I recommend adding this next to your picture..

God rest his soul, as we carry on.
I never voted for him.I too was wrong.

I was wrong about him too.

One of my happiest memories is of attending a briefing at the White House while he was there. A wonderful man whom we will miss, and who history will treat kinder than the present.

I first registered as an Independent when I turned 18 because I didn't know the difference between the other parties. By the time I turned 19 I started figuring it out and had the honor of being one of the votes in Ronald Reagan's landslide re-election. Thank God for this man!! What a great thing it is to be an American!

Of the essays about "Silent America" I believe that President Reagan understood and held them all. He was a true optimist, and caring man.

God bless you, Rest in Peace, and thank you Mr. Reagan.

I truly hope that history portrays this man in the light he deserves. Reagan gave this country the optimism and motivation to move ahead in the world and become the greatest nation on earth. May he rest in peace.

"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

RIP Ronald Reagan
1911-2004

Seems fitting...

Fortunately other than the complete left whacko nutjobs, he is nearly universally respected as a person, even by those who disagree with his policies. I'll raise my glass to the greatest president since Lincoln, may he rest in peace.

Oddly enough, I heard about Reagan's passing just after downloading his radio addresses from Audible.com.
His brilliant radio addresses were given mostly when he was governor of California in the late 1970's and covered his ideas and beliefs for this country which hold up under the test of time. I recommend them to everyone here.

His detractors liked to characterize him as a clueless old man who only listened to what his advisors told him to do (Now where do we hear that today, hmm?) but his ideas of the 70s translated into the policies of the 80s which brought the downfall of Communism and ensured the strength and prosperity of the United States leading into the next millenium.
Rest in peace, Mr. President.

And keep up the good work, Mr. Whittle!

As an eighteen year old in 1980, I cast my first vote in a Presidential election for Jimmy Carter. I did this with great deliberation, because I thought an Annapolis trained nuclear engineer, farmer, and Baptist deacon was a better "man" than a shallow Hollywood actor. I, too, was seriously wrong about this man. Mr. Reagan was exactly the right man at exactly the right time. Fortunatly, I realized that in time to cast my vote for him in the 1984 campaign.
We are in a much safer, stronger country because of Ronald Reagan.

I voted in my first presidential election in 1980. Ronald Reagan seemed way to conservative and Jimmy Carter was obviously incompetent, so I voted for John Anderson. President Reagan spent the next four years making America a better place than it had been in a generation. I happily voted for him in 1984.

God bless this great man. All politicians should strive to be as capable and as self-deprecating as he was.

Ronnie, You reminded us that we were Americans, by god. Inheritors of the greatest country on god's green earth. And that we didn't need to settle for less than being the greatest nation.
We can never repay you, but we can pick up the standard, and keep on marching forward.

President Reagan was my first vote as a Republican. He made me proud of my vote.

The quote you posted is grabbing at the lump in my throat. Thanks for posting it.

He will be missed. His suffering is over, he is on to better things.

I too was wrong. SO very very wrong. Ronald Reagan was a great man and a great president. God did he love this country and our way of life. He helped remind us the greatness of our destiny. As Edwin Stanton said of Lincoln "Now he belongs to the Ages."

"I ask you not simply to 'Trust me,' but to trust your values -- our values -- and to hold me responsible for living up to them."

If there's a God then I thank Him for delivering Ronald Reagan to us!

Many Republicans evoke the name of Reagan, but few carry through with his understanding. I believe the most important lesson to learn from him is the understanding that people are their own best resource. That is why he was so set against communism, tyrants, and the welfare state. We would all better ourselves by trying to remember these things every time we cast a vote.

God so loves this country that he provides a wise, strong, compassionate leader when we are in danger and desperately require one.

Before Ronald Regan, America had a dark hour. Communism was on the march. Afghanistan, Nicaragua were recently captured. Our enemies laughed at us at took American diplomats hostage. The topic of conversation was Jimmy Carter’s misery index…

…and then entered President Regan and our enemies laughed no more.

Thank you Mr. President, you will be missed.

Godspeed, Dutch.

Thanks for saving the world.

"Of all the times I have been wrong in my life -- and there are many -- I was never so wrong as I was about this man."

Me too, Bill. Me too.

Rest in peace, Mr. President.

The very first vote I cast as an adult was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. I never regretted it. Our country and our world need more men like him.

I cannot believe he's gone. We all knew he had Alzheimer's, but I've been just stunned since I heard the news. (Nice job, major networks, for not breaking into programming. Glad to catch that Children's Miracle Network telethon.) Watching the video clips, I was in awe. I had forgotten. This guy was just huge.

Not a bad life's work, driving the wooden stake through the heart of Communism. Would the Soviets have collapsed without Reagan (say, under President Dukakis)? They might have, but it probably would have staggered on another ten years, and destroyed even more human potential.

This man changed the world. And because The Clash didn't like him, my 16-year-old self-righteous self dismissed him. Bill said it all-- I've NEVER been so wrong. When everyone around you is being fashionably pessimistic, it's easy to follow along; it takes big cojones to be an optimist.

Thanks, Mr President, for bringing common sense to our tax system, freedom (with all its responsibilities) to literally hundreds of millions of people, and confidence back to America.

Without Reagan, maybe we still would have had Microsoft, JetBlue, Whole Foods, Netflix, Dell, ESPN, and all the other revolutionary businesses of the late 20th Century, but it would have taken a hell of a lot longer.

Make no mistake-- if you like the life we live in the early 21st Century, you have Ronald Reagan to thank.

Ronald Reagan was that part in all of us that really believed in America.
That America is the guiding light of freedom.
That America should be strong.
That America should never back down.
That America will always fight to free people from oppression.

Ronnie is everywhere.
Got a little Reagan in you?

He freed half my living kin, trapped behind a wall of concrete, barbed wire and mines.

He triggered the decline of communist totalitarianism in the modern world.

He led me away from darkness and doubt.

I will remember him for as long as I live.

Rest in Peace Mr. President, you’ve earned it.

And people say and actor shouldn't be in politics.

I've spent half of the afternoon with one burner simmering in the backbrain trying to think of something nice to say about the man. I agree with those who think that death is serious enough to be respected by positivity instead of carrying grudges. Here's what I came up with.

He was a leader of the American people. Even though I do not like the direction he took our country, I cannot ignore the fact that he was not a politician in the sense of one looks at the polls every day, senses which way the herd is going and tries to get out in front of it - he did not let public opinion shape the direction he was going but rather he shaped public opinion toward a vision that he had.

