Ronald Reagan Dies at 93

[dogbyte12]

ABC just announced :( Ronald Reagan was 93

[areafiftyone]

How's DU reacting?

Don't even ask. It was okay at first and then the haters started putting in their say and I had to tune out before I kicked my computer screen. They made me sick. If it was Clinton who passed away I wouldn't say anything like what they are saying. They have no respect for humans beings.

[Barlowmaker]

Well said rdb3. Very poignant and wise.

[MeekOneGOP]

I know what you mean .....

[Cold Heat]

A life well lived!

A legacy that will never perish!

Heaven will now benefit from his presence.

[faithincowboys]

This has got to be the largest thread FR has ever had. We need to see to that!

Reagan lives. I love Ronald Reagan!

[Countyline]

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

[Tree of Liberty]

Goodbye, President Reagan.

I never knew my grandfathers, but I beleive the sentements I have for you are very close to those I would have had for them. Whenever I saw your face growing up, I had the sense that you would do absolutly everything in your power to keep me from coming to harm and to provide me with every possible opportunity you could.

Enjoy your well-earned rest at His side.

[Friend of thunder]

There is NO need for sadness..

Sorrow for his family’s loss and the loss to the country; he is in a better place and we can all be thankful for that. Your point, however, is well taken.

[NorseWood]

That you

[rwfromkansas]

I am just sad that Margaret Thatcher will not be able to attend.....her health is poor and she won't be able to pay her respects to him like she so desperately wanted (according to info from Babs Walters)

[Ronaldus Magnus]

A President's Tears

The Cabinet Room at the White House is impressive. The momentous decisions and discussions that have taken place in the Cabinet Room fill volumes of history books. I remember one event that I don’t believe has been recorded anywhere else and yet it symbolizes the great challenge facing our nation.

On Mondays, when the President’s schedule allowed, senior members of the White House staff would have lunch with Mr. Reagan in the Cabinet Room. One day as we went around the table to take turns raising issues with the President, I read him a few paragraphs from a Newsday story about a little four-year-old girl. The story was titled, Baby Doe’s Success: Progress defying prognosis.

I read the following:

Keri-Lynn talks and laughs; she smiles and hugs and screams and plants kisses firmly on a stranger’s cheek. She has recently begun to demand more than her share and often resorts to throwing toys or M&Ms when the focus shifts away from her. Then she whispers, ‘I’m bad,’ aware that her mother is displeased with her behavior. Later, she whispered, ‘Dance, Daddy, dance,’ as her father swept her into his arms to sway to the music of Stevie Wonder.

For most 4-year-olds, those would not be unusual feats. But for Keri-Lynn, those are actions doctors thought she would never be able to perform. Just after she was born, doctors said that Keri-Lynn better known as Long Island’s Baby Jane Doe would never know happiness and would experience only pain. They said she would be bedridden for life, probably unaware of who her parents were. And she was not expected to talk or walk. But now Keri-Lynn wears a white nightgown trimmed in pink and green with brown curls framing her blue eyes. And she demands, in a hushed but firm tone, ‘Hug me.’

I waited a moment watching the President closely and then I told him the good news. Mr. President, I thought you would want to know about Keri-Lynn. Four years ago when she was born with multiple birth defects, your Administration went to court to obtain her medical records because of reports she was not receiving equal medical treatment with ‘normal’ children.

In short, some thought she should be allowed to die. As you will recall, Mr. President, we lost the case; but even though we didn’t even know the child’s name or her parents, they decided to ignore the medical advice and do everything they could to save her. Mr. President, I believe this child is alive today because of the courage of her parents and your courage in taking on the medical establishment.

I paused and waited for the President’s reaction. I knew he would be happy, but an extraordinary thing happened at that moment. The President wept. All of us with various degrees of embarrassment watched tears well-up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and expressed his gratitude to me for sharing the story.

We went on to other issues that day, but for a brief moment one of the most powerful men in the world cried over one little four-year-old who was born with spina bifida. No cameras recorded the moment when the President shed those tears, but it will always remain with me as one of the most vivid memories I have of Ronald Wilson Reagan.

From Gary Bauer's book, "Children At Risk".

[Republic]

Would like to have heard Falwell's comments.

My heart is getting heavier by the minute, as the weight of what this wondrous and steadfast President meant to this nation, and to many of us, individually.

Tho I agree that is is so great he has passed the chains of his disease and is now home and at peace, I can't help feeling a tremendous loss.

I love Ronald Reagan. The stories of his extraordinary kindness to those did not carry celebrity or wealth behind their names, is what gets to me most about this world leader! (The past President of the world, no doubt.)

[Inspectorette]

Don't go over there - stay here and grieve with us. Let them fester in bile by themselves.

[Dr Snide]

Who would you want?

[MrLee]

He's with his Saviour now!
Thank you Lord for giving this man to us when we needed him.
So sad but know he's in your will.

[grimalkin]

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have." -President Ronald Reagan

[celtic gal]

I agree.. I too served in the Marine Corps during the Reagan years and after...how proud we were of our President and we knew how proud he was of us too.

He said what he meant and meant what he said..was a straight shooter..I think we have a President now who is not too different than President Reagan and I am so glad we do.

Semper Fi...

[DocRock]

"What an incredible picture! Thanks so much for sharing it with everyone."

I hope some FReepers give it the mileage it deserves. I believe it was touted as "The most former Presidents living in the history of the United States", and that's why my late father always told me to cherish it.

God Bless him, his family, the United States and our armed forces.

[areafiftyone]

This has got to be the largest thread FR has ever had

Not yet but you can bet that by the end of the night this will be.

[ambrose]

If Clinton passed, I think we'd either say something nice or remain silent. DUers are pure evil.