Former First Lady Nancy Reagan and, to the right, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-ind.) and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Ca.) watch President Barack Obama siign into law the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act. {Photo by Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images)
by Mark Silva
Nancy Reagan, 88, entered on the arm of President Barack Obama today as the two made their way slowly through the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.
The Democratic president, heaping effusive praise on the late Republican President Ronald Reagan, an icon of the modern Republican Party, was there to sign into law the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act, which will authorize the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 40th president's birthday in 2011.
Obama was 18 when Reagan was first elected president.
"President Reagan understood that, while there are often strong disagreements between parties and political adversaries -- disagreements that can be a source of conflict and bitterness -- it is important to keep in mind all that we share,'' Obama said. "President Reagan helped as much as any president to restore a sense of optimism in our country, a spirit that transcended politics, that transcended even the most heated arguments of the day.''
Obama also noted Nancy Reagan's leadership in embryonic stem-cell research, a matter on which Obama has overturned his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush -- though the former first lady reportedly was miffed that Obama hadn't called on her support earlier as he was revoking a Bush ban on federal funding for research using new cell lines. There also was a question of Obama once joking about her seances.
With an economy of words, Reagan's widow looked over Obama's shoulder as the 44th president signed the legisilation, and she could be heard to comment, softly:
"You're a lefty.''
"I am a lefty,'' the president said, signing as he spoke.
It probably was, as other commentators today have noted, a comment about penmanship, not partisanship.
Comments
Calling all Republicans!
Shut off your computers and bow down to the ghost of Saint Ronnie!
http://sweasel.com/wp-content/themes/weasel/graphics/zombiereaganbrains.jpg
Carry on.....
Posted by: Larry Horse | June 2, 2009 8:18 PM
Ronald Reagan was born in a small town in central Illinois and was raised by his deeply devout mother, a lay evangelist, in the Disciples of Christ Church.
He attended Eureka College in Illinois, one of the colleges founded by the Disciples.
Later in life, he attributed whatever bonds he felt of compassion and communion to his fellow men to the influence of his mother.
Somewhere in there, there is some similarity to Barack Obama.
Posted by: ornery | June 2, 2009 10:16 PM
That was a sucker punch.
Bush I and Clinton were also left handed.
No comment on that.
Posted by: ornery | June 2, 2009 10:41 PM
He's not just a lefty.....he's a neo-Marxist!!!
Posted by: Joe | June 2, 2009 10:45 PM
He is indeed a lefty and if he wrote like that in Catholic school (all contorted), he would have been slapped with a ruler. His writing form is horrible.
Posted by: T.K. | June 3, 2009 8:29 AM
As a proud lefty I would like to point out some other presidential leftists:
Ronald Reagan - Lefty
Bill Clinton - Lefty
GHW Bush - Lefty
Harry S Truman - Lefty
even Herbert Hoover was a Lefty.
And by the way, John McCain......Leftist!
Left handers are the only people in their right mind.
Posted by: kg123 | June 3, 2009 8:37 AM
A crafty speech, designed with enough class to wow the common man, but when thoroughly read, one can see that this "speech" was designed to look good but not give Reagan too much credit. Read the words carefully and you will see that Obama's speech writer's were told to write with fluff and not with substance.
Posted by: Eileen | June 3, 2009 8:37 AM
The speech writers didn't need any such instructions. Ronnie Reagan could not even act presidential, let alone, be one !! He was a frontman for all of the kooks that ended up, getting us into the slaughter in Iraq !! That's right, that's where those NeoCons were spawned, during Reagan's tenure !!
So, you are right, they wrote fluff, for that was the best of Reagan, fluff !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Illinois | June 3, 2009 9:40 AM
Are there any plans to commemorate the untold thousands of Central Americans that were murdered thanks to Reagan's policies?
Posted by: Rob S. | June 3, 2009 9:40 AM
I agree with the comments of Eileen. I thought slick Willy Clinton was the best political wordsmith, but this guy Obama has easily surpassed him. Eventually the walls will come tumbling down and words alone will not but Humpty Dumpty together again. Your grandkids will be faced with a life project of building a new wall once the OB rubble is cleared.
