Abe Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Melania Trump Walk into a Bar...

...the bar of high standards. What do these three have in common? Together, I believe they illustrate the difference between plagiarism and allusion. With Melania, the Jayson Blair of presidential candidate's wives, it was clearly plagiarism. Not that it was that big of a deal. No one expected the equivalent of the Gettysburg Address from her. Many people think the unforced error of the kerfluffle which came when the plagiarism came out, with the initial denials from the Trump camp, were largely due to Trump being too cheap to hire a decent speechwriter for her, and the attempt at cover up was just pure Trump.

But I read something by Mike Rowe, of "Dirty Jobs" fame, and former opera singer:

I remember, in the wake of the Challenger disaster, Ronald Reagan gave a truly extraordinary speech. Every sentence was brilliant, but this part was unforgettable.

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them this morning, as they prepared for their journey, waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.”

I was 22 at the time, and I literally cried when I heard those words. I was truly touched. Later, I learned those words had been written for Reagan by Peggy Noonan. After that, I learned Peggy Noonan had lifted those words from a poem called “High Flight,” written by an airman who died in WWII named John McGee.

Did Ronald Reagan plagiarize Peggy Noonan? Did Peggy Noonan plagiarize John McGee?

Now I'm a little bit older than Mr. Rowe, I predate the 24 hour news cycle. In fact, I not only predate 24 hour news, but I predate 24 hour TV!

Back in the olden days, when there were only three networks, and cable was what you used to suspend bridges, TV stations didn't broadcast 24/7. Typically they ended their "broadcast day" around one or two in the morning. And typically, the station just before signing off the air, would play the National Anthem and a short video of a jet fighter flying, while a narrator recited the poem "High Flight". Having on more than one occasion stayed up past the end of the broadcast day, and because there was literally "nothing else on", people would watch and listen to the stirring words of Airman John McGee. For those of Ronald Reagan, Peggy Noonan and my generation (heady company!), the words of High Flight were totally familiar and totally appropriate for Reagan to allude to. Whippersnappers like Mike Rowe may not have known where the words came from, but there was no attempt at plagiarism there, or anything like it.

But people often attribute a quote to the person they heard it from first. Many people attribute the line to Robert Kennedy that he quoted from George Bernard Shaw:

You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

A more famous attribution of a literary allusion to the wrong source comes from the aforementioned Gettysburg Address. It concludes:

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Lincoln was alluding to John Wycliffe's prologue to his Bible translation of 1384:

This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.

Lincoln knew the source of the quote, as, no doubt, did the majority of those who heard it. No one rose up to yell that Lincoln had cribbed part of his speech. But his allusion to it immortalized those words, and today, people who never heard of Wycliffe (that's okay. Today's government schools the kids don't hear about anybody!), have heard his words echo through the years.

So we have one plagiarist, small potatoes in comparison to the plagiarisms of Teddy Kennedy, Joe Biden and even President Obama, and two well read presidents, able to make allusions to words well said by others. If we were to stack every literary or cultural allusion in the same boat as plagiarism, we need to get a bigger boat!*

You may quote me.

* Jaws (1975)

Art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

They Left The Vivid Air Signed With Their Honor

An aerial view of the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, near Omaha beach, site of the vast military operation by Allied forces in Normandy, which turned the tide of World War II, eventually leading to the liberation of occupied France and the end of the war against Nazi Germany. 
(Photo credit JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

As many of you champ at the bit waiting for the three day weekend commemorating Memorial Day to start, I wanted to take a moment to share my thoughts on the magnitude of what this “holiday” means to America.

President Ronald Reagan, speaking at Arlington National Cemetery in 1982, noted that Abraham Lincoln dedicated a small cemetery at Gettysburg marking a terrible collision between the armies of the North and South.  He concluded that Lincoln was wrong when he said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.”

Reagan said, “His remarks commemorating those who gave their ‘last full measure of devotion’ were long remembered.  But since that moment at Gettysburg, few other such addresses have become part of our national heritage—not because of the inadequacy of the speakers, but because of the inadequacy of words.”