We haven't had enough like that - we could use a few from time to time.

Here in a nutshell is the comparison Americans will make between presidents RWR and GWB:

The Liberals’ drumbeat of pessimism and hopeless defeatism was constant, their rage at Ronald Reagan’s determination to stand up to the Soviets unending, their insulting vituperation towards his abilities and intelligence unhinged. Reagan-hatred was the moral disease of the Liberals in the 1980s -- just as Bush-hatred is the moral disease of Liberals today.

George Bush’s determination to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq and through it to the entire Moslem Middle East is the equal to Ronald Reagan’s determination to bring freedom and democracy to the oppressed people of the Soviet Empire. Both are visions of Olympian heroism. Such visions, such moral courage terrifies Liberals, embarrassed as they are of being American and in a continual state of apology for their and their country’s existence.

“Because of Ronald Reagan’s leadership,” President Bush said today, “the world laid to rest an era of fear and tyranny.” Because of Moslem Terrorism, the world once again is living in an era of fear and tyranny -- and because of George Bush’s leadership, that era will also be laid to rest, in spite of liberal moral cowardice.

-Jack Wheeler
"The Great-Souled Man" (a wonderful read)
http://tothepointnews.com/article.php?id=317&i=

I was never wrong about Ronald Reagan, because he MADE me believe in myself, in my own judgement, my moral compass, which un-erringly pointed back to him.

I was too young to vote in '80, but was introduced to the election process because of my heartfelt need to vote for the man. I was ashamed because his name was the only one I marked on the ballot. I wasn't prepared to vote for all the judges, local reps, sherrif's, AMEDNMENTS, etc. that were on the ballot, and vowed to always know
who and what I was voting for.

When I heard the news yesterday, I immediately switched over to Fox, knowing they would have many wonderful things to say, and dreading the littany of "reminders" we were going to hear from the Reagan-Haters and the Left.

I was shocked to hear how much loved he was and many gave him credit for the downfall of the Soviet Empire, from Ted Kennedy to Bill Clinton.

The next few days and weeks will probably bring out those who want to re-frame the Reagan legacy, but from what I've seen in the last 24 hours, it's going to be a tough sell!

God Bless you, Mr. President. You led when no one wanted to follow, you spoke in ideas when everyone wanted to worry about facts, but most of all you earned our trust when no one wanted to trust you.
... you slipped the surley bonds of Earth, to touch the face of God.

Bobster:
Thank you for your honesty. Losing President Reagan and the public reaction to it, has caused me to evaluate how I would feel about the eventual passing of Pres. Carter and Pres. Clinton. Neither of which I supported for President.

I believe as a nation, we should honor our presidents with all the enthusiasm we can muster. And I vow to put aside my Republican credentials and honor these men when such a time comes.

Because of President Reagan, I got to take a picture of Sam, my red-white-and-blue rubber ducky, sitting where the Wall used to be.

I'm sure the left will view this as a threat to the Kerry presidental run. After all, a retrospect of the Reagan Presidency will make Kerry's character and political career seem like the failure it is.

The media will be down-playing and even demeaning President Reagan's accomplishments and character while the Kerry team will try to accuse President Bush and the Republicans of riding a wave of Reagan sentimentalism and shamelessly exploiting his death.

Of course a giant of the Republian Party a conservative and a highly effective president loved my the majority of Americans, tends to shed a negative light on the decrepit Democratic party and the principles it currently represents.

I guess I grew up a little sooner than many. In 1976, I would have voted for Carter, but fortunately, was only 14.

The very first hole I punched in My life was Ronald Reagan in 1980.

I can remember saying many times "That's it! I'm not voting for that idiot next time." Yet his vision was better than Mine. Funny how that is.

Don't be so quick to bash the media on this one Anthony. Even local news channels were having Reagan specials and the cable news places were covering him a lot. As I said above, Reagan carries a lot of respect even among democrats, and from what I've seen on the news he has been getting the glowing reviews he deserves.

As long as the GOP officials don't pull a Wellstone, they can't be attacked for exploiting his death. Still, discussing its affect on the election seems pretty cold at this stage. So I'll stop.

Interesting how many of us were wrong about him. Is there something about Bill's site that attracts reformed liberals?

Not all of us. I was what they called a Goldwater conservative as far back as 64. I was skeptical about having an "actor" as Pres. in 80 but I liked what I heard. I thought to myself, even if he's an empty suit just mouthing the words, he's got the right team behind him. I was right about that too.

One thing about the Reagan presidency that will always stick in my mind was his tax plan in 1986. It was REVOLUTIONARY. The plan, as I remember it, reduced EVERYBODY'S taxes, and put the economy into the stratosphere. Even Dan Rostenkowski raved about it in a TV address, saying it would do for the lower and lower middle classes what FDR's depression plans did. Reagan wanted families of 4 making $17,000 a year or less to be "off the rolls." Of course, by the time Congress got through with the plan, that had changed. A great man, and greater President is no longer with us. Let's pick up the torch and run with it. Rest in peace, Gipper.

.....voted for him in '80 and 84....no regrets.

I worked for the McGovern campaign at the grassroots level.

I voted for Jimmy Carter.

Reagan burst on the scene and captured the imagination of so many Americans. Mine included.

I, too, was wrong for many years. But I instinctively knew what was right when I saw and heard it. His speeches have brought tears to my eyes.

May he spend eternity in the Shining City on a Hill.

Correct Shiva, the effects on the election cannot be gagued at this point. But since we are in a war of ideas, the more krap you throw against the wall, somethings bound to stick.

The liberals will attack the right for rightly respecting president Reagan and that could be a dangerous idea to put out there when you are JFKerry (who officially launched the "F" in his name to the media apparently to imply the ghost of President John F. Kennedy), so ideas and image matters.

Spinning the legacy of President Reagan in a negative fasion, accusing president Bush and the conservatives of exploiting his passing will be a part of their strategy to deflect the spotlight from years of failed Democratic policies.

Remember all the sympathy from the media after Sepetember 11th?

I had just gotten out of the Army and was disgusted with the way our nation (and military) was headed under President Carter. As a military officer, I hadn't had much interest in "politics" - as was fitting back then. My vote for President Reagan was
the first one I cast as a civilian and I never regretted it.

Wrong about him? What the hell is wrong with YOU people? A stuffed moose would have made a better president than that bedwetting cracker Jimmy Carter, but God sent us Ronald Reagan and you didn't vote for him - you were "wrong" about him?

