**Congratulations to Ireland, which qualified for the World Cup
for the first time since 1994. IRL defeated Iran, in aggregate,
2-1, in a home-and-home playoff…despite Iran”s 1-0 victory on
Thursday.
Cleveland Browns Quiz (1946-2000): 1) Most passing yards,
career? 2) Most pass receptions, career? 3) Most TD, career? 4)
Most receiving TD, season? [Give this last one some thought.
It”s not obvious.] Answers below.
Ronald Reagan”s Farewell Address.January 11, 1989
[I drove out to the Pittsburgh area this week and it gave me the
opportunity to take along my tape set of the speeches of Ronald
Reagan. I”ll have a few comments in Week in Review
concerning my thoughts upon listening to them, but for now, I
thought I”d leave you with some excerpts of his last address. I
start by throwing in a few early passages to give you a sense of
the tone, before the conclusion.]
.Well, back in 1980, when I was running for President, it was
all so different. Some pundits said our programs would result in
catastrophe. Our views on foreign affairs would cause war. Our
plans for the economy would cause inflation to soar and bring
about economic collapse. I even remember one highly respected
economist saying, back in 1982, that ”The engines of economic
growth have shut down here, and they”re likely to stay that way
for years to come.” Well, he and the other opinion leaders were
wrong. The fact is what they call ”radical” was really ”right.”
What they called ”dangerous” was just ”desperately needed.”
.Common sense also told us that to preserve the peace, we”d
have to become strong again after years of weakness and
confusion. So, we rebuilt our defenses, and this New Year we
toasted the new peacefulness around the globe. Not only have
the superpowers actually begun to reduce their stockpiles of
nuclear weapons – and hope for even more progress is bright –
but the regional conflicts that rack the globe are also beginning to
cease.
.The lesson of all this was, of course, that because we”re a great
nation, our challenges seem complex. It will always be this way.
But as long as we remember our first principles and believe in
ourselves, the future will always be ours. And something else we
learned: Once you begin a great movement, there”s no telling
where it will end. We meant to change a nation, and instead, we
changed a world.
.Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that
truly reversed the course of government, and with three little
words: ”We the People.” ”We the People” tell the government
what to do; it doesn”t tell us. ”We the People” are the driver; the
government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by
what route, and how fast. Almost all the world”s constitutions
are documents in which governments tell the people what their
privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which ”We the
People” tell the government what it is allowed to do. ”We the
People” are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for
everything I”ve tried to do these past 8 years.
.Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential
farewells, and I”ve got one that”s been on my mind for some
time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I”m
proudest of in the past 8 years: the resurgence of national pride
that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good,
but it won”t count for much, and it won”t last unless it”s
grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.
An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a
good enough job teaching our children what America is and what
she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who
are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America.
We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American.
And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an
appreciation of its institutions. If you didn”t get these things
from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the
father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who
lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism
from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of
patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated
democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that
America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-
sixties.
But now, we”re about to enter the nineties, and some things have
changed. Younger parents aren”t sure that an unambivalent
appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern
children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-
grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but
we haven”t reinstitutionalized it. We”ve got to do a better job of
getting across that America is freedom – freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is
special and rare. It”s fragile; it needs protection.
So, we”ve got to teach history based not on what”s in fashion but
what”s important – why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy
Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant.
You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, I read a
letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who”d
fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and
she said, ”we will always remember, we will never forget what
the boys of Normandy did.” Well, let”s help her keep her word.
If we forget what we did, we won”t know who we are. I”m
warning of an eradication of the American memory that could
result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let”s
start with some basics: more attention to American history and a
greater emphasis on civic ritual.
And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great
change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow
night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if
your parents haven”t been teaching you what it means to be an
American, let ”em know and nail ”em on it. That would be a
very American thing to do.
And that”s about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing.
The past few days when I”ve been at that window upstairs, I”ve
thought a bit of the ”shining city upon a hill.” The phrase comes
from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he
imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an
early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what
today we”d call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims,
he was looking for a home that would be free. I”ve spoken of the
shining city all my political life, but I don”t know if I ever quite
communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was
a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept,
God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in
harmony and peace: a city with free ports that hummed with
commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the
walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will
and the heart to get here. That”s how I saw it, and see it still.
And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous,
more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than
that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and
true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter
what storm. And she”s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who
must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places
who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.
We”ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a
final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the
men and women across America who for 8 years did the work
that brought America back.. My friends: We did it. We weren”t
just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city
stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands.
All in all, not bad, not bad at all.
And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United
States of America.
—–
Ya know, I read something like the above and I hate Bill Clinton
all over again. 8 years…so much harm done.
Stuff
–Ray Kelly died at the age of 83. Kelly was the Babe”s mascot,
sitting on the Yankees bench from about 1921-30. Back in ”21,
Ruth met Kelly while the then 3-year-old was playing catch with
his father on Riverside Drive in New York. Babe immediately
took a shining to the kid and made sure “Little Ray” was at the
Polo Grounds the next day (Yankee Stadium opened up in ”23).
“He”s going to be my mascot,” said Ruth and for the next 10
years, Kelly not only attended most Yankee home games, but he
was taken on many of the team”s road trips as well. Imagine
sitting in the dugout as a kid with the Babe, Gehrig, Dickey et al?
–Leon Gray died this week at the age of 49. Gray was a two-
time Pro Bowl offensive lineman while with the New England
Patriots from 1973-78. Teamed with the great John Hannah,
Gray helped the Pats rack up some impressive rushing stats. In
Leon”s two Pro Bowl seasons, ”76 and ”78, New England ran for
2,948 yards in 14 games (”76) and 3,165 yards in 16 games (”78).
In ”76 they averaged 5.0 yards per carry for the season! Gray
evidently died of natural causes.
–And Frank Messer died the other day. Yankee fans will recall
that Messer was a broadcaster for 18 years, most of it with
Rizzuto and Bill White.
–Jose Canseco and his brother Ozzie were thrown in a Miami
slammer and charged with aggravated assault for an altercation
in a Miami nightclub where Jose broke a man”s nose and popped
another in the mouth. Not a smart thing to do, Jose, especially
since you are just 38 homers shy of 500, yet will reach 38 years
of age next season.
–And what”s the deal with former baseball MVP Ken Caminiti?
On Wednesday he was arrested in a Houston hotel room where
Sheriff”s deputies found him doing crack cocaine. Oh well, his
career was over anyway.
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/15/75: #1 “Island Girl” (Elton
John) #2 “Lyin” Eyes” (The Eagles) #3 “Who Loves You”
(Four Seasons)
**Now like many of you, I”m fired up to buy Pink Floyd”s
”Echoes,” but am I the only one who wonders if they could cut
out “The Wall”?! It”s kind of like when you get Nat King
Cole”s Greatest Hits and they place “The Christmas Song” in the
middle of the CD. I want the tune on Christmas albums only!!
Geezuz.
Cleveland Browns Quiz: 1) Passing yards, career: Brian Sipe
(23,713). 2) Pass receptions, career: Ozzie Newsome, 662.
3) TD, career: Jim Brown, 126. 4) Receiving TD, season: Gary
Collins, 13, 1963. Collins caught only 43 balls that year. For his
career, which spanned 1962-71 for the Browns, he hauled in 331
with 70 going the distance. Collins also punted 6 seasons.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. Some real history, per President
Reagan”s instructions.
