Ace of Spades HQ

July 14, 2012

Ronald Reagan And Pope John Paul II
— DrewM

Via Jeff Emanuel, a fitting tribute to two giants.

Polish officials unveiled a statue of former President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II on Saturday, honoring two men widely credited in this Eastern European country with helping to topple communism 23 years ago.
The statue was unveiled in Gdansk, the birthplace of Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement, in the presence of about 120 former Solidarity activists, many of whom were imprisoned in the 1980s for their roles in organizing or taking part in strikes against the communist regime.
The bronze statue, erected in the lush seaside President Ronald Reagan Park, is a slightly larger-than-life rendering of the two late leaders. It was inspired by an Associated Press photograph taken in 1987 on John Paul's second pontifical visit to the U.S.

Posted by: DrewM at 02:55 PM | Comments (155)
Post contains 149 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Wow. Lookin' sharp.

Posted by: knob at July 14, 2012 02:56 PM (54hYa)

2 Outstanding.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 02:57 PM (ejmiE)

3 This is CLEARLY RACIST.

Posted by: Billy Bob, pseudo-intellectual at July 14, 2012 02:58 PM (KZI7g)

4 Need Maggie there, too.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 14, 2012 02:59 PM (r4wIV)

5 Sadly, Communism is alive and well.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:00 PM (ejmiE)

6 very nice

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at July 14, 2012 03:00 PM (Ho2rs)

7 Wow, at least some governments in the world still appreciate and celebrate freedom.

Posted by: Arms Merchant at July 14, 2012 03:00 PM (+XVQe)

8 Neither dude ever crapped on a police car.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:01 PM (ejmiE)

9 @4, yes it would be super cool!!! Eleventy!!!

Oh wait...did you mean Maggie with an "a"??

Posted by: Meggie Mac at July 14, 2012 03:02 PM (+XVQe)

10 5 Sadly, Communism is alive and well.

You damn right, us injuins believe in that shit. What a toke?

Posted by: Injuin Blackfoot Barry, The One Who Eats Dogs at July 14, 2012 03:03 PM (KZI7g)

11 Amazing that people who actually lived through Communism, rather than masturbating to the thought of it, as our Left does, would appreciate Reagan and Pope John Paul II.

I've often wished the US could do a population transfer with the former Soviet bloc. One of our commies for one of their post-commies. It would improve the human capital of this country immensely.

Posted by: BS Inc. at July 14, 2012 03:03 PM (P2Ufm)

12 Made in China?

Posted by: Stateless_Infidel at July 14, 2012 03:04 PM (8UijS)

13 Why d we not see anything like this in the U.S. now?

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2012 03:04 PM (YdQQY)

14 Gosh I love the Poles. Lived there two years, and these were some decent, upstanding people. Worked hard, didn't import labor, weren't afraid of getting dirty (down side to this as well, especially on the buses during the summer) and they loved Ronaldus Maximus. I had the very great honor of meeting one of the survivors of the Warsaw Uprising, who was an incredibly humble man. His hero? Ronald. Because, he said, Ronald Reagan stood for freedom. This is incredibly classy, considering everything the current administration has done to screw the Poles over.

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 03:05 PM (dZmFh)

15 vic because the libs are AFRAID of truly good men

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at July 14, 2012 03:05 PM (Ho2rs)

16 Very nice. It'll be good to have a president who doesn't shit all over them. Fingers crossed.

Posted by: Y-not at July 14, 2012 03:05 PM (5H6zj)

17 Our Communists don't admit they are Communists. That's how they can parasitize Capitalism and get away with it.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:06 PM (ejmiE)

18 Also, I'll put in a book plug since the guy who wrote it is Polish. "The Captive Mind" by Czeslaw Milosz. Dude knew his way around Communist BS, that's for sure. One of the last good selections by the Nobel Prize Literature committee.

Posted by: BS Inc. at July 14, 2012 03:06 PM (P2Ufm)

19 Wait, why aren't they crossing their arms and looking stern?

Alternatively, the artist could have depicted them as farmboys.

Or maybe set in a crescent pointing toward Mecca?

Posted by: The U.S. Monuments Commission at July 14, 2012 03:06 PM (+XVQe)

20 Andrea Mitchell is a typical MSM hack and she has a Castro shrine in her bedroom. The left hates RR and JPII.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:08 PM (ejmiE)

21 Sadly, Communism is alive and well.

...and living in the USA these days.

Posted by: Unicorn mating rituals at July 14, 2012 03:09 PM (/5cfa)

22 These must be the overseers of the infamous Polish death camps.

Posted by: Sir Barry the Amateur at July 14, 2012 03:09 PM (+XVQe)

23 Andrea Mitchell is a typical MSM hack and she has a Castro shrine in her bedroom.

By "shrine" do you mean blow up doll?

Posted by: Not Drinking Nearly Enough at July 14, 2012 03:11 PM (HtUdo)

24 I have a relative, who is a devout Catholic, and fancies himself a good conservative. He says JPII was a terrible Pope. I have no idea why.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 03:12 PM (2pG7H)

eman -

That's okay, because I loathe Andrea Mitchell. Who will remember her in 20 years? Who remembers newmen (and women) from the 60's today?