Maybe it wasn't your fault, having been fed a steady diet of existentialism by the media, the education system, even your own government and leaders. Reagan's unapologetic vision of an absolute right and wrong was too much for most bedwetters to handle.

Rest in Sweet Peace, President Ronald Reagan.

To "rockynoggin": So, I take it, then, that you have some issue with bedwetters...? Just curious.

And what's so bad with former liberals "seeing the light" and turning to it, anyway? A whole lot MORE of that needs to happen these days...

I'm proud to be able to say that I voted for Ronald Reagan both times that he ran for president, and never had any regrets. Still don't, other than now, for his passing, but I suspect that's as much of a blessing for Nancy and his children, as it is a loss, given what Alzheimer's does to people. It seems a particularly horrible way to go for a great man like President Reagan. May he finally rest in peace.

Who said I voted for Carter?
I didn't even vote for the "stuffed moose".

"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."

Thank you.

As a Californian, I was interviewing for jobs at New York law firms in November, 1980, just after Ronald Reagan was elected. In literally every interview, the stunned New York liberal lawyers (I only interviewed one conservative, and he turned out to be about the only conservative at the firm) wanted to know about Ronald Reagan: was he a cowboy, was he going to blow up the world, etc., etc. ad nauseum. I told them he was a good man, despite what they had heard, and to watch his deeds.

During the election of 1976, I was in the Army, at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. I distinctly remember many, many, otherwise conservative brother officers, who were evangelical Christians, voting for Carter because he was 'one of us'. People forget that it was Carter in 1976 and 1980 who embodied the "religous right" and Ford and Reagan who were moderates on the role of religion in politics.

I will always remember President Reagan fondly for his many achievements as President, including his defeat of Communism and the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

I will also remember him as a friend of the University of California, despite what the left said while he was governor and his crackdown on rampant student riots and the like. An anecdote: I was serving on a university committee at a major UC campus when the Chancellor arrived late at a meeting, having just come from a regents meeting with Reagan's successor, Junior Brown. The Chancellor came in, looked around at the group (I was the only non-faculty member present), and sat down, white as a sheet. "You'll never believe I'm saying this," he said, "but where is Ronald Reagan when we need him! You could talk to Gov. Reagan, and he'd support you if you made sense. You can't even talk to Jerry Brown. His mind was made up before we even left for Sacramento." I've never forgotten that, which I thought was very telling about Reagan's basic goodness.

I respect the fact that he was a human being who suffered a terrible disease (whose possible cure the Republican administration refuses to fund reasearch for) but Reagan was a puppet, a bad president, condescending to those with whom he disagreed, and tried to turn the clock back on civil rights. I wish Nancy had fought as hard for Aids research as she does now for Stem Cell research.

He defeated communism? How so? The USSR was on it's last legs as eary as the mid-70's? They were destroying themselves with poor administration and runaway military spending. Whether you agree that Reagan was a good domestic President, the idea that he defeated communism is dangerous wishful thinking. Worse: its willful ignorance.

Yo-
Reagan, Thatcher, and John Paul II were/are giants. Freedom is about far more than Aids research, get over it. (FWIW, don't put yours where it doesn't belong, and you have a near-certainty of avoiding AIDS (and most other STDs)).

To: What?

Catch a clue. Please.

Do you remember the thousand+ missiles pointed at us? We know now that a lot of them wouldn't have fired, but our perception of the USSR at the time was of an implacable and dangerous enemy. Communism shackled what, 2 billion people? (Still working on that last Chinese billion)

Reagan's defense build-up, his vision of meeting and beating anything the Sovs could throw at us (remember starwars antimissile defense? They thought Reagan was a madman. That made them VERY nervous, VERY scared and VERY anxious to match us. Something that they couldn't do without imploding.

Would the USSR have fallen? Certainly. Would it have happened last century or this one? Well, it wouldn't have happened when it did.

The first vote I ever cast was for Ronald Reagan.

I'm from a conservative family. My dad showed me how evil liberalism is, instead of assuming I would be a conservative. He took us to church. He taught us about money. He gave me The Chronicles of Narnia, and later, Atlas Shrugged. The whole family went to see Tom Sowell speak at DU.

Now I'm raising my kids the same way. They won't have to awaken from liberalism's grip -- I'll break every finger that evil creature tries to put on them. They'll never vote for a Jimmy Carter instead of a Ronald Reagan.

RIP, Mr. Reagan. We were lucky to have you.

I find myself somewhat relieved when I heard of his passing. He was a great man and president. Decent, human, and visionary.

It saddened me to know that suffering from Alzheimers as he was, all that made him great was being whittled down into dementia.

Godspeed Mr. President.

When I was young and foolish, I did young and foolish things. After Watergate and Pres Carter I voted for Anderson. I too was very wrong. God Bless You Mr President.

I got it right with Reagan (voted for him both times), but got it wrong with Gore last time. Hey, we'd reached the "end of history," and I voted my perceived economic self-interest as a union postal worker. Nothing wrong with that, right? (Well, yes, actually...)

This time, I'll get it right. Bush-Cheney '04. Win one last time for the Gipper.

To: What?

Bro (or "Sis", if you are female), SERIOUSLY. The ONLY reason you even know that the Russkies were destroying themselves is because of 8 years of Dutch and his policies!

COME ON!

Can you name one policy of Carter's, or even Ford's, that was directed toward having the same in-your-face, direct effect(s) on the Iron Curtain?

The Gipper was the first president since WWII to look the Soviets in the eye, and then do to them what he said he was going to do: SPEND THEM INTO OBLIVION.

I would REALLY like to hear the hard facts on which you base your opinions, as I am sure a lot of here would, if I may be so presumptuous.

Not that the average American can't have an opinion, but I would also like to know what you do, what you've done, and where you've been, because I was there. I was in Berlin in '77 when the Wall was still up and the Cold War was still hot.

BTW, he didn't defeat Communism single-handedly; Margaret Thatcher, Pompidou and d'Estaing. Hell, even though he's a fatuous, narcissistic blowhard right now, as the French Prime Minister from '74-'76 as a Gaullist, even Chirac had a small hand in it. Schmidt, then Kohl im Deutschland, etc... The list includes the name of every single non-Sov European Head of State during 60's and 70's up to the fall of the wall. The crux of it is, they were all, collectively (no pun intended) waiting for an AMERICAN to show up they could line up behind and STOP. THE. SOVS.

Enter Ronal W. Reagan.

How quickly you've forgotten...or perhaps you're not old enough to remember. If so, you get a free pass. Just please listen to your elders on this one, because there is an extraordinary dearth of gray area here.

