For those that might remember, just a short while back an article entitled “LA LA Land” made it to the site. It was just a few snapshots of my recent “California Experience”. A comment from Arthur however, caused me to add a part of the trip that I had not mentioned..
I had the opportunity to visit the Reagan Library and Museum. After seeing the ceremony surrounding his passing in June of 2004, this was a chance to say thanks to an American hero.
We arrived a bit early. The weather as always seemed to be the case in California was perfect. The entire grounds weren’t open when we arrived but several areas were available to us.
This afforded me the opportunity to stand alone at the final resting place of President Reagan. Saying “thanks” for the immense contributions that he made to the world seemed trivial.. In the presence of such an important international figure, sometimes “thanks” is all that you can muster.. I then turned to take in the view that meant so much to President Reagan. It was as majestic and inspiring as the man himself.
To honor him, a “slice” of the Berlin Wall is permanently displayed there, as is his Air Force One. His importance to the WORLD is always underestimated and under appreciated.
I have always had a problem with the title “the great communicator”. I do not know who gave the title to him, but to me it seems to cheapen the political beliefs that were held so dearly by President Reagan to nothing more than an inexpensive series of political platitudes. The left invariably gave its backhanded kudos by saying that the only thing that mattered was how he said things, not the content of what he said. That his speeches were a series of nouns, verbs and adjectives randomly constructed for dramatic effect.. It was the weight of his words not their assembly that made him different and important..
The reason that President Reagan so eloquently explained the conservative ethos is because they were deeply engrained within him. The proof of this can be found at the library where the hand written copies of several of his speeches are on display. Try not to read the final public address where he revealed his Alzheimer’s diagnosis without experiencing the scope and depth of the man..
The “teleprompter” is not only an addiction for Obama, it is an intellectual crutch. Without it, the veneer quickly peels away from the “great pretender”.. When President Reagan worked in Hollywood he spoke from a script. When he was working in Washington, he spoke from the heart.. The “script” explains the depth of Obama. If his politics were to be described as a body of water, he would be a babbling brook..
As it seems to go in “political cycles”, we have to “live through” a Carter in order for a Reagan to emerge. If we manage to survive an Obama, who is prepared to be our next Reagan?
The WORLD awaits an answer..
12 responses so far ↓
noleftturnz // July 12, 2009 at 4:45 pm
This one is in honor of “Cobber” and Arthur.
Thanks as always,
Larry
Todd // July 12, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Larry,
I hate to disagree with you, but I think Obama’s politics would be better described as a boiling mud pit, than as a babbling brook. Of course, I would also describe Reagan’s politics as an artesian well; they come from deep within the earth, are pure, beneficial, and inspire hope in the people who thirst for freedom and liberty!
Todd // July 12, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Arthur,
Cobber looks like a great addition to any family. I am sure he will be very happy with you and your family!
Not_Paying // July 12, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Amen.
Richard // July 13, 2009 at 1:24 am
Larry, you are truly an inspiration with your prose. I really feel your emotion when I read about President Reagan. He was such a joke to so many, I was embarassed for them for they took pearls of great wisdom and character and thrashed them in an effort to elevate themselves, thereby showing how crude and uneducated/uneducatable they were, reducing their stature for all to see. Next time in California, that is one stop I want to make.
Graywolf // July 13, 2009 at 3:11 am
Could it be the next Reagan is a she? Sara sure communicates to the common folks like me the same as he did. Would it not bust the asses of the MSM, Libs, and Soros if she was the first female President. They feared Reagan and they fear her. GOD bless the USA.
Rick // July 13, 2009 at 11:26 am
Remember when obama
reads off the teleprompter,he is reading words written by someone else.
Sil in CNY // July 13, 2009 at 12:40 pm
“…the only thing that mattered was how he said things, not the content of what he said. That his speeches were a series of nouns, verbs and adjectives randomly constructed for dramatic effect..” Sounds like an exact description of Obama & his teleprompter to me!
Eileen // July 13, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Well said Larry, well done as you are our eloquent writer. I liked Ronald Reagan, even though I was in my late teens when he was first elected and didn’t have a lot of political experience under my belt; not because he was a conservative or a republican or a democrat or a liberal because he was very humbled man and was honored to be OUR President, he was truly honored and accepted the job that the Country gave him. He wasn’t arrogant; he wasn’t an elitist who thought he deserved the title because of the color of his skin. He didn’t go around the World asking for forgiveness because we are what most people, in most countries strives for Capitalism and freedom for ALL citizens not just liberals. I think he strived for world peace and felt that every Country could be free if they could just stop the political excrement. My, my have times changed.
