February 3, 2008

America on Ronald Reagan's Birthday

By Bruce Walker
Today nearly everyone in America sees Ronald Reagan as a great president.  Barack Obama does; every Republican leader does; Time magazine does.  Four years ago, when Ronald Reagan died after a decade of seclusion, millions of Americans lined up patiently for long hours for the chance to pay a few moments of silent respect to the greatest president of the Twentieth Century.  John Kerry, who never had a kind word to say for Reagan when he was president, stood moist-eyed by.The day after Super Tuesday, we celebrate the birthday of Ronald Reagan.  If we all agree that Reagan was great, perhaps we should reflect on his birthday why he was so great.Reagan grew up without a bigoted bone in his body.  As a child in Dixon, when blacks could not find food and lodging, he brought them into his home.  As Governor of California, when inspecting the prison system in California and discovering that there were no rabbis to attend to Jewish prisoners, Reagan remedied that...(Read Full Article)