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The Danger of Projecting Weakness

Michael Ramirez, Feb. 5, 2024

Every January and February the deadlines for Journalism contests arise and I end up scrambling to get them done, while juggling my seven cartoons a week schedule. Add to that two book covers for my good friend, Michael Walsh, a cover for my dear friend, John Ondrasik’s (Five For Fighting) amazing, powerful new song, OK (or We are Not OK…) and then, friends dropping into town unexpectantly. Add a big dose of ark-building weather, and well, you end up with a very late Substack. 

My apologies.

As I mentioned, a good friend came into town unexpectedly. A bunch of us get together every now and then and have dinner in the private room in the back of a wonderful restaurant. The food is fantastic, but the company is even better. It’s a small cadre of right-thinking celebrities, an island of sanity in the malevolent ocean of liberal hysteria deep in the heart of Los Angeles. 

You probably know most of them.  I don’t think of them as celebrities but rather fellow soldiers fighting to defend our constitutional foundation. 

Unfortunately, they work in an industry where politics and independent thinking can quickly end a career. It really is pathetic when you think about it… Isn’t this supposed to be the land of the free? 

It is so bad out in LA that people will traverse miles and miles just to hang around with people who will tolerate a different point of view. You see, the game they play in the industry is that they demand tolerance of everyone for their narrow point of view, but they are only tolerant of views they agree with. 

It is so bad out here that people will drive 97 miles in the rain to be able to talk a little politics and a lot about loving America.

Southern Californians do not know how to drive in the rain. It’s difficult enough to drive and load a weapon, but then this wet stuff is coming out of the sky…What the heck is it? You see, California is a desert chaparral. On average, California has 284 days of sunshine. So, when it rains, people panic. Californians drive fast to avoid the rain and then swerve into the nearest object they can find. 

Now, I’m not much of a celebrity worshipper.  I don’t watch television, go to the hip movies, or listen to new music… so I always embarrass myself around people that I should know. I will confess, I read about the Grammys and didn’t know who most of the artists were.  I once played golf with Taylor Swift’s father and at the time, I didn’t have a clue who Taylor Swift was. 

Having the luxury of a high-profile job allows me to meet many extraordinary people but I’m just an ordinary guy with an extraordinary job.  

I went to John Stamos’ birthday party at his house once. I met John when he was playing the drums and guitar with the Beach Boys. John is a great guy.  A bunch of the Full House cast was there… and… I recognized them! They were all so nice.  I’ve only watched the show a couple of times. Yikes. 

I met a bunch of his friends by the pool. One of them laughed and said, people call me Dr. McSteamy. I responded, “Your name is Dr. McSteamy? It must have been tough growing up!” They explained that they worked on a medical show called Grey’s Anatomy, and I asked if any of them played a podiatrist so they could remove my foot from my mouth. 

They were all really nice and wonderful people… But we didn’t dare talk politics. It is Hollywood, after all. 

One celebrity I loved was President Ronald Reagan. Actually, I was unfamiliar with Reagan the movie star. I knew him as Governor Reagan because my dad was a fan of his policies… free market economics, small government, fewer regulations, and low taxes. What’s not to love?

I was telling a friend at the dinner about meeting Ronald Reagan at the White House. Reagan is my favorite modern President. He was a true conservative. Reagan came into office as I came into editorial cartooning. 

Jimmy Carter left America in a national malaise. The “misery index” (unemployment plus inflation) was above 20%. We had high unemployment, double-digit inflation (13.5%), double-digit interest rates (21.5%), and Carter’s deep cuts in the military damaged our defensive posture. 

Worse, his policy of appeasement signaled to our enemies that the U.S. was weak and vulnerable. Iran took 66 U.S. hostages. They held 52 of them, for 444 days. 

Reagan pledged to hold Iran accountable. He promised to restore funding and establish a strong national defense and advocated a diplomatic policy of “Peace through Strength.” Reagan warned Iran there would be consequences if they held any hostages while he was president. 

Twenty minutes after he was sworn in as President, Iran released the hostages.

Reagan believed that the best defense was a strong offense. He was right. He believed that America should champion freedom and be the beacon of liberty and democracy around the world. Reagan understood that when America withdrew from the world stage, our enemies would quickly fill the void. 

History is repeating itself. Biden is repeating the very same mistakes as Jimmy Carter, and our enemies have only grown bolder. 

It is time to hold Iran accountable. Peace through strength.

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