JUNE
5, 2004 --
The CBS News
special on the death of President Reagan noted that he had excellent
timing in his public statements. Perhaps it might be said that
Ronald W. Reagan gave us one last example of this sense of timing,
leaving us the day before the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and also
before the summer's presidential nominations.
The Reagan presidency
began with the Stars and Stripes flying in great numbers at the
Inauguration, as if to remind the American peopole that the American
flag is the symbol of the nation, a symbol we should be proud to
fly.
There was a news
item the other day indicating that President Reagan's condition
was deteriorating. Had he not left us June 5, the major story of
the day might have been about Smarty Jones not winning the Triple
Crown. Had President Reagan not left us June 5, D-Day ceremonies
might have experienced an outbreak of squabbling from European
critics of current U.S. foreign policy.
With the June
5 loss of President Reagan, it is more likely that the Bush critics
will let the D-Day commemorations be the D-Day commemorations,
and, now, perhaps also the occasion for reflections on the Reagan
legacy.
The Associated
Press, via Yahoo! News, printed, shortly after his death, a brief
compilation of Reagan quotes. They included his statement on the
40th Anniversary of D-Day:
"The
men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right,
faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God
would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was
the deep knowledge-- and pray God we have not lost it-- that
there is a profound moral difference between the use of force
for liberation and the use of force for conquest."
LPR knows of
at least one person who, |
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watching the CBS
News special, anchored by Dan Rather, announcing the death of President
Reagan, laughed at some of the Reagan quips, and found tears coming
to his eyes with others.
Indeed, LPR thought
that special sadness was visible in the eyes of Dan Rather, too,
at the end of the special.
Ronald W. Reagan
was recognized as a terrific communicator by friend and adversary.
His illness prevented him from communicating to us for too many
years. We have been, certainly, badly in need of his sense of balance,
perspective, humor -- in the area of public policy, indeed, in
the national interest -- in recent years.
It is as if he
somehow understood that if attention, at this time, was to be paid
to his message of pride in our country, he would have to follow
others who gave their lives for the United States. And with the
sacrifice of President Reagan, on the eve of the 60th anniversary
of D-Day, how can we not, at the very least, discuss his sense
of commitment to country, belief in people-- and pride, oh so much
pride, in the flag of our country?
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