She will be forgotten completely when she is gone.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at July 14, 2012 03:12 PM (sJTmU)

26 Mitt should have a bust of Winston Churchill nearby when he gives speeches. He can point to it and tell the audience Mr. Churchill will be welcome in his White House.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:12 PM (ejmiE)

27 . One of the last good selections by the Nobel Prize Literature committee. Posted by: BS Inc. A definite read, then. Of course, the SCOAMF beat Irena Sendler for the Nobel Peace Prize. She only carried 2500 Jewish children to safety from the Warsaw Ghetto, was taken prisoner by the Nazis, tortured and sentenced to death. She was rescued by a colleague who bribed the Nazis, and remained in hiding until the end of the war, when she continued to try to help Jewish families find each other after the various concentration camps were opened. Of course, SCOAMF did sooooooo much more for the world than her.

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 03:12 PM (dZmFh)

28 Where's my statue?

Posted by: Obama at July 14, 2012 03:13 PM (Iyg03)

29 24 I have a relative, who is a devout Catholic, and fancies himself a good conservative. He says JPII was a terrible Pope. I have no idea why.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 07:12 PM (2pG7H)

Have you considered asking them for their reasons why?

Posted by: buzzion at July 14, 2012 03:13 PM (GULKT)

30 because the libs are AFRAID of truly good men Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at July 14, 2012 07:05 PM (Ho2rs) ------------------------------------------------------- Libs are afraid of real men. Period

Posted by: Truck Monkey at July 14, 2012 03:14 PM (jucos)

31 29 - I have considered it, and decided against it.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 03:15 PM (2pG7H)

32 >>He says JPII was a terrible Pope. John-Paul looked like he was going to be trouble, but JP II was great. John, who oversaw Vatican II, was crap.

Posted by: Y-not at July 14, 2012 03:17 PM (5H6zj)

33 The two of them must be spinning, spinning....

Posted by: Arms Merchant at July 14, 2012 03:17 PM (+XVQe)

34 because the libs are AFRAID of truly good men

Because they're all lying shitstains and can't imagine anyone not operating the way they do. They all think the decent man has got something to hide and is cheating in some nefarious way they haven't detected yet.

Its part of their psychological projection

Posted by: Unicorn mating rituals at July 14, 2012 03:18 PM (/5cfa)

35 They changed the world; for the better.

Posted by: teh Wind at July 14, 2012 03:20 PM (u3/c2)

36 They seem like heroes from a different time.

I was thinking this morning that 2008 seems like it was decades ago and 1980 seems like it was a different world.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD 2012 at July 14, 2012 03:21 PM (Gk3SS)

37 Speaking of statues, that behemoth of MLK should be broken up and used for chip and seal.

Posted by: ErikW at July 14, 2012 03:21 PM (2QdRj)

38 Well from a conservative Catholic viewpoint I can see maybe they might have a problem with some of the pope's theological or eccumentical decisions.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 14, 2012 03:22 PM (r4wIV)

39 John-Paul looked like he was going to be trouble, but JP II was great.

John, who oversaw Vatican II, was crap.

Ahhh thank you I was going to say Vatican II but I couldn't remember which JP did that.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD 2012 at July 14, 2012 03:22 PM (Gk3SS)

40 We crossed the event horizon of a black hole in 2008 and embraced the suck. Now we're trapped, and the best we canhope for is to not get sucked into the singularity

Posted by: Unicorn mating rituals at July 14, 2012 03:23 PM (/5cfa)

41 27

Yes, here is a representative passage (and one I love)

"Pablo Neruda, the great poet of Latin America, comes from Chile. I have translated a number of his poems into Polish. Pablo Neruda has been a Communist for some ten years. When he describes the misery of his people, I believe him and respect his great heart...But when he paints the joyous, radiant life of people in the Soviet Union, I stop believing him. I am inclined to believe him as long as he speaks about what he knows; I stop believing him when he speaks about what I know myself."

I think we can both agree that history has shown us which vision of life in the Soviet Union was more accurate.

Posted by: BS Inc. at July 14, 2012 03:23 PM (P2Ufm)

42 Too late

Posted by: Singularity at July 14, 2012 03:23 PM (jucos)

43 Yea, you're fucked. Even we never knew how to get shit out of a black hole intact.

Posted by: The Asgard at July 14, 2012 03:26 PM (/5cfa)

44 Leftarded heads are assploding everywhere...

Posted by: Unclefacts Out Of Commenting Retirement Just For This One Thing at July 14, 2012 03:26 PM (6IReR)

45 28 Where's my statue?

Posted by: Obama at July 14, 2012 07:13 PM (Iyg03)

Sorry, I flushed it this morning.

Posted by: quarkstud at July 14, 2012 03:27 PM (Ilj06)

46 I think we can both agree that history has shown us which vision of life in the Soviet Union was more accurate. Posted by: BS Inc. Amen and Amen. Twenty years after Communism, the Poles still talk about the bad old times. The older ones still line up at stores in order to "get" something, because that's the way they did it. You got there early, and waited in line for hours, hoping there would be some of whatever it was available when it was your turn. A dear friend talked about waiting in line for toilet paper, and being allotted a certain number of yards per week. They would drape it around their shoulders like a stole, and "parade" home, because not every one got toilet paper. You would be permitted 100 square feet per person in an apartment, so a family of four would have a 400 sq ft flat. But if you had too many children, you would lose space, because that meant you were greedy and capitalistic, wanting more than your fair share of children. These people lived this, and shake their heads at the fools in America who think it's (communism) a better system.

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 03:28 PM (dZmFh)

47 I knew some folks in the late '70s that escaped from Communist Poland. They attended illegal underground Mass whenever they could. When discovered by the authorities priests and lay people organizing Mass disappeared and were never seen again. Those few worshippers that were eventually let go were watched closely from then on. Sounds like something not very far from where we are now in the good old USSA.

