Reagan, Bush and destiny

Andrew Sullivan has rounded up some quotes from Ronald Reagan's critics that make them look as arrogant and stupid as they seemed to think Reagan was. Every great leader in a democratic nation accumulates a mass of such detractors, who are seldom remembered by later generations. Lincoln was called all sorts of names. He was widely hated in the press, but became a hero only after he was assassinated.

One thing that has expressed itself eloquently in the past week is the depth of respect and even love ordinary Americans have for Ronald Reagan. There is still plenty of bile and contempt in much of the media toward him, but it's the genius of democracy that saves us from such people. Reagan wasn't just a great communicator; that's just the way those who despised him rationalized his success. He was a good, kind man who loved America and was willing to stand up to frightening threats to protect it. Just as Eisenhower won the War in Europe, Reagan won the Cold War.

He believed in destiny and that he was a tool in the hands of God for a great purpose. I believe he was right, just as I believe that this nation is destined to be a tool for God to bring about his purposes in the world. George W. Bush was elected by such a narrow margin that I've always felt that there was a divine hand in it. (Won't that make Democrats furious!) I felt it again after 9/11 when I contemplated what our response would have been had Al Gore been president. The Democrats don't have any real warriors anymore, unless you count Wesley Clark. They generally don't care much about national defense.

I don't believe in fate or destiny in terms of every life having been determined in advance, but I do believe that God is guiding many things subtlely for his own purposes, and I think that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were raised up by him in their times to lead this nation, which probably doesn't deserve to hold such power and receive such blessings as it has. America is an instrument he will use as he sees fit. I just hope we Americans have the sense to be humble enough to serve what Margaret Thatcher calls our "mission of freedom." Note that "mission" does not imply "freedom." A mission is an assignment and it usually requires discipline and concentration, even risk. Freedom is something that demands effort and sacrifice. It's frightening to those who have lived under totalitarian systems. It is maintained by making the right choices consistently and repeatedly, with the knowledge that making the wrong ones will limit one's freedom. That's why I'm not a libertarian. I don't think that liberty is something that maintains itself, or that it means that we should be free to abuse drugs, receive a dole, wallow in pornography or perversion, or become slaves to gambling, alcohol or anything else. We can always make those choices, but society shouldn't be encouraging us to make the wrong ones. In the end we will harm it as well as ourselves and cause ourselves to lose the liberty we wanted all along.