God did bless America...when he gave us Ronald Reagan. Thank you Mr. President. You are the only man whom I've never met, who impacted my life to the degree of defining many of the values I now hold. Thank you. May God bless and recieve your soul.

"If you seek his monument, look around."

In the immortal words of Hank Hill:

"Lord, I miss voting for that man."

I was not old enough to vote for him either time. I do feel like I have several close conections though that I just need to share somewhere. I am quite happy that Bill is providing the space for this.

When I was in 7th grade we had an assignment to track the 84 election cycle using newspaper articles and political cartoons. I still have that thing somewhere and will have to find it. AT the end of our assignment we had to state who we would vote for and why. I was the only kid in the class that would have voted for Mondale. I guess that should have been a sign of how the election would turn out. My reasoning at the time ws that I felt Reagan was too flip and cavalier with his attitude and statements toward our perceived enemies of the time ("we begin bombing in 5 minute) to be trusted with his finger on the button. Feeling more enlightened now, I yearn for someone that is not so politically gunshy as to tell it like it is or should be.

In 1988-1989, I was the Drum Major of my high school marching band at Royal High School in Simi Valley and we were one of 6-8 schools invited to play at the groundbreaking for the Reagan Presidential Library. As a student leader, I got to meet with the Presidential advance team and visit the site a number of times before the event and I ended up standing within 100 feet of the podium. Regardless of my (then naive) political leanings, it was an honor to be at the event and to participate. It also gave me great respect for the amount of logistical planning it takes to move the President in and out of events and the weeks of planning that goes with it.

As I have grown to my mid-30's, my politics took a turn toward the conservative and I found a great deal of respect for the man. I have visited the library a half dozen times as I still live and work in Ventura County. I have taken great pride in looking at the pieces of Air Force-1 that are waiting for completion of the Aviation Hall at the library early next year. This will be a tremendous addition to an already impressive tribute to the man and his ideas.

It is now with a weird sense of pride that I watch the news coverage and recognize al lthe places the news teams have set up for their stories, from the entrance of the library on Olsen Road, to the parking lot next to the main building to Moorpark College where I once attended classes and they are now using as a staging area for those wishing to go and pay respects.

I drove by the library entrance at about 4:30 on Saturday and the flower and flag tributes had started and some level of security had been established. I understand from others that traffic controls are now considerable.

I do not intend to join the line of mourners passing by the casket, but I do intend to make a visit to the property again some time this summer to pay my respects to someone that clearly changed the world for the better, whether I recognized it at the time or not.

I was ten years old when Ronald Reagan became my president.

Living, growing up, 50 miles as the crow flies from an Army Ammunition Plant, I was constantly aware of my proximity to a potential target in a nuclear exchange.

I had literally come to the conclusion during Carter's administration that nuclear war was inevitable. Granted it was an immature mind making that conclusion. At the time however, it was what I thought. Coupled with seeing my folks agonize over what bills to pay, with being very nearly evicted from our house in the middle of the night save the intervention of my older brother moving a hard man to pity, with seeing my father flirt with a nervous breakdown over his near inability to provide in that economy, my worldview was an extremely sad and cynical one for a boy so young.

I don't remember any specific words of Reagan's when I was 10.

But he did give me what I regard as the greatest gift I've ever been given. He gave this ten year old boy HOPE where none had existed before.

I have no doubt that Reagan played the PRINCIPLE part in dismantling the Soviet Union. Obviously, enlightened minds may debate whatever they choose.

What is beyond debate is Ronald Reagan's influence on my life. I will always love him, and though I never met the man, he holds very nearly the status I reserve for my own father.

I am not religious in any fundamental sense of the word, but it is no stretch at all to say that Ronald Reagan was a Blessing in my life.

Godspeed, my President, and rest easy. You Made a Difference.

That was my first election. I voted for President Reagan. I remember the hatred directed toward him at the university. The constant stream of vitriol and bile. Looking at me, know one would have guessed that I would have voted to "the old man". After the Carter debacle, there was no way I was voting for him. It is interesting to look back all those years. I was definitely an agnostic liberal in college. The Presidency of Ronald Reagan really had an effect on my thought processes. Well, now I am in my 21st year in the military. I guess it had somewhat of an effect.

When I heard the news, some of my fellow soldiers guarding this Air Base wondered just what was wrong with "big sarge's" eyes. Nothing at all. Nothing at all.

Godspeed Mr. President

The character of this man shone through in everything he did, public and private. To read some of his private correspondence is to understand that this really was a man without guile, who truly believed the things that he told his countrymen in his now famous speeches, and had the strength and guts to follow through on those beliefs with action.

God bless you, Mr. President. We are so much the better for your having lived, loved, and led as you did.

My lasting impression of Reagan was the story that went around right after he took over from Carter in 1980. The Iranians had just released the hostages after 444 days of hell...coincidently on the same day Ronnie took office.

The story goes that sometime during the previous night he called up the Ayatollah and said "Guess what's dead, flat and glows in the dark? Your pissant country 20 minutes after I take the oath of office!"

Sure, it probably didn't happen that way...but you can nod your head and go "I could see it happening followed by a FRANTIC order to release the hostages"...

Definitely one of our finest Presidents. Restored honor to the White House, gave America back its soul after over a decade of stagnation, and set in motion the final collapse of communism. We will sorely miss him, as will those that he helped to liberate.

>People forget that it was Carter in 1976 and
>1980 who embodied the "religous right" and Ford
>and Reagan who were moderates on the role of
>religion in politics.

Weird anecdote from this period:

There was a lot of denunciation of Reagan during the 1980 campaign (including one thick book called Holy Terror) with scare jobs that he was a senile old front man for "Right Wing Religious Fanatics" who were going to turn the country into a religious dictatorship a la Iran, what was later called a Handmaid's Tale takeover.

Soon after his inaguration Reagan tried to calm these fears by announcing that he was President of all Americans, not just Evangelical Christians.

About a week after that announcement, I saw posters "proving from Scripture" that Reagan was the Antichrist. (Based on the fact that the name RONALD WILSON REAGAN has six letters in each name = 666.) Reading these alongside with their contemporary Holy Terror was very surreal.

>Do you remember the thousand+ missiles pointed
>at us?

I remember all the far-future Science Fiction that had the Cold War continuing for centuries into the future, a spinning yin-yang of US and USSR eternally at each other's throats.

I remember other SF where the USSR could only go down in a full-bore nuclear war, the mass salvoes of ICBMs passing each other over the North Pole, and how this was the only way the USSR could possibly end.

