amen Basso I think LBJ in 73 was the last state funeral. The last few posts have been nice. edit: ops! Basso, I see you found it.
Not sure if they have a state funeral everytime a president dies but there is a 300 page manual for conducting one. However, the family does have some input on certain things that are done and how they are handled.
Reagan 32, Clinton 0 Reagan administration era convictions in the Iran-contra scandal: 14 (two overturned on appeal) Reagan officials convicted for illegal lobbying: 2 (Lyn Nofziger, White House political director, convicted to 30 days and $30,000 fine, overturned on appeal; Michael Deaver, White House deputy chief of staff, convicted and $100,000, given probation.) Reagan officials convicted in Housing and Urban Development department scandal: 16 Total Reagan era felony convictions: 32 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with Whitewater: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with Travel Office allegations: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with alleged abuse of FBI files: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/of convicted in connection with Lewinsky matter: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with the Independent Counsel investigation of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with the Independent Counsel investigation of Labor Secretary Alexis Herman: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with the Independent Counsel investigation of Americorps director Eli Siegal: 0 Clinton administration officials indicted and/or convicted in connection with the Independent Counsel investigation of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown: 0 (Investigation abandoned upon Brown’s death in nation’s service) Clinton Administration officials convicted in connection with the Independent Counsel investigation of Agriculture Secretary Michael Espy: 0 (Espy acquitted of all charges. Judge sharply rebukes Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz for bringing case in the first place.) Other: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for misstating to the F.B.I. the amount of money he gave his girlfriend; Assistant Attorney-General Webster Hubbell convicted of embezzling funds from Rose Law Firm before his federal appointment; that is, stealing from his law partners, including Hillary Rodham Clinton; Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker, a political rival of Bill Clinton’s, convicted on charges involving local television licensing, and nothing at all to do with Clinton; Jim and Susan McDougal, convicted of crimes in Whitewater matter. In summation to the court, Independent Counsel declares that President Clinton is innocent of wrongdoing. Total Convictions era felony convictions: 0 http://thepragmaticprogressive.blogspot.com/2004_03_07_thepragmaticprogressive_archive.html
From Independent Council Lawrence E. Walsh's final report on his Iran/Contra investigation (1994?) ... Overall Conclusions The investigations and prosecutions have shown that high-ranking Administration officials violated laws and executive orders in the Iran/contra matter. Independent Counsel concluded that: the sales of arms to Iran contravened United States Government policy and may have violated the Arms Export Control Act1 the provision and coordination of support to the contras violated the Boland Amendment ban on aid to military activities in Nicaragua; the policies behind both the Iran and contra operations were fully reviewed and developed at the highest levels of the Reagan Administration; although there was little evidence of National Security Council level knowledge of most of the actual contra-support operations, there was no evidence that any NSC member dissented from the underlying policykeeping the contras alive despite congressional limitations on contra support; the Iran operations were carried out with the knowledge of, among others, President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George Bush, Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey, and national security advisers Robert C. McFarlane and John M. Poindexter; of these officials, only Weinberger and Shultz dissented from the policy decision, and Weinberger eventually acquiesced by ordering the Department of Defense to provide the necessary arms; and large volumes of highly relevant, contemporaneously created documents were systematically and willfully withheld from investigators by several Reagan Administration officials. following the revelation of these operations in October and November 1986, Reagan Administration officials deliberately deceived the Congress and the public about the level and extent of official knowledge of and support for these operations. In addition, Independent Counsel concluded that the off-the-books nature of the Iran and contra operations gave line-level personnel the opportunity to commit money crimes. http://www.pinknoiz.com/covert/icsummary.html
When I think of Henry Cisneros, I think of Smarty Pants running out of gas at the end of the Belmont.
i think of his jackass jockey who runs him full-out in his longest race ever with no regard for his own statements that he's a push-button horse!!! he had no business having that kind of lead going into the final turn. no business, i tell you!!!!! (i feel better now)
As an aside, while looking for Raygun bashing articles to post here I came across this site: http://articles.findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qt=+Presidents++Evaluation It really is just a collection of links to article wrt ranking the US presidents. Many interesting reads have followed. Enjoy.
