by El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)

I still have major issues with Ronald Reagan's politics and philosophy, but I have no argument with the fact that he was a "great" man. He did put his mark on the last quarter of the 20th Century to the extent that I think it will end up being called the Reagan Era in 22nd Century history books. As befitting a great man, his funeral today was appropriately full of pomp and ceremony. The setting, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., was proper and fitting for the occassion, and the Episcopal ceremony was also fitting.

I don't agree with people who disdain pomp, circumstance and ceremony in human affairs. The truth of the matter is that the need for such is hardwired in humans. All human cultures, bar none, have them for various significant occassions. In fact, I think that we Americans have too few such occassions in our national life. We need ceremonies with grandeur in them to remind us that we are keepers of the Flame. It cannot be emphasized too often that the liberties enshrined in The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights make those documents some of the greatest works done by human kind. It is those which we should both revere and strive to live up to. We fail all the time, but those failures should only make us try harder.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. ©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005