Iraqi Gratitude the Press Won’t Report

WSJ has a page up today you should read.

“The new government is thanking America and Bush. Why are the media silent? ”

You know why; Once again the template: If the news hurts Bush, pund the hell out of it. If it helps him, it gets buried.

Mark Noonan over at Blogs for Bush suggests:

“…but the All Gipper, All the Time coverage has got to have the Donk’s nighties in a knot.”

It’s true enough.

Consider; the left has been trying for twenty plus years to undo the Reagan legacy or at least to re-write the impact that the history of the man has on them.  This masive outpouring of love and respect for him, demonstates to the world just how futile and impotent those efforts have been. That’s bad enough, from their point of view. But, the concept that someone whose brain has arguably been history for the better part of 20 years has a greater degree of love and respect than do any of the Democrats, will eventually cause even the Democrat leadership to come unglued.
All that aside form the point I made yesterday;

When people remember the greatness of Ronald Reagan, will they also remember what John Kerry was doing during Reagan’s eight years in the White House… That is, doggedly opposing Mr. Reagan every step of the way… Opposing actions Kerry now disingenuously praises Reagan for?

Which of the two people currently vying for the Presidency are closer to the policies of the man elected by 49 states? When the vast majority in those 49 states who voted for Reagan because of his policies consider the question of who is closer to the ideas set by Mr. Reagan, who do YOU think they’re going to cast their votes for?

The countdown has already started.

Just in case anyone’s forgotten, there’s a war on. Hugh Hewitt forwards a note from the front regarding a show put on by Toby Keith and Ted Nugent:

“In this environment overseas, it’s difficult to understand what would motivate someone to travel thousands of miles and risk their lives simply to entertain. Being a natural skeptic, I figured it was mostly a publicity stunt. Now, having experienced it from the end of someone involved in the backstage planning, and having seen these guys up close and personal, I’ve got a different and very positive perspective.”

Read the whole thing. Very worth it.

The American Thinker has some interesting thoughts on John Kerry callsign “Boston Strangler” from his former commanders:

“Working with call sign “Boston Strangler” became problematical.  I had a lot of trouble getting him to follow orders,” recalls Wright.  ‘He had a different view of leadership and operations.  Those of us with direct experience working with Kerry found him difficult and oriented towards his personal, rather than unit goals and objectives.  I believed that overall responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the OIC or OTC in a free-fire zone.  You had to be right (before opening fire). Kerry seemed to believe there were no rules in a free-fire zone and you were supposed to kill anyone.  I didn’t see it that way.’

In Wright’s view, it was important that the enemy understood that Swift boats were a competent, effective force that could dominate his location.  To do that, you also had to control the people and their actions; to have them accept Swift boat crews and their authority.  You couldn’t achieve that by indiscriminate use of weapons in free fire zones. 

It got to a point where Wright told his divisional commander he no longer wanted Kerry in his boat group, so he was re-assigned to another one.  ‘I had an idea of his actions but didn’t have to be responsible for him.’  Then Wright and like-minded boat officers took matters into their own hands.  ‘When he got his third Purple Heart, three of us told him to leave.  We knew how the system worked and we didn’t want him in Coastal Division 11.  Kerry didn’t manipulate the system, we did.'”

Rall on Preident Reagan’s passing, revealing he’s not on the same planet you and I are on:

“A real piece of work, Reagan ruined the federal budget, trashed education, alienated our friends and allies and made us a laughing stock around the world.

Anyway, I’m sure he’s turning crispy brown right about now.”

What a blithering idiot Rall is. But, then regular readers to this site know that, if nothing else.

As I’ve pointed out, the hard left is already grave dancing. But the Democrat leaders are getting worried.

The New York Times, in an editorial over the weekend, started the spinning already, saying that the death of Ronald Reagan would not help George W. Bush in the polls.  I’ve seen similar comments at Moonbat Central… Otherwise known as Democratic Underground.

Well, first of all, who said anything about that, other than hard-line Democrats and the press, who are mostly hard leftist Democrats, themselves? The ones playing politics with Reagan’s passing, without exception is the left. It’s that simple.

Since they’ve brought it up, though, thinking on their claim, it strikes me that the leftist press has been seriously, nail bitingly worried about downplaying anything that might help the President, and so likely have gotten this one wrong, in their attempt to downplay the effect here.

