Where is Reagan’s American beacon on the hill?
Wendy R. Sherman, USA TODAY:
“I was privileged to be a U.S. diplomat in two administrations, traveling the world to protect and advance our interests. The moral authority of America, the beacon on the hill that President Ronald Reagan spoke of, was an essential part of that interest . ... Today, we are leaderless and voiceless from the White House, at home and abroad, even as the voices of our citizens in the street, here and abroad, are loud and strong . ... Voices from the pope to the prime minister of Canada challenged President Donald Trump and questioned whether the United States still possessed any moral authority.”
Benjamin E. Park, The Washington Post:
“Mitt Romney joined more than 1,000 other protesters who marched to the White House . ... The Republican senator from Utah was continuing a family tradition of strongly supporting civil rights, even when it was politically disadvantageous. Romney’s father, George, then the governor of Michigan, marched in support of racial equality in 1963. He was in the early stages of planning his own presidential run, and his actions stood in stark contrast to a Republican Party that was increasingly reaching out to white Southerners on issues of race. Later, President Richard Nixon even fired George Romney as secretary of Housing and Urban Development
because of his zeal for enforcing open housing laws. While Mitt Romney proudly tweeted a photo of his father’s march in advance of his own and there are parallels between the two men, there is a major difference: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which they were both prominent and committed members, has changed its position on racial equality dramatically in the intervening five decades. George Romney not only went against his political party but (also) his church, while Mitt Romney did not.”
Jonah Goldberg, Tribune Content Agency:
“You remember 2012, right? That was the year of the last presidential election before Trump’s victory. And the way liberals attacked Romney’s presidential campaign on opinion pages of newspapers, news broadcasts and in the media echo chamber of blue check-mark Twitter has a lot to do with how the next election went — and how this one will go. Their treatment of Romney was an inflection point for many on the right . ... The lesson many on the right took from all the Romney attacks was that a candidate can’t win by being decent. ‘At least he fights’ became a kind of unofficial mantra of the Trump brigades . ... Now it is the right that attacks Romney’s character while the left has a strange new respect for it, not because his character has changed, but because it hasn’t.”