Posted by: Daybrother at July 14, 2012 03:30 PM (LCWgc)

48 Where's my statue?

Posted by: Obama at July 14, 2012 07:13 PM (Iyg03)

In storage in Indonesia last time I heard. Or maybe they melted it down to make something useful.

Posted by: Retread at July 14, 2012 03:32 PM (I2fq9)

49 MOKI!!

How is your daughter? Peaches asked about you last night, I believe it was. We've been praying and wondering how y'all are doing.

Posted by: Full Pint at July 14, 2012 03:32 PM (7g1yh)

50 16 weeks and 3 days until Hot Fudge Tuesday.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 03:35 PM (ejmiE)

51 A definite read, then. Of course, the SCOAMF beat Irena Sendler for the Nobel Peace Prize. She only carried 2500 Jewish children to safety from the Warsaw Ghetto, was taken prisoner by the Nazis, tortured and sentenced to death. She was rescued by a colleague who bribed the Nazis, and remained in hiding until the end of the war, when she continued to try to help Jewish families find each other after the various concentration camps were opened.

Of course, SCOAMF did sooooooo much more for the world than her.

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 07:12 PM

...and of course being the classless narcissistic shit bag that he is he accepted it instead of letting it go to a more worthy human.

Posted by: Berserker at July 14, 2012 03:36 PM (FMbng)

52 49 MOKI!! How is your daughter? Peaches asked about you last night, I believe it was. We've been praying and wondering how y'all are doing. Posted by: Full Pint Hey Full Pint!!!!! Hugs to you and everyone, and many many many thanks for the prayers! My baby had NO kidney damage. The doc where we are was certain there was damage, but they were able to scope her more fully at UAB, and said by a miracle, her kidneys are fine. No damage. Her bladder is damaged, but they think medication can control it, and keep her from further damage. So we are very hopeful that this will help her!! God is very good, and obviously heard all you sending up intercession for us!! Thank you sooo soooo much!!!!

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 03:38 PM (dZmFh)

53 ((moki)) great news

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny at July 14, 2012 03:39 PM (Ho2rs)

54 46

Yep, some of my best political conversations have been with emigres for the former Soviet bloc. They're my political soulmates. They get it in a way that Joe Average Doofus Leftist from the US can never understand. Joe Average Doofus Leftist thinks he's gonna be a member of the Politburo or some shit, whereas the Soviet bloc emigres know that Joe Average Doofus Leftist is going to be the one standing in line next to them waiting for toilet paper and actually try to warn the dipshit that that's what's gonna happen.

Posted by: BS Inc. at July 14, 2012 03:40 PM (P2Ufm)

55 Whooohoooooo! God does bless us!

Posted by: Full Pint at July 14, 2012 03:40 PM (7g1yh)

56 Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama, Narcissist in Chief at July 14, 2012 07:39 PM (hvwLi)

Getting the ears right -- might be a small problem!

Posted by: Hrothgar at July 14, 2012 03:41 PM (Cnqmv)

57 Do we have any busts of Poles we can send back?

Posted by: BarakaIs Not Amused at July 14, 2012 03:41 PM (FcR7P)

58 One of the big differences between President Toonces and Ronald Reagan is that people were more apt to put up statues of Obama before he took office than they will be after he leaves office.

Posted by: Walsingham at July 14, 2012 03:41 PM (gFYz6)

59 2 of the greatest.

Posted by: Jumbo Shrimp at July 14, 2012 03:41 PM (DGIjM)

60 Where's my statue? Posted by: Obama Hold on, I'll go make one... Um, to whom should I flush this?

Posted by: t-bird at July 14, 2012 03:43 PM (FcR7P)

61 Ronald Reagan and John Paul II, along with Margaret Thatcher, freed a little country like Poland on the way to knocking the snot out of the USSR. Ubama is destroying America on the way to a worldwide caliphate.

Posted by: EROWMER at July 14, 2012 03:46 PM (kxlCQ)

62 Well done! P'raps, tho', the panoply is only half done: I think if you asked Pres. Reagan, he'd give some credit to Dame Thatcher. And I KNOW that if you asked His Holiness, he'd give all the credit to The Blessed Virgin and to the One Who created us.

Posted by: Thorvald at July 14, 2012 03:51 PM (1V6Pv)

Sefton here. No, not J.J. Sefton. He's the smart one. I am a moron, moron.

I am forever reading comments by or arguing with liberals about Reagan's deficits and increase in the debt.
For those of us lucky enough to haved lived through those times know the deficits and increase in debt resulted from both the severe recession in the early 80's and Reagan's determination to build up the military.

Then they rant some more about the buildup (which can equated, I think, with FDR fighting WW II)
and I reply "And, and". They look as stupid as they are and I say, "millions upons millions of people were freed."

It speaks volumes that the result doesn't register with them. That's how they truly value people.

And, by the way, with the Cold War over we had a safer world and a peace dividend that enabled almost nonexistent deficits in the 90's.

And no Nobel Peace Prize.

Try that argument some time.

PS Long time lurker. Thank you all.

Posted by: Sefton at July 14, 2012 03:52 PM (kARKs)

64 Thank you Poland.

Posted by: Anna Puma at July 14, 2012 03:52 PM (m3nLA)

65 38 - I think that's basically it. So whenever JPII gets discussed, I get to hear the declarative statement about what a terrible Pope he was, and for me, that's enough. I don't really want to hear anything else, so I don't ask.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 03:55 PM (2pG7H)

66 Meanwhile, L'il Barry, committed Marxist, madrassah talib, Pock-E-stahn tourist extraordinaire, reminds us all about the "Polish concentration camps".