One thing I noted on Saturday night was the quote from John Kerry about Ronald Reagan… trying, in a bass-ackward fashion to lay claim to some of Reagan’s legacy.

“President Reagan’s belief in America was infectious. And because of the way he led, he taught us that there was a difference between strong beliefs and bitter partisans.”

Ironic, these words coming from a man who has for all indications, has no idea what they mean.

“Free men and women everywhere will forever remember and honor President Reagan’s role in ending the Cold War,” Kerry said. “He really did believe that communism could be ended in his lifetime, and he helped to make it happen. Perhaps President Reagan’s greatest monument isn’t any building or any structure that bears his name, but it is the absence of the Berlin Wall.”

Odd, that he now praises Reagan for actions he vigorously opposed Reagan on at the time.

It’s hard to imagine the passing of Dutch not having an effect on the outcome of this next election… and given the way the Democrat leadership is playing this one at the moment, it would seem they agree, it will have an effect.

Here’s the thing; When people remember the greatness of Ronald Reagan, will they also remember what John Kerry was doing during Reagan’s eight years in the White House… That is, doggedly opposing Mr. Reagan every step of the way… Opposing actions Kerry now disingenuously praises Reagan for?

Which of the two people currently vying for the Presidency are closer to the policies of the man elected by 49 states? When the vast majority in those 49 states who voted for Reagan because of his policies consider the question of who is closer to the ideas set by Mr. Reagan, who do YOU think they’re going to cast their votes for? 

Mike Reagan has commented repeatedly that W’s policies have far more in common with RWR’s policies than those of his own father. That’s true. Equally true, however is that Mr. Bush is far closer to Mr. Reagan’s policies than is Mr. Kerry, both currently and historically.

Does anyone really think that clear picture won’t help Mr. Bush gain his second term? Other, of course, than the New York Times, I mean. (Candidly, I think even the Times knows this, and the editorial claiming it won’t help Mr. Bush to be whistling past the graveyard, as it were.

It should also be noted that Kerry has one hope of all this last week… That being, that people who are just now voting in their first presidential election, were not even drawing breath when Reagan was president and so are not basing their votes on a personal understanding of the man. Yet, even here, Kerry suffers, given that a larger than ever percentage of young voters consider themselves conservatives, and that’s due in large part to the shadow of Reagan.

With all this in mind, keep an eye on how things develop on the left over the next week. This ought to be interesting, at least.

Kos as expected, makes political hay before Reagan’s body is cold… This example of Kos’ stupidity is really breathtaking.

“Ronald Reagan died today at the age of 93. He earned the enmity of many of us on the left through his dismantling of the New Deal and enabling of a culture of greed — but we should not forget that he was once one of us, an FDR Democrat”

See, the what changed, Kos, was that unlike you, Reagan grew up.

The grave dancing among Democrats has begun already. A few examples, captured from Moonbat Central, otherwise known as Democratic Underground:

You know, I’d forgotten how much Ronnied pissed me off…..until I just turned on the Idiot Box just now…And there he was in all his “glory”…his annoying smile, his insulting platitudes, his total lack of knowledge, his stupid little mannerisms…

And I thought to myself, THAT’S when I became I lifelong Democrat. I had just moved to the USA after he had been “October Surprised” into office, and my friends and family in the UK were genuinely concerned that I was moving to a country that was out and out dangerous…

They were right…

His insane policies from his goobernatorial ( ) years were transformed into national disasters. His ignorance, his lack of savvy and his lack of understanding on even the most BASIC of issues that affected everyday citizens, was astounding.

Bear in mind that when he was elected into office the rest of the world was AMAZED that this incompetent fool had been chosen. He was the most hated and despised President in memory, Europe scoffed at him, Europe scorned him, Europe laughed at him.

And then along game Jr.

He has now succesfully taken that mantle and taken it to new lows.

People in Europe do not fear *. They HATE him. With a burning passion. His ignorance, his lack of savvy and his lack of understanding of even the most BASIC of issues that affected everyday citizens is astounding. See a resemblance yet?

Any Democrat that voted for Reagun is no Democrat in my book.

I fiercely voiced my opposition of Reagun back then, and I voice my opposition of * even more loudly now….

