Saturday, June 05, 2004
We knew Ronald Reagan was dying. Last month Nancy Reagan announced that he had gone "to a distant place where I can no longer reach him." & she went against Bush policy by vocally supporting stem cell research. Yesterday the announcement that Reagan's condition had worsened, we were being prepared.
It seemed to me that President Reagan could not possibly live much longer. The scenario that worried me was that he would die in the middle of October, his body in the Capitol Rotunda, & the spotlight falling upon Mrs. Reagan, the four surviving ex-presidents, & George W. Bush; John Kerry's campaign on hold for nearly a week (possibly with a canceled debate)while George W. got to act ceremonially presidential & bask in the warm affection most Americans have had for Reagan ever since he left office in 1989 with his popularity intact. Well, now it'll be over & done with long before the conventions. & George W. may not measure up all that well against "The Great Communicator," whose polished yet informal manner of speech & ability to tell a joke that really is a joke will live again for a short while, until Reagan's casket is flown back to California & interred near his library.
So enjoy the pomp & ceremony attending the funeral of the first popular former-president to die since Harry S. Truman in 1972. Truman, befitting his "common man" image, didn't have a Washington funeral.
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
It seemed to me that President Reagan could not possibly live much longer. The scenario that worried me was that he would die in the middle of October, his body in the Capitol Rotunda, & the spotlight falling upon Mrs. Reagan, the four surviving ex-presidents, & George W. Bush; John Kerry's campaign on hold for nearly a week (possibly with a canceled debate)while George W. got to act ceremonially presidential & bask in the warm affection most Americans have had for Reagan ever since he left office in 1989 with his popularity intact. Well, now it'll be over & done with long before the conventions. & George W. may not measure up all that well against "The Great Communicator," whose polished yet informal manner of speech & ability to tell a joke that really is a joke will live again for a short while, until Reagan's casket is flown back to California & interred near his library.
So enjoy the pomp & ceremony attending the funeral of the first popular former-president to die since Harry S. Truman in 1972. Truman, befitting his "common man" image, didn't have a Washington funeral.
Add YOUR comments here
