The Gipper passes into history

[RonOnGuitar]

Ronald Reagan, US President 1980-1988, dies at the age of 93

at his home.



Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

(and down it came!)

(Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, Germany, June 12,1987)

===================

News Article:



Reagan Inspired Succeeding Presidents - Republican and Democrat



June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan inspired every president who came after him.



``Both presidents Bush learned a great deal from Ronald Reagan,'' said former President George H.W. Bush, referring to himself and his son, President George W. Bush. The elder Bush served as vice president under Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.



Reagan ``personified the indomitable optimism of the American people'' and had a ``tremendous capacity to inspire,'' said Bill Clinton, a Democrat who followed Bush Sr. to the White House. George W. Bush, a Republican like his father and Reagan, said: ``He leaves behind a nation he restored and a world he helped save.''



Americans will remember Reagan for boosting the military, helping end the Cold War, allowing deficits to balloon and sparking an era of greater partisanship, according to political analysts including Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Gary Jacobson of the University of California. Many may be more likely to recount the optimistic catchphrase of his 1984 re- election campaign: ``It's morning in America.''



``Ronald Reagan's love of country was infectious,'' said Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democrat challenging George W. Bush for the White House. ``Even when he was breaking Democrats' hearts, he did so with a smile and in the spirit of honest and open debate.''



Hollywood to Washington



Reagan left office in January 1989 with the highest approval rating of any president since Franklin Roosevelt, who died in office in 1945. A 2001 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans to name the nation's greatest president. Reagan won with 18 percent, finishing ahead of John F. Kennedy (16 percent) and Abraham Lincoln (14 percent).



A former California governor, Reagan entered the White House in 1981 and served two four-year terms that ended in 1989. He came to politics after a career as a movie actor and became one of the most popular U.S. leaders of the 20th century. He won re- election in 1984 with majorities in 49 of 50 states and a record electoral vote count.



Reagan died at his home in Los Angeles after developing pneumonia, ABC reported. The flag at the White House was lowered to half-staff soon after his death.



In addition to his wife, Nancy, Reagan is survived by three children, Ron and Patricia from his marriage to Nancy, and Michael, an adopted son from his marriage to Jane Wyman. His daughter Maureen died in 2001 from cancer.



Lying in State



The body will lie in state at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, for a day before being flown to Washington to the Capitol Rotunda, the 180-foot high room under the dome. After a funeral service at the National Cathedral, Reagan's body will be laid to rest at his library.



To a generation of Republicans, Reagan was the ``Great Communicator'' who saw America as ``the shining city on the hill.'' Reagan was ``the father of the modern Republican party,'' said Thomas Mann, a political scholar at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.



Central to Reagan's domestic agenda were tax cuts based on ``supply side'' economics, which asserts that when tax rates are excessive, lowering them increases the money available for investment, ultimately increasing growth and government revenue.



Reagan cut taxes, slashed social programs and reduced industry regulations to ``get out of the way'' of free enterprise. He also unsuccessfully tried to do away with the Energy Department.



`Ash Heap of History'



Reagan predicted communism would be left ``on the ash heap of history'' in a 1982 speech to the British parliament. Seven years later, free elections had been held in the Soviet Union, democracies had been declared in five Soviet bloc nations, and the Berlin Wall had been reduced to rubble.



Ronald Wilson Reagan was born Feb. 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois. His path to the presidency led from small towns in central Illinois to a career in sports broadcasting and films.



While working as a radio broadcaster for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1937, Reagan traveled to California to cover baseball spring training. While there he had a screen test that landed him a seven-year contract with Warner Bros.



Reagan appeared in more than 50 films in the next 15 years. These included ``Knute Rockne -- All American,'' in which he portrayed inspirational Notre Dame running back George Gipp, and ``Bedtime for Bonzo,'' where he appeared opposite a chimp. The nickname ``The Gipper'' stuck with him.



Democrat to Republican



Reagan was for a long time a Democrat. Frank Mankiewicz told Reagan biographer Lou Cannon that Los Angeles Democrats considered asking Reagan to run for Congress in 1952 but deemed him ``too liberal.'' Meanwhile, Reagan began giving speeches as a Democrat for former Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.



