Once upon a time, in a sane nation far far away, when both political parties loathed fascism in all forms, the GOP was led by a guy who lauded democracy and vowed that the fallen soldiers who’d defended it did not die in vain.
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end.
Ronald Reagan delivered a string of Memorial Day addresses that stressed two basic principles: support for democracy at home and opposition to tyranny abroad. His domestic critics on the left typically rolled their eyes when he spoke on the somber holiday – but today his words seem downright poignant, given that the party he once led has degenerated into an authoritarian cult that threatens to betray every soldier that paid the ultimate price for democracy.
Here’s a representative sampling of Reagan’s rhetoric, culled from a number of Memorial Days:
“I don’t have to tell you how fragile this precious gift of freedom is. Every time we hear, watch, or read the news, we are reminded that liberty is a rare commodity in this world…We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free…
“Today, the United States stands as a beacon of liberty and democratic strength before the community of nations. We are resolved to stand firm against those who would destroy the freedoms we cherish…This determination, this resolve, is the highest tribute we can pay to the many who have fallen in the service of our nation…Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: the United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper…
“We must try to honor (the fallen) – not for their sake alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice…Our debt to them can be paid only by our own re-commitment to preserving those same ideals…We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.”
Well, it’s a good thing that the World War II soldiers who lost their young lives fighting fascism don’t know that a Capitol cult back home is betraying their sacrifices by whitewashing the fascist fighters who will stop at nothing to overthrow democracy. And Reagan himself would be heartbroken to learn what has befallen his “shining city on the hill.”
But for those of us, on this Memorial Day, who still believe in free elections and the democratic experiment, Reagan has given us marching orders: “We are resolved to stand firm against those who would destroy the freedoms we cherish.” If we fail, the darkness will surely follow.