“I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.”

On Memorial Day or any other day, the cemeteries for those Americans who fell in battle offer profound lessons.

In 1950, four-star General Mark W. Clark wrote about returning to Italy after World War II was won. It was Memorial Day, as it happened, and Clark was with his wife.

“We visited the American cemetery at Anzio and saw the curving rows of white crosses that spoke so eloquently of the price that America and her Allies had paid for the liberation of Italy,” he wrote. “If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it could be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest:  all we asked of Italy was enough of her soil to bury our gallant dead."

How can we remember those who have sacrificed their lives for our country?  To honor its war dead who remained overseas, the United States maintains 24 permanent military cemeteries; 22 of them in 8 countries follow the path of American forces in World War I and World War II in the European Theater and the Pacific Theater of the global conflict.  These are some of the most highly maintained shrines of their nature in the world.  Among the graves are tales of dedication and heroism for the nation.

Beneath the neatly patterned white crosses and Stars of David lie the remains of 125,000 Americans. There are 94,000 more names commemorated on Walls of the Missing whose bodies were never found. Dignified and serene, they were created to honor America's fallen, but they are also intended to inspire and eloquently teach the living the scope of their sacrifice and loss in the sweep of history.

The next few paragraphs are dedicated to my friends who are veterans of Vietnam.  I bear no shame in telling you that I revered Ronald Reagan.  No one did more to heal the nation with his optimism and patriotism and the promise that America was indeed a land that God had blessed.

On Veteran’s Day 1984, President Reagan spoke at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue.

“Those who fought in Vietnam are part of us, part of our history. They reflected the best in us. No number of wreaths, no amount of music and memorializing will ever do them justice but it is good for us that we honor them and their sacrifice. And it's good that we do it in the reflected glow of the enduring symbols of our Republic.” 

“The fighting men depicted in the statue we dedicate today, the three young American servicemen, are individual only in terms of their battle dress; all are as one, with eyes fixed upon the memorial bearing the names of their brothers in arms. On their youthful faces, faces too young to have experienced war, we see expressions of loneliness and profound love and a fierce determination never to forget.” 

“The men of Vietnam answered the call of their country. Some of them died in the arms of many of you here today, asking you to look after a newly born child or care for a loved one. They died uncomplaining. The tears staining their mud-caked faces were not for self-pity but for the sorrow they knew the news of their death would cause their families and friends.” 

“As you knelt alongside his litter and held him one last time, you heard his silent message—he asked you not to forget.” 

“When you returned home, you brought solace to the loved ones of those who fell, but little solace was given to you. Some of your countrymen were unable to distinguish between our native distaste for war and the stainless patriotism of those who suffered its scars. But there's been a rethinking there, too. And now we can say to you, and say as a nation: Thank you for your courage. Thank you for being patient with your countrymen. Thank you. Thank you for continuing to stand with us together.” 

“The men and women of Vietnam fought for freedom in a place where liberty was in danger. They put their lives in danger to help a people in a land far away from their own. Many sacrificed their lives in the name of duty, honor, and country. All were patriots who lit the world with their fidelity and courage.”

Please stay safe this weekend.  Enjoy your freedom and thank you for your readership.

The Repugnant Hate Of The Left NEVER Diminishes

SIMI VALLEY, UNITED STATES: Former first lady Nancy Reagan, along with his children Patti Davis, Ron Reagan, Jr. and Michael stand over the casket of former President Ronald Reagan during the interment ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library 11 June 2004 in Simi Valley, California. Reagan died of pneumonia due to complications with Alzheimer's at age 93 at his home in California. (Kevork Djansezian - POOL/AFP/Getty Images) 

The children of Ronald Reagan have voiced their outrage after it emerged that Will Ferrell would star and produce Reagan, a Black List script from writer Mike Rosolio about the actor turned president's second term and his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

A description of the film when it was named to the Black List said; “When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the Commander-In-Chief that he is an actor playing the President in a movie.”

