“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” It is exhilarating just to repeat one of President Reagan’s most famous lines. It is arguably his most important. Remember, virtually everyone around President Reagan at the time urged him not to say those words at the Berlin Wall that horrible wall that had separated the city between east and west, free and unfree.

Career diplomats and political handlers focused on the dangers of such a statement. It was thought to be a slap at the Soviets and thus, for many, harmful to keeping the peace with the Soviet Union. Reagan was criticized in the press for exacerbating tensions. It goes to show just how wed to the status quo our own status quo government can get.

However, Reagan wasn’t a career diplomat or a political handler and, thankfully, he didn’t follow their advice. Instead, he had faith in the people. Not only Americans, but also people throughout the world. He knew that to overcome the evils of communism folks around the world needed to be reminded of its evil. Today, the Soviet Union is no more. Ronald Reagan’s words at the Berlin Wall didn’t end the Soviet Union or bring the wall down instantaneously. But they helped illuminate the stark difference between “the evil empire” and the free world. That made quite a difference.

Telling the truth, even when some do not wish to hear it, is what real leaders do. And I have it on good authority that the truth shall make us free.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.