Europe: We Yearn for Reagan

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Europeans voice high praise for President Ronald Reagan as they express their longing for another American leader like the nation's 40th president, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan writes.

“The world misses him as much as we [Americans] do. It misses grand leadership as much as we do,” writes Noonan, who also notes that the world “doesn’t want to be patronized or dominated by America . . . the world wants something else: American goodness.”

When Ronald Reagan's statue was unveiled in Budapest, Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the 40th president of the United States "remade the world for us." (Getty Images Photo)
As several European countries celebrate the centennial of Reagan’s birth this year with the unveiling of statues and the renaming of streets, leaders from around the continent are honoring the man who tore down “the distorted and sick ideologies of the 20th century” and “remade the world for us,” Noonan quotes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as saying during the presentation of Reagan’s statue in Budapest.

This has got to be a serious slap in the face for President Obama. When you have the leaders across Europe yearning for a former President, publicly declaring he was the greatest in living memory, what that says is “Obama you just are not good enough”. An unintended insult of course, but perhaps it is the truth. I am not exactly a huge fan of Ronald Reagan but can easily see why many leaders and people across Europe would be. In essence he was the one who tore down the Soviet Union. Arguably it was heading that way regardless.

With statues of him being unveiled and not just of him in London but also of Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower it brings great pride to me knowing that our Presidents have had such a positive influence upon the nations and peoples of Europe. We may have our differences culturally, linguistically, and politically but we are Westerners and our nation was founded by men of European blood. Your people are our people, at least in my eyes.

In essence he was the one who tore down the Soviet Union. Arguably it was heading that way regardless.

That's exactly it.

He knew what to say and how to say it. He captivated the world and stood up against the West's greatest foe, and technically, won. Though, as you say, it was headed that way, he really made it public that communism was over and democracy was going to prevail. The people of Europe and America remember him for the stand he took and the idea that he endorsed: America would not back down. That's why they love him.

And to reply to it being an insult to Obama, technically it is fitting. The presidents took over in similar economic downturns and did pretty much the opposite. Reagan did "Reaganomics" (Keynesian Economics), while Obama did a "Stimulus" package. The United States recovered from Reagan's crisis, although the world and the situation was much different then.

Just my .02 cents.

reply to post by Misoir

Reagan made Americans feel good about themselves, after Carter made Americans feel like #.
It is hard to find who was right, or good, when they are just two men themselves a product of the times.
This monument of Reagan is a fiction. Like watching an old film where John Wayne excels in his role, and subsequently gets a statue somewhere...how real is that?
We are all rats running around in a maze, except some rats get all of the attention. And the designers of the maze get none.

Europe isn't the only country yearning for Reagan....so is America!

The public yearns for an inspirational figure to justify the self-destructive path our system is leading us down. A lot of people thought it was going to be Obama, and while he was initially, I don't think he has what it takes to get the job done.

Oh get real! Peggy Noonan was a Reagan speech writer not exactly an objective observer and one who, I suspect, is totally clueless about what Europeans think because as a good Republican she simply sneers at Europeans.

We are so lucky to have Obama in the White House right now. Because of his steady, calm leadership during the toughest times this country has seen since the thirties we are not now in throes of Great Drepression the Sequel

A conservatively owned newspaper praising a conservative president...

Who cares?

I had a good laugh anyways.

Originally posted by Marulo
A conservatively owned newspaper praising a conservative president...

Who cares?

I had a good laugh anyways.

After the millennium, a lot of liberals praised Reagan as well. Liking Reagan wasn't necessarily a partisan thing.

Reagan? really? Okay how about this, who signed the 1986 Amnesty Law that allows illegals to be citizens?

reply to post by satron


Who said it had to be?

and so what?

Edit: Not trying to come off as rude, but your point is beyond me at the moment. Unless I was meant to take that literally, in which case I appreciate your reply.

Originally posted by nyk537
Europe isn't the only country yearning for Reagan....so is America!

Not the America I live in! How are things much different than when Reagan was office today?

- Corporations outsourcing? Check.
- Class warfare and attacks on the middle class? Yep.
- Low taxes on the wealthy? Check.
- Lobbyists out of control? Check.
- Defense spending out of control? Check.
- Union busting? Check.

