GoodBy Gipper! We Miss you

June 6, 2004

Good-by Mr. Reagan. I will remember you as the best President this country has had since World War II. You won World War III--The cold war. You showed this country that being American was a positive thing again. You ended the malaise of stagflation that was crushing the country. You helped us to know the joys of Capitalism again.

I remember the time when you were elected. I had been in the hospital when Jimmy Carter launched the ill-fated rescue attempt that self destructed in the desert. I felt, along with so many others, a basic impotency that caused me to despair that our country could survive. If you add in the effect of the high inflation and the unemployment that existed and the energy problems, I was very low.

When I was at my lowest ebb, Ronald Reagan was elected and before he could get into the White House, the prisoners were released. Wow! Something to cheer about. It was almost as if the continuing bad things had decided to pause. I didn't yet know what a wonderful President he would become but it was a start.

Between the "Evil Empire" and the "Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev" there was the tax cut that spurred the economy to expand until now. Even his appearance on the debates with Jimmy Carter--the "there you go again" type of messages were positive. Until Ronald Reagan grabbed the American Spirit and re-inflated it, it was rapidly deflating.

I already have missed you for the last 10 years or so. I wanted to be able to hear your take on the Iraq war. I wanted you to be able to wade into the crowd of nay-saying Democrats and their useful idiots the majority press. I can only imagine the fun you could have had with some of our current politicians and their defenders.

Good-by Mr. Reagan. So long. Go With God.