One Year Without Ronnie

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 6, 2004

Announcing the Death of Ronald Reagan
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

It is my sad duty to announce officially the death of Ronald Reagan, the fortieth President of the United States, on June 5, 2004.

We are blessed to live in a Nation, and a world, that have been shaped by the will, the leadership, and the vision of Ronald Reagan.

With an unshakable faith in the values of our country and the character of our people, Ronald Reagan renewed America's confidence and restored our Nation. His optimism, strength, and humility epitomized the American spirit. He always told us that for America the best was yet to come.

Ronald Reagan believed that God takes the side of justice and that America has a special calling to oppose tyranny and defend freedom. Through his courage and determination, he enhanced America's security and advanced the spread of peace, liberty, and democracy to millions of people who had lived in darkness and oppression. As America's President, Ronald Reagan helped change the world.

President Reagan has left us, but he has left us stronger and better. We take comfort in the knowledge that he has left us for a better place, the shining city that awaits him.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, in honor and tribute to the memory of Ronald Reagan, and as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all buildings, grounds, and Naval vessels of the United States for a period of 30 days from the day of his death. I also direct that for the same length of time, the representatives of the United States in foreign countries shall make similar arrange-ments for the display of the flag at half-staff over their Embassies, Legations, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and stations.

I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary of Defense.

I do further appoint Friday, June 11, 2004, as a National Day of Mourning throughout the United States. I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President Reagan. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.


GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

Ronald Reagan's death was officially announced one year ago today. We love you, Ronnie.

COPS!

Well, it's the end of the school year. Tonight was the College Republicans end of year party, which was a lot of fun until it came time to start saying goodbye to people. Some of them I won't see ever again, some of then I may see one day, and some of them I'll be seeing again in the fall, which seems like a lifetime away right now. All I want is to just have my friends and not have to say goodbye, ever.

So I left the CR party around midnight and went over to On the Rocks In the Dark (OTR ITD), which is an annual concert that takes place at the end of dead week Spring term, where where OTR sings every song they know. It's become an annual tradition for a lot of people as a way to close out the year, and it seems that the crowd gets larger every year. Tonight was my third OTR ITD, which is crazy because it doesn't seem like it's been that long. But at the same time, I feel like a completely different person. I'm an older, wiser, and much more weathered Melissa than I was back then.

So on my way home at 2am, I was driving down 18th going through the 18th & Hilyard intersection and the light turned yellow. I was lost in thought so I didn't notice it right away. I could have stopped if I had noticed it sooner but I didn't, and by the time I saw it was yellow, I didn't see any harm in going through the yellow light. NOTE: The light was not red, nor did it turn red as I was passing through the light.

So there was a car waiting to turn left onto Hilyard. As I went through the intersection, the headlights of the left turner's car made it to where I couldn't see the car. Well, as soon as I started passing the car, what do you know. It's a cop. I wasn't speeding, and I didn't think I had broken any laws, but I kept my eyes glued to the rear-view mirror... sure enough, lights go a-flashing and he flips a U-turn in the middle of the intersection. Shoot. I turned left on Patterson and pulled over, kinda freakin' out (a liiiittle) on the inside. I've never been pulled over by a cop before with me as the driver.

The first thing he says, "Do you realize you just ran a red light?" "I never saw it turn red sir, it was yellow when I went through." "Okay well if you're at all able to stop, you shouldn't go through yellow lights. It's actually against the law if you have enough time to stop. Did you know that?" "No." "Yeah, I didn't think you did." Then he questioned me on a whole bunch of stuff, got my license and registration, went back to his car and checked my record, came back, and said, "Well, your record is immaculate so I'll let you go with a warning." "Okay, thank you sir."

NOTE: I'm good with cops. I get it from my mom... trust me, there are many good stories about my mom and cops, especially (but not limited to) corrupt cops in foreign countries. It always ends with her driving off scott free, even if she was actually breaking a law. Granted, I wasn't breaking any laws but I was calm, cool, and collected with that cop like I never would have thought I'd be. Ahh, I look forward to the day when I get myself out of a ticket I deserved (not that I'm planning on deserving any).. my family will be so proud of me. No seriously, they actually will.

So tonight, we learned two things:
1) The cop tried to get me to admit that I had run a red light, which I hadn't.
2) He knew all along that I didn't run a red light.. but this Tuck stands up for herself, even when she's up against a big bad law enforcement official. Take that, authorities.

And now I have to sleep.

Liberals & My Neighbor Rob

Today, as I was driving, I saw two outrageously rediculous liberal bumper stickers.

The first one said, "No Human Being is Illegal." Aww, my heart cries too. However, I have a newsflash for you. If a person doesn't have enough respect for our country to abide by the laws which we have set regarding legal immigration, they, my friend, are illegal. It's as simple as that.

The second, which I have seen multiple times before, said "Peace Through Music!" ...OH MY GOSH NO WAY!!!! Okay hold up guys, did you tell Saddam Hussein about your Peace Through Music plan before we resorted to invading Iraq? Because I'm pretty sure, if he had known about your ingenious option before then, we could have avoided this whole Iraq thing altogether. And he would've stopped torturing and killing his own Iraqi citizens, all because of music. Seriously guys, get off your butts and get the message, I mean the music, to Ossama bin Laden so we don't have to spend another of your precious tax dollars defending world freedom and standing up for what's right, even thoguh it may not be popular.


The ultimate bumper sticker prize, however, has to go to my neighbor, Rob. Rob is a burned-out hippie of sorts, quite a mysterious character, he is. I'm not quite sure what he does for a living but I think he either repairs music boxes or does Bonsai. (Whatever it is that you do to Bonsai... sculpt?) Two completely random choices, I know, but he's sorta that kind of an odd fellow.

Rob is always changing the bumper stickers on his SUV. That's right, hippie Rob drives an SUV. For a long time, he had a some bleeding heart "Love Mother Earth" sticker on there, but as the November elections drew near, he changed it to the ever-popular "Defend America; Defeat Bush." After the elections, he went to SorryEverybody.com and got the snazzy "DEAR WORLD, Sorry. We tried our best. -HALF OF AMERICA." Which, as a side note, is BS because over half of America voted for Bush. Therefore, less than half of America is sorry. Gotta love democracy.

So the other day, I was driving past Rob's house and I was caught completely off guard by his new bumper sticker. You know those yellow ribbon "Support Our Troops" stickers the liberals are always bitching about being on government vehicles? You guessed it, apparently now Rob supports our troops. I was so stunned by this revelation that I actually slammed on my brakes and stared in astonishment with my mouth wide open. Only to notice a few seconds later that he was sitting on his front porch looking right at me. I furrowed my brow at him and gave him a questioning look, then pulled into my driveway and went on my merry way.

So anyway, that's the story of my crazy liberal neighbor, Rob. Silly liberals.