It seems my friend Rick Sincere was the first in the blogosphere to wish Americans a Happy Reagan Day on this, the ninety-eighth anniversary of the birth of the greatest American president of the second half of the twentieth century, the chief executive with the most successful economic policy of that entire century.
In a nice summary of Reagan’s reputation and political philosophy, Rick also references Reagan’s outspoken opposition to the Briggs Initiative. That pernicious proposal would have banned gays from teaching at California public schools. Indeed, the eponymous Senator Briggs attributed the Gipper’s opposition to the measure’s “ignominious defeat”. And the Gipper did this in 1978, at a time when, as Rick reminds us, such opposition “would not help him politically. He did it because it was the right thing to do.”
Indeed, such opposition could hurt him, it risked alienating the Gipper from the Christian Right, then an emerging “faction” of his party.
As we celebrate Reagan’s birthday during the Administration of the first of his successors trying to repudiate his ideas, it’s important that we remember what those ideas were. He provided a nice summary in his 1964 speech on behalf of then-GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater. Those ideas would not just explain his support for that principled Arizonan, but also come to define his own basic political philosophy for his subsequent political career.
So, today, as we remember the Gipper on the anniversary of his birth, let us not just recall Ronald Reagan the man. Not just the successful president and charismatic leader. Let us also remember Ronald Reagan, man of ideas.
As we recall his ideas — and affirm them ourselves — we will be better equipped to debate the issues of the day. When others call our party’s attempt to block a spendthrift “stimulus” as obstructionist or rejectionist, tell them that in opposing this boondoggle, we are not merely rejecting a proposal which, we believe, will be harmful over the long term, we are affirming the vision of Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Let us always remember the Gipper’s guiding idea: freedom. Freedom. Freedom.
And the less government intrudes on our freedom, the better off we are. And the stronger our economy is. And will be.
I can’t seem to find anybody who can defend the porkulus. All I get is “Why don’t Republicans come up with something better?“. I remind them that Republicans have, but nobody’s interested in spending less or anything that won’t cement liberal power.
I also remind them that, in a bipartisan move that liberals used to wail for, Republicans were shut out of the planning meetings for the porkulus.
Happy Birthday to my 2nd favorite President.
President Richard M. Nixon is my favorite — mostly because he’s the only one who po’s the liberals more than President Reagan.
Curiosity has the better of me:
My vote would have gone for RWR as the greatest American president of the entire century, period! If I may ask, who in the first half of the 20th century would have been better?
There will never, ever be another Ronald Reagan.* That is a depressing thought.
——————-
*Especially if the liberals manage to outlaw conservatism in the next four years.
Happy Birthday Dutch!
My three favorite Reagan quips:
1. “I paid for this microphone!” (1980 GOP debate)
2. “Well, there you go again.” (1980 debate with Jimmy Carter)
3. “Oh, shut up!” (after being heckled by a maggot-infested old hippie during a 1981 address)
Regards,
Peter H.
Actually, my favorite Reagan quote is from way back in the late ’60’s when he described an anti-Vietnam War protester as “sounded like Tarzan, looked like Jane & smelled like Cheetah”.
Ah, The Gipper. He was great, wasn’t he? The left has always hated him because he was so successful at communicating a positive, idea-driven message. The left attempted to marginalize him as a cheerful doofus, an anti-intellectual, lazy ne’er do well who used his acting skills (and they wouldn’t admit he was actually a pretty decent actor) to gain an office he had no business occupying.
Although this is his birthday, I hope it’s not macabre to recall his funeral and how the weeks-long outpouring of positive love and fondness from ordinary Americans (Are Americans ever ordinary?) and world leaders alike brought the media to a state of froth.
I actually got to see President Reagan speak live in 1984 at a crowd near where I grew up in Southeastern PA. I was lucky enough to be in the front row.
But my favorite Reagan moment was when he launched the final volley from the West in ending the Cold War: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
#7 – Bruce, I was privileged to attend Reagan’s final public address during the 1992 GOP Convention in Houston. I sat in the Astrodome watching this living legend talk about the past and give his dream for the future, and I was transfixed – as were all the other attendees sitting in the darkened arena.