Posted by: Jayo | June 3, 2009 9:48 AM
Any "substance" about Reagan would have to describe how he valiantly fought the war against the middle class by busting unions, cutting back on tuition aid and moving government programs designed to help working Americans into the "private sector" where taxpayer money designated to help the taxpayers could be siphoned off into corporate profits. It would have to also mention his war against the environment. His very first act was to remove the solar panels President Carter had ordered to be placed on the roof of the White House. Had Reagan followed Carter's policies, we might never have had to invade Iraq, because we might not now be dependent on oil from the Middle East. The United States might well have had less to fear from the Middle East if we didn't need to come to them, hat in hand, so they will sell us oil. Reagan, Bush and Cheney made America less safe, less proud and less free. That is the real Reagan legacy.
And for all his sabre rattling, he was the first to negotiate with terrorists, against the orders of the Democratic senate.
Reagan was a lousy president. Perhaps only Bush the younger was worse.
Posted by: Patrick | June 3, 2009 10:34 AM
"fluff and not with substance."
You just summed up Obambi's entire life!
Posted by: Make it Stop | June 3, 2009 5:37 PM
"Make it Stop" makes no sense. Before he became President, Barack Obama was President of the Harvard Law Review, a revered Constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago (which many on the right and left consider the top law school in the country), and effective legislator, an acclaimed author, and - regardless of one's politics - one of the most brilliant men ever to be considered for the office. Does that mean he'll be a great President? Of course not, but there's plenty of substance there, and it's hard to find the fluff.
Posted by: Chuck | June 3, 2009 5:53 PM
"Fluff and no substance".....This is another interesting criticism of the Obama administration, in comparison, to the similar controversies of each Bush and Reagan administration....It's good to know, we are such a forgetful, yet, forgiving country....
Posted by: ann | June 3, 2009 6:30 PM
Patrick - lets talk about the unions first. Who and what was the primary source of the downfall of our auto industry here in the US? In case you think it was the execs, you are wrong . . . it was the unions first and foremost. The execs came in a healthy second. The unions MUST BE BUSTED. Reagan tried, God Bless him. Perhaps if he had tried a bit harder, GM and Chrysler would still be profitable and 20,000 people might not be losing their jobs today.
Secondly - Bush and Cheney made the US less safe? Like . . . . what kind of cage are you living in? You, like most spoiled Americans probably have never been to a third world country. Get over yourself and appreciate what you have - and not what you perceive not to have. You have air, you breathe and so far, you have not had a bomb detonate in your face. President George Bush is to thank for that.
Posted by: Eileen | June 3, 2009 6:59 PM
If Obama is Marshmallow Fluff on his bad day, "you're a lefty" is the Graham Cracker dipping it.
.
He's also black. Does anyone see her saying, "oh, you're black?" This is not Mesopotamia people! Lefties don't have to take this anymore!
Posted by: SnowPatrol | June 3, 2009 7:34 PM
I find it hard to believe that Nancy did not plan to make her "lefty" remark. If you observe Obamas demeanor you can see that he caught on immediately and that he did not appreciate it.
Posted by: Paul Ohlstein | June 3, 2009 10:47 PM
"You have air, you breathe and so far, you have not had a bomb detonate in your face. President George Bush is to thank for that."
Posted by: Eileen | June 3, 2009 6:59 PM
Of course, those who died in the WTC are not here to disagree with that statement....
Posted by: David | June 4, 2009 6:34 AM
Posted by: Eileen | June 3, 2009 6:59 PM
Eileen is right. Workers must make less and have less power. We need to ensure that the US has the lowest paid workers in the world. We must ensure that US workers get no more than workers in the third world. The we will all prosper! (Well, except for the workers, but who cares about them?) The key to our successful future is to make the US as much like a third world country as possible. Crush the unions! Slash Pay! No healthcare! No workplace sfaety! That's exactly what America (except those evil workers) needs! Poverty is the answer.
Posted by: Plutocracy Now! | June 4, 2009 10:48 AM
Plutocracy -
Only the workers who know how to spell and/or have proper control of the English language may have "power." That, my friend, excludes most the UAW workers. No education - then go to the bottom of the food chain - but don't expect to make more than a physician and have retirement benefits of 100 thousand dollars or more per year. SPOILED BRATS !!
And that, I'm afraid, includes you.
Posted by: Eileen | June 5, 2009 8:10 PM