[Dean's World] Dave Price: Contrasts

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Posted by Dave Price:
Contrasts
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1204061946.shtml


   Ronald Reagan's [1]announcement of his candidacy for President of the
   United States.
   Barack Obama's [2]announcement of his candidacy for President of the
   United States.
   Reagan:

     To me our country is a living, breathing presence, unimpressed by
     what others say is impossible, proud of its own success, generous,
     yes and naïve, sometimes wrong, never mean and always impatient to
     provide a better life for its people in a framework of a basic
     fairness and freedom.
     Someone once said that the difference between an American and any
     other kind of person is that an American lives in anticipation of
     the future because he knows it will be a great place. Other people
     fear the future as just a repetition of past failures. Thereâs a
     lot of truth in that. If there is one thing we are sure of it is
     that history need not be relived; that nothing is impossible, and
     that man is capable of improving his circumstances beyond what we
     are told is fact.
     ...
     The crisis we face is not the result of any failure of the American
     spirit; it is a failure of our leaders to establish rational goals
     and give our people something to order their lives by.

   Obama:

     For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts
     don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about
     rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've
     been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an
     ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and
     foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the
     death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are
     somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and
     told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.

   Reagan:

     The people have not created this disaster in our economy; the
     federal government has. It has overspent, overestimated, and over
     regulated.
     ...
     The 10th article of the Bill of Rights is explicit in pointing out
     that the federal government should do only those things
     specifically called for in the Constitution. All others shall
     remain with the states or the people. We havenât been observing
     that 10th article of late. The federal government has taken on
     functions it was never intended to perform and which it does not
     perform well. There should be a planned, orderly transfer of such
     functions to states and communities and a transfer with them of the
     sources of taxation to pay for them.
     ..
     We have long since committed ourselves, as a people, to help those
     among us who cannot take care of themselves. But the federal
     government has proven to be the costliest and most inefficient
     provider of such help we could possibly have.

   Obama:

     government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes
     we need
     ...
     Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we
     will have universal health care in America
     ...
     We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases.
     ...
     Let's recruit a new army of teachers
     ...
     Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific
     research, and let's lay down broadband lines

   Reagan:

     On the foreign front, the decade of the 1980âs will place severe
     pressures upon the United States and its allies. We can expect to
     be tested in ways calculated to try our patience, to confound our
     resolve and to erode our belief in ourselves. During a time when
     the Soviet Union may enjoy nuclear superiority over this country,
     we must never waiver in our commitment to our allies nor accept any
     negotiation which is not clearly in the national interest. We must
     judge carefully. Though we should leave no initiative untried in
     our pursuit of peace, we must be clear voiced in our resolve to
     resist any unpeaceful act wherever it may occur. Negotiations with
     the Soviet Union must never become appeasement.
     For the most of the last forty years, we have been preoccupied with
     the global struggle â the competition â with the Soviet Union and
     with our responsibilities to our allies. But too often in recent
     times we have just drifted along with events, responding as if we
     thought of ourselves as a nation in decline. To our allies we seem
     to appear to be a nation unable to make decisions in its own
     interests, let alone in the common interest. Since the Second World
     War we have spent large amounts of money and much of our time
     protecting and defending freedom all over the world. We must
     continue this, for if we do not accept the responsibilities of
     leadership, who will? And if no one will, how will we survive?

   Obama:

     But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this
     war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I
     thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families
     who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the
     young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start
     bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of
     American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at
     the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan
     that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008.

References

   1. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/11.13.79.html
   2. http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/02/obamas_presidential_announceme.html