A Truly Sad Day

[dananne]

I'd probably call myself political, though not affiliated. In the last election here in GA, most of my votes were split between Libertarian and Green, with one vote for a Dem and one for a Rep. Regardless, I liked RR as a president, though frequently disagreed with policy positions. However, I do think it's easy to understate his impact and importance, especially if you disagreed with him politically. Personally, I'll just miss his sense of optimism. I find that hard to keep these days.

As a neither-here-nor-there addendum, I found this and thought it may in some small way relate to the discussion.

Natan Sharansky (né Anatoly Shcharansky), the Soviet dissident turned
Israeli official, tells a story of Reagan in today's Jerusalem Post:

"In 1983, I was confined to an eight-by-ten-foot prison cell on the
border of Siberia. My Soviet jailers gave me the privilege of reading the
latest copy of Pravda. Splashed across the front page was a condemnation of
President Ronald Reagan for having the temerity to call the Soviet Union an
"evil empire." Tapping on walls and talking through toilets, word of
Reagan's "provocation" quickly spread throughout the prison. We dissidents
were ecstatic. Finally, the leader of the free world had spoken the truth--a
truth that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us."

Counts for something in my book, even if one person can't be credited with the fall of Communism.