{"id":27717,"date":"2014-10-12T19:21:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T23:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=27717"},"modified":"2014-10-12T19:21:45","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T23:21:45","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-thursday-october-9th-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=27717","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Thursday, October 9th, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Thursday, October 9th, 2014…and here’s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up, courtesy of the WSJ<\/em>, this snippet from Ronald Reagan’s August 1980 address to the VFW convention provides a quick reminder how far the quality of American leadership has fallen since his days in the Oval Office:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Leadership400\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Soviet leaders talk arrogantly of a so-called \u201ccorrelation of forces\u201d that has moved in their favor, opening up opportunities for them to extend their influence. The response from the administration in Washington has been one of weakness, inconsistency, vacillation and bluff.<\/strong><\/span> A Soviet combat brigade is discovered in Cuba; the Carter Administration declares its presence 90 miles off our shore as \u201cunacceptable.\u201d The brigade is still there. Soviet troops mass on the border of Afghanistan. The President issues a stern warning against any move by those troops to cross the border. They cross the border, execute the puppet President they themselves installed in 1978, and carry out a savage attack on the people of Afghanistan. Our credibility in the world slumps further.<\/span> The President proclaims we\u2019ll protect the Middle East by force of arms and two weeks later admits we don\u2019t have the force.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Is it only Jimmy Carter\u2019s lack of coherent policy that is the source of our difficulty? Is it his vacillation and indecision? Or is there another, more frightening possibility\u2014the possibility that this administration is being very consistent, that it is still guided by that same old doctrine that we have nothing to fear from the Soviets\u2014if we just don\u2019t provoke them<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Well, World War II came about without provocation. It came because nations were weak, not strong, in the face of aggression. Those same lessons of the past surely apply today. Firmness based on a strong defense capability is not provocative<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> But weakness can be provocative simply because it is tempting to a nation whose imperialist ambitions are virtually unlimited.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We find ourselves increasingly in a position of dangerous isolation.<\/span> Our allies are losing confidence in us, and our adversaries no longer respect us<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Barack Hussein Obama isn’t fit to sit in the same room with The Gipper, let alone occupy what once was his desk.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a related item demonstrating the utter hypocrisy of Dimocrats, the latest from the Party of Transparency:<\/strong><\/p>\n