Reagan’s children, Patti Davis and Michael Reagan, both lashed out at Ferrell with Michael writing on Twitter; “What an Outrage....Alzheimer’s is not joke...It kills…You should be ashamed all of you.”

Patti penned a letter to Ferrell:

Dear Mr. Ferrell, 

“I saw the news bulletin—as did everyone—that you intend to portray my father in the throes of Alzheimer’s for a comedy that you are also producing. Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia. Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous. 

Alzheimer’s doesn’t care if you are President of the United States or a dockworker. It steals what is most precious to a human being—memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world and keep us linked to those we have come to know and love.  

I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes—this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, “I don’t know where I am.” I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away.  

For ten long years he drifted—past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar…and mercifully, finally past the fear. 

There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor. 

Alzheimer’s is the ultimate pirate, pillaging a person’s life and leaving an empty landscape behind. It sweeps up entire families, forcing everyone to claw their way through overwhelming grief, confusion, helplessness, and anger.  

Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have—I didn’t find anything comedic there, and my hope would be that if you’re a decent human being, you wouldn’t either. 

Twice a week I run a support group called Beyond Alzheimer’s for caregivers and family members of those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. I look into haunted eyes that remind me of my own when my father was ill. I listen to stories of helplessness and loss and am continually moved by the bravery of those who wake up every morning not knowing who their loved one will be that day, or what will be lost.  

The only certainty with Alzheimer’s is that more will be lost and the disease will always win in the end. 

Perhaps you would like to explain to them how this disease is suitable material for a comedy.”

I remember well when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, eulogized her political soul mate:

We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend. 

In his lifetime Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk.

Yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit. For Ronald Reagan also embodied another great cause—what Arnold Bennett once called `the great cause of cheering us all up'. His politics had a freshness and optimism that won converts from every class and every nation—and ultimately from the very heart of the evil empire. 

Yet his humor often had a purpose beyond humor. In the terrible hours after the attempt on his life, his easy jokes gave reassurance to an anxious world. They were evidence that in the aftermath of terror and in the midst of hysteria, one great heart at least remained sane and jocular.  They were truly grace under pressure. 

And perhaps they signified grace of a deeper kind. Ronnie himself certainly believed that he had been given back his life for a purpose. As he told a priest after his recovery, “Whatever time I’ve got left now belongs to the Big Fella Upstairs.” 

And surely it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan's life was providential, when we look at what he achieved in the eight years that followed. 

[SKIP] 

And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding. 

Ronald Reagan carried the American people with him in his great endeavors because there was perfect sympathy between them. He and they loved America and what it stands for—freedom and opportunity for ordinary people. 

As an actor in Hollywood's golden age, he helped to make the American dream live for millions all over the globe. His own life was a fulfillment of that dream. He never succumbed to the embarrassment some people feel about an honest expression of love of country. 

[SKIP] 

Ronald Reagan's life was rich not only in public achievement, but also in private happiness. Indeed, his public achievements were rooted in his private happiness. The great turning point of his life was his meeting and marriage with Nancy. 

On that we have the plain testimony of a loving and grateful husband: `Nancy came along and saved my soul'. We share her grief today. But we also share her pride—and the grief and pride of Ronnie’s children. 

For the final years of his life, Ronnie's mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again—more himself than at any time on this earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fella Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him. And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven's morning broke, I like to think—in the words of Bunyan—that `all the trumpets sounded on the other side.’

We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had. We have his example. Let us give thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God's children."

I bear no shame in confessing her words bring tears to my eyes even today twelve years after his passing.

I miss the great statesman deeply.  The loss, for me, has been devastating.  The America Reagan loved and defended mightily has coarsened and filled with hate. 

In 1965, legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, warned of America’s decline through permissiveness and liberalism in his famous broadcast, “If I Were the Devil”.

“If I were the devil, I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington…”

Will Ferrell and all who are associated with the production of Reagan are gutless vultures—part of a cesspool of human garbage where the Left is venerated and the Right eviscerated. 