I remember the Gospel According to Hal Lindsay and his imitators with similar direct lines to God (Late Great Planet Earth, et al) that had the USSR (i.e. "Gog and Magog") and the Cold War continuing literally until the End of the World.

I remember a lot of things that never came to pass due to the Second Russian Revolution.

My favorite political cartoon of all time appeared during the Reagan Era. It showed Ronny, dressed in cavalry attire, sitting astride a tired swayback old nag that was surrounded by flies, blowing a bugle right down the main cannon barrel of a huge black Soviet tank -- the hatch was being blown open by all the Cyrillic blankety-blanks coming from inside. It was hilarious and (except for the nag he was riding) absolutely true. In fact, since I was in the military at the time, that was just exactly what made me nervous -- being on the pointy end of the sword while my president was poking the Russian bear in the ass.

He did a lot of provoking and antagonizing back then (as that cartoon so eloquently encapsulated). And as it turned out, that was just precisely the right thing to do at the time.

I voted for Reagan both times.

The first vote I ever cast though, was for Carter. He was a nice guy, a gentle spirit, and I thought that was what we needed at the helm. I was wrong -- sweet little Jimmy got run over by the World Events bus, well-intentioned, decent, and smiling to the end -- and Ronny was my Correct-o-Tape (we didn't have delete keys back then... at least *I* didn't).

I've met Jimmy Carter since then, and he's still a sweet, trusting, generous man, the kind I'd love to have for a neighbor or a friend, but the kind I hope never rises to the presidency again -- for HIS sake AND ours.

Helluva' job, Ronny. Helluva' job.

I've still got my piece of the Berlin Wall sitting behind the glass of my entertainment center, and I still remember what East Berlin looked like before that piece was busted loose.

Helluva' job, Ronny. Helluva' job.

GHS

I came of age during the end of Carter's malaise. I was 19 and finishing my first year of college at a Jesuit school. The hostage crisis was hot and heavy. We were fist fighting Iranian students during the day at soccer matches, and sitting down next to the Iranian 'student' hunger strikers in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to eat pizza and drink beer while we asked them to explain theirselves, and the fact that they could do what they were doing, even witout citizenship. The Capital Park Police always got a kick out of us. I was a Bush supporter during the primary. I expected that his Embassy to China and CIA creds. would make him the better man for the job. I have always voted for the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) regardless of my social leanings. I was confused at that time due to the Societies Brothers teaching liberation theology and my family's military heritage. Well, I voted for Dutch when the time came, even though I expected him to be a bit puritanical on the domestic agenda. I had also grown up in L.A. during the Sixties and used to hear my hippy baby sitters rant about him being some kind of Nazi due to his actions against the student movement. Well I had my reservations, but I quickley matured as I observed the lefts reaction to him. I read an article about the "New Right" and "Regan Youth" in a Washington Post op-ed one weekend were the columist made a passing reference to Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged being the loonie mold that the movement was cast from. My Profs had never mentioned her, I wonder why? Well The title was enough to make me find a copy the next day. At the moment I finished Galt's declaration the clouds of 20 years of 'post modern' development were wisked away and I felt alive and able to trust myself and instincts from then on out. Regan was no longer an old fuddy duddy, he was everthing I had been taught to belive in as a child but had forgotten due to 16 years in the L.A., Faifax Va. and Jesuit Schools that I had my soul and mind mutated in. I was wrong about this man, one of the few times I have been so wrong. I haven't looked back since, only forward, never questioning my own or humanities capacities for achievment.

I am in Europe for a few weeks of independent study. I just wanted you to know that re-reading your essays brought solace and comfort when I wanted nothing more than to be home to mourn this loss with my countrymen.
Thank you.

Like Bill Whittle, I was badly, badly wrong about Ronald Reagan in my youth. I believed all the trash talk at the time--he's stupid, senile, a reckless cowboy, etc. I guess that's what youth is for--so we can get all that nonsense out of the way. Certainly Reagan made mistakes, Iran-Contra being perhaps his biggest. But I think he also was key in rescuing this country from a precipitous downward slide, and he had the vision to realize that Soviet Communism could, indeed, be peacefully dispatched into history's dumpster.

Rest in peace, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

I remember just before Ronnie was announced as the Republican candidate, my dad said it would never happen because Ronnie was too old. I told my dad then that that only constituted more wisdom. I joyfully walked with my three small children to the polling house and cast my vote for RR. For the past 10 years I have often thought of him and grieved for his family having to lose him in such a way. I was destroyed by the news that he had died. He gave us back our honor...and George Bush is doing exactly the same thing. Clinton took our dignity and gave us shame, GWB gave that back to us. I pray that God uses Bush as he used Reagan.

Rest in peace President Reagan.

Feeling outnumbered by Carter-ites where I lived and worked, and therefore feeling demoralized by the whole outcome of the 70's, and to top all that, being told by the media and party-in-control that things would never likely get any better, I voted for Ronald Reagan based on a gut feeling that there was, indeed, a better solution. America was too great to throw in the towel simply because we traveled some rough roads. Listening to some of his first speeches, I was made to realize that this new President, Reagan was a man of great moral conviction, and his consistency created a stronger support from myself, and obviously, others as well. The President will be missed, but the history of this country cannot do anything but be altered positively by having this great man in our service. I have some of your books, Mr. Reagan, with copies of your early letters, your philosophy in your own words, which I'll treasure. Rest in Peace, Sir, and I hope to meet you one day on the other side.

" My dad showed me how evil liberalism is, instead of assuming I would be a conservative." Yeah, FDR, Kennedy, Moynihan, etc. sure were terrible people. Get a life, Bonnie.

On topic, I would not have supported Reagan's domestic agenda much had I been of voting age, but he was indeed the right man to face the Soviets. A giant and a true leader, his charisma was evident to his opponents, and his courage and character cannot be besmirched. It is safe to assume that history will be kind to him. Rest in peace, RWR.

FDR gave away Eastern Europe at Yalta, Jeremy. Millions of people suffered decades of totalitarianism and grinding poverty because FDR just loved Laughin' Joe Stalin, murderer of millions.

JFK freed Cuba! Oh, wait, no he didn't. He was a womanizing drug addict who achieved iconic eminence through dying young and pretty. I'll take a pass.

Liberalism is evil. Scratch a liberal and you'll find a leftist who is committed to totalitarianism -- the supremacy of the state.

President Ronald Reagan stood against totalitarianism. He battled the enemies of freedom and he never wavered. It isn't that he said things beautifully, but that he said the right things. He was the best President of the 20th Century.

