There Are No Evil Nations . . . Except, Of Course, The U.S.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

In 1967, Ronald Reagan and Robert F. Kennedy participated in a televised debate during which Reagan was asked this question regarding his strong anti-Communism:

“Could you substitute communism for virtue and you see the deadlock which it would produce. You think something is good; he thinks something else is good. You want him to give up some of his hostile views. You are not prepared to move back one inch from yours.”

Reagan's response was firm and unwavering:

“At the end of World War II, one nation in the world had unprecedented power, had not suffered any damage to its industrial complex, had the greatest military force the world had ever seen put together, the United States. The rest of the world was war-weary. The United States also had the only bomb that had been demonstrated. We had the atomic bomb, that great weapon. Now, the United States disarmed, the United States made no effort to impose its will on the rest of the nations. Can you honestly say in your heart that had the Soviet Union been in a comparable position with that bomb, or today's Red Chinese, in a position with that bomb, and with that great military force, that the world would not today have been conquered by that force? But this country did not.”

Reagan cut through the monumental lie (or, at best, an astonishing delusion) that all sides of the Cold War were morally equal, that both sides had valid grievances to bring to the table. The Communists, after all (so the lie goes) were just patriots for their country like we for ours.

This argument was a lie and Ronald Reagan called it: There were no moral similarities between the U.S. and Communist Russia. The United States fights for liberty and respects human life; the Communists lust for power and have murdered well over 50 million people to get it. When we were at the height of power, we used our resources to rebuild our former enemies (Japan and Germany). Anytime Communist regimes have had the chance, they have stolen private property, murdered, and left the remaining populations in poverty. Any moral equivalences there??

The whole discussion is quite relevant today because the very same morally confused arguments are being made about Radical Islam. Rational thinkers know that anyone who sets out to murder and maim women and children to make their point has no place on the moral grid.

Those who are confused should ask themselves a question similar to the one Reagan asked: Is there anyone besides Jimmy Carter who really thinks that if the Islamic Extremists got nukes at noon that at 12:05 pm those nukes wouldn’t be en route for Israel? And that at 12:10 pm those nukes wouldn’t be on their way to the U.S.?

Yet, bring this obvious reality to light today and Liberals will call you the very same things they called Reagan: hateful and bigoted.

Liberals are funny people. They equate things that have no equality: Regimes that starve their own people by the millions or blow up children in markets are said to be morally equivalent to the United States where we, not perfectly, but pretty much take care of our own AND give billions of dollars in aid to other countries each year. But the truly crazy comes out if you try to make the assertion that the old incandescent light bulb is just as good as the new compact fluorescents. Just watch the Libs freak out with indignation at the mere suggestion.

One may wonder why Libs can’t see the obvious. I mean, the fruits of Communism and radical Islam aren’t exactly hard to see. So how can otherwise sane people (for the most part) make these nutty assertions? Because in truth, their arguments are not just about raising the immoral to moral. They are about diminishing the good. Their purpose is to take the United States down a notch or two (or many). If Communism isn’t so bad then the U.S. isn’t so good. For Liberals, it’s not worth reporting the many grotesque murders by Islamic extremists that are happening daily, but it is worth reporting that a United States soldier may or may not have touched bare-handed one of the free Korans we provide the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Evidence is pending, but it’s worth reporting. Where is Amnesty International when you need them?! For the love of all that is moral and decent!

It’s all about denigrating the United States. Ronald Reagan called them on it and they have hated him for it ever since.