Happy Birthday, President Ronald Wilson Reagan
-- President Ronald Reagan
From President Reagan’s farewell address:
”And that's about all I have to say tonight. Except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.
And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.
We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”
Happy Birthday President Reagan. You are missed more than you shall ever know. I hope you are shielded from seeing the hideous mistake the electorate has made, as well as the betrayal of Conservatives and conservative principles by the RINOs and Rockefeller bluebloods.
You were and are an inspiration to all! Your love of your country and your dedication to your convictions; your great leadership are all lessons to all of us.
May you rest in peace and thank you for being the man our country needed. Thank you for saving America so that I could grow up under a blanket of safety provided by you. Thank you for showing us how to love our country again and how to take it back!
God rest your gentle soul.
For the record 0-bamster THIS is what a REAL landslide looks like:
A tribute video posted on FR yesterday can be found here: http://media.photobucket.com/video/recent/vision6800/Reagan-1.flv?o=7&addComment=1
