Elonka wrote:
] ] Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate
] ] West Berlin, Germany
] ] June 12, 1987
] ]
] ] This speech was delivered to the people of West Berlin,
] ] yet it was also audible on the East side of the Berlin
] ] wall.
]  . . .
] ] Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors
] of
] ] this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides
] the
] ] entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those
] ] barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire,
] concrete,
] ] dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no
] ] visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and
]
] ] checkpoints all the same--still a restriction on the right
] to
] ] travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and
] women
] ] the will of a totalitarian state. Yet it is here in Berlin
] where
] ] the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your
] city,
] ] where the news photo and the television screen have
] imprinted
] ] this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the
] world.
] ] Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German,
]
] ] separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner,
] forced
] ] to look upon a scar.
]
] In regards to the death of President Reagan: I'm reminded of
] a time that we passed ever so briefly... I was working in Los
] Angeles at the time, during one of the post-Reagan
] administrations. I was standing streetside for some reason,
] probably waiting for a bus. There were few other people on
] the street, and I became aware of a large black car idling
] nearby, and then the black-suited and earplugged men who
] seemed to suddenly appear out of the shadows, standing quietly
] but obviously very very alert to their surroundings. A few
] moments later, I saw the reason for the Secret Service, as
] Reagan emerged from the building, strode briskly across the
] sidewalk, and smiled and waved at me as I stood there stunned
] and agape. He quickly entered the car, and then he and the
] dark ghosts were gone, leaving only the car's tiny puddle of
] dripped air conditioner condensation in their wake.
]
] I was sorry to hear of his death, though of course it wasn't a
] surprise. I can't really say whether or not I liked him, but
] I did respect him, especially since he was President during
] the time that I was in the USAF, and as such, he was my boss.
]
]
] And I will spend a moment of silence this Friday, in honor of
] his memory.

Very well put, Elonka, he will be missed :(

Elonka wrote:
] ] But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the
] ] same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an
] ] instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women
] ] the will of a totalitarian state.

Of course, Israel is now building one of these.

Israel is not a totalitarian state. The constant, loud, mindless bashing that they have received from the left for last few years has all but eliminated any possibility for thoughtful discussion of their policies. One expects, reflexively, that any critical comment about Israel will immediately be followed with spewage of blind hate. You turn it off. Maybe you've already stopped reading. If so I can't say I blame you.

Reagan was the cultural icon of America in the 80's. I grew up in Canada, and yet I recall Reagan far more clearly then any Prime Minister. As I grew up, he was the person who defined my understanding of what a national leader is. When rule passed to Bush, it seemed strange to me. Unnatural to see another face on that podium. No later President has matched, in my mind, the cultural presence that Reagan had. I may have preferred Clinton's policies, but I did not see him as a symbol of America in the way that Reagan was. There was something special about that man. He fit his time and his place perfectly.

As we reflect on his passing its important that we take the time to reinforce the lessons that his life, and this period of time, taught us. It is unfortunate that it is so hard to do that today without feeling like you're taking a political shot. The Berlin wall was constructed for security reasons, and clearly it did more harm then good. We cannot view the construction of another wall as progress. We ought to recognize a scar when we see one. We've had them before. If we ignore it... allow it to become an institution, it will be with us for decades. It will be a dark reminder, as the Berlin wall was, of everything screwed up about the planet our children will inherit.

Decius wrote:
] Reagan was the cultural icon of America in the 80's. I grew up
] in Canada, and yet I recall Reagan far more clearly then any
] Prime Minister. As I grew up, he was the person who defined
] my understanding of what a national leader is.

Consider yourself fortunate; this result is as much or more a matter of circumstance than of the quality of his leadership.

With that in mind, think about those born in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

] I did respect him, especially since he was President during
] the time that I was in the USAF, and as such, he was my boss.

In addition to crypto-goddess, Elonka destroys MiGs as a badass fighter jock.

Damn you're full of surprises