Her Greatest Role Was As Ronnie’s Wife: Nancy Reagan Dead At The Age Of 94

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died at her Bel-Air, CA home today of congestive heart failure at the age of 94, the Reagan library announced.

She will be buried alongside her beloved husband, former President Ronald Reagan, at his presidential library in Simi Valley, CA.

Her passing marks the end of “The Reagan Era”—a period in American history that witnessed great national pride under the leadership of America’s greatest president. 

Nancy Reagan was a distinctly eloquent example of fierce loyalty, unwavering courage and abiding love for her “Ronnie”.

I bear no shame in saying how devastated I am to learn of her passing while also being gladdened that she has joined her husband in Heaven.

Rest in peace Mrs. Reagan and thank you from a grateful nation for your service to America.

I am saddened by the passing of my step mother Nancy Reagan...She is once again with the man she loved.God Bless...
...

— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) March 6, 2016

When I uploaded the embedded video on February 5, 2011 I created to pay tribute to the president so many loved I wrote, “Ronald Reagan gave hope to the oppressed, shamed the oppressors and ended an evil empire. The Reagan Years saw a restoration of prosperity, peace through strength and an invigoration of the American people.”

Where Were You When the Revolution Started?

No, not this commie crap going on now.  The right revolution.  The Reagan Revolution that gripped the nation starting around 1979.  It was still a nation then, remember?  A nation capable of being united, if only for a few years until the power mongers of both parties got the death grip on her throat that they still maintain today.

I remember very fondly where I was, so let me use this post as a light introduction of sorts, since Curmudgeon has graciously asked me to start contributing as a regular author on this blog, or at least as a part-time janitor and coffee wench.  For which I'm grateful!

So I ask you to recall if you, like me, were relieved to wake to 'Morning in America' after the long night during which a President was assassinated, the Vietnam War was won and then lost, John Wayne realized that Joe McCarthy had been right but nobody cared, Journalistas forced everybody to worship at their endless Watergate orgy and Jimmuh's fresh hell of stagflation and fake population and energy crises robbed us of hope.

What a breath of fresh humor and common sense and joy Reagan was for the kids coming of age during those years.  It was bracing to be a youth unjaded but fully aware of the cancer of careless Marxism embraced by some of our parents and yet hopeful that we might soon be free of it.  This was America.  Finally.

Their Gallantry And Devotion

We are bound together by hope in a land that is free through the sacrifices of our veterans, their gallantry and devotion to the light of liberty which has cast its glow upon us for two centuries.

It is fitting that on this Veterans Day we remember the words of President Ronald Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Wall on November 11, 1988:

“Our young friends—yes, young friends, for in our hearts you will always be young, full of the love that is youth, love of life, love of joy, love of country—you fought for your country and for its safety and for the freedom of others with strength and courage. We love you for it. We honor you. And we have faith that, as He does all His sacred children, the Lord will bless you and keep you, the Lord will make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, now and forever more.''

We Are Americans

Marking The 25th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Three-year-old Hulda puts flowers in a crack of the former Berlin Wall to commemorate the victims of the wall at the memorial site at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

When the Berlin Wall went up on August 13, 1961, U.S. diplomats watched human tragedies unfold as family members wept across barbed wire. It was unquestionably the world’s most compelling symbol of the moral and material bankruptcy of communism.

A hideous 96-mile complex of 302 watchtowers, innumerable searchlights, anti-tank obstacles, dog patrols and ditches that cut through the once bustling historic German capital was the site where at least 136 people were killed or died in other ways directly connected to the GDR border regime, including 98 people who were shot, accidentally killed, or killed themselves when they were caught trying to make it over the Wall; 30 people from both East and West who were not trying to flee but were shot or died in an accident; 8 GDR border guards who were killed while on duty by deserters, fellow border guards, fugitives, or a West Berlin police officer; and at least 251 travelers from East and West who died before, during, or after inspections at checkpoints in Berlin. These figures do not include the people who died of grief and despair over the Wall's impact on their personal lives.

