by Jeffery Rendall
“I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” – Ronald Reagan.
Among the multitudes of unique qualities Ronald Reagan brought to the American political table – and eventually to the presidency – was his ability to encapsulate complex concepts into short sentences, big ideas in quote form that didn’t take intense contemplation or an Ivy League education to decipher. The line above is certainly one of those famous Reagan-isms that fans of the 40th president can roll off their tongues whenever the occasion calls for it.
Liberals also received Reagan’s message, apparently, as none other than ultra-leftist/socialist Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren recently took issue with The Gipper’s immortal words. Nicholas Ballasy of PJ Media reported last week, “Warren, who originally proposed the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has suggested establishing a new federal anti-corruption agency…
“Warren slammed President Reagan’s famous quote… ‘Since Watergate, generation after generation of American politicians have attacked the very idea that our government can do anything right,’ the senator said. ‘Anyone remember Ronald Reagan’s famous line? ‘What are the nine most terrifying words in the English language? I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ Really? Government help is terrifying? Give me a break.’
“’Do you know what’s actually terrifying? Hurricanes like Katrina and Maria are terrifying, which is why the victims of natural disasters ask for government help,’ she added. ‘After a lifetime of hard work, growing old and going broke is terrifying, which is why the American people strongly support Social Security. Choosing between food and medicine is terrifying, and that’s why the American people rise up and take to the streets when Republicans try to cut back Medicare and Medicaid.’”
While I agreed with the gist of what Warren claimed (that government isn’t always unwelcome), what is truly terrifying would be to select between she and Bernie Sanders (or any other wacked-out #resistance-obsessed Democrat) in the 2020 Democrat presidential primaries. Warren’s bug-eyed wicked witch feminist spiel is the epitome of annoying. She’s a lifelong academic who’s never accomplished anything or created any jobs yet lectures good hardworking people on what they should believe and how they should live. What a hypocrite.
An hour’s worth of listening to a recording of fingernails-against-a-chalkboard would be preferable to hearing “Pocahontas” speak for a single minute.
The fact Warren’s considered a leader in the Democrat party speaks volumes as to the deteriorated condition of political discourse in today’s America and exposes, yet again, the reasons why Donald Trump so successfully captured the imaginations of “Reagan Democrats” two years ago. It’s true the sight of a government boat might be welcome if you’re stranded on the rooftop of a house engulfed by floodwaters, but Warren’s rant completely misses the point Reagan was trying to make in all other respects.
In more instances than not government is the problem, not the solution.
Why didn’t “Pocahontas” mention the very likely possibility of a government regulator showing up at a property you just purchased and telling you not to develop it because there’s a newly formed puddle that qualifies as a wetland? Or how about the eternal Democrat-inspired government push to confiscate your firearms (or prevent you from buying them)? Or what if you’re a citizen who’s been the victim of an illegal alien-perpetrated crimeand some judge sets him free (see Steinle, Kate)?
Should inner-city residents be grateful to the government for all-but destroying the social fabric of their neighborhoods through doling out practically condition-free welfare to people without requiring them to better themselves in the process? A government check is a poor substitute for a father in the home. Or how about the ability to buy a gun to protect yourself from those who would prey upon you because they know you’re unarmed?
Needless to say we find out how much government “helps” every April at tax time.
Further, as if there aren’t enough living Republicans and conservatives to slam, Warren felt compelled to smear the memory of America’s favorite former two-term president. Reagan passed away over fourteen years ago but his specter still hovers powerfully over American politics. If you’ve got Democrats still disagreeing with something he said almost four decades ago you know it must’ve impacted their mindset.
These days, in contrast to Warren’s government-is-everything push, President Trump speaks glowingly of the individual’s opportunities to advance and excel on his own thanks to a private business system that’s geared towards fostering innovation and rewards risk taking, new ideas and hard work. The good people of America’s rust belt, for example, don’t want a handout from government and they couldn’t care less about Warren’s “anti-corruption agency.”
Who would run such an entity anyway? Should government employees be watching each other to root out corruption? Isn’t that like the fox minding the henhouse? Swamp creatures aren’t capable of policing themselves; that’s the job of the people through the voting booth. The last thing Washington needs is another “agency” staffed by bureaucrats keeping an eye on someone. Besides, don’t we already have plenty of anti-corruption laws on the statute books?
We already know the “corruption” angle is what Democrats are planning to use to fool voters into returning them to congressional majorities this year. It probably won’t work…people aren’t that dumb.
Or are they? Sadly, there are signs the millennial generation just might be that stupid. Rick Moran reported at PJ Media, “…[W]hile conservatives were busy making tons of money in the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s, liberals were busy taking over the entire educational establishment. The fruits of their labors? A couple of generations of kids who are clueless about the complete history of the country they grew up in.
“There’s nothing wrong with teaching about slavery, about Jim Crow, about the denial of equality and opportunity to many millions of Americans in the past — and the present. But, as was made clear by Campus Reform’s Cabot Phillips when he interviewed young people in New York about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ‘America was never that great’ remark, millennials are ignorant of the real accomplishments and achievements of all Americans, of many colors and ethnicities, through the centuries.
“When asked if there was ever a time in America’s history when we were great, the majority of the people I spoke with made it clear: they were siding with Governor Cuomo.”