This address was right before his Alzheimer’s became publicly known, and I count myself fortunate that I was able to see him in person, in his prime, before his descent into illness. That image and that speech will stay with me to my dying day.
Regards,
Peter H.
God Bless President Reagan. Rest easy old soldier. America thanks you for a job well done and a life well lived. Sometimes Presidents become greater as time passes and you can compare them to their lesser more modern contemporaries. For Ronaldus Magnus he has no equal. As a 28 year old and a new home owner for the first time, I remember the malaise under Jimmy Carter. Pres Carter tried to tell us America’s greatness was behind us. Ronald Wilson Reagan would have none of it. he challenged us to be great again, and not wait for government handouts to accomplish our goals. Less than 30 years ago….seems like longer. Our prayers go out to Mrs Reagan. Rest easy President Reagan, we will make you proud of us again.
I was privileged to shake the Gipper’s hand backstage before a campaign appearance in Georgia in 1980. Being young and tongue tied, I said something really dumb like, “I’m gonna work my butt of to get you elected” and he smiled that famous crooked smile and said, “Well, thank you.” He was and is my hero. Grace, wit, and principle personified.
I have a post dedicated to his old car! Top That!!!
When Reagan was President, I was a high school student in the NYC public education system. My district was ultra-Liberal. In my sophomore year (1984), when Reagan ran for re-election, my social studies, English, and art teachers invested a good portion of their time indoctrinating us. They warned that a Reagan re-election would start race riots, class riots, shut down our school and make a nuclear holocaust imminent. They’d go on and on about how great Cuba and France were because you didn’t have to pay for health care. Most students bought it hook, line & sinker. When he crushed Mondale, you could swear from the looks of our teachers that we’d just been hit with a nuclear attack.
However, I was raised in a household with conservative values. We weren’t rich. Sometimes we were broke but my parents never took a dime in public assistance, even when there were times when we could have used the extra money. Sometimes I’d ask my parents why they never accepted the public assistance even though they were eligible for it. They’d always respond the same way: “Son, my grandfather lived in a slum that had no running water. Your mother didn’t have her first pair of shoes until she was 12 back in her village. The leeches in our neighborhood who claim poverty haven’t the foggiest idea what the word means. Besides, it’s not the government’s job to protect us from poverty. Its job is to keep our borders safe, protect the nation’s currency, and keep interstate commerce flowing. Anything else is too much.
“The Preamble clearly states the federal government’s role to PROMOTE, not provide, the general welfare. Besides, handouts are for the poor. We are broke every now and then. But remember that being broke is a temporary state. Being poor is perpetual state of mind. We have the right to prosper as well as fall on our face. President Reagan understands that. He wants us to succeed. He wants kids like you to succeed. And your success will make America great.
“The last thing we need is Mondale telling us if we’re making too much or too little money and how he’s going to make it all better for us. ”
My dad went on to become a successful scientific instruments engineer and is living very comfortably off the fruits of his labor in the Florida Keys. I’m still pluggin’ and chuggin’ to get to the promised land.
I was proud of President Reagan when the rest of my peers were convinced he was a senile buffoon. Even atheists declared him Satan on earth. Never mind politics, they blamed Reagan for every woe in their lives. Noam Chomsky declared the Reagan years “the darkest age of human existence.” Nevertheless, I liked him. Always did. He made me happy and proud to be an American. To date, he is my favorite President in my lifetime.
I miss him. Happy B-Day Ronny!!!
I loved his optimism and really wish we had someone like him rather than President Downer.
“I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.” -Reagan
Wow, Mr. Reagan’s address was just powerful and relevant even now.
http://www.therightbrothers.com has a song about President Reagan, quite touching.
We need a new conservative movement similar to that Mr. Reagan led. Where is our next President Reagan… he or she better emerge this next election cycle or we are doomed.
We’ve chosen the socialism and peace at all cost with this bunch in office now advocates and I don’t see it getting any better either.