On June 12 1987, Berlin celebrated its 750th anniversary. President Ronald Reagan traveled to West Berlin and issued a challenge to the leader of the Soviet Union that moved the world: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization; come here to this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!  Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

According to accounts from the book “At Reagan's Side: Insiders' Recollections from Sacramento to the White House” by Stephen F. Knott and Jeffrey L. Chideste, President Reagan met “immense resistance from the State Department and the NSC” about using those exact words.  But he insisted because it was “the right thing to do.”

His determination was spurred on when he was taken to the Reichstag and given a pair of binoculars where he could look over the wall.  He saw East German police pushing the people who had come to hear him speak and it made him mad. 

So, today as Berlin marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela called it an example of the human yearning for freedom.

Incidentally, the banner that adorns this blog depicts the piece of the Berlin Wall that was donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in 1990 to commemorate his "unwavering dedication to humanitarianism and freedom over communism."

A Nobel Peace Prize was never awarded to the three leaders who were instrumental in advancing the cause of peace and human values—Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul and Margaret Thatcher.  In 2009, less than nine months in office, The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer was a recipient of the award.

Former Reagan White House Press Secretary James “The Bear” Brady Has Died

Photo Credit:  Charles Tasnadi/AP

Ronald Reagan won in a landslide in 1980.  Less than three months into his first term President Reagan was leaving a union convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel.  Emerging from the hotel at 2:25 PM after giving a speech on March 30, 1981, James S. Brady was in the president’s entourage when John Hinckley opened fire wounding not only the president but D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and Mr. Reagan’s press secretary James Brady.

The bullet from Hinckley’s gun entered the left side of Brady’s forehead and passed through the right side of his brain.  He was the most severely injured in the assassination attempt and was not expected to live.

He remained hospitalized for nine months, and after he was discharged he returned for physical therapy every day. He could manage only a few steps at a time, and sometimes he would blank out.  He lived in constant pain.

Although Brady returned to the White House only briefly, he was allowed to keep the title of presidential press secretary and his White House salary until Reagan left office in January 1989. 

Brady became a symbol of the fight for gun control.

On February 11, 2000 President Bill Clinton presided at the renaming of the room in which White House news briefings are held.  It became the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.

The plaque reads: 

“This room is named in honor of James S. Brady, White House Press Secretary from January 22, 1981 until January 20, 1989.  Mr. Brady served his nation with honor and distinction, strengthening the bond between government and press.  May his courage and dedication continue to inspire all who work in this room and beyond.”

Nancy Reagan released a statement after learning of Brady’s passing.

“I was deeply saddened to learn of Jim Brady's passing today. Thinking of him brings back so many memories - happy and sad - of a time in all of our lives when we learned what it means to "play the hand we're dealt." On the 1980 campaign plane, Jim was a wise counselor, who took his role but not himself seriously. Ronnie and I enjoyed his company, trusted his judgment and relied on him. So did the press corps.” 

“In the short time he was able to serve as White House press secretary, Jim brought sharp instincts, integrity and energy to one of the most demanding jobs in Washington. What a shame that he was not able to serve as we had hoped for longer. I still remember vividly that day in March 1981, when Sarah and I sat together in a tiny room near the emergency room at George Washington University Hospital, trying to comfort each other while we both were gripped with unspeakable fear. The bond we established then was unlike any other.” 

“Jim was the personification of courage and perseverance. He and Sarah never gave up, and never stopped caring about the causes in which they believed. They remained dear friends, and I send my deepest sympathy to Sarah, Scott and Missy.”

RIP James Brady. What an example of public service he set in the briefing room named after him. He'll be sorely missed & fondly remembered.

— Dana Perino (@DanaPerino) August 4, 2014

Normandy: The 6th Of June

Normandy's cliffs are still littered with gun emplacements and other heart-rending reminders of the invasion that freed a continent including the white headstones of thousands of fallen American troops who fought against tyranny.