Bonnie says Scratch a liberal and you'll find a leftist who is committed to totalitarianism -- the supremacy of the state.

Not if you scratch this liberal, thankyouverymuch.

Obviously, Bonnie, you believe your own dogmatic idiocy and aren't worth arguing with. Must be nice to have it all figured out. Never mind that liberalism, in its classical sense, is precisely what seperates our society from the totalitarian states you were just railing against. We're all evil, one shade off of commie bastards. You (and your equally enlightened father) have a camera into our very souls. You and your utterly closed mind get some sleep, now, y'hear? For me, I've got some freedom hating and totalitarian agitating to do.

Chill, friends. I agree that leftism, socialism, and communism are evil, but not that *leftists, socialists, and communists* are therefore evil. I would prefer "misguided."

Me, I'm a liberal: I believe in individual freedom, freedom of speech, ideas, worship, commerce. I believe in government only inasmuch as it serves to promote that freedom. That's liberal. Damn shame the word is commonly used as a synonym for "socialist." "Conservative?" Nonsense: that means "suspicious of or frightened of change." Our Founding Fathers were raving liberals; in fact, they were more properly classed as radicals.

He was a great man, the only president to have the balls to stand up and call the soviet union an 'evil empire'. He was one of the most vital instruments in the destruction of communist russia, we need a president like him, one that is not afraid of world opinion, that speaks his mind and will have the balls to call the 'war on terror' the 'war on islam'

Dinesh D'Souza made an excellent observation when he spoke at my school earlier this year, that the political left has stolen the word "liberal" from traditional conservatives. The ideas of classical liberalism are upheld by libertarian-leaning conservatives.

However, wishing it wasn't so doesn't affect reality. The political definition of liberal, which Bonnie was clearly referring to, is completely different from classical liberalism.

I can walk around and tell people I'm gay, and then I can be offended when they assume I'm homosexual instead of a person who is lighthearted and carefree.

The meaning of liberal has changed. If you call yourself a liberal today, you're going to have to assume others will understand that means a socialist who wants the government to control every aspect of people's lives.

I am proudly both gay and liberal -- in the old meaning of the words. So was beloved President Ronald Reagan. Gay liberals, unite!

On 20 Jan 81, I sat on the floor in my flight room at Lackland AFB, TX watching a blurry TV as the U.S. hostages were released from Iran. My brand new fatigues had yet to be washed as it was only my fourth day of basic training. I didn't know what my future held in the Air Force. I watched as President Reagan spoke about the release and my Military Training Instructor remarked, "Those bastards didn't want to mess with a President with balls!" I knew then that my vote the prior November was the right one.

I'm still in the Air Force 23 years later and I remember much of the Reagan era; full of hope and vigor - just like the man himself. He gave so much to America and to me as a young man. I will remember him and teach my children about his example. That a belief in man's ability to shape his own destiny will be rewarded in the end. That Good over Evil matters.

God Bless Ronald Reagan and God Bless America.

I was too young to vote for Reagan. But in his passing may we gain his leadership and guidance from his new residence above. God bless Ronald Reagan.

If men like Ronald Reagan ran the Republican Party today, we wouldn't need the Libertarians.

Of course, he didn't always govern according to his beliefs, but mostly because of comprimises with the left.

I was only four when I heard his speech in Berlin. I remeber it anyhow, and I think it was, both in content and rhetoric, one of the greatest speeches of all time.

...If you desire peace, if you desire liberalization, come to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Beautiful.

And he had a sense of humor.

Reporter: Mr. President, boxers or briefs?
Reagan: Depends.

We've lost a great man. Ronald Reagan, rest in peace.

Poem:
President Ronald Wilson Reagan

“One Sent To Deliver”

With you I fear no evil threat of Communism anywhere;
Without you I fear Osama ben Laden is near.
I wish you were still here to give him a dose of Moammar Qadaffi.

Without you Americans were afraid to fly around the globe in the seventies;
With your coming in the eighties, the Iranians hostages prison doors flung open – Americans set free.
I wish you were still, but with George on our side we’ll win one for the Gipper.

With your absence, we do Mourn;
But your Godly legacy we still Adore.
I wish you Heaven’s Diadem this day as we mourn.

Mr. President, Rest in Sweet Peace.

Rev. Dr. P. Edward Halcott
7024 Rising Sun Ave
Philadelphia PA 19111
June 10, 2004

To Yo: "whose possible cure the Republican administration refuses to fund reasearch for)"
Republicans are against research dealing with body parts of unborn babies because this requires the killing of said unborn. Alzheimer's research is supported and funded.

" but Reagan was a puppet, a bad president, condescending to those with whom he disagreed, "
Hmm. That's not what many of those who disagree with him say.
"and tried to turn the clock back on civil rights. "
Reagan was for equal treatment of all people, not special treatment for some. Which is future thinking not setting back the clock.

To What?: "The USSR was on it's last legs as eary as the mid-70's? They were destroying themselves with poor administration and runaway military spending."
Spending that was necessitated by Reagan's build up.
"Whether you agree that Reagan was a good domestic President, the idea that he defeated communism is dangerous wishful thinking. Worse: its willful ignorance."
Who's being willfully ignorant here? The man stated it as the cornerstone of his Political career. He said what he was going to do and he did it. "My idea of the cold war: We win. They lose." He stuck to his ideas and called a spade a spade. He was criticised for calling the Soviets an "evil empire" he was called "brash" for saying "Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall." He was called a cowboy for walking away from the disarmament talks when the Soviets wouldn't deal equitably. He did so because he knew they'd be back.
You are free to disagree with his politics, be angry about his domestic agenda, shoot you can even hate the man. But one thing is being said OVER AND OVER this week. HE was the key figure in the downfall of the Soviet Union. Denying THAT is wishful thinking and woefully ignorant!

I was a kid when you were first elected, Mr. President, and woefully ignorant of the importance of that event.

"Trust but verify" added time to the doomsday clock. I need not fear an impending Armegeddon. Thank you, Mr. President.

You held my hand following the Challenger's destruction. "Slipped the surly bonds of earth ... [to] touch the face of God" is forever written in my heart. Thank you, Mr. President.

Still to young to vote in '84, I cast my "ballot" in '86 and enlisted. The first entry in our ever-carried recruit notebooks was the chain of command; "The Honorable Ronald Reagan - Commander in Chief" topped the list. I cannot express how proud I was to parrot that phrase.

Thank you, Mr. President

The Democratic leaders who call themselves "liberals" today are socialists. They are way left of center. If they call themselves "progressives" they are basically communists. Oddly enough, today's conservatives are classic liberals.