The “Canadian response” to Reagan’s passing. Good golly! CNN is doing a first class con job on American public today. I flip on the television to see former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney giving the “Canadian response” to Reagan’s death and legacy. Brian Mulroney was our PM for most of the time Reagan was in power, and he and Ron were buddies. (There are rumours that some of Reagan’s neo-con spin doctors both helped get Mulroney get elected as leader of the Progressive Conservative party, and helped his party win the 1984 federal election). But Mulroney is widely considered to be the worst PM in the history of Canada and is easily the most disliked if not despised. Part of this legacy, but by no means all of it, is due to the fact that he was a strong supporter of Reagan. He also pulled off a feat that I’m not sure has ever been surpassed in major national election anywhere. He led his party from a majority government position of 169 seats in 1988 to a simply massive defeat in 1993. To be completely accurate he bailed out a few months before the 93 election and Kim Campbell was the official leader for the historic defeat, but the defeat belonged to no one but Mulroney. He led his party from 169 seats in 1988 to 2 in 1993. No, I’m not missing a digit. 1 and another 1 makes 2. They went from 42% of the popular vote to 16%. He killed the party, permanently. They limped along for another 10 years on the margins, but a party that existed before the fathers of confederation brought this country into existence in was destroyed and no longer exists because of the gross incompetence and unpopularity of Brian Mulroney. And this after noon CNN is presenting him as the voice of Canada giving the Canadian perspective on Reagan’s passing. Un … freakin’ … believable …
Here's a more accurate reflection of how Canadians veiw Reagan's legacy: Jun. 7, 2004. 01:00 AM Editorial: Reagan's great appeal If Ronald Reagan can't be counted among America's truly great presidents, he was easily one of the most popular. He cheated an assassin's bullet, beat back cancer, and appealed with certainty and strength to his country's "best hopes," not its darkest fears. The Great Communicator's cheery optimism —"America is back"— served as a restorative tonic to a nation that feared the Soviet Union, was battered by Vietnam, Watergate and economic turmoil, felt humiliated during the Iran hostage-taking, and was nagged by a sense of decline. Reagan's death Saturday deprives the United States of a Republican icon who turned the nation against "big government." And whose terms saw the Cold War wind down without a shot being fired, and America emerge as the undisputed global hyper-power. While Reagan was considered a friend to Canada by former prime minister Brian Mulroney, many Canadians felt the pair were too close. They never warmed to Reagan's Red-baiting rhetoric, his support for rightwing causes in Central America, or his discredited Reaganomics trickle-down economic policy. Indeed, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau felt compelled to end his own career with a global peace campaign, to reassure the Russians that their views on détente, and political and economic reform, had traction in the West. That was how tense things were during much of Reagan's tenure from 1980 to 1988. Reagan railed at the Communist "evil empire," launched the $30 billion "Star Wars" missile defence program that threatened to scuttle détente and which still doesn't work, and presided over a military build-up that persuaded the Soviets they could never outspend their rivals. If he can't be credited with bringing down the rotten Soviet empire, like Pope John Paul II, he demoralized its leaders, and nudged things along. Yet Reagan's attitudes weren't frozen in amber. By 1988, when former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev promised glasnost and perestroika, Reagan declared Gorbachev to be "a serious man seeking serious reform" who deserved America's support. The two cut a historic arms deal. Americans basked in Reagan's sunny, almost obstinate, optimism, and forgave him any number of sins. At times, Reagan's certitude masked an infirm grasp of the facts, a passive indifference to who was minding the White House store, and callousness toward the needy. He was notoriously inattentive to details, even before his Alzheimer's disease became public a decade ago. While he preached small government his $1 trillion military build-up and freewheeling tax cuts helped triple the U.S. deficit, and plunged a third more American families into poverty. The U.S. quit Lebanon when terrorists struck its troops. And his second term was tainted when he approved the sale of arms to Iran to gain the release of U.S. hostages, and some profits were given to Contra insurgents fighting Nicaragua's Sandinista government. But Reagan —sportscaster, Hollywood B movie hero and the last real Cold Warrior—would become the only modern president to quit office more popular than when he arrived. He made Americans feel good, appealing to their pride and patriotism, and they thanked him for it. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...909&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
It’s a fuzzy term to be sure, but it was certainly used by many in the 80’s to refer to Reagan’s administration. Neoconservatism (United States) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Neoconservatism refers to the political goals and ideology of the "new conservatives" in the United States, characterized by hawkish views on foreign policy and a lesser emphasis on social issues and minimal government than other strains of American conservatism. The "newness" refers either to being new to American conservatism (often coming from liberal or socialist backgrounds) or to being part of a "new wave" of conservative thought and political organization. In both meanings the term is sometimes used pejoratively. More specifically, the term refers to journalists, pundits, policy analysts, and institutions affiliated with policy think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and periodicals such as Commentary and The Weekly Standard. The neoconservatives, often dubbed the neocons by supporters and critics alike, are credited with (or blamed for) influencing U.S. foreign policy, especially under the administrations of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and George W. Bush (2001-present)…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism_(United_States)
Like him or not...can you imagine spending your day this way? Carrying a sign at a dead man's funeral saying the deceased is in hell? Great. What a sad life to carry that much venom around.