We all know Reagan hated socialism, communism, Marxism and political policies of repression that our current President wants us to embrace. Reagan and Obama are the polar opposites of each other. Yet the press keeps pressing they are one and the same. Both are able to communicate what their political ideals were/are, one told the truth and the other has lied through his 1,000 watt smile. If he is smiling, he is lying. He is pushing his liberal agenda and telling us that the outcome will be great for all Americans including serial killers, criminal elements and repeat offenders, gang bangers, illegal immigrants, pedophiles, Muslim/Islam extremist/terrorist can all have a say in what happens going forward, but infants/embryos, white collar men and women, Christian conservatives, non-Union members will become the minority after he is through with us. It is the former that are the real social victims in Obama eyes.
Hollywood has always hated Reagan, because of his anti-communist stance and as President of the Screen Actors Guild. When Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era.
With the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows United States federal law that, serves as a great impediment to the activities and power of labor unions and as President of SAG he opposed the measure of the law. President Harry S. Truman’s veto the bill; labor leaders called it the “slave-labor bill, but while President Truman argued it would “conflict with important principles of our democratic society.” The term Taft-Hartley has a special meaning in the entertainment industry. Specifically, for film and television actors, an actor not in the union who becomes a “principal performer” (says a line) is immediately eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild and is covered under the SAG contract with the production company for 30 days, at which point he/she must either join SAG or cease working on any union productions. Once joining the union, the actor may not work on any non-union production, per the terms of the bylaws. This allows SAG to get around the rules forbidding closed shops by providing a mechanism for new members to join the union and if they wanted to keep working they had to remain in that Union. Congress over rode the veto and the law was passed. Union leaders did not like the bill when it was proposed.
But it was Reagan stance on Communism in this Country that drove the Hollywood crowd crazy. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era. Reagan provided the FBI with names of suspected Hollywood liberals whom he believed to be communist sympathizers within the motion picture industry. Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on the subject as well. A fervent anti-communist, he reaffirmed his commitment to democratic principles, stating, “I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment.”
They resented his stance on Communism and handing over those names to McCarthy. At this point he was still a Democrat. And the liberals viewed him as a traitor to their Union and the Hollywood crowd. They have continued that stance even when they were thought that famed Director Elia Kazan was selected to receive an Honorary Oscar in 1999. This angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his being among the first to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their radical political beliefs, and that Kazan had publicly stated that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against his selection for the special award and some attendees of the awards ceremony – such as Nick Nolte and Ed Harris – stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. However, others both stood and applauded Kazan, such as Warren Beatty, Meryl Streep, Helen Hunt, Karl Malden, Kurt Russell, and Kathy Baker (side note: Sean Penn’s father Leo Penn whose name was on the Blacklist and may explain why he hates conservatives so much, and sees conservatives as intolerant which is what his father taught him at a very early stage). Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese presented the honorary Oscar to Kazan. Hollywood has always worn their liberal politics on their sleeves but there were enough stars that focused on his work and not his political ideals.
What Obama and Reagan have in common is this, both man hailed from Illinois and both brought strong reactions from Hollywood but for very different reasons. Reagan has a lot of similarities with a current conservative Republican. Both were never career politician and stumbled into politics. They both have/had a bull’s-eye on their backs and are/were hated by the liberal press because of the genuineness that overrode politics as usual, and both believe in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and sees it as a guide to do what is right and not what is popular.
Larry, you asked who will emerge from the next conservative’s cycle. Sarah Palin reminds me so much of Ronald Reagan. They are both genuine and speak from their hearts and the further Obama takes us to socialism the more the public will embrace her. The latest polls confirm that. Sarah never needed a teleprompter to speak in public, because she spoke from the heart and not from the head or from the right speech from the teleprompter.
Louise // July 14, 2009 at 3:22 am
Larry
A wonderful tribute to a a President who was proud to be an American. When he went abroad he represented his country with honor and bowed to no man.
What we have now is a pagan man installed in the office of President. He has no God because he considers himself in that position, knowing all, being all, and affecting all.
“God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”
“Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
“If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, I will hear and heal their land.”
I hope you don’t mind a little scripture now and then. It comes to mind so often these days. We are in serious trouble in America and definitely need a miracle.
Rayne // July 16, 2009 at 11:21 pm
I always felt such warmth about Ronald Reagan…my father and he could have been twins.
I also remember it was the only stretch of time I didn’t catch my father yelling at the T.V….great minds thought alike.
Joy // July 19, 2009 at 3:36 am
A beuatiful tribute to Reagan, Larry – I had forgotten (how is that possible?) how powerful and Right Thinking he was! Of course, the Libtards want everyone to remember just the press-fomented charicature – certainly not the REAL Reagan and not the staunchest defender of Modern Conservatism to sit in the Oval Office in living memory! Above all, he was a natural leader – and many of us watched his growth as a national leader from that immortal speech at the Goldwater convention in 1964. Others – but far fewer in number – were priveleged to have seen him on the GE- Speakers’ Circuit over many years pre- & post-1964. May his soul continue to rest in peace!