The liberals are corrupting our children through their left wing publications right under our noses. I was talking with my sister-in-law (near Pittsburgh) on the phone the other day and in our discussion I brought up that I saw General Petraeus at MacDill Airbase. She asked “who is that?†I was in shock that she didn’t know but she asked her husband (my brother), their son (11 year old) & her mother who was visiting and they all knew who he was & I was feeling a bit better. However the 11 year old added more shock to my initial dismay by adding “yeah, General Betray Us.â€
I asked her to find out where he heard that statement. She asked and he said it was “TIME for Kids†he looked at in school. What is an ad like this doing in a child’s magazine other than to indoctrinate?
I can help set my nephew right, but we are in a war for the hearts & minds our own youth. God help us.
Here, in El Salvador, among freedom loving people, Ronald Reagan is revered like saint. As my doctor likes to remiond me that if it wasn´t for Ronald Reagan, El Salvador would not be free nation today. His predecessor, who gave the communists the green light to mount an offensive against the government, when referred to in print, his name is prefixed with ¨the evil¨ Jimmy Carter.
Barak Obama instead of studying LIncoln, should study Reagan, who said, ¨when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So we cut the people´s tax and the people produced more than ever before.¨
There are so many wonderful quotes by Reagan but one of my favorites is ¨We have long discovered that nothing last longer than a temporary government program.¨
Happy Birthday Ronald Reagan. (The greatest president of the twentieth century)
Now THAT video gives me a tingling sensation down my leg!
Couldn’t get through the speech. It makes me sad that we have wander so far away from anything resembling sound fiscal policy.
SRT (#12) That brought a proud tear to my eye. I was only just born when RWR was leading us, but I can remember the reminiscing of the good years of his presidency when I was young. God Bless you and your hard working parents and mine for giving us the integrity to work hard and not expect and claim entitlement to the hard earned tax dollars of others.
And to Roberto (#15): God Bless you and El Salvador. We might all move there very soon to join you.
Vanessa, thank you. Don´t pack your bags yet. In fact, I´m thinking of returning to the U.S.A. (a red state like Arizona). The communist FMLN did win three more seats than the Republicans in the National Assembly, and 27 more mayors, even though they lost the capital. The presidential elections will be on March 15th and the communist, Mauricio Funes is leading in the polls. His campaign is Hope and Change, (where have I heard that before?) He has said he would obtain foreign capital. He hasn´t said from where be we know it will from Venezuela. Hugo Chavez is financing the campaign. He prefers to starve his people to expand his hegemony over Latin America. The Republican response is that a vote for ARENA (Republican) is a vote to continue democracy and free enterprise. Funes is a former tv news commentator and like Obama has attracted the youth and polls show the youth favoring him 3 to 1.
Roberto #21 – The reddest state in the union would have to be Oklahoma. All 77 counties went for McCain/Palin. (If I am an example, they were all voting more for Sarah than for John.) I think we have a lot of nice and decent people here too.
Good Luck!
Bill, thanks for defending Oklahoma. I appreciate that it is the reddest. Passing through the state I remember one of the most attractlive gay bars I had ever been in was the Taj Mahal in Tulsa. However, You have cold and snowy winters which is something I have an aversion to. I only like to see snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, otherwise I like it only on Christmas cards and photos. That is why I am thinking of southern Arizona, the hotter, the better I like it and am energized.
#23 – Roberto, don’t forget Texas either! 😉
Regards,
Peter H.
Peter,
I´ve been in Houston and El Paso in winter and it´s not what I would call even semi-tropical. When I lived in L.A. and was on the Republican County Central Committee, I was absent almost every January meeting with tthe cold and the rain. As much I love politics, a hot dinner and a warm blanket was just a little bit more attractive.
Roberto,
I hope your country turns out to have more sense than ours. I’ll be praying for you! I’d say move to Virginia, but unfortunately we turned to the dark side. But never fear, you have many friends in the states! We’ll be glad to have you back! I do recommend Texas. I’m thinking I need to move back there myself to get back to sanity!