As host of television's ``General Electric Theater'' in the 1950s, he began traveling to GE plants as a spokesman, honing a speech praising the benefits of the private sector over big government. By 1964, Reagan was California co-chairman of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater's Republican presidential campaign. He became California's governor in 1966.



As president, Reagan faced one major scandal -- the Iran- Contra affair. Congressional investigators concluded that the administration sold arms to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages in Lebanon. It was later disclosed that the administration diverted proceeds from the sales to help fund the Nicaraguan Contra rebels fighting the communist government.



After leaving the White House, Reagan remained active as a speaker for Republican causes. In 1994, the former president, who survived being shot by John W. Hinckley in an assassination attempt and a bout with colon cancer, announced in a letter to the American people that he had Alzheimer's disease.



``I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life,'' he wrote. ``I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.''

[HKRockChick]

perhaps I shouldnt be admitting this, but RR has the same birthday as me... 6th Feb.



arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggh



Maybe that's why he was an actor?????

[Seismic Anamoly]

European leaders reacted with sadness over the weekend to the death of former United States President Ronald Reagan, who died of pneumonia on Saturday at age 93 in his home in California.



Political leaders across Europe, especially in the former Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe, on Sunday eulogized former U.S. President Ronald Reagan for dedicating his office to fighting to end the Cold War. In a 1987 trip to Berlin, he famously sent an unforgettable message to the then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. "Mr. Gorbachev," he said, "tear down this wall"!



Following his death on Saturday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease that took him out of the public eye a decade ago, European leaders reflected on his achievements.



Selected quotes:

Quote:

---

"He was a stroke of luck for the world. (Two years after Reagan called on Gorbachev to tear down the wall, he noted, it fell.) Two years later the Wall fell and 11 months later Germany was reunified. We Germans have much to thank Ronald Reagan for." -- former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl



"His commitment to overcome the East-West conflict and his vision of a free and reunified Europe helped bring about the conditions that finally made German reunification possible." -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder



"When he saw injustice, he wanted to do away with it. He saw communism, and he wanted to put an end to it. We understood, without saying it, that we were workingin the same direction. We did not consult with each other, yet each knew that he could count on the other." -- Solidarity founder Lech Walesa



"The Pope received the news of President Reagan's death with sadness. Two days ago, when he met President Bush at the Vatican, the Pope sent a warm message of best wishes to Mrs Reagan, knowing that her husband was very sick." -- a spokesman for Pope John Paul II



"President Reagan was a determined opponent of Communism and he played an important role in bringing an end to Communism and to the artificial division of Europe imposed after the Second World War. This process culminated in the accession of ten new member states to the European Union at the beginning of May this year." -- Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern



"I feel great regret. Reagan was a statesman who, despite all disagreements that existed between our countries at the time, displayed foresight and determination to meet our proposals halfway and change our relations for the better, stop the nuclear race, start scrapping nuclear weapons, and arrange normal relations between our countries." -- former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev



"A great statesman who through the strength of his convictions and his commitment to democracy will leave a deep mark in history. " -- French President Jacques Chirac

---

All that for a former leader of the Great Satan. Who would have thought.



I can hear Ronnie right now.....



"America; don't like it? Get over it."



Rest In Peace and God Bless You.



Thanks for being an Outstanding American.

[DreamTone7]

He did a lot of great things for this country...and what's more than that, he stood for something. RIP.

[RonOnGuitar]

Quote:

---

He did a lot of great things for this country...and what's more than that, he stood for something. RIP.

---

He led the world to victory in WWIII; the war against global Marxism (i.e. "the Cold War"). And he did it with strength, self-deprecating wit, humility and charm. As he said in his farewell address upon leaving office, "not bad at all".



Top kudos to his wonderful wife Nancy, who has defined the meaning of "for better or worse".

[questionnaire]

... and his nasty henchwoman Margaret Thatcher were in the ideological grip of extreme right-wing monetarist economists and were patsies for the corporate business elite. Together they caused irreparable damage to the American and British manufacturing base, allowing the export of much of it to the communist China that they all allegedly hated so much. They were enemies of the American and British working classes. They didn't care about 'liberating' The Soviet Union or China, but exploiting them and opening them up to unregulated market forces. Since 1989 the lives of most ordinary Russians have got markedly worse, while the New Oligarchs make billions.



