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Remember When We Had A Real President?
I do.
“How can we not believe in the greatness of America? How can we not do what is right and needed to preserve this last best hope of man on earth?… we cannot, must not, and will not turn back. We will finish our job. How could we do less? We’re Americans.”
— Ronald Reagan
When I am feeling on the cusp of despondency at the current set of circumstances, so tawdry that they defy description, and I happen upon this photograph and quotation, remembrances well up in me of a President who loved his country and proclaimed that love with every utterance and every action. So I thought I would share it and hope it brings a smile, albeit of the bittersweet variety, to you as it did for me.
I had the opportunity to visit the Reagan Museum on two separate occasions and visited the grave of this Great American and Nancy. I miss him every day but, millions of times more importantly, our Nation has missed him sorely ever since he left office. But never more so than in these, some of the lowest in our history, sad days in the life of our Republic.
May he and Nancy rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon them.
Published in General
“America is too great for small dreams”. It’s on the wall on my office and in the kitchen. How I miss that man.
I have a favorite “walk the beach” T-shirt which is so tattered that My Lady has tried several times to dispatch it to the trash, but I always recover it. It is a “Reagan for President” T-shirt and it is so worn the lettering is hardly visible. Nonetheless, it never fails to elicit comments precisely, word for word, from folks on the beach, including much younger people to my surprise. One word: bittersweet.
But Reagan got rolled by Congress and others more than once, didn’t he?
Yes, he did. No one is immortal.
President Reagan would have said about this snarky remark by @kedavis: “Well, there he goes again!”
Thank you @doctorrobert for your excellent rejoinder.
I voted for him twice and am happy/proud to have done so, but I can’t help wondering if he would have been as successful in 2016 or 2020. That is perhaps my way of wondering if the country still deserves a Reagan as president.
A very large portion of today’s citizenry absolutely, positively does not deserve President Reagan.
Full stop.
Thank you! I watched this late last night; it brought tears to my eyes. I miss him every single day.
I remember being moved by such rhetoric, once upon a time. It was my religion. Since becoming a Christian, I perceive idolatry in such statements.
We’re “the last, best hope”? I doubt it. We’re not even much of a hope at all. Our hope is supposed to be in Jesus Christ, not in a country. Moreover, even if there is no Jesus and we’re stuck in a meaningless and atheistic universe, how could one possibly believe that one single country is somehow both the “last” and the “best” hope of humanity?
So if we fail, somehow, it’s the eternal darkness for all mankind, for all eternity? I doubt it. There were countries before ours. Countries and empires, thus far, are usually of limited duration, so it’s unlikely that the United States will last forever. Thus, there are likely to be countries after ours.
Also, our country may survive as a unit but become almost unrecognizable, persisting as a force for evil in the world. This seems to be happening already. Why should we assume that no other country could possibly do well, if we don’t?
Hubris would be one answer. Arrogance and self-absorption, as well.
This is clearly a doctrine of some sort of secular salvation. It’s very similar to Marxism in that respect, though I suppose that the Marxist promise of salvation is more universal. In this American Liberal religion, it’s up to the United States to save not just itself, but all humanity.
The degree to which I disagree with this statement cannot be expressed in a way which will comply with the Code of Conduct.
If this statement personifies the center-right, then we truly are lost. And “I doubt it” seems to be your favorite characterization for almost every opinion expressed here.
If you ever find yourself in the Florida Panhandle, look me up and I’ll try to explain it to you. I’m not very optimistic about the odds of my success, but at least we can have some awesome Gulf shrimp and other delicacies and maybe even an adult beverage or two. Sounds like you could use some cheering up!
You have the ability to darken the world with just a few words; sounds like you have well and truly given up on your own Nation. I have often come close in the last few years — see the phrase in the post “When I am feeling on the cusp of despondency…” but I don’t think I have ever expressed such a depressing and morbid prognosis on the future of my own country as this. And all this time I have been thinking Arizona was a bright and sunny place –at least, I know it was when we would visit my brother, RIP, in Scottsdale. It must have gotten a whole lot darker since those days.
Can’t believe you omitted “nemesis” as it would fit perfectly your prediction of our total downfall; I’m sure an edit will be forthcoming.
This statement, coming in a discussion of President Reagan, of all the Presidents, is nothing short of breathtaking in its — well, to use your own phrasing, “Arrogance and self-absorption…”
I send my best wishes and hopes for your survival in that darkness the Arizona desert has apparently become.
It seems like one thing Marxists – especially Marxist “leaders” – would really hope for people who might otherwise oppose them to believe, is that “this world” doesn’t really matter.
P. J. O’Rourke said something about our country being the first to show respect and concern for the rights and the hopes of the ordinary, everyday, none-too-deserving schlubs that most of us are. Those ideas were even put in our founding documents. Our founders didn’t claim to grant rights, but to secure pre-existing rights. It made us special.
I not only miss Reagan but I miss most of the people he surrounded himself with who were more than competent in their jobs.
For example, can you imagine George Shultz sitting quietly while the Chinese openly insult him and this country?
Someone I miss more than I thought I would is Rush Limbaugh. I was not a regular listener, but I frequently wonder how much fun he would have had with the latest bit of stupidity coming out of the Biden administration.
Jerry feeds off misery Jim. He’s the poison in the well. He has nothing positive to offer ever.
Reagan was a little before my time but he transformed my parents into conservatives and down the line, impacted my politics profoundly. I re-read his biography when I need a little positivity reinjected into my political outlook.
I remember he was treated horribly by the media – just like most other GOP Presidents
We’re a different people now. An unserious people. The GOP, the Democrats, the Press, the citizens are shadows (worse shadows) of themselves.
Nestalgia may be a comfort to some, but that’s all gone now and it’s not coming back.
I don’t find it a comfort anymore – makes me even more angry how we’ve squandered everything.
Reagan had so many good lines- one of my favorites is “there are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”
addendum- I looked up the quote and the set up ( which I wasn’t aware of) was:
They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers.…