Sometimes (not often enough) my cynical outlook on the way today’s politics is being played makes me reflect on a time-gone-by (yes Virginia, I am getting way to old). We taxpayers have to put up with the incessant bombardment of partisan positioning, extreme, over-the-edge left and right commentary, a sour economy lead by ghost or buffoon leadership, and an impotent political population in Washington D.C. – for how many years?  All the while, very little seems to get done and what does…well that moves at a glacier’s pace (oh wait, maybe I should say “at a snail’s pace” since global warming seems to be melting the glaciers faster than our political processes moves)…can I ‘ughhhhhhhhhhhh’ through clenched teeth now?

Thanks goes to gal-pal Jayne for her email this week…it saved me a scolding about the ill effects of teeth grinding from my dentist. Oddly (but not surprisingly) these few Ronald Reagan-ism quotes, probably some 30-years old now, are still worthy and applicable to today’s government and politicians:

1. ‘Here’s my strategy on the Cold War:  We win, they lose.’
2. ‘The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’
3. ‘The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so. ‘
4. ‘Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.’
5. ‘I have wondered at times about what the  Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.’
6. ‘The taxpayer: That’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.’
7. ‘Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.’  
8. ‘The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.’  
9. ‘It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.’
10. ‘Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.’
11. ‘Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.’
12. ‘No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.’
13. ‘If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.’  

Mr. President, please take some rest in your peace knowing a growing minority is trying to be heard, but I fear their methods are self-defeating at times. I foresee we still have what may be a sometimes insufferable political journey in front of us in that we can one day join you in pease and at rest. #5 and #7 strike a particular chord, but I thank you for all the wisdom and insight Ron.