In the old lexicon, it was liberals who came up with new ideas, and conservatives who fought change. Now it's actually the reverse. Doubt that? Mention making changes to the failing Social Security system to a "liberal" Democrat, and watch the hand-wringing hysteria start!

I find that it is the "right" who have all the new ideas today. They are the ones trying to break down the failed social systems to make way for new things. The "liberals" have become the "conservatives" in the old lexicon, and the "conservatives" have become the "liberals". It is the Democrats who are the doddering fuddy-duddies who are fighting changes to the system.

The social welfare system was renuvated by the Congress under Newt Gingrich. President Clinton was dragged into it kicking and screaming. He vetoed it twice, and signed it the third time because Congress had acheived a veto-proof majority. When it turned into a raging success, Clinton then proceeded to claim that it was his, that same Welfare Reform that he promised to "fix" in the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Suddenly it was a wonderful new idea that "he" originated ;).

If others have said it, forgive me, but after watching todays event from morning 'til west coast sunset, I can't resist an observation.

It's said that 10 years or more ago RWR was heavily involved in the planning of today's classy event. If true, then in death he's done it again - reminded us anew (as during his first campaign) of just how great America - and we - can be!

Godspeed, Mr. President

Democrat code

Not everyone is aware of it, but the democrat inner circle has developed a code to describe the various bad things done by Reagan without having to completely describe it each time. Throwing inmates out of asylum and stealing their shoes, for instance, is #13, ketchup is a vegetable is #29, you’ve seen one tree you’ve seen them all is #45. You get the idea.

I overheard a group of democrats discussing Reagan recently. Someone would say “How about #13?” And everyone would say, ‘hear hear’ or ‘you betcha.’ Someone else would say, “yes, and then there was #83" and everyone would nod in agreement. Then someone said #211, everyone nodded in agreement but one guy jumped up and said “That SOB, I never knew he did that.”

P.S. - Are you covering the flight for us?

WEW

Let me add my "me-too" story about Ronald Reagan:

I voted in my first Presidential election in 1984, for Walter MonDull.

Reading that sentence makes me want to vomit, but being 18 years old, I wasn't very politically minded. I believed what the commie-lib media was spewing, and made one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

I missed my one and only opportunity to vote for Ronald Reagan.

Fortunately, the way it turned out (this was the year of the 49 state landslide) he really didn't need my vote, but still....

Since Bill didn't reply to me, I felt I'd leave it up to the rest of you to chime in with your comments.

Thank you for replying, Bill, I genuinely appreciate it. I find it particularly impressive that you responded since your website is so heavily viewed.
I respectfully disagree with your views for a number of reasons.

1) Why did we go to war?
There are three answers Bush likes to use.
A) To find WMD?
B) To overthrow Saddam?
C) To free the Iraqi people?

There has been nothing substantial found. Even if there were, we gave him weapons when he fought Iran. Hussein's regime was impotent and no more of a threat to the US than Syria. We also helped bin Laden against Russia. The US policy about helping others is dangerous. Check out George Washington's farewell address.
Do you honestly believe Israel is never going to turn against the US? Why not?

That shit about Hussein gassing his own people is fucking tired. To be honest, I could give a shit less about the safety and freedom of Iraqis. Would you be willing to send a close relative in to fight for SOMEONE ELSE? I don't think so. If they hated him enough, they can clean up their own mess and figure it out for themselves.

If you actually care about humanity, for less than five billion we could build wells in fucking Mali. If you claim to care so much about those poor Iraqis, do you care about those in Tibet? how about those that were fucking hacked in the civil war in Rwanda?

The US will always be a hot target for terrorists until we realize to stop giving out foreign aid to Israel and other countries across the globe.

Let's talk about insurgents for a moment. If I bombed the living shit out of Gainsville and then rolled in on a tank what would you do?
Any man worth his salt would fight back and form a militia to overthrow those that attack him. Insurgents are not "terrorists", they're men defending their own soil from foreign invasion.
The neocons are such bullshit artists for spinning people defending their own turf as terrorists. I actually would call them patriots for having the strength to fight back against an imperialistic force.

Freeing the Iraqis is not the job of a UNITED STATES soldier. Real soldiers defend their countries borders and real Presidents don't go on pointless wild goose chases picking fights for no discernable reason.

The army should be voluntary. Those we believe in this administration are more than welcome to go to that sandy hellhole and fight Iraqis. I find it highly hypocritical to ask OTHERS to serve when you yourself are not doing so despite your repeated attempts.

Are you proud to vote for a man who took FIVE deferments and another who took the easy way out? Are you happy at the way they rushed into this war? I find this administration to be full of chickenhawks; men that will eagerly and without prudence shove low income soldiers into a hellhole for no real reason.

The fact of the matter is that this war has shifted its purpose repeatedly. No soldier should have to fight for someone else. Bush is a fraud who won't even defend our own borders. I'm voting for the Constitution Party.

Thanks for your time,
Jim L.

Of course you'll probably get all worked up because it has been a very emotional week with the Regan’s passing... but not everyone agrees with the opinion that Regan was a beneficial president. I’m here to represent that portion of Americans-- so I’m sure I’m bound to anger and agitate some of you because going against the grain can often seem threatening.

Think outside yourselves and try to consider life from a viewpoint different from your own. Look deep inside and try to consider the universal human issues… Take away the politics that have been pounded into your brains and I hope you get a glimpse of what is truly important for the good of humankind and life on earth. …And I ask you--- Does the symbol of who Regan is and the actions he was involved with really follow this? I don’t want to convince you of who is right or wrong… I learned long ago that people do not change their minds when presented with information that they do not agree with. People have to change through a much more complicated process. So resist the urge to drown in nostalgic thoughts and memories. EVOLVE.

Provoking independent thought is a wonderful act in which to engage...

The Media Hated Reagan

Reporters are trying to appear pro-Reagan because they don't want to be perceived as completely out-of-touch with the sentiments of the American people.

Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz wonders why much of the coverage of Ronald Reagan at the time he was president is so different from the way he is being revered today. It's a good question. Kurtz doesn't have the right answer.

I was in Washington, D.C. at the time, documenting the anti-Reagan media bias for Accuracy in Media and other groups. Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post said that covering the Iran-Contra affair was as much fun as Watergate. He thought they'd nail another Republican president. The sharks smelled blood in the water. I met Reagan at a White House Christmas party and presented him with a button that AIM had made up showing a shark with a big "X" on it. I gave it to Reagan, he laughed, and he told wife Nancy: "That means 'no.'"

