The American Spectator : Ronald Reagan's America

"It has nothing more to say, nothing to add to the debate. It has spent its intellectual capital, such as it was -- and it has done its deeds."
-- President Reagan on liberalism
Conservative Political Action Conference
March 1, 1985

With every passing minute of every passing day, the truth Ronald Reagan long ago understood is once more emerging from the political fog.

"Somewhere a perversion has taken place," Reagan said in discussing his former political faith as a Democrat and a "near hopeless hemophilic liberal." The party of Jefferson and Jackson had headed down a different road altogether "under the banners of Marx, Lenin and Stalin." Or, as he was also unafraid to say and in words that resonate vividly today in the Obama era, the objective of the modern liberal was "to impose socialism" on the American people.

Reagan would have none of it.

He had spent decades carefully studying what was happening, leading the Hollywood branch of the fight as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. As he made the change from actor and union leader to governor of California and president, Reagan minced no words, which is precisely why Americans would come to revere him. He was not afraid to speak the truth -- and that truth applies even more today than when he was sharply critical of the Democrats of his own day.

In the midst of what can only be described as a laughable attempt by Obama aides and the President's left-wing media allies to wrap Obama in the Reagan mantle -- a photo-shopped Time magazine cover has the two paired like grinning escapees from a presidential buddy movie -- the nation prepares to celebrate Reagan's centennial birthday. More to the point, the reminder of exactly why Reagan's presidency was such a stunning success, and Obama's thus far a stunning failure, can easily be found by pairing Reagan's wisdom with Obama's results.

Ronald Reagan understood to his core what Barack Obama has not only never accepted but rejects out of hand based on both his actions as a private citizen and president: that socialism is now and has always been a failed philosophy. Obama, as well documented from his days at Occidental College to today -- is a now (if belatedly) well-documented socialist true believer.

To believe that the Obama presidency will end in other than utter failure because he thinks he speaks Reaganite at a State of the Union speech is to believe that a man who has spent an adult lifetime disbelieving in gravity will survive a leap from the Empire State Building because he's suddenly muttering incantations from Newton on the way down.

Amidst all the sudden veneration for Reagan from today's left as a man of moderation (in contrast, but of course, to the wicked conservatives of today) those with longer memories recall vividly that liberals of the day hated Ronald Reagan's guts. This jewel of a statement from his arch-adversary House Speaker Tip O'Neill is but an understated example, as Reagan biographer Steven Hayward has noted:

"The evil is in the White House at the present time. And that evil is a man who has no care and no concern for the working class of America and the future generations of America, and who likes to ride a horse. He's cold. He's mean. He's got ice water for blood."

In fact, as Time magazine notes well, while Tip O'Neill was fuming about Reagan and others compared him to Hitler, Columbia student Barack Obama was so angered he decided to personally devote himself to the task of changing the White House. Reports Time of Obama's sentiments toward Reagan:

"I personally came of age during the Reagan presidency," Obama wrote later, recalling the classroom debates in his courses on international affairs. When he graduated from Columbia in 1983, Obama decided to become a community organizer. "I'd pronounce the need for change," Obama wrote in his memoir. "Change in the White House, where Reagan and his minions were carrying on their dirty deeds." A decade later, he was still at it, leading a 1992 Illinois voter-registration effort aimed at breaking the Reagan coalition's hold on his state's electoral votes.

Right, right, right.

But why did Ronald Reagan summon such utter hatred and contempt as exhibited in the 1980s from House Speaker O'Neill and Columbia graduate Obama? Amid the current cries for civility it should be noted that Reagan's career brought forth a particularly vehement vitriol from the left on a regular basis. Whether it was the liberal fellow actor who spat in Reagan's face in a chance street encounter in late 1940's Hollywood (hissing "Fascist!") or the anonymous voice on a phone threatening to throw acid in his face (as was actually done to labor columnist Victor Riesel, like Reagan prominent for his anti-communist views. Riesel was disfigured for life, losing his eyesight), Ronald Reagan's habit of plainly speaking truths obvious to increasing millions infuriated leftists while worrying his friends. The latter acid-throwing threat against then-actor Reagan had his alarmed movie studio boss Jack Warner summoning the police, who insisted on issuing Reagan both a gun permit and a loaded .32 Smith and Wesson.

