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I miss Reagan's humor and joke telling, he was the best and it made his presidency more human.

Nothing was ever funny about Biden or Obama - except "funny" as in strange or odd, or in Biden's case, mentally deficient.

I remember Larry Elder playing this on his radio show the day Reagan died "Ticket for Speeding in Moscow." It was great.

"In Russia, if you wanted to buy a car you needed to order it 10 years in advance and pay for it. So a fellow goes to order a car, brings his cash, stands in line.

The clerk says, “Very good comrade, you will receive your car on this day, 10 years from now”.

The man asks “In the morning or afternoon?”

The clerk responds irritably “Ten years from today, what difference does it make morning or afternoon?!”

“Well”, the man says, “the plumber is coming in the morning.”

-- Ronald Reagan

There is a larger point about Reagan's public persona that conservatives and Republicans should take to heart. Reagan's 1964 "Time for Choosing" national TV speech for Goldwater was delivered in a strong admonitory tone that had flashes of anger as he warned that the country was on the wrong path.

In contrast, in winning the governorship of California and then the presidency -- and performing superbly well in both offices -- Reagan adopted a hopeful and optimistic tone, even in dealing with hard circumstances and dismal facts. Reagan had become "The Gipper," referring to the movie role he played to perfection as the dying but indomitable Notre Dame football player George Gipp.

On his deathbed in 1920, a Gipp told Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne that someday, when the football team was in a tough spot, to use his name as an inspiration and ask them "to win one for the Gipper." In 1928, in the midst of a poor season, Rockne did just that in a legendary locker room speech at halftime in a losing game against Army. Inspired by the call to "win one for the Gipper," Notre Dame's team went on to beat Army in the second half.

In life and in politics, we all sometimes have to deal with painful facts and hard times. We do best when we find ways to inspire ourselves and others with hope, a sense of purpose, and a bit of humor as well. Just as Reagan did.