Reagan's Final Fiery Speech: Clinton Stole Our Ideas

NewsMax.com Wires ^ | 6/09/04 | AP

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON – It was a decade ago when Ronald Reagan made a triumphal final visit to Washington, delivering a feisty speech that accused Democrats of stealing his ideas on crime and welfare reform while trying to discredit his record. Speaking at a Republican fund-raiser, Reagan proudly defended his conservative legacy in a tone that reminded his cheering supporters why he was known as the Great Communicator.

No one could predict that just nine months later, Reagan would pen a letter to the nation revealing he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and would never appear on the public stage again.

Reagan told the crowd that President Bill Clinton's 1994 State of the Union Address reminded him of the correlation between imitation and flattery. "Only in this case, it's not flattery, but grand larceny - the intellectual theft of ideas that you and I recognize as our own."

Reagan defended calling the former Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" and mocked those who criticized his military buildup, which he said hastened the demise of communism. He said Democrats, who often cite the soaring budget deficits during the 1980s, "will never forgive us for our success" and accused his critics of trying to rewrite history.

"Listening to the liberals, you'd think that the 1980s were the worst period since the Great Depression, filled with suffering and despair," he said. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting awfully tired of the whining voices from the White House these days.

"They were claiming there was a decade of greed and neglect. Well, you and I know better than that. We were there. Although the political landscape has changed, the bold ideas of the 1980s are alive and well," Reagan said.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Many people who are democrats don't like Clinton. I suspect hanging chads, the cemetary vote, and the missing military ballots were responsible for Clinton's second term.

[TheSpottedOwl]

I would have loved to have heard RR, his voice dripping with indignation, saying "And to think I never even took off my coat in the Oval Office!!!"

No kidding. I'm of the generation that you wear a dress or skirt, with a sleeved blouse when you go to church. Mmm, think I just made up a word. Anyway, it's all about respect. Clinton doesn't have any, and neither does Kerry.

[Captain Peter Blood]

I saw that speech the other night on C-Span and it was vintage Reagan, he let Clinton have it with both barrels and it was great.
To think that "spineless, clueless, core-less", man felt he needed to be included as a speaker at the Reagan Funeral on Friday is just unreal. Is it ever going to be about anyone else other than him??????
One thing about watching this wonderful outpouring of Love and Respect for Reagan is that I know in my heart Clinton will never have this when he passes. Try as the Left might when that happens I truly don't believe that we will see that kind of spontaneous outpouring of grief.
Clinton's main problem might be that if he lives as long as Reagan he will have been out of politics so long and hopefully out of the lime light that people will have forgotten him and his time long past.
He certainly does not and never will have a legacy like Reagan that people can look at, admire and be inspired with.
If Clinton wants to really make an impact he really ought to drop dead right now while folks still know who he is and his buddies in the main stream media can heap glory on him. Of course we would have to endue a spectacle of a State Funeral.
By the way Clinton has not, according to news reports today, made any preparations for his funeral like other former Presidents have. Typical.