The Kremlin's Really Bad Month: March 1983

by Paul Kengor - March 3rd, 2008 - The American Thinker

"It is an Evil Empire. It's time to close it down."
- Ronald Reagan, White House, March 1983

It was 25 years ago this month, March 1983, that the Soviet Union went into hysterics, both realizing and arguably beginning the terminal phase in its deadly life cycle.

With our current political campaign in full swing the future of the democratic party is about to be decided in today's primary elections in Ohio and Texas. There is much enthusiasm in their ranks. They are picking from two candidates both of whom see America as seriously flawed and in need of "change". Deomcrats once again tout socialism as the panacea. Because of this, now is a good time to think about history and wonder about the lessons we have learned from it.

For Democrats this article will invoke nothing but heartburn. It accurately reflects a history that most of them reject. Ronald Reagan ended the Soviet Union because he recognized that it was a house of cards. Evil it was, just as Reagan had pronouced it. Democrats saw America then, as they do today, as the summary of every anecdotal shortcoming anyone can come up with. They still today, as Jeanne Kirkpatrick said then, "Blame America first." They do not accept that America, with Ronald Reagan's leadership, brought down the evil empire because we are a great nation.

The Democrats feared the Soviet Union and wanted to appease it. During the Jimmy Carter regime they even did their best to turn America into a socialist utopia modeled after the communists. In the process they nearly destroyed our nation with sky high interest rates, high taxes, high unemployment and a failing economy. It was called stagflation. Little has changed in the years since. Today they want to appease radical Islam.

Ronald Reagan turned this around with his boundless optimism in the strength of a free people embracing free enterprise. He also asked the American people to sacrifice and build up our military power to assure we remained free.

The question of the day is to try and figure out whether the near future is going to be similar to 1976? Are we about to once again flirt with socialism and the destruction to economic security that entails? Or could this be 1980 where we once again commit ourselves to the American dream . . . believing in our national greatness?

If Obama becomes President we will see our nation plunge into hard times as socialism is used to tax our people unmercifully and our strength, free enterprise, is abandoned. If John McCain becomes President we are more likely to see uncertainty than a great recovery like Reagan accomplished. John McCain does not have either the optimism of Reagan of the intellect of Reagan. It isn't going to be like 1980 in many ways.

So what are we going to see?

This is a good article. We need to study that time in 1983. Most people have forgotten that even Reagan's closest advisers did not see what he saw. The challenges he overcame were simply staggering but he believed we could win. Like then we are in a war that many want to pretend does not exist. Like then, many want to walk away. However 25 years ago this month, Ronald Reagan took the decisive actions that changed the world. This time we may have to get by without a great leader.