  Okay, just a few quick thoughts about Reagan passing away: Of all the imagery that I've seen on the television over the last week (including the two mornings that The Early Show did an "Extended" version and pre-empted by ritual watching of Regis and Kelly), I think the the most poignant one was the one I only saw once. With Reagan's casket set up in the Capitol Rotunda, Gorbachev came to say goodbye. Now that was an image the kind of hit me -- a man who was once the President's bitter enemy, then cautious colleague, and lastly a sort of co-bringer to the end of the cold war, stood in the US Capitol building, in front of a flag-draped coffin, and paid his respects. A very powerful bit of counterpoint in my mind. As for the whole argument as to whether Reagan was one of the greatest Presidents we ever had, my take is this: Okay, his administration did more to damage public education than most in recent history.
That irks me, as does the fact that he drove the Republican party to new extremeties of the right. But regardless of what you thought of the man's politics, I think there's no argument in that he gave a command performance in the role of President. He was the kind of President that they ALL need to be -- he gave America back its sense of pride and esteem.
He made us care about our country, yet not in the we've-been-wounded defensive patriotism that's been around since 9/11. Reagan, being the "Great Communicator," made it grow from the very soil of the country. I'm not a student of politics, nor am I particularly qualified to speak historically about it. But I grew up right in the middle of it, and I remember how it felt. 