Posted by: Thorvald at July 14, 2012 03:58 PM (1V6Pv)

67 Both survived attempted assassinations within weeks of each other and by the grace of God.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at July 14, 2012 03:58 PM (p12qs)

68 It's a shame that about 30% of Americans don't hold the fond memory of Reagan that the Polish people do. I suggest those folks move to a communist country after Obama loses.

Posted by: izoneguy at July 14, 2012 04:00 PM (hbRed)

69 The statues are great, thank you Poland! I particularly loved the picture it was taken from. That mischievous smile on Reagan's face captured his personality perfectly.

Posted by: DanInMN at July 14, 2012 04:04 PM (mGL6P)

70 "on the way to a worldwide caliphate". 70 million gun owners. 10% say bullshit. 7,000,000 man army that knows their home ground. I almost hope they forget what Yamamoto said about invading America.

Posted by: teej at July 14, 2012 04:04 PM (8xOfO)

71 @70 [Way off topic, sorry.] I move we deport them if they won't swear to God that they "hold these truths to be self-evident...". Where they land could be a sort of inverse Liberia: they could call it "ACLU-istan". Or something.

Posted by: Thorvald at July 14, 2012 04:04 PM (1V6Pv)

72 >>I suggest those folks move to a communist country after Obama loses.

I'll help 'em pack.

But they don't want to live under Communism nearly as much as they want to force us to live under Communism, so they won't accept my offer.

Posted by: HeatherRadish at July 14, 2012 04:05 PM (hO8IJ)

73 Steinhof campaign is unofficially over. Some day, I'll tell you Morons what went wrong. But for now, he'll limp on with 4,000 votes and blame everyone else. Wow. We could have pulled his ass over the finish line, if only...

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:05 PM (b/hrq)

74 Anyway, thanks to the moron horde who poured in $125 on my say-so. I won't be asking you for money anytime soon.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:06 PM (b/hrq)

75 69 - I was in school at the time I heard of both assassination attempts, and by mere coincidence the announcements came over the school PA system during the same class period each time. So both times I'm sitting next to this doofus, who, when the announcement is made, he shakes his head with very demonstrative, overly dramatic look of disgust and sadness. The first time it happened, which I believe was the Reagan assassination attempt, I made a mental note of this guy's reaction. The second time it happened a couple weeks later, when he has the exact same reaction, possibly with bit of "not again!" mixed in, I thought it was the funniest thing I ever saw. Such is life. To think back on that time, and to realize what an ignorant, snot-nosed little sh*t I was... and some would say still am!

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 04:07 PM (2pG7H)

76 Heather: since you're here, thank you for throwing us $25.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:07 PM (b/hrq)

77 Ahhh thank you I was going to say Vatican II but I couldn't remember which JP did that

John XXIII

Posted by: OregonMuse at July 14, 2012 04:09 PM (qYiIT)

78 Fuckin Mitt needs to just speak plainly and repeat over and over and over the long list of oblowme's failures,associations and noncompliance when asked for documentation from his past!!! over and over and over and over and over and over and over till the fuckin prima dona indie voters are crapping their pants. I dont know what is worse trying to debate a lib or convincing a so called indie voter the country is in trouble. The hooray for me fuck you dick in the ass indie voters can kiss my ass. When the chaos starts kick them to the curb is all!!

Posted by: Sonnyspats at July 14, 2012 04:09 PM (Qr9Rc)

79 I go to a bbq and there are like 5 posts. Thx.

Posted by: Underground Vulgarian at July 14, 2012 04:10 PM (j5b23)

80 Ronnie understood something libtards stick their heads in the sand about. There are wolves out there. Be ready to defend yourself or risk being eaten.

Posted by: teej at July 14, 2012 04:10 PM (ETWo2)

Berserker at July 14, 2012 07:36 PM (FMbng)

The fix was in for O'blah blah...Easy to imagine the promises he made to get the Nobel...He is truly the manchurian candidate.

Posted by: Nozzle at July 14, 2012 04:12 PM (cBYCG)

82 Yep, John was a lousy Pope. I recall there being concerns about John Paul (I). I kind of think God decided on a do-over. To me, John Paul II was a blessing. He certainly was better than John and he did a lot of invigorate the Church.

Posted by: Y-not at July 14, 2012 04:12 PM (5H6zj)

83 It must be very frustrating working on campaigns, particularly in a professional capacity rather than as a volunteer. If you're a volunteer, you're probably more in loyal-cheerleader mode, but as a professional you are supposed to give the candidate advice that he may not want to hear or follow.

Posted by: Y-not at July 14, 2012 04:14 PM (5H6zj)

84 Wow Truman, that was a rather sudden implosion. Oh well, you tried.

As to RR and the current state of the US, Ayn Rand sez:

Â“There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism Â– by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.Â”
~Ayn Rand

Posted by: GnuBreed at July 14, 2012 04:15 PM (ccXZP)

85 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2012 04:16 PM (Xb3hu)

86 We could have pulled his ass over the finish line, if only... Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 08:05 PM (b/hrq) Good on you for trying.