From threats of violence to the type of sentiment like the one expressed by O'Neill -- the sitting Speaker of the House when he made the remark -- Reagan decades later was still targeted for a special hatred reserved both for himself and his fellow conservatives. With liberals simply not caring in the least. Imagine the reaction today if House Speaker John Boehner referred to President Obama as the "evil… in the White House." And how long would it take before the drumbeat would begin for Boehner's resignation?

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Letter to the Editor

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.1.11 @ 6:52AM

Mr. Lord,
Thank you. That made my eyes misty.

When some of your colleagues show absolute fear of the hatred expressed toward Mrs. Palin, I am old enough to laugh out loud.
I lived to see Mr. Reagan ridiculed and spat upon.

I remember vividly, the absolute horror the American wimps screamed at the very idea of the SDI, then their voices turned to ridicule calling it "Starwars Defense".
Rush has gotten it right yet again. Sarah is the only candidate the Left fears and hates to the same degree they hated and feared Ronald Reagan. That alone is what makes me pray earnestly that she runs.

Spoonman| 2.1.11 @ 11:01AM

"We the People" can only hope that she will run - the others just don't have it in them to tell it like it is. Sarah Palin is a real person, she knows what real people do to survive day to day and she is not afraid to say what she believes. The others always say what they think will resonate well with the media and their fellow politicans.

Alan Brooks| 2.1.11 @ 2:33PM

Reagan was exponentially better than Carter-- and someone here could write a book on that very topic that would be guaranteed to sell--
Truth Sells, otherwise Holy Books wouldn't be the best-selling books.
But it is unfair to call Obama a metrosexual or incompetent when Bush 41 was a heartless wuss-- the pantywaist from Kennebunkport-- and McCain was an absolute RINO... why call McTorturedinNam a Republican if he wasn't any such thing, when the GOP it is YOUR party??

All I care about is your not running another mediocrity- and worse, having him win (you'll notice I didn't write "her").

Occam's Tool| 2.1.11 @ 6:08PM

I didn't like Bush I, but he was no wuss. No Navy carrier pilot is a wuss, especially one who left Yale to become the youngest pilot in the US Navy.

wodiej| 2.1.11 @ 3:12PM

I agree. Despite all the vitriol, insulting, disgusting, lies, vulgarity etc., Palin stands strong. Not for her sake, but for OUR SAKE. It's not about her, it's about US. I support her 100%.

Alan Brooks| 2.1.11 @ 3:40PM

She just might win, and her position might be so watered down she'll attract leftist votes too.
You are smart, you don't think she wont drastically revise her positions Big-Tentwise to get elected?
By the time Palin runs, it will be so hard to diss gays, she might even run a Log Cabin Republican as her veep; not likely; but she will start courting gays-- in the platonic sense, mind you.

Alan Brooks| 2.1.11 @ 5:38PM

...Palin will do ALMOST ANYTHING to become the first female president.

Clint| 2.1.11 @ 6:04PM

Brooks will say ALMOST ANYTHING to get some attention.

Appleby| 2.1.11 @ 6:57AM

I moved to Canada for a few different reasons, but one of the main ones was a curiosity as to why socialism has never worked anywhere it had been tried. I have concluded after 13 years here that it does not work because it cannot work: because the only way it could work is if everybody bought into it -- and the first people to realize they are getting nothing out of redistribution save the invoice are the ones who can make it without redistribution. And the one thing socialism never figures out is that the people with money have options -- and the same innate sense that garnered them the money gives them the sense to act on that option. They opt out, leaving the wagon piled with freeloaders sitting without an engine. Going nowhere. Sic transit gloria socialism.

This lesson is now being seen in miniature but in a language the freeloaders themselves can understand, here in Toronto. This month there have been two groups of workers who have together won the $50 million Lotto Max. Neither group has yet collected Dime One. And you know why? Freeloaders. People who did not pay are demanding a share of the boodle. $100 million sits in government coffers while the owners and the freeloaders battle it out.

P.S. Ronald Reagan got the same treatment being accorded to Sarah Palin today. Interestingly they both attended the kind of colleges that the people attend. I wonder if mingling with the heartlanders had anything to do with their attitude or the kind of people who hate them?

