(this is an Elvis photo).
Just as the journalists boasted "I don't know ANYONE who voted for him", they just didn't see this coming.
Posted on 06/08/2004 11:55:11 AM PDT by Hi Heels
150,000 Expected at U.S. Capitol Reagan Memorial
40 minutes ago Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Secret Service (news - web sites), police and other law officers geared up on Tuesday for three days of ceremonies to honor Ronald Reagan (news - web sites), with 150,000 mourners expected to view the former president's casket as it lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo Slideshow: Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at 93
Reagan's remains were expected to arrive at the Capitol late on Wednesday from California, where tens of thousands visited his flag-draped coffin at the presidential library that bears his name. The 40th president died on Saturday at age 93.
The Washington observances will span three days, beginning with an arrival ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base outside the U.S. capital, the base that is home to the presidential aircraft Air Force One.
Reagan's casket will go by motorcade to downtown Washington, and then be transferred to a horse-drawn caisson -- a traditional two-wheeled military wagon -- for the short journey to Capitol Hill. There it will be on display continuously from Wednesday evening until Friday morning.
All observances in Washington are classified by the Department of Homeland Security as National Special Security Events, putting them in the same category as a State of the Union address or inauguration in terms of heightened security.
Those who wish to file by Reagan's casket will go through metal detectors outside the Capitol building, according to Michael Lauer, a spokesman for the Capitol Hill police force, which is working with the Secret Service and other agencies.
Precautions are likely to include thousands of police, federal agents and members of the Secret Service, in addition to bomb-sniffing dogs and other measures to check for weapons or other threats.
HORSE-DRAWN WAGON
Lauer said some 150,000 visitors were expected, not including those likely to line Constitution Avenue, one of Washington's central streets, to watch the caisson make its way up to Capitol Hill.
The procession will include a riderless black horse, with boots turned backward in the stirrups, a military tradition indicating that a warrior will not ride again.
On Tuesday, there was a military dress rehearsal complete with a booming cannon and a caisson carrying a flag-draped coffin to the Capitol's marble west steps.
From there, military personnel carried the casket toward the Capitol Rotunda.
Daniel Oberleitner, who said he voted for Reagan in 1980 and in 1984, drove to Washington from Pittsburgh where he is a steel plant manager to pay his last respects.
"He ended the Cold War with Russia and brought the Berlin Wall down without firing a shot," Oberleitner said. "And he put a lot of dignity into the office."
On Friday, a motorcade will transport the casket from the Capitol to the National Cathedral for a memorial service before Reagan's body is returned to California for a private service and burial.
Reagan's death has muffled the business of government in Washington, with the U.S. Congress largely occupied with resolutions honoring the late president. The government is closed on Friday, which President George W. has proclaimed a national day of mourning. (Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro)
If they are as incorrect on this as they were on the California crowds, it will be at least twice that number.
Excellent one sentence summation of Ronald Reagan...
Lots of people have the time to get to DC by Friday...I agree it will be a HUGE crowd...
Yes, lot's of people do...Hope security is tight..
Better add an extra zero to that number.
(this is an Elvis photo).
Just as the journalists boasted "I don't know ANYONE who voted for him", they just didn't see this coming.
Media Schadenfreude and Media Shenanigans PING
Wonderful, wonderful...and I bet it WILL be ten times that number...
One of the things I saw on FoxNews about the motorcade that took President Reagan's motorcade to his library...the streets were lined with people watching it pass, those who had been in the military were standing and saluting...gave me chills...
Seems lots of people from NYC are going down, I was surprised. It is very easy to get their I guess, almost a commute. Still...
In another thread, someone posted that 40,000 had already passed by the casket this morning, with up to a 10 hour wait for those in line. Estimates have already exceeded the anticipated 20,000.
As for Washington, DC, some estimate 400,000 to 1,000,000 may come, depending on accessibility.
Bill Clinton is crying because he hasn't been invited to speak at the funeral. [He thinks he is relevant.]
Jobn Kerry is thinking of line cutting this afternoon in California. [He thinks he is relevant, too.]
bump
Most of the left is imprisioned within the cell of denial. Those that escaped that cell realize that the end of the Cold War and the prevention of a potential Nuclear Holocaust, are just two of Regans many accomplishments. Regan challenged the conventional wisdom of a world locked into the insanity of mutually assured destruction. There were only two ways that insanity was going to end. Either by a nuclear holocaust or by the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
I'm heading down tomorrow night. It'll be a long line and a long wait and worth every minute.
Just as the journalists boasted "I don't know ANYONE who voted for him", they just didn't see this coming.
Most of the left is imprisioned within the cell of denial. Those that escaped that cell realize that the end of the Cold War and the prevention of a potential Nuclear Holocaust, are just two of Reagans many accomplishments. Reagan challenged the conventional wisdom of a world locked into the insanity of mutually assured destruction. There were only two ways that insanity was going to end. Either by a nuclear holocaust or by the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
I am not going down. Do me a favor, ping me with your impressions when you get back.
I'll try to remember. If it's anything like what I witnessed on TV this AM, it will be awesome. I expected big crowds in CA, but I was stunned as I watched TV while getting dressed this AM (6:30 EDT) and saw HUGE lines at 3:30 PDT. The sight of all of those people waiting in the middle of the night was awe inspiring.
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