Thankfully today, is the last day of the Reagan Memorial extravaganza. At first I was appropriately saddened by the memory and passing of the last great Leader this country has had. Now, I am ready to move on.
Our Republican Governor, Mitt Romney has declared this an official day of mourning. He gave all "nonessential" state workers a day off with pay. I think he should just fire all the non-essential workers and cut taxes. But, as usual, he did not consult with me on this decision.
Predictably, the idealogues on both sides cannot stop their partisan yapping long enough to consider the tremendous popularity of Reagan. Look at all the people who cared so much that they would wait hours, and travel hundreds of miles, just to spend a minute in front of a flag draped coffin. (I think it was empty; can anyone prove me wrong?)
For the most part, I remember the Reagan years fondly. We were raising our family, doing well enough to build a vacation house in New Hampshire. Life seemed pretty good.
A life long Democrat, I thought Reagan was wrong about a lot of things (eg, Iran-Contra, bailing-out of Beruit, running up the deficit while giving tax cuts). But I did support the mass firing of the striking Air Traffic Controllers. (Did I mention that I don't like strikers, especially the ones with all those cushy government benefits.) And, his "tear Down this Wall," speech was as powerful oratory as I've ever heard.
He was not perfect, but he had a great sense of humor. He created a semi scandal when he was doing a voice test for the weekly radio broadcast and jokingly announced, "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."
Also he was a courageous Leader. Remember how quickly he recovered from the Hinkley assassination attempt? He was back in the saddle faster than Hopalong Cassidy after a shouldner nick. Certainly the greatest achievement of his administration was hastening the collapse of the Soviet Union. Political opponents cannot take that away from him. I think it trumps any failures of his presidency.
While we are in mourning, let's note the passing of another great celebrity of our times. Ray Charles died of liver problems, but the way I understand it he just did not want to live in a world where Snoop Dog was making more money than him.
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