To the Reagun family my condolences, your long suffering is over. Unfortunately there are MILLIONS that paid the price while he was in office, and few wept for them. I shed no tears today, instead I offer thanks. Thanks to “Ketchup is a vegetable” Ronnie-boy my political fires were stoked, my activism was set alight, and my deep committed belief that the only good republican is a republican out of office came to fruition. Thank you Ronald Reagun for making me a life-long, hardcore, fierce and proud DEMOCRAT.

My God have mercy on his soul.

Another:

Yeah no one deserves to die from alzheimers.

But for some there is karma.

Just think of all the ordinary HARD WORKING Americans who lack access to healthcare due to policies enacted by Reagan and the conservatives who followed him.

Hard for me to feel for a rich evil man who died of alzheimers when other more deserving working Americans have the disease.

This is a man who ignored AIDS for a couple of years.

And another:

Burn in hell, Reagan. You deserve it.

Ah, yes, the Democrats reveal their true qualities at times like this.

President Reagan is gone.
My extended comments are here.

Addendum; I’ve had a couple folks tell me they’re having trouble hiting the long form page. So, here’s the text of my comments.

>>>
Today, we were greeted with the sad news, that The Gipper, the Greatest President of the 20th century, Ronald Reagan, is gone from us.

Today, we remember a man, whose mind was filled with wide visions and positive actions.

The central figure in pulling down the iron curtain and ending the cold war…

The man who brought the 20th century to a close with America as the sole superpower…

The man who reminded America that it IS good, that freedom, a belief in God and personal responsibility are good things to be encouraged and cherished…

The man who exposed to us the great evil that communism represents, in all it’s forms….

The man who created the longest peacetime economic expansion in America’s history…

This great man for the last several years has had those visions restricted to his room, and another days breathing.

Having been in seclusion on his BelAir home since the revelation in 1994 that he was suffering with Alzheimer’s.

In truth, at age 93, he’s now been on a long trip toward the exit for several years, and likely would have been anyway without the Alzheimer’s. The picture grew steadily worse, with him having fallen in the bedroom back in January 2001, and suffered a broken hip. He has been frail and bedridden ever since. He spent his time since then being fed, washed and cared for 24 hours a day by medical staff. Grand care, by a loving staff, I am sure, but he could not leave his bed, even for the most basic of functions. Nor could he make himself understood.

The specter of one whose spirit so positively affected us all, to be so trapped for so long, is hurtful to each of us, individually and as a nation, and as a culture. But, perhaps it will help us to remember, first, that that great mind, that great spirit, is now free again.

It will also help, I think to remember his words; he was a far more eloquent speaker than myself, after all. It is, perhaps somewhat symbolic that Mr. Reagan should pass on, on the day marking the 60th anniversary of D-day. It was on this day in 1984, that Mr. Reagan remarked:

“Mr. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of–or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, “Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero.”

No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.

Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we’re humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.

Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today. Others who hoped to return never did.

“Someday, Lis, I’ll go back,” said Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach. “I’ll go back, and I’ll see it all again. I’ll see the beach, the barricades, and the graves.”

Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn, in a heartrending story about the event her father spoke of so often. “In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever,” she said. She tells some of his stories of World War II but says of her father, “the story to end all stories was D-Day.”

“He made me feel the fear of being on that boat waiting to land. I can smell the ocean and feel the seasickness. I can see the looks on his fellow soldiers’ faces–the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death.”

Private Zanatta’s daughter wrote to me: “I don’t know how or why I can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do. Maybe it’s the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach.”

The anniversary of D-Day was always special for her family. And like all the families of those who went to war, she describes how she came to realize her own father’s survival was a miracle: “So many men died. I know that my father watched many of his friends be killed. I know that he must have died inside a little each time. But his explanation to me was, ‘You did what you had to do, and you kept on going.'”

When men like Private Zanatta and all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago they came not as conquerors, but as liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.

We salute them today. But, Mr. President, we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging the enemy inside your beloved country–the French Resistance. Your valiant struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.

Today, in their memory, and for all who fought here, we celebrate the triumph of democracy. We reaffirm the unity of democratic peoples who fought a war and then joined with the vanquished in a firm resolve to keep the peace.

From a terrible war we learned that unity made us invincible; now, in peace, that same unity makes us secure. We sought to bring all freedom-loving nations together in a community dedicated to the defense and preservation of our sacred values. Our alliance, forged in the crucible of war, tempered and shaped by the realities of the postwar world, has succeeded. In Europe, the threat has been contained, the peace has been kept.

