It could hardly be a coincidence that in the days and weeks leading up to the Reagan centennial, pro-democracy protests have broken out around the Middle East, most notably in Egypt.
Clearly, the millions of people taking to the streets are doing it for "The Gipper", who single-handedly invented democracy with a few simple words.
That being said, it should be noted that, her humility notwithstanding, Sarah Palin® deserves some credit. Also, too.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Egyptian Opposition Activist Mohamed ElBaradei; Egyptian Ambassador to the US Sameh Shoukry; Sen. John Kerry (D-MA); Richard Engel (NBC News); Roundtable: Former Secretary of State James Baker, Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), Former Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown and Andrea Mitchell (NBC News).
Face the Nation: Martin Indyk (Brookings Institution); Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Israel and Jordan Thomas Pickering; Thomas Pickering, (Al Jazeera).
This Week: Egyptian Ambassador to the US Sameh Shoukry; Roundtable: Egyptian Journalists Lamia Radi and Nadia abou el-Magd, John Simpson (BBC), Tony Shadid (New York Times) and David Muir (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: NFL Commissioner Robert Goodell; Former NFL Player Lynn Swann; Former NFL Player Jerry Kramer; Roundtable: Former NFL Player Terry Bradshaw, Former NFL Player Howie Long and Former NFL Player Michael Strahan.
State of the Union: Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright; Former US Ambassador to Egypt Edward S. Walker; Former US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte; Co-Chair of the Catfood Commission Alan Simpson; Reliable Sources: George Washibngton University Professor Frank Sesno; Christopher Dickey (Newsweek); Janine Zacharia (Washington Post); Lawrence Pintak (Formerly of CBS News); Sam Donaldson (ABC News); John Fund (Wall Street Journal).
The Chris Matthews Show: Bob Woodward (Washington Post); Katty Kay (BBC); Joe Klein (TIME); Anne Kornblut (Washington Post).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Egyptian Opposition Activist Mohamed ElBaradei; British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: the first extended sit-down interview with John Gotti, Jr. (preview).
On Comedy Central:
Jon Stewart viewed the latest developments around the world through the prism of Fox News.
And Stephen Colbert looked for the answers to life's big questions.
Elsewhere:
Media Matters obtained an email sent by Fox News' editor in 2008 urging reporters to focus on then-candidate Barack Obama's proclivities toward Socialism/Marxism/miscegenation.
On October 27, 2008, then news-editor Bill Sammon emailed colleagues with references in Obama's first book Dreams From My Father to socialism, Marxism and Obama's past relationship with a white woman.
That email, obtained by Media Matters, was subject-lined "fyi: Obama's references to socialism, liberalism, Marxism and Marxists in his autobiography, 'Dreams from My Father.' Plus a couple of his many self-described 'racial obsessions'..." [...]
"If you read the autobiography of Barack Obama as I have done, his first autobiography, it's very telling," Sammon said. "He talks about these words that are being tossed around now. Socialism, liberalism, and Marxism came up in this Biden interview with this TV anchor, and Barack Obama talks about these terms in his books. And he was drawn to Marxists, and he was drawn to liberals, and he was drawn to socialists by his own admission as a young man."
Flash forward:
On Friday, Fox News' Obama Derangement Syndrome reached Biblical proportions.
Though Fox News claims President Obama "misquoted a familiar Bible verse" during the National Prayer breakfast yesterday, Media Matters points out "they seem unfamiliar with the fact that there is more than one version of the Bible."
Obama was quoting from the New International Version, while Fox was pointing to the King James Version to "debunk" him.
And in other news:
Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) proposed legislation to prevent the state from infringing on drivers' liberties by requiring that they be licensed. And that's not even the craziest thing he's proposed.
In one bill that reads as his philosophical statement on the roots of government, Franklin laments the fall of religious and family authority. The bill -- called the "Life, Liberty, and Property Restoration Act" -- begins by acknowledging the existence of "an almighty, everlasting, creator God, the God of the Bible, the only God there is." The bill then notes that God created "four, not one spheres of government": self-government, family government, church government, and finally "the fourth, and least" -- civil government.
Using an example from the Bible, Franklin's legislation goes on to lament how the civil government has usurped the powers of the other three. In order to rectify this imbalance, Franklin proposed in the same bill that a six person legal repeals committee, comprised exclusively of members that have never received a law degree. "None of the members shall have graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or have ever been admitted to the practice of law in any state."
The committee would highlight all laws that were enacted and "fail to comply with the foundational principles of civil government articulated in the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America."
Honk if you love freedom.
- Trix