Posted on 06/12/2004 3:52:42 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
A prediction or a threat? As the plane carrying the late President Reagan arrived back at Point Mugu Naval Air Station on Friday afternoon, Ted Koppel made it clear he was appalled at the suggestion that Reagan was the "greatest President of the 20th century," complaining that would mean "hopscotching him past Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt." Koppel predicted, or threatened, that if Reagan's "supporters try to raise to him to the very heights there, and perhaps find a place for him on Mount Rushmore," that the "controversial President" who had "fairly contentious issues" in his presidency which "we've more or less overlooked" this week, "will come back."
A bit past 4:30pm PDT (7:30pm EDT) on Friday night, as ABC (the only one of the broadcast networks to go live from 7:30 to 8pm EDT) showed the plane taxiing in at Point Mugu after its flight from Maryland, Ed Meese told anchor Peter Jennings that he thought the week's events were "a fitting tribute, I think, to probably the greatest President of the 20th century."
A few minutes later, at about 4:44pm PDT, Jennings turned to Ted Koppel, who had attended the service at the Washington National Cathedral, and Koppel complained that while he could hear what was being said at the service, he couldn't see anything from his vantage point.
But then, as ABC showed him in an inset from the DC bureau over a full screen look at the plane, Koppel got to what really bothered him: "The thought that is really upper-most in my mind is when I hear Ed Meese talking about Ronald Reagan as the greatest President of the 20th century, hopscotching him past Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I think, as was the case when Ronald Reagan was President, when there was some fairly contentious issues and he was a fairly controversial President, we've more or less overlooked much of that over the past week. But I suspect as his friends and supporters try to raise to him to the very heights there, and perhaps find a place for him on Mount Rushmore, that some of that controversy and some of the debate will come back." Jennings agreed: "No doubt about it."
I was in my late twenties when LBJ died, but for the life of me I can't remember it at all - not a thing. But I will never, ever forget President Reagan's! I even re-watched some of the ceremonies today on C-Span that were being re-run. President Reagan - a truly GREAT PRESIDENT!
For the life of me I can't recall Koppel's middle of the road days.
"As we now look at what is now an almost empty Cathedral, I'm thinking of President Clinton who was so happy in churches and in chapels, large and small, sitting there with his eyes closed today, listening to The Battle Hymn of the Republic." - Peter Jennings following the Washington National Cathedral service for Ronald Reagan."
I watched the rurun on cspan today, the impeached one and herheinous slept during Pres. Bush's (43) speach (during the story of the little boy who wanted federal funding to clean his room). Jennings gets it wrong again.
Actually, I think Koppel has a point - Clinton SHOULD be on Mt. Rushmore. We need a way to memorialize America's greatest, impeached, failure of a president so that we never forget and never repeat that mistake.
Otherwise, I like the idea but I'm not sure that Reagan would approve.
I wonder how Teddy would feel about a bill clinton urinal matt....
As if there were no "contentious issues" associated with Teddy Roosevelt and FDR. How about the failure of FDR's administration to properly inform the Pacific commanders about what they knew regarding a coming attack by the Japanese?
I will concede that FDR probably had the most impact of any president in the Twentieth Century, but, of course he had 13 years in office and not all of his impact was to the good.
If FDR had lived a few years after WWII, I think the revelation of communists such as Alger Hiss in his administration would have dwarfed Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal.
FDR's cousin Teddy probably had the next most impact until Ronald Reagan. I think Reagan's victory in the Cold War beats out anything TR did.
Eisenhower made a lot of impact in his life, but most of it was before he became president.
In my opinion, Reagan is the second most significant president of the Twentieth Century behind FDR.
Laughs..Glock(Can I get you something? Here's a pinecone.)..you Rock!
Old Ted "Alfred E. Neuman" Koppel. Didn't I see him about a month ago challenge the correspondent (his name escapes me) who was interviewing him, that he couldn't tell who he voted for in 2000. Koppel is so full of himself.
What does Koppel do for a living? Urinalist?
Can you say Dorian Grey?
Does the guy who does Koppel's hair also do Kerry's?
Cspan is running the Johnson funeral. What an exercise in dark, dead, boring religion. No Spirit in it. The Spirit testifies where there is life and truth.
Can you say Dorian Grey?
The dogs playing poker wouldn't agree to sit for the painting with him.
Maybe because he keeps his head so far up Clint's a$$?
"Hey, Hillary, wanna hear my nose whistle?"
Poor Ted...it would be much easier to see if he didn't have his head up his a$$.
Someone posted before, that we are headed to the next Cival War and I shook my head, now I am not so sure. I think they are just going to keep pushing and pushing and when we finally have had a enough, is where we will win, after all if it gets that far, they don't believe in guns. Maybe, this is what they are afraid of. I believe we are already in the "word" Civil War.
Small little men, one of them stated that just because he was popular doesn't mean he was good. I think they are confusing Reagan & Bush with Carter & Clinton, with that statement. On his funeral day at that, mama didn't teach those boys manners.
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Sen. Hillary Clinton (news - web sites) reacts to a comment by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright during a panel discussion before alumnae at Wellesley College, Saturday, June 5, 2004, in Wellesley, Mass. When asked where they expected to be in a decade, Albright answered, 'I would like to be serving another president Clinton.' (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) |
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