Today amid the stillness, it is disquieting to imagine that above the cliffs of Omaha Beach, the Germans had at least 85 heavy weapons and machine guns trained on the beaches below that could rain down about 100,000 rounds per minute cutting our boys to ribbons.

Ernie Pyle, the Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent for Scripps-Howard, was walking along the beach and noticed something in the sand.

“The strong swirling tides of the Normandy coast line shifted the contours of the sandy beach as they moved in and out. They carried soldier’s bodies out to sea, and later they returned them. They covered the corpses of heroes with sand, and then in their whims they uncovered them.”

“As I plowed out over the wet sand, I walked around what seemed to be a couple of pieces of driftwood sticking out of the sand. But they weren’t driftwood. They were a soldier’s two feet. He was completely covered except for his feet; the toes of his GI shoes pointed towards the land he had come so far to see, and which he saw so briefly.”

It has been 30 years since President Ronald Reagan commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day.  Following his speech at Point du Hoc, he spoke at the Omaha Beach Memorial to honor those who died there saying, “…We can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.”

“Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we're humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.”

President Stompy Feet will commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day amid his squabble with Putin.  In light of his disdain for America’s military albeit the VA scandal and the 5-for-1 trade of high-ranking Taliban commanders for a “warrior of Islam” deserter, I am glad that the brave heroes who are resting peacefully beneath those white headstones cannot see the dishonor this president has brought upon America or know the cowardice of the man who currently occupies the Oval Office.

Ten Years Since Our Nation Mourned His Death

Today marks the 10^th anniversary of the passing of America’s greatest president.

In this photo taken by AP photographer Mark J. Terrill, a still-grieving Nancy Reagan places 10 white roses on the headstone of her beloved Ronnie.  She has visited her husband's grave every year on the anniversary of his death.

Mrs. Reagan turns 93 on Friday.  In a statement she said, “I still feel his presence every day and often find him in my dreams at night.”

I wish I could give her a loving hug and tell her our nation dreams of him as well and misses his presence every day.

This tiny, frail woman seated in a wheelchair evoked such emotion in me.  It took a few minutes to wipe away the tears.

Ronnie awaits your arrival Nancy.  There will be a magnificent celebration in Heaven the moment you go home.

America, What Have They Done To You?

I’m going to begin this post by echoing the words of University of Tennessee Law Professor Glenn Reynolds AKA Instapundit:

“Though people have taken to the streets from Egypt, to Ukraine, to Venezuela to Thailand, many have wondered whether Americans would ever resist the increasing encroachments on their freedom. I think they've begun.”

For 700 years, Britain’s rule over Ireland had been resisted by attempts at rebellion and revolution, all of which ended in failure.  As a result, what emerged in the early 20^th Century was a strategy known as “Irish Democracy.”

If you are unfamiliar with the term “Irish Democracy”, it is a way of shedding the yoke of oppression and injustice through the strategy of stubborn disregard for authority.  Its clearest expression is credited to Michael Collins, the Irish leader, who is purported to have told angry crowds going head-to-head with London:  “We have a weapon more powerful than any in the whole arsenal of the British Empire.  That weapon is our refusal.  There is one weapon that the British cannot take away from us:  we can ignore them.”

The growing cancer of cronyism and corruption in our federal government needs a healthy dose of stubborn disregard for authority.  The sweat, sacrifice and courage of our Founding Fathers established a nation of laws not of men.

Five days after The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer defeated John McCain in 2008, Valerie Jarrett appeared on Meet The Press.  Jarrett, then Co-Chair for the Obama Transition Team, was interviewed by Tom Brokaw who asked this of Jarrett, “What’s the working model?  Are you going to be a shadow government or just a very interested spectator off to the side?”