RAMIII| 2.1.11 @ 3:06PM

Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged" Hey look, the producers and looters revisited.

Taxpayer| 2.1.11 @ 7:58PM

Exactly.

Mattled| 2.1.11 @ 7:19AM

There is a number that Reagan and Obama share. There the similarities end (so sorry Time Magazine):

Reagan had 95% of the media against him. Obama has 95% of the media for him, cheerleading and panting like wannabe prom queens in interviews (think Lauer and Stepphie) marveling at how many ways he can say "folks".

There is no there there and at Obam's 100th birthday----there will still be no there there. It will go by as a date with no real significance.

America's first black president? Hardly. America's first America-hating Marxist Socialist under- qualified race hustler. Obama is no different than Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.

Rmm| 2.1.11 @ 9:25AM

"America's first black president" etc. etc. Took the words out of my mouth for sure. Obama has demonstrated himself to be anything but Presidential and continues to flounder. One big counterfeit if you ask me.

John Navratil| 2.1.11 @ 10:08AM

I thought Clinton was America's first black president :)

Mike Kennedy| 2.1.11 @ 7:22AM

I have a lump the size of a tennis ball in my throat and a few tears of regret and sorrow. I was a young liberal in college who never voted for President Reagan -- instead buying into all the lies of journalism and academia. It's the one thing in my life I would go back and do differently. Indeed, Happy Birthday, Mr. President. You are sorely missed.

BerlGoetz| 2.1.11 @ 9:30AM

Me too! I now wish I'd been mature enough to have voted for him. Instead, I listened to NPR defame him, and I believed them. Wasted days and wasted nights!

daddio| 2.1.11 @ 10:03AM

I remember sitting in a history class in college the day Reagan was shot. Over half the class cheered. That was the day I became a conservative.

Occam's Tool| 2.1.11 @ 6:11PM

Sorry, guys. I was a Veep of YAF at my college from 1980-184. Voted for Ronnie twice. And I'm Jewish. My eyes were lasers then and now.

Anthony| 2.1.11 @ 8:17PM

Let us not boast. We all have sins and lapses to bear. We all, well , some of us, find our way to enlightenment.
No matter how long it took to see the light, welcome.
P.S. Indy is right. I have the "Reagan Diaries" on my bed stand next to the" Federalist Papers". Both are must reads.

Indy| 2.1.11 @ 10:10AM

May I suggest a book you might enjoy, Reagan, In His Own Hand, in celebration of his birthday, I'm going to re-read it, his writing is concise and to the point.

http://www.amazon.com/Reagan-H.....683&sr=1-1

Old Soldier| 2.1.11 @ 11:58AM

I voted for Reagan in '84 when I was an 18-year-old Freshman. It felt great.

I remember meeting some hippie girl who tried to convince me that Reagan was killing babies. She got really mad when I laughed in her face.

Appleby| 2.1.11 @ 2:03PM

I voted for Mr. Reagan for governor of California as well as President of the USA. I was proud of him when I travelled overseas and it was such a relief not to have to apologize to all my friends as I had for Jimmy Carter.

Mr. Reagan died while I was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and there was a moment of silence for him in the international media room. He was a man for the ages.

Anthony| 2.1.11 @ 8:26PM

The only two days in my entire life that I actually looked forward to awakening early was to vote for Reagan in 1980 and to vote for Bush 43 in 2000.
Even on my wedding day, to my wonderful wife, I snuck in a few more minutes of sleep, of course, a few too many bottles of the Verve didn't help matters.

Taxpayer| 2.1.11 @ 8:00PM

I can relate. I was a bleeding-heart liberal college freshman when Reagan was elected. I thought his election meant the apocalypse was upon us. However, I learned a few things in college, and by the time I graduated in 1984, I'd become a conservative--and I happily voted for Ronnie.

I miss him a lot. He was one in a zillion. I'm grateful he was our president.

FREE tea| 2.1.11 @ 8:08AM

America has NOT had a solid president in the White
House since EIsenhower.

Indeed, true sobriety would say not since Coolidge.

Reagan, admirable in some respects, BUT very much
acted the front for the franchise slumming of
America and the world ----and did nothing to
stand in the way of the Rockefeller-engineered sellout
to the awesomely genocidal RED Chinese regime.