Posted by: eman at July 14, 2012 04:19 PM (ejmiE)

87 Stuffing it in the imbecile in chiefs face.

Posted by: pat at July 14, 2012 04:19 PM (UFxap)

88 We had a diamond in the rough, with good looks and charisma. Unfortunately, he refused to get un-roughed. I will still vote for him. He's still a million times better than Sean Bielat or Joe Kennedy.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:20 PM (b/hrq)

89 Thanks for your $25, eman. I'm going to find another candidate to work with this week.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:22 PM (b/hrq)

90 I am a convert, and recently so. So I don't understand *all* of why a lot of cradle or otherwise long-term Catholics have issues with JPII. It is my understanding that liberals all thought he would usher in some golden age of enlightenment, and when he turned out to be, you know, Catholic instead of some New-Age-embrace-everything-type they were sorely disappointed. It is also my understanding that hard-core conservatives seem to have chafed at his ecumenism as well as the way he treated the ultra-traditional Society of Saint Pius X. There's also the issue of him seemingly turning a blind eye to the abuse scandals. From what I understand, a lot of the actual abuse took place from the sixties to the early eighties and then it tapered way the heck off. But JPII was in charge for part of that period and he didn't *seem* to have done anything about it until after it had blow up into a huge scandal. So some folks don't like him due to that. And popes aren't free from sin, either, so while he did some great things, he also had his failings. But overall, most Catholics seem to appreciate JPII. They haven't started calling him JP the Great for nothing.

Posted by: Mandy P., long-time lurker for dagny at July 14, 2012 04:22 PM (qFpRI)

Wolves, sheep and sheep dogs.

There was an essay written a few years ago (I think by Bill Quick) about the difference. Most of us are sheep. The sheep are afraid of the wolves, but are also a little afraid of the sheep dogs, because they are sort of like the wolves.

The wolves can't wait to get to the sheep and tear them apart. The sheep dog is dedicated to protecting the sheep, but lives for the day when the wolves come after them, and is ready.

Yes Reagan understood intellectually and vicerally that there were wolves out there. When he was president of the SAG union, he knew about the influence that was being wielded by the Left, the American Communist Party and the fellow travelers within the entertainment world. While there was a suspected "black list" of actors and screenwriters who couldn't work in Hollywood (like Dalton Trumbo who was a communist, who surely did work), there was also a "white list" of actors and such that were anti-communist (testified) and wouldn't get hired either. Elia Kazan was sneered at to the end of his life because he was an anti-communist. Reagan was, in a way, was white-listed. It forced him to go to work for GE, and in a way, made him into a politician.

So all that sorta worked out.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at July 14, 2012 04:22 PM (sJTmU)

92 The one thing that makes me think he's not going to keep moving forward is that I found out he's been sitting on about $10,000 of uncashed checks.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:24 PM (b/hrq)

93 Who does that? Who hamstrings himself like that?

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:24 PM (b/hrq)

94 Oh, and my favorite priest at the parish is a forty-something Pole. He's extremely reverent and is the only person on staff up there that seems to have taken the HHS mandate and the bishops calling to action seriously. He's given some awesome homilies on the subject of freedom and life issues recently.

Posted by: Mandy P., long-time lurker for dagny at July 14, 2012 04:25 PM (qFpRI)

95 Okay, I have to hose down the little ones. See you on the ont maybe.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 04:25 PM (b/hrq)

96 Wolves vs sheepdogs essay was by Bill Whittle and definitely worth a read.

Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at July 14, 2012 04:26 PM (h6HiH)

97 Never been there, but I love the Poles. Such courage in the face of totalitarianism, from their west and east. God bless those people.

Posted by: Michael Rittenhouse at July 14, 2012 04:26 PM (2Oas0)

98 98 Wolves vs sheepdogs essay was by Bill Whittle and definitely worth a read.

Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at July 14, 2012 08:26 PM (h6HiH)

Tribes.

Posted by: buzzion at July 14, 2012 04:28 PM (GULKT)

99 Hazzah! I found the perfect song for the SCOAMF. http://tinyurl.com/27rvyuk

Posted by: Ohio Dan at July 14, 2012 04:29 PM (JKNDp)

100 That guy in front really resembles Penn State's statue of Joe Paterno, a staunch Republican.

That's reason enough to consider tearing the statue down.

Posted by: Mike McQueary at July 14, 2012 04:30 PM (7+pP9)

101 BurtTC - There's quite a bit of criticism of JPII in conservative Catholic circles. It's important to realize that most of the critics view JPII as a good and holy man. Many would agree with the current drive to canonize him as a saint. And many would agree with individual successes of his tenure on the Chair of Peter, like the defeat of communism, which had created so much human misery. But many feel JPII nonetheless was a poor Pope. He presided over a vast decline in Mass and Catholic school attendance, adherence to Church teachings, and vocations to the priesthood. And he allowed priests, bishops, and "scholars" to co-opt Vatican II and use it to justify endless (and destructive) "reform" of the Church. (If you read the actual VII conciliar documents, they were quite modest, and quite consistent with long-term Catholic teaching. Nonetheless, a radical faction within the Church has long claimed that "the spirit of Vatican II" requires submission to every idea they can come up with, from gay marriage to women priests to socialized medicine.) I disagree. I think he was a poor administrator. And I do wish he had done more to stand against the tide of secularism and relativism. But I think he did much to prevent a schism of the Catholic Church. And while his teachings were not always heeded, they were always consistent with the immemorial teachings of the Church. Besides, there is much to commend in offering a personal example of holiness. I often think that his example in facing with dignity a fairly long and difficult decline in his physical capabilities is precisely the image we need in opposition to those who would cheapen human life even further with euthanasia. Given his long, adamant stand against all those "advances" that cheapen human life - abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, cloning, and euthanasia - I have little doubt that providing the Church with such an image was in his mind.