Today the living here assembled–officials, veterans, citizens–are a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure. We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for.

Lisa Zanatta Henn began her story by quoting her father, who promised that he would return to Normandy. She ended with a promise to her father, who died eight years ago of cancer: “I’m going there, Dad, and I’ll see the beaches and the barricades and the monuments. I’ll see the graves, and I’ll put flowers there just like you wanted to do. I’ll feel all the things you made me feel through your stories and your eyes. I’ll never forget what you went through, Dad, nor will I let anyone else forget. And, Dad, I’ll always be proud.”

Through the words of his loving daughter, who is here with us today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better than any President can. It is enough for us to say about Private Zanatta and all the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago: We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

Here’s a few that caught my eye today:

“I’ve spoken of the “Shining City on the Hill” 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….. ”

…””Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way….”

“And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. ”

Farewell, Mr. President. Ya done good.

Rest, now.

0605041755–Chili, NY

Today, we were greeted with the sad news, that The Gipper, the Greatest President of the 20th century, Ronald Reagan, is gone from us.

Today, we remember a man, whose mind was filled with wide visions and positive actions.

The central figure in pulling down the iron curtain and ending the cold war…

The man who brought the 20th century to a close with America as the sole superpower…

The man who reminded America that it IS good, that freedom, a belief in God and personal responsibility are good things to be encouraged and cherished…

The man who exposed to us the great evil that communism represents, in all it’s forms….

The man who created the longest peacetime economic expansion in America’s history…

This great man of vision has for the last several years had those visions restricted to his room, and another days breathing, having been in seclusion on his BelAir home since the revelation in 1994 that he was suffering with Alzheimer’s.

In truth, at age 93, he’s now been on a long trip toward the exit for several years, and likely would have been anyway without the Alzheimer’s. The picture grew steadily worse, with him having fallen in the bedroom back in January 2001, and suffered a broken hip. He has been frail and bedridden ever since. He spent his time since then being fed, washed and cared for 24 hours a day by medical staff. Grand care, by a loving staff, I am sure, but he could not leave his bed, even for the most basic of functions. Nor could he make himself understood.

The specter of one whose spirit so positively affected us all, to be so trapped for so long, is hurtful to each of us, individually and as a nation, and as a culture. But, perhaps it will help us to remember, first, that that great mind, that great spirit, is now free again.

It will also help, I think to remember his words; he was a far more eloquent speaker than myself, after all. It is, perhaps somewhat symbolic that Mr. Reagan should pass on, on the day marking the 60th anniversary of D-day. It was on this day in 1984, that Mr. Reagan remarked:

“Mr. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of–or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, “Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero.”

No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.

Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we’re humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.

Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today. Others who hoped to return never did.

“Someday, Lis, I’ll go back,” said Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach. “I’ll go back, and I’ll see it all again. I’ll see the beach, the barricades, and the graves.”

Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn, in a heartrending story about the event her father spoke of so often. “In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever,” she said. She tells some of his stories of World War II but says of her father, “the story to end all stories was D-Day.”

“He made me feel the fear of being on that boat waiting to land. I can smell the ocean and feel the seasickness. I can see the looks on his fellow soldiers’ faces–the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death.”

Private Zanatta’s daughter wrote to me: “I don’t know how or why I can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do. Maybe it’s the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach.”

The anniversary of D-Day was always special for her family. And like all the families of those who went to war, she describes how she came to realize her own father’s survival was a miracle: “So many men died. I know that my father watched many of his friends be killed. I know that he must have died inside a little each time. But his explanation to me was, ‘You did what you had to do, and you kept on going.'”

When men like Private Zanatta and all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago they came not as conquerors, but as liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.

We salute them today. But, Mr. President, we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging the enemy inside your beloved country–the French Resistance. Your valiant struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.

Today, in their memory, and for all who fought here, we celebrate the triumph of democracy. We reaffirm the unity of democratic peoples who fought a war and then joined with the vanquished in a firm resolve to keep the peace.

From a terrible war we learned that unity made us invincible; now, in peace, that same unity makes us secure. We sought to bring all freedom-loving nations together in a community dedicated to the defense and preservation of our sacred values. Our alliance, forged in the crucible of war, tempered and shaped by the realities of the postwar world, has succeeded. In Europe, the threat has been contained, the peace has been kept.

