Happy 99th Birthday to Ronald Reagan… and a Happy Birthday to My Dad, Russ (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 6, 2010
Ronald Reagan: 'Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.'
The incomparable Ronald Reagan would have been 99 years old today… my dad, Russ McClure, a great admirer of The Gipper, shares his birthday today with Reagan (although my dad isn’t 99 — not yet, anyway — Happy Birthday, Daddy!).
Next year, there will be blow-out centennial celebrations across the country for Pres. Reagan.
From Los Angeles Times: On Ronald Reagan’s birthday, plans take shape for next year’s centennial:
Ronald Reagan was born on this day 99 years ago, and his presidential library is preparing to mark the day in style with a live webcast of the festivities from the facility near Simi Valley, Calif.
The webcast will be streamed on the library’s website starting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time. Elizabeth Dole will be the featured speaker.
As our colleague Richard Simon reports, plans are taking shape to mark the Reagan centennial next year:
“Events are planned across the country: A Reagan-themed float will grace Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena during the Rose Parade on Jan. 1. His boyhood home of Dixon, Ill., has commissioned an original piece of music — the “Reagan Suite” — to honor him. A program at Eureka College, from which Reagan graduated, will reflect on his Midwestern roots. Warner Bros. has been contacted about a possible event looking at the former president’s Hollywood years. An effort is even underway to name a mountain in Nevada after him.”
Video Rewind: I’ve posted this video of Reagan speaking out against socialized health care before, but feel it’s appropriate to post it again on his birthday today.
Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine
Memory Lane: Hilarious roasting of then-Gov. Reagan, delivered by the master of snark, Don Rickles…
Don Rickles on Dean Martin Roasts Gov. Ronald Reagan
From Victorville Daily Press: Runner proposes ‘Ronald Reagan Day’:
SACRAMENTO • This time next year, California will celebrate Ronald Reagan Day, if a bill proposed by state Sen. George Runner becomes a reality.
Runner introduced a bill on Friday — the eve of Reagan’s 99th birthday — proposing that Feb. 6 be named Ronald Reagan Day in California to honor the late U.S. President and former governor.
If the measure passes, California would celebrate its first annual Ronald Reagan Day on Feb. 6, 2011, Reagan’s 100th birthday.
“As a governor he brought calm to California’s social disarray during the radical sixties, and balanced a state budget where a gaping deficit had existed,” Runner said of Reagan. “As president … he famously challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to ‘tear down this wall,’ in reference to the Berlin Wall, which eventually fell in 1989.”
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Vicki,… aren’t we lucky to have had the opportunity to observe the remarkable Ronald Reagan.
If we had not, we would never have known to which height to place the bar for judging future politicians.
Happy Birthday to your Father,…..WELL DONE SIR !!!
Vicki,… thanks for posting the Don Rickles video. My wife and I laughed to tears.
What an icon, what timing, what intelligence.
I don’t see anyone today that can even compete with his ability to denigrate public figures, while, at the same time creating laughter, and exposing them for what they are.
He is indeed a treasure.
You’re absolutely right, AFVET. Rickles is a rare hilarious bird, one of a kind… I can’t think of anyone in this generation who comes within a mile of him. And despite his insults, everyone in the industry loved him – they knew it was just his shtick. Being roasted by Rickles was considered a great honor.
He always knew when to stop on the insults.
He knew who he was “insulting”, and how far to go.
Plus he had the wit and the intelligence to take down anybody that dared to confront him.
Thank you for the wonderful post and tribute to one of the true Americans that got it!
Where will our next President Reagan appear, Jim
Excellent question, Jim… for a while, I thought it could be Bobby Jindal, but now I’m not sure. Maybe Inhofe, maybe Romney, maybe Boehner, maybe Cornyn, maybe Coburn, maybe Bachmann… just don’t know at this point. Gingrich is so intelligent, experienced, and passionate, but he sometimes swings too far left for my sensibilities. I know a lot of folks are chomping at the bit for it to be Palin, but I don’t believe the time is right yet for her. I’m thinking 2016 would be more her time. Just my opinion.
Some are saying it could be Scott Brown. No, no, no – we don’t need a repeat of Barack Obama – Brown needs to get some hands-on experience and actually DO something at the federal level (unlike Obama, who was only a US Senator for about 147 days, voted “present” and was late for many sessions, before leaping on the presidential campaign horse, and we ALL know what a disaster that has been).
Stand away and watch at a distance.
Don’t buy the hype.
Research is essential.
Common sense is simply common sense, the usage of which will deliver us from the mire we find ourselves in.
I submit at this point, Obama is sorely lacking in common sense.
Should be obvious by now.
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[...] E. Williams: We’ve Been Had… Analysis of the “Machine” Behind the Global Warming Sham and Happy 99th Birthday to Ronald Reagan… and a Happy Birthday to My Dad, Russ (video) and Raging 2010 Blizzard Slams Eastern US… State of Emergency for Many Regions, Record Snow [...]