Posted by: MikeJ at July 14, 2012 04:31 PM (9rqKu)

102 eman -
That's okay, because I loathe Andrea Mitchell. Who will remember her in 20 years? Who remembers newmen (and women) from the 60's today?

She will be forgotten completely when she is gone.

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..

Exactly. But RR will live on in history. I am praying that he will not be the last great hope that loved America and believed in that great shining city on the hill. And on the great dust heap of history our current MSM should also lie. They have been complicient and true traitors to their profession.

Posted by: Cheri at July 14, 2012 04:33 PM (EAgmr)

103 Thanks Buzzion. It's been a couple years so I couldn't remember the title. Whittle covers a lot of ground in that essay. My guess is that the length of each essay, and the amount of time between them, was one of the reasons for his changing to a video format.

Posted by: Polliwog, Teahada hobbit at July 14, 2012 04:33 PM (h6HiH)

104 77 It's interesting to me that neither met until a year later when they would undertake a mission to free the Pope's native Poland thus driving a dagger into the heart of the USSR by encouraging all the Estern block countries to become free. The KGB ordered the hit on JPII, and he survived onMay 13, 1981, a day attributed to miracles by the Virgin of Fatima, who expressed explicitly that Russia was to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart. The purpose for this Pope's survival was laid out before he was ever anointed. He and Reagan survived to collaborate seemingly through divine intervention.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at July 14, 2012 04:34 PM (fRHUc)

105 and to their country

Posted by: Cheri at July 14, 2012 04:34 PM (EAgmr)

106 The bronze statue...is a slightly larger-than-life rendering of the two late leaders. As long as we're scaling these to accomplishments, there's still room for President Pez Dispenser in Reagan's suit pocket.

Posted by: t-bird at July 14, 2012 04:39 PM (FcR7P)

107 D'oh! Bill Whittle, the Afterburner guy. Yeah, that's him , that's the ticket!

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at July 14, 2012 04:39 PM (sJTmU)

108 We have so much to learn from the Poles...Esp that one little concept that is gonna be our secret weapon when we annihilate the jihadis for eternity; that one beautiful idea: SOLIDARNOSC.

Posted by: JewishOdysseus at July 14, 2012 04:42 PM (1X/a4)

109 Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at July 14, 2012 08:22 PM (sJTmU)

****

Speaking of Hollywood, John Wayne on Liberals:

"We go back to 'hope' at the first opportunity. Just throw out a little fish & BAM! they're out there ready 2 grab it."

http://bit.ly/nA414Q

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at July 14, 2012 04:43 PM (piMMO)

110 103 - Thank you, that is a very well-stated comment. I suspect you are right, in the areas where some find fault in the reign of JPII. That's one of the problems we'll always have, when trying to come up with a consensus on the relative merits of significant people in history. We forget that they are human, and when they have been such polarizing figures, those on one side will see them as all bad, and those on the other as all good, and there is very little room for honest discussion.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 14, 2012 04:45 PM (2pG7H)

111 RIP, RIP

Posted by: maverick muse at July 14, 2012 04:45 PM (BAnPT)

112 110 Amen and Amen. The Rabbi for Warsaw is a fellow from New York-I can't remember his name offhand, but he is energetic, fun and determined to teach Torah to the remaining Jewish young men and women. There are only a few thousand Jews left in Warsaw today, from the hundreds of thousands who were there prior to 1939. I wish him the Almighty's blessing on his work and efforts.

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 04:52 PM (dZmFh)

113 Nice tribute to 2 great anti-communists (among other attributes obviously).

Now how to enshrine the body snatching pod people type commies that have at the same time infiltrated the west is another problem entirely.

Those great men defeated the Reds that were out in the open, we need to suffocate the life forms that have mutated and bled our economies dry through unions, media, and pubic education.

Posted by: ontherocks at July 14, 2012 04:54 PM (aZ6ew)

114 Important to remember that the Soviets were behind JPIIs assassination attempt.

Posted by: Golan Globus at July 14, 2012 04:57 PM (/1U3u)

115

Defeat the Reds?

What are you, some kind of Cardinals or Pirates fan?

Posted by: Reader C.J. Burch writes..... at July 14, 2012 04:58 PM (sJTmU)

116 O/T, but things seem slow. Has anyone here cooked with preserved lemons? I caught a sale at Williams-Sonoma.

Posted by: Y-not at July 14, 2012 04:59 PM (5H6zj)

117 Odd how history is written. Somehow wikipedia misses the Soviet backing.

Posted by: Golan Globus at July 14, 2012 05:00 PM (/1U3u)

118 Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, greet each other after unveiling the new statue of late US President Ronald Reagan, during a centennial commemoration in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, June 29, 2011.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently wrote about ReaganÂ’s Â“undying meritsÂ” in the liberation of Europe from Soviet dictatorship.

Â“In the 1980s, he gave us hope that despite the difficulties we should persist in the struggle for freedom and independence,Â” Orban wrote in the foreword to a book about the U.S. president.

Posted by: 13times at July 14, 2012 05:02 PM (h6XiD)

119 Nation of Georgia Marks Independence Anniversary With Bronze Reagan Statue

Nov 22 2011, The post-Soviet satellite will unveil the statue not far from George W. Bush street on Wednesday.