-------NOTHING.

Brian Mc| 2.1.11 @ 8:20AM

So, Ft...you would have the common man grab hold his pitchfork, rise up and do...what? I have never called a name on this site so, I won't call you an idiot, now.

Doctor Right| 2.1.11 @ 10:00AM

The MOST idiotic post on this forum EVER, and that includes liberal rants by RCV, Alan Brooks, vtwin, and "John".

When Reagan was President, Priority Threat # 1 was the Soviet Union; China was still a huge, unwieldy backwater.

Please take your tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories elsewhere.

Occam's Tool| 2.1.11 @ 6:13PM

Umm, he destroyed the Genocidal Soviet regime, which was problem one. And he did it despite all the Liberals braying at him.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.1.11 @ 8:14AM

Free Tea,
Your eyes have turned brown you are so full of it.

Stephanie| 2.1.11 @ 8:19AM

Run Sarah, Run.

Allen Brooks| 2.1.11 @ 8:33AM

Reagan was great. Carter and Obama - not so much.

LarryK| 2.1.11 @ 10:41AM

I remember seeing a great editorial cartoon. Carter and Obama were standing next to something that was enormous. Upon closer inspection that enormous object were Reagan's shoes.

MikeD| 2.1.11 @ 8:38AM

This article should be melted down into a magic elixer and fed intravenously to every GOP candidate for president and even congress. We're losing the spinal fortitude that President Reagan exemplified.

To paraphrase: "AMERICAN PEOPLE! TEAR DOWN THIS HEALTHCARE ABOMINATION, AND CAP & TRADE, AND ALL THE CRAP OBAMA HAS FORCED ON US!"

John Navratil| 2.1.11 @ 10:10AM

That magic elixir is called "Tea".

MikeD| 2.1.11 @ 1:23PM

John,
Well said! Thank you!

Maddox| 2.1.11 @ 8:41AM

Yes, Mr. Lord, he was right then and the things he said are right now. Too bad most of America has forgotten the importance of what he spoke.

The Bishop| 2.1.11 @ 8:41AM

In 2008 we took our two oldest grandsons for a week in DC to do the history tour. The National Archives had an exhibit of report cards of all several former presidents, from Ike through Reagan. Guess who had the best grades - yep, the Gipper. Every time I read from his diary, see or hear a clip of him, or hear our current White House occupant, I miss and appreciate him even more. Thanks for a great article, Mr. Lord. And happy birthday, Mr. President.

donserge| 2.1.11 @ 8:44AM

Reagan refused to judge his own presidency being content to let history judge him. History IS judging him and it gets better with age. One of our greatest.

PaulD| 2.1.11 @ 9:01AM

Life for all of us, liberals and conservatives alike, was far better under Reagan than it is under Obama, and if Obama remains unchecked for another two years, the Reagan years will seem a paradise by comparison.

Old Soldier| 2.1.11 @ 12:05PM

I think of Reagan's 2nd term, and HW Bush's term (until he caved on taxes) as a peak of American freedom and power we probably won't see again in my lifetime - if ever.

Taxes were far lower, deficits were dropping until the foolish S&L bailout, our military had peaked. I saw our Cold War power in action in the Gulf. Battleships and entire divisions in action that don't exist any more.

Then Bush caved, Clinton was elected and it started going south. We rode out the 90's on the momentum built up by Reagan. That momentum is gone now.

BerlGoetz| 2.1.11 @ 9:34AM

My tax witholdings have just gone up to an alarming level, and Barack Obama isn't through yet.

Michael L. Hauschild| 2.1.11 @ 9:49AM

Juxtapose some of the current crop of conservative’s names for Reagan in the title. I come up with one who does not invoke laughter.

Al Adab| 2.1.11 @ 10:09AM

God raised up Ronald Reagan to perform his service for our country. Let us hope that this centennial will provide one more chance for him to serve. May the memory of our shinning city restore to us our attitude of self-reliance and rid this land once and for all of the victim mentality that drives the entitlement vision all too many of our citizens hold.

