The Stick It To Liberals Bookshelf, #3

Reagan's War, by Peter Schweizer

It seems very hard to believe, particularly for younger conservatives, that we actually once had a president who did more than talk conservatism, not to mention a GOP leader who did the same. But Reagan was both, a true leader and not a follower. And after two generations of New Deal Liberalism as a governing philosophy, he turned the direction of government, however briefly, towards a more conservative approach.

This book focuses mostly on Reagan's war against communism, starting during his Hollywood days. But his war against communism entailed more than taking on the Soviet Union - Reagan also had to fight a domestic battle here in the U.S. in order to pursue his war against communism. Of course, his domestic enemies included a bunch of pantywaist left wing liberals that would rather suck up to communists and dictators than revere our own Constitution and American Heritage. But then, like now, Reagan also had to battle pathetic, spineless squishes in his own party, the effeminate elites that would rather make nice with the media and the Democrats (even some of his own advisers wee wee'd in their diapers when he had "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" put in his 1987 Berlin Wall speech).

People don't remember now, but for the most part, not only liberals but elitists in his own party were against him and his crusade against communism. But Reagan was a leader, and the epitome of the phrase "one man with courage makes a majority". No kidding. The grassroots strongly supported Reagan and his hardline stance against the Soviets, ignoring the liberals and the squishes. They were sick and tired of America being pushed around, particularly after the shameful end to Vietnam and the misery of the Carter years.

What the history in this book illustrates more than anything is that why true leaders stand on principle and how such a standing wins out in the end, even when things are tough during the journey. While we know the liberals in this country lack principles and courage, we still have far too many squishes that claim to be on the right who are all too willing to abandon principles when the going gets tough, far too willing to compromise with the left, and far too eager to seek respectability from the establishment media.

If you ever wanted to read a book that demonstrates the value of standing on principle alone rather than going along to get along, this is the book. History proved Reagan right, and spectacularly so. Had he not been willing to stand on his principles against both liberals and squishes, I wouldn't be writing about this right now - and Reagan would have been just another so-so president. We know that wasn't the case - even the squishes will admit it now.