There is definitely enough room on the bronze bench for enthusiasts to sit down and take photos with the life-size monument, as the pro-government Rustavi2 national broadcaster encouragingly notes. The sculpture is emblazoned with the Reagan-attributed quote "Freedom Is Never More than One Generation Away from Extinction."

Posted by: 13times at July 14, 2012 05:08 PM (h6XiD)

120 118 Hey Y-Not, do you like Moroccan food? If so, you will have plenty of recipes for your preserved lemons, because that is a staple of their tagines-slowcooked meats with vegetables served over couscous. Also, B'stilla, which is traditionally a pigeon and lemon pie, wrapped in filo and butter, and dusted with powdered sugar-but you can make it with chicken breasts. Yummmm. Google tagine, and you should be set-you can cook them in a dutch oven, although it won't be quite the same as it would with an actual tagine pot, which is a conical ceramic/clay pot cooker. Hope that helps!!!

Posted by: moki at July 14, 2012 05:08 PM (dZmFh)

121 Fined for not using something that doesn't exist.It's GW's fault too. The Environmental Protection Agency has slapped a $6.8 million penalty on oil refiners for not blending cellulosic ethanol into gasoline, jet fuel, and other products. These dastardly petroleum-mongers are being so intransigent because cellulosic ethanol does not exist. It remains a fantasy fuel. EPA might as well mandate that Exxon hire leprechauns.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2012 05:09 PM (Xb3hu)

122 We could have a statue of Mittens someday and the local Lutheran Minister from Duarte California, Roger Sonnenberg, they turned the tied on Obama. And restored honor and integrity in the country.

Posted by: Clemenza at July 14, 2012 05:11 PM (qA9lG)

123 July 5, 2011

London
This weekend, as America celebrated Independence Day, a bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan was unveiled in London. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others were on hand for the dedication. The bronze statue sits in the same park as a statue dedicated to the memory of Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was dedicated in 1989 by the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher.

The Reagan statue is part of the world-wide celebrations celebrating the centennial of ReaganÂ’s birth.

Posted by: 13times at July 14, 2012 05:13 PM (h6XiD)

124 125 Mitt has great hair and that is hard to sculpt.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2012 05:16 PM (Xb3hu)

125 HuffPo comment snark.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/44osfmx

Posted by: 13times at July 14, 2012 05:24 PM (h6XiD)

126 Like a fuckin boss.

Posted by: EC at July 14, 2012 05:25 PM (dnv2s)

127 This election is costing me friends. One, who I've known for 25 years, posted on Facebook something about how some idiot shock jock should be "silenced". I said, "I disagree. That's not the First Amendment. The antidote to odious speech is more speech". Her response? "Since you like the First Amendment so much, how about this? Go fuck yourself. Paste that on your Facebook Wall". Apparently free speech only goes in the liberal direction.

Also, one friend posted a generic "Let's support Obamacare!" message on facebook. I wrote her a thoughtful, mildly worded essay on why I didn't. Immediate defriend.

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 14, 2012 05:27 PM (AxHOT)

128 Im sick and tired of politicians and news junkies following the Poles. Who cares what the Poles think? They can't vote! Polesters are just entertainers.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 14, 2012 05:27 PM (b/hrq)

129 The official transcript relates: There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me Â— because they want to give something back. They know they didnÂ’t Â— look, if youÂ’ve been successful, you didnÂ’t get there on your own. You didnÂ’t get there on your own. IÂ’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something Â— there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. [Emphasis added]

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2012 05:27 PM (Xb3hu)

130 Read our illustrious Presidents woirds at 133.This guy is truly a fucking commie asshole.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2012 05:28 PM (Xb3hu)

131 This election is costing me friends. They weren't your real friends.

Posted by: EC at July 14, 2012 05:29 PM (dnv2s)

132 How long would those statues stand in any American city before being vandalized or stolen for the scrap metal?

Posted by: cm9000 at July 14, 2012 05:30 PM (lzvtR)

133

I miss C I C Reagan and his world view from 1600.

Sen. Joe McCarthy was so way ahead of the curve that he could look foreward to nothing more than total vilifacation and demonizing for his efforts. Such was the child-like understanding of most that called themselves "Conservative" back then. I fear I see the same kind of "child-like" efforts sprouting forth as we near this election cycle. If the RNC and their candidate cannot muster the needed rage and fury to completly destroy the utter nightmare that continues to be this calculated and measured "TAKE-DOWN" of America under this...POUSER....THIS...AFFRONT to FREE MARKET....THIS DYED IN THE WOOL COMMIE....serious!

If we can't do this one thing.....if the RNC and their candidate won't do this one thing, I would give up my life for my right to vote, but if the RNC is not giving me a reason to give my life for my vote, then this Grand Experiment called America is done WAY before November.

Just my thoughts...

Posted by: Richard at July 14, 2012 05:30 PM (uiPAK)

134 Fucking "S P A C E" stealers at it again...

Posted by: Richard at July 14, 2012 05:32 PM (uiPAK)

135 This election is costing me friends.

I'd be pretty bummed if I had friends of 25 years telling me to GFM. Of course I'd retaliate, but still.

Posted by: USS Diversity at July 14, 2012 09:33 PM (cjTjM)

It's standard leftist. Anyone who dissents from the Liberal orthodoxy = evil

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 14, 2012 05:35 PM (AxHOT)

136 I still remember the "Solidarnosc" poster that was hanging in my dad's tool and die shop in Chicago back in the early 80s. I had no clue what it meant at the time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_%28Polish_trade_union%29

Posted by: Chris M at July 14, 2012 05:37 PM (4lyMJ)

137 Also, one friend posted a generic "Let's support Obamacare!" message on facebook. I wrote her a thoughtful, mildly worded essay on why I didn't. Immediate defriend.