Petronius| 2.1.11 @ 10:12AM

Socialism gains support because it is grounded in childish sentiment of "fairness". It's a natural fit for the ignorant, indolent, infantile snot who refuses to compete, which the onus of individual freedom requires of him. Dr. Price was right. The socialist wants the baby life with no responsibility and endless unqualified love from it's mother. When the infant becomes superannuated he turns to government, extends his empty hands, and demands that they be filled by the industrious capitalists he despises. President Reagan compared government to a baby, "with an insatiable appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other." I could recommend a solution to this problem, but that's for another thread.

Brian Mc| 2.1.11 @ 10:51AM

Awesome quote, Petro...succinctly put.

wodiej| 2.1.11 @ 3:19PM

well said.

stmichrick| 2.1.11 @ 10:15AM

Attn: Obama handlers.

It's the substance, stupid.

KyMouse| 2.1.11 @ 10:39AM

Obama, and everyone else, should read President Reagan's 1984 book "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation." In a mere 38 pages, he gives such a clear overview of abortion in America--at that time, Roe v. Wade had led to the killing of only around 15 million babies (what would Reagan have said about today's figure of 53 million?)--and the dangers it poses to our society.

"[W]e cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit live and should be abandoned to abortion and infanticide," he wrote. "...[T]here is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning."

RAMIII| 2.1.11 @ 3:16PM

Yes, exactly so!

cowgirl| 2.1.11 @ 11:05AM

I am a native Californian and we have homeschooled our 17 year old son since sixth grade. California requires that we fill out a private affidavit every year with the State of California in order to homeschool under California laws. We allowed our son to pick the name of the school. His choice "Ronald Reagan High School". He competes in High School Rodeo, Junior Rodeo and Team Roping competitions as part of his "sports". He wanted a Letterman's Jacket this year for Christmas, so we went on line and designed one. He received it on Saturday. The back of the Letterman's Jacket reads: Ronald Reagan High School Rodeo Team. I think the Gipper would be proud.

RAMIII| 2.1.11 @ 3:18PM

This is awesome! Thank you for your hard work and thank your son for honoring Ronald Reagan in this way. What a legacy!

wodiej| 2.1.11 @ 3:21PM

Amen to that.

Taxpayer| 2.1.11 @ 8:03PM

Most excellent. An exceptional mom raising an exceptional American. Congrats!

Michael L. Hauschild| 2.1.11 @ 11:14AM

"To believe that the Obama presidency will end in other than utter failure because he thinks he speaks Reaganite at a State of the Union speech is to believe that a man who has spent an adult lifetime disbelieving in gravity will survive a leap from the Empire State Building because he's suddenly muttering incantations from Newton on the way down."

Incredible imagery, my hat is off to you.

That paragraph stood out for me as well!

Paevo| 2.1.11 @ 11:31AM

Reagan's verbal quotes have a crystalline clarity of style that stand side by side with those of Jefferson et al... He will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest Americans ever to have lived...

TURK| 2.1.11 @ 11:34AM

One can think of the negatives when opining on O (communism,rev wright, islamacist, etc etc) OR one can look to the emptiness. Last week Turner Classic Movies had an excellent Peter Sellers movie entitled "Being There". It was of an empty headed guy who worked as a gardner and who had zero capability but for staring at T.V. in his every spare moment. His head was completely empty, but for inane thoughts arising from the boob tube. Through quirky occurrences this gardner was held out to be a genius, despite the empty space between his ears.

With THIS potus where does the most danger lie: with the dedication to hating our country and its history; or with the empty headedness???

WRJonas| 2.1.11 @ 12:27PM

Proud to say I voted for him twice and even prouder when he fired the air traffic controllers for threatening to hold our air travel industry hostage.
I was a low level supervisor in a major union controlled airline and they went berserk . It was marvelous.
The photo of The Pres , the Duke and Barry G is priceless.

