Saturday, June 05, 2004
Ronal Reagan passes at 93
Politics aside, hold a moment of thought for his family.
Reagan was the Uber conservative; he was the supply sider from California, the B actor who enchanted America.
This might surprise many on the left but I admired the guy, I believed he was a good guy mainly because he was a family friend.
My Grandfather was on governor duty while a state trooper here in California and during his time he protected Reagan and Brown. My grandfather idolized him; Reagan could do no wrong. When I was five we lived with my grandparents during my fathers career change my Grandfather would tell us stories about what he did at work and they were almost always violent and ugly, to be a cop in the sixties wasn't easy. His stories of Reagan were quite interesting.
According to my grandfather Reagan was a warm genuine person, often Reagan would come downstairs and just gab with the troopers for an hour or two, Nancy always had fresh coffee and doughnuts or cookies waiting for them, that is something many governors do however it wasn't unusual to see Reagan waiting to speak with his guards, always jovial and engaged, Regan knew the names of his children always asked about them. The genuine aspect of the Reagan persona was cemented with my grandfather then and there. I also believe my grand father had a crush on Nancy, the way he'd talk about her in her "little red bikini" grossed me out at five and grosses me out at almost 25.
One of my grandfathers most prized possessions was his autographed Reagan photo, he was a fan because they developed a friendship and respect foe each other.
The same cannot be said of Jerry Brown, there are things I know are true and not Republican spin that if I write them down in this blog I will be sued for Libel, and trying to track down witnesses is not how I want to spend my summer so they stay in my head, for now. Let me just say Jerry Brown was an awful governor, can't say anymore.
With Ronald Reagan's death, it reminds me of my grandfathers’ death in 2002. I associate Reagan with my grandfather for the obvious reasons stated above. Having to relive the death of loved ones sucks, having to dwell on that aspect again opens the old wounds of mourning his death. I have plenty of Reagan jokes I've done over the years, because they were easy and I had a million of them. Despite our differences on the issues I respected the man. One of the issues that ripped me out of the Republican Party in 2000 was Karl Rove trying to make George W. Bush into the new Regan, just a regular guy with a big job, they both own ranches. With the stories of Reagan swelling in my head, I looked at Dubya and saw some elitist wannabe Cowboy trying to gain votes, who bought a ranch during his campaign, one which his aids and Rove called the "Reagan Ranch", what I saw in George W. Bush was a fake, a fake populist, a fake "regular guy". So with a touch of irony Reagan helped me leave the Republican Party.
FOX News is already calling Reagan the man who defeated the Soviet Union, even though it fell after he left office and the Soviets and Americans alike who know the real history of the cold war agreed that EVERY PRESIDENT (including Carter) helped to bring down the "Evil Empire" and his Tax cuts jump started America when bipartisan economists say it actually hurt the economy and the American people. Be respectful but hold their feet to the fire or else it will translate to Dubya and we don't want that.
Good night Roland Reagan.
Ronald Reagan
1911-2004
|
Ronald Reagan, the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was "morning again in America," died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer's disease, a family friend said. He was 93.
He died at his home in California, according to the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The White House was told his health had taken a turn for the worse in the last several days.
Five years after leaving office, the nation's 40th president told the world in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's, an incurable illness that destroys brain cells. He said he had begun "the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life."
Politics aside, hold a moment of thought for his family.
Reagan was the Uber conservative; he was the supply sider from California, the B actor who enchanted America.
This might surprise many on the left but I admired the guy, I believed he was a good guy mainly because he was a family friend.
My Grandfather was on governor duty while a state trooper here in California and during his time he protected Reagan and Brown. My grandfather idolized him; Reagan could do no wrong. When I was five we lived with my grandparents during my fathers career change my Grandfather would tell us stories about what he did at work and they were almost always violent and ugly, to be a cop in the sixties wasn't easy. His stories of Reagan were quite interesting.
According to my grandfather Reagan was a warm genuine person, often Reagan would come downstairs and just gab with the troopers for an hour or two, Nancy always had fresh coffee and doughnuts or cookies waiting for them, that is something many governors do however it wasn't unusual to see Reagan waiting to speak with his guards, always jovial and engaged, Regan knew the names of his children always asked about them. The genuine aspect of the Reagan persona was cemented with my grandfather then and there. I also believe my grand father had a crush on Nancy, the way he'd talk about her in her "little red bikini" grossed me out at five and grosses me out at almost 25.
One of my grandfathers most prized possessions was his autographed Reagan photo, he was a fan because they developed a friendship and respect foe each other.
The same cannot be said of Jerry Brown, there are things I know are true and not Republican spin that if I write them down in this blog I will be sued for Libel, and trying to track down witnesses is not how I want to spend my summer so they stay in my head, for now. Let me just say Jerry Brown was an awful governor, can't say anymore.
With Ronald Reagan's death, it reminds me of my grandfathers’ death in 2002. I associate Reagan with my grandfather for the obvious reasons stated above. Having to relive the death of loved ones sucks, having to dwell on that aspect again opens the old wounds of mourning his death. I have plenty of Reagan jokes I've done over the years, because they were easy and I had a million of them. Despite our differences on the issues I respected the man. One of the issues that ripped me out of the Republican Party in 2000 was Karl Rove trying to make George W. Bush into the new Regan, just a regular guy with a big job, they both own ranches. With the stories of Reagan swelling in my head, I looked at Dubya and saw some elitist wannabe Cowboy trying to gain votes, who bought a ranch during his campaign, one which his aids and Rove called the "Reagan Ranch", what I saw in George W. Bush was a fake, a fake populist, a fake "regular guy". So with a touch of irony Reagan helped me leave the Republican Party.
FOX News is already calling Reagan the man who defeated the Soviet Union, even though it fell after he left office and the Soviets and Americans alike who know the real history of the cold war agreed that EVERY PRESIDENT (including Carter) helped to bring down the "Evil Empire" and his Tax cuts jump started America when bipartisan economists say it actually hurt the economy and the American people. Be respectful but hold their feet to the fire or else it will translate to Dubya and we don't want that.
Good night Roland Reagan.
Ronald Reagan
1911-2004
|
