Posted on 06/11/2004 9:00:42 PM PDT by nuconvert
Text of Ron Reagan Jr.'s Remarks at Father's Burial Service
The Associated Press
Jun 11, 2004
Text of remarks by Ron Reagan Jr. at Friday's burial service for former President Reagan, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.:
RON REAGAN JR.: He is home now. He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life." This evening, he has arrived.
History will record his worth as a leader. We here have long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet.
He used to say, "A gentleman always does the kind thing." And he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. A gentle man.
Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy. Acknowledging the innate dignity in us all.
The idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page, it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life. The kind of life good men lead. But I guess I'm just telling you things you already know.
Here's something you may not know, a little Ronald Reagan trivia for you, his entire life, Dad had an inordinate fondness for earlobes. Even as a boy, back in Dixon, Ill., hanging out on a street corner with his friends, they knew that if they were standing next to Dutch, sooner or later, he was going to reach over and grab hold of their lobe, give it a workout there. Sitting on his lap watching TV as a kid, same story. He would have hold of my ear lobe. I'm surprised I have any lobes left after all of that.
And you didn't have to be a kid to enjoy that sort of treatment. Serving in the Screen Actors Guild with his great friend William Holden, the actor, best man at his wedding, Bill got used to it. They would be there at the meetings, and Dad would have hold of his earlobe. There they'd be, some tense labor negotiation, two big Hollywood movie stars, hand in earlobe.
He was, as you know, a famously optimistic man. Sometimes such optimism leads you to see the world as you wish it were as opposed to how it really is. At a certain point in his presidency, Dad decided he was going to revive the thumbs-up gesture. So he went all over the country, of course, giving everybody the thumbs up.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) and I found ourselves in the presidential limousine one day returning from some big event. My mother was there and Dad was, of course, thumbs-upping the crowd along the way, and suddenly, looming in the window on his side of the car, was this snarling face. This fellow was reviving an entirely different hand gesture. And hoisted an entirely different digit in our direction. Dad saw this and without missing a beat turned to us and said, "You see? I think it's catching on."
Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.
Humble as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass to heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free.
Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own hands. He will, at the river, carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees.
Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we are home. When we are free.
He was speaking to his 11 apostles.
Now how do you explain Matthew 19:17-19, where Jesus says you have to keep the commandments to go to heaven?
Absolutely. I have said the same well before this week.
--- I don't know if Ron Jr was --- I just took his speech to be pointing out that his father's faith was genuine --- not the typical faith used by a typical politician.
I think he definitely was saying "GWB is not my father". I also expect you'll hear him explicitly state this again in the future, as he has in the past.
There was a big tug this week in pundit-land of "is GWB Reaganesque" and the left was trying mightily to honor Reagan while distancing GWB from being like him, and there was the Republican group pointing out that President Bush 43 is the heir to Reagan's presidency more than his own father's. So, in that spirit, Ron threw his comments into the mix.
"it's taken others on this board less than one day to go from celebrating the life of a man who didn't let politics get personal to taking just the opposite approach with the man's own son."
Perhaps I chose the wrong word. Instead of angry maybe I should have used offended, but my point would still stand.
He stated what he believed, and used no insulting language in the process, to be offended by what he believes smacks of a kind of insecurity I normally associate with leftists and their drivel.
I'm not a fan of his at all. I don't appreciate his delivery style or point of view, but I'm not going to call the lad out on the day of his Father's funeral because he says something that may or may not be at odds with what I think or believe. Good people can disagree, and this was the exact time to animate that precept.
Michael's was still the best eulogy.
I think for being an atheist and a green party guy he did okay --- what more could you expect? He obviously doesn't have much belief in heaven himself but I think he has come to respect his father's beliefs. He's no Michael Reagan --- that's obvious but I think all the Reagan kids did what they could to protect their dad from publicity in his later years and are a close family in spite of their differences.
Bump!
The problem is, is that "most people" aren't thinking that way. I've seen a deluge of rhetoric that is designed to make Bush look like religious nut...despite the fact that the phonies get away with.
I'm beginning to think the only time some of these Democrats see the inside of a church...or cares for people of faith, is when election day draws near. Unfortunately, we just don't hear the same condemnation for these men who falsely wear their faith on their sleeves....and even campaign in churches.
You are wrong. It didn't take me two seconds to comprehend Ron P. Reagan's message and note it. The only reason there is ongoing discussion (not bashing, mind you) is because some refuse to accept he was slamming President Bush and wish to pretend it was "generic".
I am not bashing or slamming Ron Reagan, I am noting he chose a eulogy to his father to insert a political insult to President Bush. That is a fact. I actually didn't say he was wrong to do it, though I have do have an opinion on the propriety of such a decision. But pretending he didn't do it is pretty silly.
Setting that issue aside, I think he comported himself admirably throughout the week, IMO.
Um, I included the word "offended" when I made my point.
Not to nitpick, but it's actually an opinion.
Agreed.
Um, fine, still doesn't change my point.
But all those same people would have said exactly the same about Reagan --- with his religious talk and terms like "evil empire". I -- but I could be wrong --- just think Ron Jr had come to the realization that his dad was no fake and was different than most other politicians when it comes to faith. Many other politicians --- Carter, Clinton, Kerry.... maybe he was thinking of democrats being that he himself is a green and they aren't that fond of democrats either. Or maybe he was trying to defend his dad not being an atheist --- it's not that he agrees with his dad on religion but accepts his dad is real on his faith.
FYI
He absolutely without question was referring to Bush. Just because based upon your comments on this thread you know zero about Ron Jr. doesn't mean those of us who do know him and his politics should follow suit.
Ron Jr., being the ass that he is, will most likely proudly admit his intentions to his fellow Naderites in coming days. Get ready to wipe some egg off your face.
Mine either.
He did well. So did Patti. Ron Jr. failed completely, but I notice his words look better on the printed page than they sounded in delivery. Such is the penalty for gross insincerity.
What's to explain. Those who keep the commandments go to heaven. And they can be sure of this and say so, just like Michael Reagan did.
You could be right about that since he, as you say, is Green. As I listenend to it live, I wasn't that offended because I thought he might be (generically) talking about everybody who does it.
It was after Matthew's diatribe that I began to see it differently...and especially after some of the stuff I've read, here.
One other thing that Matthews' noted was that we would likely find out exactly what he meant in coming days. It just sounds like Matthews knows something we all don't.
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