’s not the end of times. It’s just the moon.
Few have read The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He’s great writer, but it was a tough read, because it was so depressing. The horrors of Soviet Russia are a stain on humanity, as much as the Holocaust. But Solzhenitsyn was a Russian patriot, through and through, and he believed the eventual redemption of his country would come when it returned to its Christian Orthodox roots. I’ll bet Putin’s read him. And, I’d wager, he agrees.
reaganproject.com 