Jarrett’s answer was jarring: 

“There is one president at a time, President Bush is still president.  He has graciously invited President-elect Obama to the White House tomorrow to begin real conversations about transition.  So we respect that.  He will be the president until January 20^th.  However, given the daunting challenges that we face, it’s important that President-elect Obama is prepared to take power and begin to rule Day One.” [Emphasis mine]

One month before the general election, while on the campaign trail in Columbia, MO, candidate Obama said, "Now, Mizzou, I just have two words for you tonight: five days. Five days. After decades of broken politics in Washington, and eight years of failed policies from George W. Bush, and 21 months of a campaign that's taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” [Emphasis mine]

"In five days, you can turn the page on policies that put greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street. In five days, you can choose policies that invest in our middle class, and create new jobs, and grow this economy, so that everyone has a chance to succeed, not just the CEO, but the secretary and janitor, not just the factory owner, but the men and women on the factory floor."

Yep.  This Oval Office is embroiled in provocative controversies scandals involving the troubled rollout of the health care website, the Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of politically active conservative groups, the National Security Agency’s massive yottabytes collection of Americans’ phone records and the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, leaving four Americans murdered.

America, God love her, is increasingly under the jackboot of those more interested in managing its decline and looting its treasury than protecting our liberty or reviving free market growth and prosperity.

According to the U.S Census Bureau real median household income has declined from $53,644 in 2008 to $51,000 in 2013.

Enrollment in the food stamp program, known as SNAP, has skyrocketed by 70 percent since The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer starting putting his feet on the Resolute Desk and every other piece of furniture in the Oval Office.  The number of people on food stamps increased to 16.5 million—going from 28.2 million to 44.7 million—an increase of 59 percent in just 3 years.

One of those food stamp recipients is a California “beach bum” who surfs and drinks.  He wakes up in the afternoon and eats lobster or gourmet sushi every day.  He has no intention of looking for a job.

TWMDCO gave notice recently that he will circumvent limitations on His Excellency by using his pen and his phone.

We learned today that fewer Americans think TWMDCO is respected on the world stage.

Also in today’s news, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed shrinking the Army to its smallest size in 74 years, closing military bases and making other military-wide savings as part of a broad reshaping after more than a decade of war making it the smallest military force since just before the United States entered World War II.

“We are repositioning to focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities that will define our future: new technologies, new centers of power and a world that is growing more volatile, more unpredictable and in some instances more threatening to the United States,” he said.

Ronald Reagan would be incredulous.  It was he who fervently believed in peace through strength.

"We know that peace is the condition under which mankind was meant to flourish. Yet peace does not exist of its own will. It depends on us, on our courage to build it and guard it and pass it on to future generations. George Washington's words may seem hard and cold today, but history has proven him right again and again. ‘To be prepared for war,’ he said, ‘is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.’"

The hue and cry of many of my friends and many of the readers of this blog is deafening.  We wring our hands, rend our clothing and tear our hair out because of this administration’s incuriousness and epic incompetence.  We ask, “What have you done to America?”

It is not too late to save her.  What will you do to prevent America from following in the footsteps of other great civilizations that now sit on the ash heap of history?

If You Like Your Country Can You Keep It? Happy President’s Day

This nation is living in the twilight of its existence.  The world has grown darker during the reign of The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer.  Proof of this can be found in an excellent article written by Walter Russell Meade entitled. “Slaughter in the Cities, Ineffectual Mumbling in the White House.”

Another clarifying point was the preposterous recommendation of a handful of George Washington University political science professors who wanted to carve TWMDCO into Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

In furtherance of that absurdity, a Facebook page was created with the title of “Campaign to Put President Obama on Mount Rushmore”.  It has generated 834 likes since being put up in March of 2010.  Not exactly overwhelming.

Today, we remember the greatness—and it was greatness—of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whose time in office preserved the freedoms we must never take for granted.

The presidential oath of office is required by Article 2, Section 1 of the United States Constitution:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

TWMDCO as an imperial president with little regard for the legislative process who is making a mockery of the separation of powers and what was once a well-ordered government.