Oldefarte| 2.1.11 @ 12:42PM

A YOUNG Andy Griffith [not the senile/brainwashed one of today] became famous from his record/recording of WHAT IT WAS WAS FOOTBALL in the 1950's. In it, he humously depicted an ignorant man's stumbling into a football game [a first observance of same] and declaring that THE OBJECT OF THIS CONTEST IS TO SOMEHOW RUN FROM ONE END OF THIS COW PASTURE TO THE OTHER WITHOUT EITHER GETTING KNOCKED DOWN OR STEPPING IN SOMETHING! This is precisely what life is all about, where everyone is created with FREE WILL, but must answer to the Almighty in the end as to their individual choices made in life. Liberals/Democrats seek to take away that free will and substitute instead the forcible decision making of government [and to correspondingly abstain everyone from the potential guilt from their own bad choices]. It doesn't work and is false, as Reagan well knew to be truth. Government is a RELIGION to liberals/Democrats [and they attempt to destroy the Christianity of this country in their substitution of government for same]. It hasn't worked, it is not working, and it will never work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howard| 2.1.11 @ 1:06PM

Reagan was mocked mercilessly well before he became president. In 1964 while campaigning for Goldwater; he was ridiculed as a failed actor trying out for a new role. In 1966 running against Pat Brown, he was expected to win only 35% of the vote; instead he got 60%. Same in 1970. A great line was uttered by the New Yorker magazine critic Pauline Keal . She was shocked that Reagan won in 1980; because all of her Upper West Side friends voted for Carter. She knew no one who voted for Reagan. She was representative of the elite media that sets journalistic and political norms. Happy Birthday Gipper!

Doctor Right| 2.1.11 @ 1:55PM

I thought Kael said that in response to Nixon's victory in '68 or '72??

Appleby| 2.1.11 @ 2:07PM

That is what I remembered too.

Old Soldier| 2.1.11 @ 3:53PM

Probably says it every election.

wodiej| 2.1.11 @ 3:25PM

Great article. I had the opportunity to vote for Reagan once. Had it not been for my wise, conservative mother, I may have chosen the other team.

Happy B-Day President Reagan. Heaven is a better place with you in it. I surmise you are an angel on the shoulder of Gov. Sarah Palin.

One of my favorite Reagan quotes:

“I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation.” Ronald Reagan

DaPicayune| 2.1.11 @ 4:15PM

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Lord, what an American!

Many times in the days before the Mid Terms 3 months ago, I borrowed from RR, and posted with delight that Mr. Obama "has a rendezvous with destiny" and the TEA Party on 11/2/10, especially on the on-line version of my local loony liberal daily rag - and you could hear the heads exploding from the Kool-Aid drinkers who must have sensed that I was on target. They could not, and did not post a retort to that taunt. HB Day to RR, I worked for his elections and voted for him every chance I got.

He has lit the lamp and shown us the true path for an enduring Nation, and reminded us that freedom/liberty is only a generation away from loss, and must be sought after and won constantly.

Come on Sarah, we're counting on you to pick up and carry Ronnie's mantle forward!

MTB| 2.1.11 @ 4:15PM

After Watergate, interim-President Gerald Ford (no disrespect intended, but that's what he was), and Jimmah Cahteh, Reagan made us proud to be Americans, again. We were proud of him as our president and we were proud of our country. Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

George S| 2.1.11 @ 4:18PM

Reading this article kind of depressed me. The reason, I think, Reagan won in 1980 -- while being passed up in 1976 -- is because the WWII generation were in their 50's and 60's during that time. These folks faced the possible loss of the American way of life and stared down Adolph and Tojo so they certainly weren't going to put up with socialist nonsense at home. Sure, Nixon scared people off the Republican brand temporarily, which gave way to Carter simply because making a change when times are stable seems a safe bet. But Carter's ineptitude and overt anti-Semitism got him the boot in 1980 by a landslide. Even with a three channel liberal media, Carter never had a 50% approval rating going into reelection.

Today, Obama has a 50% approval rating. He is assured at least a third of the electoral votes in 2012 (CA, NY, IL) and there is hardly a disparaging word uttered by Republican congressional leaders towards Obama as to the state of the economy, the hair trigger upheavals around the globe or his overt disregard for the law. How refreshing it would be to hear the words "are you better off today than four years ago?" in 2012. But, alas, civility is the order of the day.

This is the difference between the WWII generation and today. One group, steeped in American pride, civics and history totally rejected a pretender. Another group, devoid of any semblance of an education espousing American values and the Constitution, still gives today's pretender a decent approval rating. That's why the article made me sad... for my fellow Americans who think of themselves first and their country second. Reaganism doesn't die but only works when it is appreciated. I hope I'm proven wrong and Obama has instilled a fear of statism so deep into our psyche that we will never vote in another liberal. Maybe that is the reason Reagan is smiling right now.