In fact, most of the above began under Reagan. He was a figurehead for the new corporate America and the Neocons. And the sad reality is, not much has changed since he was in office.

Originally posted by nyk537
Europe isn't the only country yearning for Reagan....so is America!

Why? Should we give all the illegal aliens amnesty or do the wealthy and corporations need a bigger tax cut? America could hardly use another tool like Reagan again Bush jr was bad enough.

Europe is better off taking a laxative then getting another Reagan.

His policies have done enough damage to the world as it is.

This is bull.

Reagan was not a fiscal conservative. He was the neo-conservative prototype, which was further developed and defined by his VP Bush Sr, and Bush Jr the living embodiment of neocon ideology. Whether the Soviets, Iraq or al Qaeda, neocons need enemies to justify their budget breaking corporate profiteering defense spending. Neither Europe or America yearns for neocon policies, fiscal conservatism / libertarianism is the real will of the people. Understand politics and stop worshipping globalists, left and right. They come in many different guises but all are the same at heart.

USA yearns for Ron Paul, Europe yearns for a stable beacon of civil and economic freedom it can look up to and respect once again.

Hm. Interesting points of view. From my experience here in Europe, the most common attitudes are that America has gone too far one way, and some of the other countries here went too far the other way. So they are trying to focus upon ideas, people, and symbols of that "other way" for themself...... while saying Obama is very much what the US needs now. Do not forget, the Americans seem disenchanted (and some never were fans in the first place) but in most of Europe, Obama is still quite liked and popular!

Who they'd like to have at the front of their ship right now is not who they'd like to see at the front of YOUR ship right now!

For example, the french are still bitching about the damage the socialists did in the sixties, and getting more and more conservative and right-winged each year. They have had the employers taxed to the max "for the people", and although this hasn't been a huge disaster, it doesn't give any incentive for entrepreneurs to create business. Focusing on Reagan and his trickle down is appropriate for what they are interested in developing at their place.

But they also feel that they wouldn't want to go TOO far into capitalism and corporatism, as America stands as the example of what goes wrong when that gets to an extreme- they are all shaking their heads and saying poor american people, they need to take over their government and have one that will turn to their needs a bit more, take care of their own and put less energy into invading others and trying to dominate the world! They need a government that will give their money back to them, and take some from the fat cats hoarding.

-in other words, America needs a little of that socialism injection we had to find balance,
we need a bit of that capitalism injection to find balance. WE should meditate on Reaganomics,
THEY should meditate on some personality who stood for more social conscience. (they think Obama is appropriate).

But then , the Europeans tend to think more in ways of moderation, balance, instead of extremes, which I am sorry if anyone is offended by this, but for the most part, it seem the american public thinks in one extreme or the other, but rarely in the gray area of moderation.

IMHO opinion it is not good to build statues to war criminals and perpetrators of genocide. Reagan's hands are bloody up to shoulders: look at El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua ...

The 8 years Reagan was in office represented one of the most bloody eras in the history of the Western hemisphere, as Washington funneled money, weapons and other supplies to right wing death squads. And the death toll was staggering — more than 70,000 political killings in El Salvador, more than 100,000 in Guatemala, 30,000 killed in the contra war in Nicaragua.
[...]
In Washington, the forces carrying out the violence were called "freedom fighters." This is how Ronald Reagan described the Contras in Nicaragua: "They are our brothers, these freedom fighters and we owe them our help. They are the moral equal of our founding fathers."

Source

This is stunning in light of the op Gil Scott Heron R.I.P

Funny, i havent seen the owners of this site say people should reconsider NEWSMAX for their source...

reply to post by Misoir

Peggy Noonan

Excuse me while I refrain from posting obscenities.

I live in Europe and I feel no such need. And if you would ask 99% of my generation in Europe they wouldn't even know who the hell Reagan was.

Blatant propaganda is blatant.

Move along.

Reply to post by nyk537

Since when was Europe a country?

I didn't realise that former Eastern Bloc countries speak for the whole of Europe either. Ditto conservative rags from the US.

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