Sunday, February 6, 2011 marks the one hundredth birthday of Ronald Wilson Reagan, 33rd governor of the State of California and 40th President of the United States. Where are you now when we need you more than ever!

A conservative icon still revered by many, Republicans and Democrats alike, and still reviled by malcontent liberals/leftists/progressives, Reagan was appropriately nickanmed "Ronaldus Magnus" by Rush Limbaugh, an apt sobriquet because he was indeed a great president as well as a great man and a great American.

A human being and thus not un-flawed, Reagan, like Republican President Eisenhower before him and Republican President George W. Bush after him, was dismissed as an intellectual lightweight while in office and even after his retirement by those who could never abide a Republican much less a conservative.

The poor kid from Illinois Reagan became a radio broadcaster, actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild. He was an early liberal and Democrat. He later said he didn't leave the Democrat Party, it left him. He was a Civil Rights supporter before it was chic and always a staunch anti-Communist. He lost his bids for the Republican nomination in 1968 and 1976, never gave up, and defeated Jimmy Carter in 1980 and scored a landslide win over Walter Mondale four years later.

There's no need here to recount the many achievements of Ronald Reagan. His life and career speak for themselves and he spoke for himself often and forcefully during that life and career as well as in the 2001 Reagan, In His Own Hand. Those collected writings in Reagan's handwriting should have dispelled any notion that this man was his own man who clearly articulated his own, distinctive revolutionary vision for his country, and brought it about.

It is worthwhile to note that the only "scandal" with which his opponents were able to smear him, the Iran-Contra Affair, occurred largely for humanitarian reasons. The arms-for-hostages scheme essentially involved the Executive Branch selling weapons to Iran in order to free six American prisoners being held by Hezbollah with some monies used to help fund Nicaragua's anti-Communist Contras. A medal should have been awarded.

In addition to his accomplishments, Ronald Reagan should also be remembered for his incisive wit and comprehension of the human animal and the political beast. He was not an overtly religious man, yet governed as if he were.

We all know his famous quotations such as, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help' " and his command, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Some few of his lesser known gems follow:

. Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.
. All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
. Coersion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him.
. Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
. How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
. I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.
. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
. Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
. History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
(Compiled from TheQuotationsPage.com)

. There are some who've forgotten why we have a military. It's not to promote war; it's to be prepared for peace.
. It would seem that not only is religion lacking in the schools-so is common sense. I wonder what a teacher is supposed to say if a kid asks about those four words on a dime- 'In God We Trust.' Or maybe that's why they aren't being taught how to read these days.
. No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!
. Nations crumble from within when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry might better provide for itself.
. There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
(Compiled from Libertyfree.com)

Happy Birthday, Mr. President! Thank you and may God bless you.