Af: Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard

Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:01:07 +0000

Lidt afhængig af hvordan man definerer det … jo. “The Kochtopus” …

Af: Nikolaj Hawaleschka Stenberg

Nikolaj Hawaleschka Stenberg — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:43:38 +0000

Institute for Humane Studies – er det ikke en del af Koch-familien, ligesom Cato Institute?

Af: Lars Hvidberg

Lars Hvidberg — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:26:27 +0000

Det er smukt!

Af: Orla Schantz

Orla Schantz — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 06:05:22 +0000

Det var faktisk en nu næsten ukendt speech-writer Peter Robinson, der stod bag Reagans tale og sætningen “Tear down this wall”, og ikke den navnkundige Peggy Noonan. Det fremgår af Christopher Buckleys anmeldelse (in The Washington Monthly) af Peter Robinsons bog It’s My Party: A Republican’s Messy Love Affair with the GOP’Her er et lille udsnit af Christopher Buckleys anmeldelse,Until now, Peter Robinson has been one of the lesser-known of George Bush’s and Ronald Reagan’s speech writers, but with this sprightly and amusing book, that may change. He has an honest, uncomplicated, almost naive prose style and appears not to have a mean bone in his body, which really ought to disqualify him from writing about politics.Robinson also has some piquant anecdotes to relate about his time at the White House.In 1987 he traveled to Berlin with the White House advance party, having been assigned the speech that President Reagan would give in front of the Berlin Wall. He interviewed the ranking U.S. diplomat in Berlin to get his ideas about what Reagan should say. The diplomat, who could barely be bothered to see him, tried to brush him off with some State Department tapioca about how there should be more air routes into Berlin and what a jolly good idea it was that Berlin should host the Olympics. Above all, the dip cautioned, the President must not mention the Wall, since “[t]he people of Berlin had long ago gotten used to it.”Robinson then did something unusual, namely seek out some actual Berliners. He asked them if they’d gotten used to the wall. They nearly choked on their sausages and told him, in no uncertain terms, about the anguish of their divided families. It seemed that they had not “gotten used” to the Berlin Wall.Robinson wrote into the speech the line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” This is, you will recognize, one of Ronald Reagan’s most quoted lines. But back to 1987. You’ll already have anticipated what happened: the Berlin diplomat, the State Department, the National Security Council, the White House staff all went bananas. Was Peter Robinson crazy? Take it out! Out, out! But he would not take it out. Among other reasons, the Leader of the Free World kind of liked the line. The incident escalated, with 30-year-old Robinson going toe-to-toe with, among others, National Security Council Director Colin Powell. (It was disappointing to read this.) Finally, Reagan had to say to his chief of staff, Kenneth Duberstein, with a trace of Reaganesque irony, Look here, old shoe, who’s President here? Even skilled White House-hand Duberstein had to back down. Reagan went on to deliver the line. The rest is history.

Af: kjerulf

kjerulf — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:39:42 +0000

Put Ron on the Rock:Der er pt fire præsidenter på Mount Rushmore. Washington og Jefferson som nationens skabere, Lincoln, der holdt den sammen i dens sværeste stund og så Teddy Roosevelt, der skød udrydningstruede dyr.Der bør være fem: Ronald Wilson Reagan har sin naturlige plads blandt disse.

Kommentarer til: Tear down this wall!

Af: Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard

Af: Nikolaj Hawaleschka Stenberg

Af: Lars Hvidberg

Af: Orla Schantz

Af: kjerulf