Today the living here assembled–officials, veterans, citizens–are a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure. We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for.

Lisa Zanatta Henn began her story by quoting her father, who promised that he would return to Normandy. She ended with a promise to her father, who died eight years ago of cancer: “I’m going there, Dad, and I’ll see the beaches and the barricades and the monuments. I’ll see the graves, and I’ll put flowers there just like you wanted to do. I’ll feel all the things you made me feel through your stories and your eyes. I’ll never forget what you went through, Dad, nor will I let anyone else forget. And, Dad, I’ll always be proud.”

Through the words of his loving daughter, who is here with us today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better than any President can. It is enough for us to say about Private Zanatta and all the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago: We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

Here’s a few that caught my eye today:

“I’ve spoken of the “Shining City on the Hill” 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….. ”

…””Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way….”

“And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. ”

Farewell, Mr. President. Ya done good.

Rest, now.

Today, we were greeted with the sad news, that The Gipper, the Greatest President of the 20th century, Ronald Reagan, is gone from us.

Today, we remember a man, whose mind was filled with wide visions and positive actions.

The central figure in pulling down the iron curtain and ending the cold war…

The man who brought the 20th century to a close with America as the sole superpower…

The man who reminded America that it IS good, that freedom, a belief in God and personal responsibility are good things to be encouraged and cherished…

The man who exposed to us the great evil that communism represents, in all it’s forms….

The man who created the longest peacetime economic expansion in America’s history…

This great man of vision has for the last several years had those visions restricted to his room, and another days breathing, having been in seclusion on his BelAir home since the revelation in 1994 that he was suffering with Alzheimer’s.

In truth, at age 93, he’s now been on a long trip toward the exit for several years, and likely would have been anyway without the Alzheimer’s. The picture grew steadily worse, with him having fallen in the bedroom back in January 2001, and suffered a broken hip. He has been frail and bedridden ever since. He spent his time since then being fed, washed and cared for 24 hours a day by medical staff. Grand care, by a loving staff, I am sure, but he could not leave his bed, even for the most basic of functions. Nor could he make himself understood.

The specter of one whose spirit so positively affected us all, to be so trapped for so long, is hurtful to each of us, individually and as a nation, and as a culture. But, perhaps it will help us to remember, first, that that great mind, that great spirit, is now free again.

It will also help, I think to remember his words; he was a far more eloquent speaker than myself, after all. It is, perhaps somewhat symbolic that Mr. Reagan should pass on, on the day marking the 60th anniversary of D-day. It was on this day in 1984, that Mr. Reagan remarked:

“Mr. President, distinguished guests, we stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of–or inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, “Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero.”

No speech can adequately portray their suffering, their sacrifice, their heroism. President Lincoln once reminded us that through their deeds, the dead of battle have spoken more eloquently for themselves than any of the living ever could. But we can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.

Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we’re humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.

Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today. Others who hoped to return never did.

“Someday, Lis, I’ll go back,” said Private First Class Peter Robert Zanatta, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to hit Omaha Beach. “I’ll go back, and I’ll see it all again. I’ll see the beach, the barricades, and the graves.”

Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa Zanatta Henn, in a heartrending story about the event her father spoke of so often. “In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life forever,” she said. She tells some of his stories of World War II but says of her father, “the story to end all stories was D-Day.”

“He made me feel the fear of being on that boat waiting to land. I can smell the ocean and feel the seasickness. I can see the looks on his fellow soldiers’ faces–the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely looked like instant death.”

Private Zanatta’s daughter wrote to me: “I don’t know how or why I can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do. Maybe it’s the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year-old boy having to face that beach.”

The anniversary of D-Day was always special for her family. And like all the families of those who went to war, she describes how she came to realize her own father’s survival was a miracle: “So many men died. I know that my father watched many of his friends be killed. I know that he must have died inside a little each time. But his explanation to me was, ‘You did what you had to do, and you kept on going.'”

When men like Private Zanatta and all our Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago they came not as conquerors, but as liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to return what had been wrongly seized. When our forces marched into Germany they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to be free again.

We salute them today. But, Mr. President, we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging the enemy inside your beloved country–the French Resistance. Your valiant struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.

Today, in their memory, and for all who fought here, we celebrate the triumph of democracy. We reaffirm the unity of democratic peoples who fought a war and then joined with the vanquished in a firm resolve to keep the peace.

