Reagan cleaned up Jimmy Carter's mess and we need someone to do the same with Biden's failures
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If someone had told you 20 years ago the world would come to accept concentration camps, genocide, ethnic cleansing you would have said, no those are things of the past. You would have shaken your head in disbelief at the suggestion that civilized societies would tolerate what the Russian army is doing to Ukrainian civilians, or the Chinese government to their Muslim Uighur citizens, or what Hamas terrorists are doing to Israeli babies, young children and grandmothers.
Today, evil has been unleashed on the world by dictators who deliberately target civilians, including their own people, in a slaughter of the innocents.
We have stopped believing in ourselves and the rightness of our purpose. Three out of four Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the government … or legacy media … or our institutions.
And a stunning number of Americans, especially among our young people, have come to hate America. Too many believe in nothing at all.
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If we are to come back to our senses we need great leaders -- those with morale clarity and vision. Those who can inspire us, who can articulate a vision of the future, and will bring us together to achieve it.
President Ronald Reagan took over a country on the wrong track when he replaced President Jimmy Carter. FILE: Reagan at Durenberger Republican convention Rally, 1982 (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg and Universal History Archive via Getty Images)
Instead, we’ve got some of the worst leaders in our history.
We’re governed by career politicians who fan the flames of identity politics, slice and dice us into this camp or that, pit us against each other, and hope to pick up enough grievance groups to get elected.
Our leaders pander to us, "vote for me, and I’ll give you freebies and forgive your debts". They scare us, "vote for me or the bad guys will get you – the white supremacists, terrorists, communists, wokeists, racists, fascists, MAGA Republicans or progressive Democrats."
Our leaders pander to us or scare us. They don’t inspire us.
We need moral clarity and a renewed sense of our national purpose. We need a Ronald Reagan, but instead we’ve got a lot of Jimmy Carters.
In the late 1970s America faced a double threat – economic stagnation at home and a Soviet Union on the march abroad. President Carter had no plan to fix things, even though many of our problems were of his own making.
Reagan said we would win the Cold War and we did. Reagan told Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" and he did. Reagan taught us how to be proud of America again, and we were.
Reagan’s election in 1980 changed everything.
Reagan fixed the American economy and launched a prosperity that lasted for decades.
United States President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan comfort Sherry Sierralta beside the grave of her brother, slain Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, July 2, 1985. Looking on are Maria Dennison, a close friend, and the family minister. (Bill Fitz-Patrick/CNP/ZUMA Wire/Alamy)
He had clear vision of the evils and immorality of communism, articulated it time and again to the American people and the world. He wouldn’t settle for a forever Cold War. Instead, he developed a comprehensive step-by-step plan to defeat the Soviet Union without firing a shot. Reagan played to our strengths – our economy, technology and political system. He played the long game and won a peace that lasted for decades.
Reagan never wavered when the critics pounded him and even his allies got wobbly. Reagan said we would win the Cold War and we did. Reagan told Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" and he did. Reagan taught us how to be proud of America again, and we were.
Oh, that we could have such a leader today. Instead, we’ve got President Jimmy Carter 2.0
Clueless, ineffectual and, as a result, downright dangerous.
What would President Ronald Reagan 2.0 do?
First, fix the economy.
Cut taxes and red tape. Let our companies innovate, create and make things again. Secure the supply chain of products essential to the health and welfare of Americans.
Second, end the war on American fossil fuels.
Reagan 20.0 would return us to energy independence with American oil and natural gas.
Third, protect our national security by guaranteeing our economic security.
It’s not just American energy independence, but American energy dominance. It is simple supply and demand. If American oil and gas companies can produce and export, prices go down, and Russia and Iran will go broke. Bankrupt countries can’t afford to go to war.
US President Ronald W. Reagan (L) seated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev during a Sunday afternoon meeting at the Kremlin, during the Moscow Summit. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)
Fourth, secure our borders.
The millions of young, military age men who have come across the border in the last few years will change American society forever, and not for the good. Letting in millions more creates a ticking time bomb.
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Fifth, restore America’s military deterrent, not to go to war, but to guarantee the peace.
Rebuild our military, but in a way that enhances our security and deterrent capabilities, not the wallets of the defense industry and Wall Street.
Sixth, guarantee America’s future by investing in the technologies of the future.
China is open about its ambitions to replace the United States as the world’s technology superpower. They will buy, borrow or steal American technology to get there. If that happens, we will never get American leadership back. We need to double our R&D budget, invent things here, manufacture them here, and safeguard our intellectual property.
Finally, help us believe in America again.
Help us stand for something. Help us understand that evil cannot be ignored, or cajoled, it must be defeated. Rally and unite us around our principles and restore our national purpose.
During the bloodiest years of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, retained a clear vision of the goodness of America. He understood that it is up to us to "nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."
The American people are up to the task. We have always been throughout our history, and we are still today. But we need strong leaders to show us the way.
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K.T. McFarland was President Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor. She is a board member of the American Conservative Union and author of the best-selling book, Revolution: Trump, Washington and "We the People."