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 14, 2012 09:27 PM (AxHOT)

I said, "disagree? let's debate." nope

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 14, 2012 05:39 PM (AxHOT)

138 Legitimate criticisms that can be made of JPII's actions, or inactions, as Pope; but anyone who labels him a "terrible" pope is simply ignorant of Catholic history.

Posted by: Kramer at July 14, 2012 05:43 PM (wS6Sf)

139 I almost hope they forget what Yamamoto said about invading America.

Posted by: teej at July 14, 2012 08:04 PM (8xOfO)

Not disagreeing with you entirely, but Yamamoto wasn't worried about Japan invading America, he was worried about what America would do to Japan after America was attacked. You could argue semantics, but nobody wanted to fuck with the Americans and they were proven right.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at July 14, 2012 05:45 PM (ZOf1l)

140 I call it a soft civil war.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at July 14, 2012 05:47 PM (ZOf1l)

141 Very nice tribute by Poland. 131: The 2008 election cost me friends, and I don't mean Facebook. I cut off ties with everyone I knew who voted for Obama.

Posted by: rickl at July 14, 2012 05:59 PM (sdi6R)

142

If this is gonna be about America BEING America,

Then it is damn well time to take off the socks, kitty-gloves and all other pussy labled reach across the isle, "Why can't we all jus get along!" B.S and get down to the IN-YOUR-FACE debate or "FILL YOUR HAND, YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!!"

Let's see who blinks first...

Yeah Mr. Speaker, I'm calling you out. Here's a hanky....bitch!

Posted by: Richard at July 14, 2012 06:11 PM (uiPAK)

143 John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, two regular people who were called to greatness.

You don't plan to be great. You don't parse the narrative and make sure that everything is written just the way you want it to be written. You don't generate talking points from which no one is to deviate. Rather you find in your self to have the courage and character to do the right thing when the time is of the essence.

Noticed that the president is now parroting Elizabeth warren: "President Obama: Â‘If YouÂ’ve Got a Business Â— You DidnÂ’t Build That. Somebody Else Made That HappenÂ’" http://tiny.cc/1vvghw

"Elizabeth Warren: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own"" http://tiny.cc/vzvghw

Is it a meme or the next set of talking points?

Posted by: just me at July 14, 2012 07:01 PM (oZfic)

144 Good evening.

Posted by: Robert at July 14, 2012 07:22 PM (HWUv9)

145 I'd like to be able to buy a miniature replica of this statue. Wonder if that is in the works?

Posted by: AJ Lynch at July 14, 2012 07:42 PM (7n1Wt)

146 Go to Poland. Go to Czestochowa and visit Jasna Gora and go to the Confession and a daily Mass if you are a Catholic. Go to Cracow where John Paul II was bishop. Go to Auschwitz and Birkenau and find out what a Socialist WILL do to you and your family. Go and drink good vodka. Go and spend a lot of money and stay out of trouble. If you get out of line the Milicja WILL kick your ass, ask a Limey. Go to Gdansk and find out what it meant to face down the Communists. Go to Nova Huta and find out what the Communists think the world should look like. Then after all that go to Zakopane and have a great time. If you are in decent physical condition hike the Tatras and don't expect a helicopter to come to your rescue as you cross international borders. I did and I am a better perso for it.

Posted by: DM at July 14, 2012 08:32 PM (LaKlJ)

147 151 Good evening.

Posted by: Robert at July 14, 2012 11:22 PM (HWUv9)

Good evening. I think you aimed for the ONT and might have missed?

Posted by: just me at July 14, 2012 09:25 PM (oZfic)

148 "Thanks BarackÂ… Obamacare Will Add 3.8% Medicare Tax on Sales of Homes, Condos, Townhouses and Rentals Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, July 14, 2012, 11:50 PM"

http://tiny.cc/d54ghw

Ugh, someone mentioned this the other day.....

Posted by: just me at July 14, 2012 10:19 PM (oZfic)

149

Poles are either jewish & or cathlick.

Germans knew this.

This will not end well....

Posted by: one eye open at July 14, 2012 10:30 PM (D7lJF)

150 When no one is looking, the statues will hi-five each other with a resounding GONG. True story!

Posted by: hurricane567 at July 15, 2012 12:47 AM (owhMq)

151 On you 6

Posted by: remember the poles are the stupid ones at July 15, 2012 01:12 AM (D7lJF)

152 131 i lost 2 twitter followers over OWS, they proclaimed their support of that movement, i posted Breitbart's list of arrests as a counter, and POOF there they went lol

Posted by: hurricane567 at July 15, 2012 01:26 AM (owhMq)

153 The best president I will see in my lifetime, which is depressing, actually.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 15, 2012 09:26 AM (/i3Yt)

154 when I was in Warsaw late last fall they also dedicated a statue to R.R. at the main park in the city. These people have lived under Socialism/Marxism/Communism and know a real patriot when they see one. Poland and the polish people are really great!

Posted by: Ron at July 15, 2012 11:41 AM (pg2uE)

155 @#11 Right on....right on...

Posted by: bicentennialguy at July 15, 2012 01:20 PM (N5Cz7)

Hide Comments | Add Comment | Refresh | Top

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.

147kb generated in CPU 0.1439, elapsed 0.3255 seconds.
64 queries taking 0.296 seconds, 283 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.