Kingofthenet| 2.1.11 @ 4:32PM

What a President we have NOW, Mubarak will be GONE this fall, NO Muslim Brotherhood overthrow, ORDERLY Elections this fall. Thanks to President Obama!

Occam's Tool| 2.1.11 @ 6:16PM

The Muslim Brotherhood will be in control of Egypt in the next few months. King, powerful stuff you're smokin'. Better back off.

Tassie| 2.1.11 @ 5:25PM

Thank you for such an amaizing article. My family and I were living on the other side of the Iron Curtain at the time of Ronald Reagan, but our hopes were his hopes and we will always be grateful for him and the American people for helping us get liberated fom a cruel dictator ( Ceausescu). You, conservatives, have been asleep for much to long. Wake up, and make America again the great country it was, when I was a child.
Thanks, to America, at that time we could take a shower. Yes, a shower and I am not joking. Remember the soap "Dallas"? Everybody was watching it on Sunday afternoons. So warm water had enough pressure to reach the upper storeies of our appartment bulidings (we were living on the 8th floor). But you had to be ready with your shower before the movie ended, other wise there would have been no warm water to rinse the shampoo form you hair.

buck i2| 2.1.11 @ 5:34PM

I had the distinct pleasure to have a few conversations with Ronald Reagan prior to his becoming President. I remember there was just something special about him. Very comfortable with everyone and such a great story teller, little did I know that he would become the iconic figure that he is today. How lucky I am to have had those treasured momements.
Happy Birthday Mr. President!

Tina B| 2.1.11 @ 5:39PM

Until that last comment (KOTN) I was so heartened to read all of the comments from patriots af all ages and from all parts of my wonderful U.S. of A.

You encourage me and I know you are all encouraged reading each others posts and the wonderful writing and documentation by Mr. Lord.

I ridiculed Ronald Reagan during the drug addled 70s after studying at UCSB and UCI and drinking the California Kool-Aide among many other liquids. And then I woke up.

Voted for him twice later and also teared up after reading both Mr. Lord's and President Reagan's prose. He could laugh at himself so beautifully, and, when others laughed at him, he just blew it off. He was such a class act. So unusual for Hollyweird.

Yes, Happy Birthday Gipper, and say "Hi," to Jesus for me. I'm looking forward to meeting you both.

Kingofthenet| 2.1.11 @ 5:43PM

You will have to pick, EITHER Jesus or Reagan...choose wisely

Clint| 2.1.11 @ 6:12PM

Kingofhens,
You will have to pick, Either Shock Treatments or A Lobotomy...choose wisely.

Taxpayer| 2.1.11 @ 8:06PM

This was an excellent article. I loved all the quotes. Not only did Reagan have a truckload of common sense--he had a wonderful and gentle sense of humor. He could poke at his adversaries without body-slamming them. The ultimate gent.

FREE tea| 2.1.11 @ 10:10PM

"America better watch it or in a couple of decades we're going to be a minstrel show for Asia."
-Gore Vidal
1985
(i.e. during the very heyday of the Reagan front
regime)

-------------AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Yosemeti Sam| 2.2.11 @ 12:33AM

Reagan when lying in state - Mr. Gorbachev, in person, moved to paying his respects.

Um, that SIGNIFICANCE caught my eye!

cali| 2.2.11 @ 5:14AM

Mr. Lord,
thank you for this extensive, and educating post of President Reagan!
Although I was new in the country while President Reagan was in office, I didn't know all that you described here. It's very inspirational to me.
The quote 'demoralised Goliath' is the exact description of the current state we find ourself in at this time.
It is also an insult to those who believe in our higher authority, in which President Reagan set goals for us, to even compare Obama to Pres. Reagan.
Obama is not worth to be mentioned in the same sentence than Pres. Reagan!

Alan Brooks| 2.2.11 @ 6:31PM

"Occam's Tool| 2.1.11 @ 6:08PM
I didn't like Bush I, but he was no wuss. No Navy carrier pilot is a wuss, especially one who left Yale to become the youngest pilot in the US Navy."

Carter was Navy! Geez. Gomer Pyle might be president in your parallel universe.
Shazzam
Shazzam
Shazzam

The American Spectator

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