As you would expect Moran’s article contains several quotes and anecdotes from young subjects he interviewed for the story, all corroborating his point that yes indeed, millennials are pretty darn oblivious – and leftist, too. I don’t disagree with any of it – and Moran’s experience certainly mirrors my own when reflecting on conversations with some of my kids’ classmates over the years. It’s always astonishing to me just how ignorant people are – and that’s especially true for youngsters.
My only disagreement with Moran concerns the generational point. I recall plenty of history apathetic teens from my high school days. Perhaps it’s the way the subject is/was taught but the lazy and complacent populace doesn’t put much stock into ingraining and learning lessons from the past. I’m not talking about the people who frequent places like Colonial Williamsburg and enthusiastically question the historic interpreters about matters of conflict with the present.
There’s always more to learn, especially about people who lived hundreds of years ago. If today’s folks would only pay more attention they’d receive a complete and eye-opening “education” on why things are the way they are today. But if that were the case we’d have a lot fewer Democrat politicians winning elections. In some circles intellectual illiteracy is thought of as a virtue.
It’s evident many do look to history these days but only to supply rationales or justifications for their contemporary actions. “Well, if Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and (supposedly) procreated with a woman he owned (Sally Hemmings) to breed more property, why should I pay attention to the reasoning of the Declaration of Independence or the Virginia Statute for religious freedom? Jefferson and all of those dead white men are just gigantic hypocrites, not heroes.”
Or, “Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee fought for the Confederacy, therefore they were in essence trying to keep black people as slaves. Tear down the statues – replace them with monuments to Rosa Parks and Malcom X. Rename the schools too.”
How much longer will it be until leftists demand Ronald Reagan’s name be scrubbed from National Airport? Didn’t Reagan promote America-First like Trump? Doesn’t that make him a racist/sexist/homophobe/Islamophobe, xenophobe “deplorables” lover? Didn’t Reagan talk about the greatness of America as opposed to highlighting everything that’s wrong with it like Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do all the time?
Perhaps the biggest problem is young people aren’t taught to think and question what they’re reading and hearing; instead they’re instructed to automatically tune-out one side’s point-of-view (you know which side, too) and substitute the establishment’s pre-approved thought (i.e. political correctness) for anything that challenges the status quo. Today’s kids are the epitome of sheep – and they’re ignoring the shepherd.
Even worse – they’re told to bite the shepherd.
Young Americans are lectured that it’s cruel to enforce immigration laws because families are being “separated” at the border. Forget the fact the partings are only temporary (average processing time is less than a normal workday), such truisms don’t matter to politicians with an agenda like Warren.
The Democrats’ leftist mentality is annoying, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that it’s bad policy that leads to tragic results. Take last week’s discovery that Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts was abducted and murdered by an illegal alien. Facts are facts – had the man been dealt with properly under existing law Ms. Tibbetts would still be with us today.
There’s going to come a time – and soon – when the good law-abiding people of America aren’t going to take the politicians’ excuses any longer. Flame-throwing conservative Kurt Schlichter wrote at Townhall, “We’re sick of American citizens paying checks written in blood by a Democrat Party that absolutely refuses to allow our government to do the two most basic jobs of any government – securing our country’s borders and protecting our citizenry.
“Our citizenry, not foreigners. They have no right to be here. None. Those that are here stay here by our grace and at our pleasure. We are American citizens – and that includes my legal immigrant wife. This is our country. We rule, not an unaccountable elite that wants to import a more pliable electorate and a more pliable serf class to do the jobs Americans don’t want to do because the Chamber of Commerce types don’t want to pay them fairly…
“This fall, we need to stand up and demand to be heard. The Democrats will never listen, but the Republicans will. Some will listen because they get it, because they understand that this can’t go on. And others, the weak and the bought off and the feckless Fredocons of Conservative, Inc., will listen because if they don’t we’ll crush them at the ballot box.”
We can only hope Schlichter is right. The illegal immigration crisis is very much a bipartisan effort caused in part by Democrats who weep, moan and cry over the plight of “undocumented” aliens together with a GOP establishment leadership that’s ignored numerous opportunities to deal with the issue because they’re beholden to the big business interests of the party.
Stuck in between the self-interested political elites is the American people, everyday citizens who just expect basic protections from those in power. Our daughters shouldn’t fear for their safety when out for a jog on a summer evening. That’s just not right. Schlichter is correct – voters won’t stand for inaction much longer. How many more Mollie Tibbetts will it take to light the powder keg of citizen insurrection?
How long will President Trump’s supporters live with the unfair badgering he receives daily from Democrats and the media simply because he does his job of enforcing the laws?
Ronald Reagan was right – if you’ve got a government agent at your door promising help it’s more likely a dilemma than a beneficial thing. People like Sen. Elizabeth Warren may disagree but Americans know better – the farther government stays away from your personal business, the better.
Soon-To-Be Governor Bill Lee wants to reduce the size of state government and migrate what remains down to the county and local levels – that is what’s needed.
Presidential candidate Reagan posited this question in his campaign against Jimmy The Grin : “Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?” If we were to pose that question today: “Are we better off now than two years ago?” I think most people would say yes. But here’s a more telling question: “Is the Federal budget larger now than it was tow years ago?” or perhaps “Are there more Federal employees now than two years ago?”
Reject the narrative.