20 years ago today

[Little-Acorn]

20 years ago today, on June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan, in a speech before the Berlin Wall in Germany, demanded of the Soviet premier, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

A few years later, the wall came down, and shortly afterward the Soviet Union collapsed, freeing more people from oppression than ever in the history of the world.

Some say that the arms buildup Reagan initiated, hastened the demise of the Soviet Union by compelling them to start developing arms they couldn't afford. Others maintain that the USSR was on its way to collapse anyway due to its inefficient economy and unproductive workforce, which was not strong enough to recover from recent droughts and crop failures.

Whichever is true, it was a stunning demonstration of the inadequacy of the socialist system in place there, to feed its own people and produce prosperity.

[glockmail]

Reagan was the first president since the 1940s to reverse the growth of communism in the world. He is responsble for freeing more people than anyone else in the 20th Century.

[stephanie]

Twenty years ago today Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate and gave the speech heard 'round the world. Our friend Peter Robinson was the man who wrote the speech. He tells the story behind the speech in his terrific book How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. Peter has kindly condensed his account for Power Line readers today:

The rest at....http://www.powerlineblog.com/

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