In June 1985, speaking at an endowment fundraiser for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Ronald Reagan let his imagination take flight:

“And sometimes I want to say to those who are still in school, and who sometimes think that history is a dry thing that lives in a book:  Nothing is ever lost in that great house; some music plays on. I have been told that late at night when the clouds are still and the moon is high, you can just about hear the sound of certain memories brushing by. You can almost hear, if you listen close, the whir of a wheelchair rolling by and the sound of a voice calling out, ‘And another thing, Eleanor!’ Turn down a hall and you can hear the brisk strut of a fellow saying, ‘Bully! Absolutely ripping!’ Walk softly now and you’re drawn to the soft notes of a piano and a brilliant gathering in the East Room, where a crowd surrounds a bright young president who is full of hope and laughter. I don’t know if this is true…but it’s a story I’ve been told. And it’s not a bad one, because it reminds us that history is a living thing that never dies. A life given in service to one’s country is a living thing that never dies.”

Godfrey Hodgson notes in “The Myth of American Exceptionalism” that “Americans’ declining belief in our special virtue as a world power really is connected to our declining belief in our special virtue as a people. And the young are leading the way. A 2013 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that while almost two in three Americans over 65 call themselves 'extremely proud to be American,' among Americans under 30 it is fewer than two in five. According to a Pew study in 2011, Millennials were a whopping 40 points less likely than people 75 and older to call America 'the greatest country in the world.'”

Happy President’s Day America.  If you like your country can you keep it?

Will you make the effort to prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of other nations?  You cannot be a patriot and a sheep at the same time.

Margaret Thatcher: A Giant Among Leaders Has Died

Today, a towering giant among leaders passed away.  Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister who led her country for eleven years died at the age of 87.  She was the only woman ever to lead Great Britain’s government.

Thatcher was unshakable.  Many say that her “clarity of mind unequalled in a politician since Winston Churchill changed the face of Britain and, to some degree, the world.”

When I saw the coverage of her death early this morning, I was immediately swept up in deep sorrow.  The first images on the television screen were of a frail woman being helped out the door of her home by her lifetime housekeeper Kate.

That unsettling image brought to mind the utter grief on Mrs. Thatcher’s face when she gently touched the flag that draped President Reagan’s coffin as it lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

The bitter irony is that in her pre-recorded eulogy of Reagan she said, "For the final years of his life, Ronnie's mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again—more himself than at any time on this earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fella Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him.”

"And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven's morning broke, I like to think—in the words of Bunyan—that all the trumpets sounded on the other side.”

"We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had."

"We have his example. Let us give thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God's children."

I think it is fitting to say that her razor-sharp intellect and powerhouse memory have now been returned to her.  The cloud has been lifted.  She is herself again.

Requiescat in pace, Mrs. Thatcher.  Godspeed.  Your dear friend Ronnie awaits you in Heaven.

Richard Fernandez puts a fine point on this day:

“She passes in an uncertain hour, the story of her life and times a pointed reminder of how far we have fallen from those days. Yet if we understand her life aright, the principal lesson is that the ordinary is extraordinary. The world is not made by the Great and the Good. Rather it is made by ordinary folk striving to be better. Therefore the greatest aspiration of a statesman was to represent what we were—and still could be.”

Daniel Greenfield eloquently pays homage to Thatcher and Reagan:

“Thatcher and Reagan convinced millions that they were fighting for the good life. And they delivered. The damning sin that the left cannot forgive them for is that their policies, at home and abroad, succeeded more often than they failed. But they didn't convince with mere empty words, with the same tired slogans that stood for nothing and opposed nothing and advocated nothing. They did not skulk in on the heels of consultants who made them seem as nonthreatening as possible. Instead they made it clear that they were here to fight against the forces of decay, the ideologies of terror and the sense of morality that to every great nation in the hour of its decline.” 

“Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan are dead now, but in life they won a victory over the seeming deaths of their nations. They came in the hour of twilight and they stepped down with the sunrise. Their victories were temporary but they showed that leaders can stand against decline and breathe new life when most of the experts believe that all is lost and that we must learn to accept that. They showed us that with conviction and courage we can resist the inevitable.”