When President Ronald Reagan was asked how he defined
victory in the Cold War he responded simply, “we win, they lose.” Now
that, folks, is pretty simple and easily understood by everyone:
Americans, allies, and the Soviet Union. And Reagan never relented in
defining the enemy as the “evil empire” and by commanding at the
Brandenburg Gates, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”It was a profound statement and rallying cry that fomented an emboldening spirit to those who lived behind that wall under the dark specter of tyranny. That was exceptional American leadership at its best. Quite contrary to someone uttering in a perceived off-mike moment, “after reelection I will have more flexibility.”
And so this week they gathered in Paris, a city that has been rocked with two horrific Islamic terrorist attacks this year. I know many of you have forgotten the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish kosher grocery store mass killings earlier this year. That is just a reflection of our soundbite, reality TV, short-term memory mentality in the west. Yes, world leaders came to Paris, the famed City of Lights to discuss the most critical and greatest threat to our world – climate change.
A week ago, French President Francois Hollande was in Washington D.C. and was certainly reassured by these words from President Obama: “What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be, when the world stands as one and shows that we will not be deterred from building a better future for our children.” Unfortunately President Obama was referring to the climate change conference in Paris, not a NATO Article V conference. And in preparation for the conference, I read that “instead of marching, activists placed thousands of pairs of shoes -- weighing more than four tonnes according to organisers -- on Place de la Republique square. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon left a pair of running shoes, and Pope Francis sent shoes to be placed on his behalf.”