In the end, of course, they didn't nail Reagan on Iran-Contra. The sharks had to feed on lesser prey. Reagan didn't have the details about the arms deals with Iran and the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, the Contras, and National Security Council staff member Oliver North and others took the fall. The Iran part of it was designed to free American hostages in the Middle East. It worked for a while. The Contra part was designed to keep the resistance alive while the liberal Congress, led by Senator John Kerry, tried to destroy it. Reagan, North and the freedom fighters ultimately prevailed. We still have many problems in the Middle East but Central America is free of communism.

So why is the coverage of Reagan's death favorable? Kurtz says there is a tendency in the media to say nice things after someone has died. "More important," he adds, "a man's legacy looks very different 15 years after he leaves the White House, and following a long illness that took him out of the political wars. No one knew when Reagan stepped down that his military buildup would ultimately play a role in the demise of the evil empire he railed against."

It is possible, of course, that the media recognize that Reagan's anti-communism produced dividends for the U.S. and the world. I think it's doubtful. Remember that reporters at the time, such as Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post, said journalists regarded left-wing groups in Central America as the "good guys." This included the Nicaraguan Communist Sandinistas, who seized power in 1979 with the help of then-President Jimmy Carter, and the communist guerrillas in neighboring El Salvador. Reagan opposed these groups. His policy of supporting the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, or Contras, resulted in the demise of these and other anti-American terrorists movements in the region.

Reporters are trying to appear pro-Reagan because they don't want to be perceived as completely out-of-touch with the sentiments of the American people. I don't really think that journalists ever liked his policies, then or now. The recent Pew Research Center survey indicates the press is even more liberal than it used to be. This is why, I believe, that traditional liberal news organizations are losing readers and viewers and why conservative outlets, such as talk radio and Fox News, have grown in popularity.

Reporters are aware of these results, even though the findings have not been widely publicized. But a more recent Pew Research poll is even more significant. It confirmed that Fox News Channel is making dramatic gains in attracting conservative and Republican viewers. A perceived conservative news organization is enjoying incredible success.

Fox, of course, is not necessarily conservative. Bill O'Reilly rejects the label, and several hosts, including Greta Van Susteren, are regarded as being to the left. The new host of Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace, is the son of liberal media icon Mike Wallace. But Fox does provide conservatives and Republicans with access, and for that they are clearly grateful. Plus, Fox covers a lot of news of interest to conservatives.

At the Brookings Institution forum where the latest Pew results were released, panelists decried the "polarization" of the media. They didn't like the fact that conservatives were drifting toward Fox News while liberals and Democrats were sticking with news organization such as National Public Radio and CNN. I submit they don't like this development because it spells more trouble for liberals, a far smaller percentage of the general population, and their preferred media. I told the panel that "polarization" was a healthy development and that it would continue. I don't think a burst of pro-Reagan coverage by the liberal media will affect the trend toward more conservative-oriented media. But the liberal media seem to be showing some awareness of the trend that is threatening their existence.

July 4th:

Because my country has sold its soul to corporate power,
Because consumerism has become our new religion,
Because we've forgotten the true meaning of freedom,
And because the 'war on terror' has hijacked our national agenda,
I pledge to do my duty . . . and take my country back.
http://www.unbrandamerica.org

All right Jim L, here's your response.

Obviously you're not a regular here, or you would have already known the answers (Bill's AND "ours") to your questions, as well as the now-standard and way-too-often repeated replies to your inflammatory charges. And, with one or two exceptions, I'm not going to regurgitate them all again here just for you. Maybe someday Bill will turn the comment streams back on from all his previous essays and you'll be able to see how many times these same points have been made, countered and counter-countered, propped up and thrown back into battle, over and over and over again, to the point where they're not even interesting anymore. But until then, just take my word for it -- we've heard it all before. And how many times do you think Bill is obligated to repeat the same words to each new Bush-hater that comes down the pike?

Judging by the first contradiction in your post -- in which you first said "Since Bill didn't reply to me..." followed immediately by, "Thank you for replying, Bill, I genuinely appreciate it. I find it particularly impressive that you responded since your website is so heavily viewed..." -- I'm guessing that he DID reply... he just didn't KEEP ON replying when you kept on dragging out these same old "fucking tiresome" points of yours. But I could be wrong.

These points HAVE been responded to, many many times over. But there were a few stand-out points you made that I feel need some personal attention.

Like this classic... "The army should be voluntary. Those [who] believe in this administration are more than welcome to go to that sandy hellhole and fight Iraqis."

Wow. That may well be just about the stupidest idea I think I've ever heard coming from your side of the fence, and clearly the outgassing of someone who's never served in the military himself or has any clue how the (or ANY) military works. Personally, I wouldn't want a gun that could choose on its own when it wanted to fire and when it didn't. It would be worse than useless. How far would you like that "individual choice" concept to go there, Jim? How about if those "free-to-choose" soldiers decided they'd all rather go home and defend their individual families rather than stay unified and organized and EFFECTIVE and defend, say, New York first?

Or this one... "Freeing the Iraqis is not the job of a UNITED STATES soldier. Real soldiers defend their countries borders and real Presidents don't go on pointless wild goose chases picking fights for no discernable reason." Oh, that's brilliant.

"Real soldiers?" Is that like "real men" who don't eat quiche? Here's a little Military 101 for you, Jim: the "job of a UNITED STATES soldier" is to be the weapon of the United States. Period. It is the gun in this nation's hand. And if it can't be relied upon to fire when its trigger is pulled -- any time, and at any target -- then it is useless, and we are defenseless. It can be used to threaten, to defend, OR attack -- and yes, it can be misused as well -- but it is utterly impotent and laughable to whoever you're pointing it at if it only fires when it feels like it.

If someone doesn't want to have to fight for causes they don't believe in, then they shouldn't volunteer (note that word "VOLUNTEER") for military service in the first place. Once in though, they cannot -- they SHOULD not -- have any say whatsoever in where they are deployed. As Gene Hackman said in CRIMSON TIDE, "We're here to DEFEND democracy, not practice it."

As for "real soldiers" only defending their country's borders, is that how we've won ANY wars in the past? Or has every cause beyond our borders been unjust, and every leader who led us there a morally bankrupt "chickenhawk?" I'm sure Churchill would have appreciated us leaving him to "... clean up [his] own mess and figure it out for themselves." (one of your other brilliant assertions)

You said, "Are you happy at the way they rushed into this war?"

Rushed into it? You mea