From a terrible war we learned that unity made us invincible; now, in peace, that same unity makes us secure. We sought to bring all freedom-loving nations together in a community dedicated to the defense and preservation of our sacred values. Our alliance, forged in the crucible of war, tempered and shaped by the realities of the postwar world, has succeeded. In Europe, the threat has been contained, the peace has been kept.

Today the living here assembled–officials, veterans, citizens–are a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure. We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for.

Lisa Zanatta Henn began her story by quoting her father, who promised that he would return to Normandy. She ended with a promise to her father, who died eight years ago of cancer: “I’m going there, Dad, and I’ll see the beaches and the barricades and the monuments. I’ll see the graves, and I’ll put flowers there just like you wanted to do. I’ll feel all the things you made me feel through your stories and your eyes. I’ll never forget what you went through, Dad, nor will I let anyone else forget. And, Dad, I’ll always be proud.”

Through the words of his loving daughter, who is here with us today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better than any President can. It is enough for us to say about Private Zanatta and all the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago: We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

Here’s a few that caught my eye today:

“And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. “

Farewell, Mr. President. Ya done good.

Rest, now.

CNN MONEY says:

“The economy created 248,000 jobs outside the farm sector in May, the Labor Department reported, compared with a revised gain of 346,000 for April. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast the May report would show a 225,000-job gain. ”

Now, if Boortz is right, (see previous story) we should see the press trying to downplay this within 24 hours.

Or, perhaps Not That Long at all. Bloomberg is saying that the Fed is looking to riase interest rates by a quarter point.

“A 25 basis-point increase this month is pretty much a certainty at this point,” said Cary Leahey, a senior economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, before the report.

A rise in interest rates has been considered by many to be a wet blanket waiting to happen. so, I guess I could see the argument that the press is already trying to put out the fire. we’ll see how this plays out.

Update:
Looks like I was right, already. The press is already trying to downplay the story before the ink is dry.

Hindrocket points up an AP feed today:

The Associated Press notes that the jobs report “was good news for President Bush.” But the AP wouldn’t want anyone to draw the wrong conclusions, so it can’t resist adding:

Still, the economy is far from the booming 1990s. Last month, 8.2 million people remained unemployed.

Thing is, as presented, the AP is lying. Hindrocket says, correctly:

It’s always fun when liberals do statistics. Current unemployment rate: 5.6%. Average unemployment rate during the “booming 1990s”: 5.76%.

Boortz points out the obvious, this morning:

“Do you realize that at this point the story of the abuse of some Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison has received more press coverage for a longer period of time than did the story of the capture of Saddam Hussein?  And just why is that?  Come on, haven’t you been listening?  It’s because the media believes the story of Abu Ghraib hurts George Bush, while the story of the capture of Saddam Hussein helps George Bush.”

It really is that simple, you know.

He also posts a write-up by William A. Mayer, that’s worth a look. Mayer wonder what today’s press would have to say about D-Day:

Tragic French Offensive Stalled on Beaches (Normandy, France – June 6, 1944) – Pandemonium, shock and sheer terror predominate today’s events in Europe.

In an as yet unfolding apparent fiasco, Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower’s troops got a rude awakening this morning at Omaha Beach here in Normandy.

Due to insufficient planning and lack of a workable entrance strategy, soldiers of the 1st and 29th Infantry as well as Army Rangers are now bogged down and sustaining heavy casualties inflicted on them by dug-in insurgent positions located 170 feet above them on cliffs overlooking the beaches which now resemble blood soaked killing fields at the time of this mid-morning filing.

Read the whole thing, and bookmark Boortz’s page.

USATODAY.com says George Tenet has resigned as CIA director

I’m short on time and so can’t more fully comment, but I have had the impression for some time, that he was planing to resign come January anyway. we’ll see more on this in the next day or two, I’ve no doubt.

Meantime, watch the left tie itself up in knots, and remember that Tenet was a Clinton appointee. What do you suppose they’re going to say… that the Clinton appointee couldn’t be trusted?

The Christian Science Monitoris reporting on an in newsroom poll, which tells us what we already knew; Newspeople are overwhelmingly liberal.

“In national news outlets, only 7 percent of journalists call themselves conservative. Does that deepen a trust gap?”