A moment of silence.....

For former president Ronald Reagan. He spent his entire life helpig those in need, but there was nothing we could do to help him....

1911-2004
.......

Not showing disrespect to the man - but that's just not true - he was very unhelpful as the Governor of Calif. during the Vietnam era.

Look it up.

*holds his breath*

lol...Well, he won the Cold War for us... *waits for flame war*

I can't help but make a comment on the eve of the death of one of my rl hero's. For those who don't remember the state of America at the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency, patriotism was at an all time low. It was embarrassing how many people were ashamed of being Americans. Like his politics or not, Ronald Reagan restored pride in this country almost instantly. He will go down in history as one of the greatest men of the 20th century.

It was a shame that a man who gave so much of himself to this country wasn't able to enjoy his golden years because of a horrible disease. Imagine the amount of wisdom he could have provided the Presidents that came after him and the amount of good he would have continued to do for us all as a statesman. I for one salute him for all he did for us. The world is a better place because he lived.

Whether you believe in someones politics or not is not the discussion

A former President has passed, so a moment of repect is in order...

I did not agree with the man, but he did lead our nation so I certainly believe I owe him at least a moment of reflection....

May his family be comforted by their memories

It makes me sad when important people die.

I will miss the man.

Wow,

Honestly i feel bad, i never expected this community to show as much support for my Hero that is shown here.

I thank you all for putting aside political beliefs and seeing the man for who he was and marking his passing.

RIP Ronny,

We will win this one for the gipper.


JV

I didn't agree with his ideas, never have. But he was a strong man, a brave man, and a man that stood up for what he believed in. I respect him, and he'll be missed sorely.

ah my political opposite, thank you for your kind words Darwin, you are restoring my faith in the left.... since i have seen some horrible things said lately since Ronny's passing.

JV

Politics aside he was a good man and a loving husband.

While it is terrible that he succombed to such a mind wasting disease, the life he lived before it took over was quite full to say the least and he accomplished more than most people dream of.

He also paved the way for a generation of young minds to become the next president, knowing that if a movie start could become president, and do a damn good job at it, anyone could!

Hear! Hear! Baccara has hit it right on the head. Whether you agreed with all of his policies or not, attacking dead men is a tacky and singularly unrewarding exercise.

which is why I ignored all of the disrespectful responses.

Dead or Alive there was a great respect for Him from myself and my family. As Darwin stated I may not have agreed with some of his political stand points nor agreed with his cabinet that followed his lead but you have to put aside petty political differences and look what he did for the country as a whole.

upon his leaving office he left the country in a positive state for Clinton to take over and expound on. IMHO those two presidents combined over a 16year period of this country brought this country to a political and economical superpower to be reckoned with for all time had that legacy of Regan and Clinton survived.

It also proved that democrats and republicans could work in conjunction to bring the country to a greater place.

Reagan even being followed by Clinton showed me that the two political partys have the countrys good will at heart its just the humanity of each has their own agenda as to which is better.

Reagan was why I joined the military, so my hats off to his passing he was a great man in my eyes and as politics serve in this country that is my opinion and my right to say.

So Rest well beloved hero of the US and thank you god for letting this man grace humanity with his presence.

With Best Regards

Shadow

While I was always politically dead-set againt Reagan policies, I have to agree that his passing is cause for national mourning.

By coincidence, I'll be at the Capitol for lobbying meetings when he is laid in state. Anyone who wishes to have a message of condolence left at the site can PM me with it, and I will print them out and place them in the appropriate place. (I'm assuming there will be such a place - I think there generally always is.)

Bhodi

In my opinion, the last of the Great Presidents has passed. He was a kind and gentle man, he was steadfast in his stances, he made us smile.

Rest well gentle stalwart.

...

ps - Shadow, i believe there was a certain Bush Sr. between Reagan and Clinton. and i will leave my comments about Clinton out of this, out of respect for President Reagan.

For those of you who are only able to see the events on TV, I thought I would share with you what it's like here in DC at the moment. (I don't live here - I'm staying at a hotel near the Capital because I'm on a lobbying trip.)

The line to walk past Reagan's casket is an odd gathering - a sort of middle class tent city. (It takes about eight hours to get from the beginning of the line to where he is laying in state.) The security is so strict that very few of the things you might see at a camp-out for something like concert tickets or a new Star Wars film are allowed. I've been walking back and forth on the avenue where the line starts all day - at about the two hour mark, children start to turn surly. At the four hour mark, everyone looks hot and frazzled. Toward the end of the line, though, there is a sense of triumph.

I'm not sure why mourners should appear triumphant - that part confuses me. The solemnity of the event seems to have been overtaken by a sense of accomplishment at having reached the finish line - as if this were the "X-Games" version of a funeral.

There are, of couse, hawkers everywhere selling Reagan tzakis. This is a major peeve of mine. I lost two good friends in the WTC attacks, and I refuse to visit Ground Zero until the t-shirt vendors and people selling WTC snow-globes full of people-shaped confetti have left the area. But here, folks are buying up this crap like crazy.


There is also amazing security. I was here three weeks ago at a hotel only a block away - and from 2am to 4am some guy stood under my window yelling "Big party in room 710 - if you want some coke, come to room 710!" Not only is there none of that tonight - but I was stopped twice today outside Senate office buildings by policemen who wanted to know why I was just sitting on the steps. (I was waiting for someone both times.) My purse was searched each time, and the patrol cars didn't leave till I did.

It's been a very strange day, indeed.

B

You can't imagine how unpleasantly hot and humid it is in DC without being there. Those people waiting in line are insane, especially to keep so many small children out in the heat like that.

Respect.

I don't think I've been there, but I think I'm close enough to imagine. And I don't want to, because it sucks!

Okay, well not to pee on the parade, but...

Reagan was just a man. His passing is no more sad or important than if your neighbor next door keels over tomorrow. He was not an especially good president. He did horrible things to the economy and giving him credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union is silly. We know now it would have collapsed anyway. So yes, his passing is sad. Anyone's passing is sad, especially for the loved ones they leave behind. But this post mortem elevation to heroic proportions is wrong. He was who he was. Nothing more. Nothing less. His death doesn't change anything.

In the past week I've heard proposals for adding his face to Mt. Rushmore, putting him on the ten dollar bill, building a memorial to him on the national mall, naming the Pentagon after him... to which my response is "Yes, by all means, let's waste even more of our tax money!" Have our standards for hero worship sunk so low that people would elevate Reagan to the same level as Lincoln or Washington? Puh-lease!

Obviously the republicans can't be too thrilled about the moron they currently have in the whitehouse so of course they're having an orgy of revisionist hero worship about Reagan. They must be loving the 24/7 news coverage of his death while stories about the memos from the justice department prepared in 2003 claiming that Bush is not bound by the Geneva convention and setting the stage for the horrific prisoner abuses in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cuba and suggesting that the origins of the abuse reach all the way to the executive branch get nary a mention. It's sickening.

My moment of silence ended about 30 seconds after his death was announced. Let's get back to reality now please.

I agree Chip. Reagan deserves the respect that any president who passes does, but I'm getting a little tired of everyone treating him like some diety.

One thing, for me, that I was disgusted by was when a new disease emerged in the early 80's and it took over 5 years for him to even publicly talk about the disease. By that time somewhere over 20,000 Americans had died from this new disease and many more (including a family member of mine) had been diagnosed with it.

read more here

He deserves a proper service for his contribution to this country. But not all of his contributions were good.

I heard a rumor that they were planning to put reagan on the 20, is this true?