You tunnel-visioned right-wing Christian boys really need to think a little harder about what's going on in this world ......



And Ron, the idea that dear old Ronnie understood 'global Marxism' enough to lead a 'war' against it is quite funny. He wasn't much brighter than Dubya.

[questionnaire]

..... I think dear old Nancy also redefined the term 'plastic surgery', don't you, old fruit? ......

[HKRockChick]

and can you say "Iran Contra"??



Take a look at the neo-cons political agenda at:



www.newamericancentury.or...ciples.htm



"Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next."



They are all megalomaniacal lunatics. Bad for our world, pure and simple.

[RonOnGuitar]

Well, Steve, you're more than welcome to rebuild the Berlin Wall so that West Germans can again keep risking their lives to get over it in their desire to live under Marxism!



And if you fervently want to be percieved as an intellectual, I'd quite honestly suggest you practice learning to actually analyze, quantify, define and express concepts as an individual. While recycling meaningless buzzwords (e.g. "you nasty right-wingers!!") in an emotional tirade may be considered indepth critical analysis in some quarters of the planet, others view it as just another way to say "I can only repeat what has been programmed into me".



========



And, Debbie, take note of that caveat on using buzzwords. Not only because it's an intellectually sloppy practice, but because people who employ slang/buzzwords not of their regional/national origin very usually say something they did not intend.



By way of example:

To get an idea of the company you place yourself in when tossing out terms like "Neocons" to denounce a group, check out the link below. You'll understand how it's regarded as a religious slur used by lunatics. If you're still comfortable with it, well, then



The Reins Of Power



In addition, I'd submit to you both that it's not good to hold on to - much less feed - any internal hatred. It's just not mentally, physically or emotionally a good thing to do. Go out for a walk or bicycle ride instead. And though hatred of living peoples surely isn't helpful, hatred of the recently departed goes beyond that into the realm of irrationality.



Frank advice: Try a relaxing, deep cleansing breath now & then. Then laugh at something you've said or done. As noted, President Reagan's ability for self-deprecating humor was one of the qualities that help to make him one of the world's greatest leaders.

[DreamTone7]

There is a difference between a leader and a basher. Leaders draw attention to their cause, while bashers call attention to themselves. Fact: You'll never become the next "Mother Teresa" by doing nothing but bashing.



...so the question everyone must ask themselves is: "What is my real agenda?"

[DreamTone7]

...and one more thing. While I realize that this thread is in the Politics/War Zone, it's too bad that there is not enough respect here for the dead to prevent this thread from becomming part of somebody's agenda.

[RonOnGuitar]

Quote:

---

there is not enough respect here for the dead

---

My thinking exactly.

Were Gorbachev to die after suffering 10 years from cancer, my first impulse wouldn't be to denounce him, spit on the grave that hasn't even been dug or make jealous girylish remarks about his own amazing wife, Irina . Though he was on the "wrong side of the Curtain" for most of his life, I think most Americans have been brought up with the maxim "don't speak ill of the dead". Especially of those just departed who had suffered many years from horrific, grave illnesses.

[HKRockChick]

which of my postings can you disprove? Did Iran contra happen or not? Is that website real or not?



I use neo-con in the exact sense its supposed to be used. The new conservatives. Reagan started the movement and rumsfeld and the gang of neo-cons are happy to continue, they said so themselves.



as to speaking ill of the dead - plenty of people speak ill of stalin and all the dead communists etc etc etc. Do we speak well of Hitler???? If I don't agree with someone's policies I will say so, dead or alive.



I like Gorbachev, why can't he get some credit for the end of the cold war? He could've walked away. I wouldn't speak ill of him. And what's his wife got to do with it?



No agenda here, just facts. And what's mother teresa got to do with it?



Just some more personal attacks from people who dont agree with me, another attempt at silencing dissension. . Argue with history and facts if you wil.

[HKRockChick]

you do nothing BUT bash. You cant argue your cause so you bash the person with the opinion.



Its quite funny.

[DreamTone7]

...and what makes you think I was talking about you in particular? I mentioned no names...in fact, I think if you check my post, I refer to ALL people...not just some or one.