He Certainly Looks Comfortable! 
Numismatic News provides a thorough if meandering round-up of past, present and prospective Ronald Reagan coins.
In the course of wandering from our old friend Grover Norquist’s Reagan Naming Mania to the FDR Memorial to the sad saga of the Reagan Ten Dollar Bill bill, the highlight is the length Reagan was willing to go for a pretty coin.
“A little known sidelight about Reagan is his devotion to medallic art. When it came time for his presidential inaugural medal to be produced, his is one of the few that is a virtual straight-on portrait (one of the most difficult to produce) – its success assured by his willingness to sit for a life mask (a process involving breathing through straws into the nostrils, while fresh plaster is poured over the face).”
Where Did The Time Go? 
Part of the entertainment value of thumb-suckers musing over the Bush Administration’s “Legacy” is who asks the questions. It’s our old friends and perpetual whipping boys, The Media!
A part of society which for the most part went unquestioningly into battle in Iraq, and which let Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford go to their graves as demigods, is in charge of the searching questions in the last months.
And don’t think Bush’s people aren’t watching. Dick Cheney’s Lincoln/Truman lonely visionary talking points have been consistent over time, with Gerald Ford thrown in on occasion. The most recent example came in a follow up to his “So?” interview dismissing popular opinion over the war. Cheney claims that nice things said during Ford’s funeral week justify the Nixon pardon, which also means Iraq will look great in three decades.
“…he demonstrated, I think, great courage and great foresight, and the country was better off for what Jerry Ford did that day. And 30 years later, everybody recognized it…And I have the same strong conviction the issues we’re dealing with today — the global war on terror, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq — that all of the tough calls the president has had to make, that 30 years from now it will be clear that he made the right decisions, and that the effort we mounted was the right one, and that if we had listened to the polls, we would have gotten it wrong.”
Destiny’s Darlings 
Churchillian? 
John McCain has launched a two minute mash note to Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, and himself.
With the subtlety for which the man from Arizona is known, it’s entitled “Man in the Arena,” a straight lift from Roosevelt’s salute to rule-over-the-lesser-races-and-no-fussy-backtalk. With Winnie’s greatest hits. Apparently, we’ll fight on the beaches.
Along with Churchill and Roosevelt, there’s at least a sidelong glance at another former leader. 
The ad begins with the camera floating forward through the clouds, not unlike the opening of Triumph of the Will before his plane lands.
Diet Delight! 
With “Lesser Reasons We’re Thankful That Ronald Reagan was our 40th President,” nathansmusings calls attention to a special day’s special origin.
“In Proclamation #5157, President Ronald Reagan said:”Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 6, 1984, as Frozen Food Day, and I call upon the American people to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”
It was a decision steeped in appreciation of practical science.
” Frozen food became a part of the space age when Apollo XII astronauts took frozen meals on board. Seventy-two frozen food items were stored on the Skylab for a five hundred-day supply of meals for the crew.”
Time Capsules 
BFF! 
In the tradition of his predecessors, George W. Bush has proudly affirmed he’ll take overseas money for his Presidential Library, and makes no promises he’ll disclose any of it. Bush spoke to a news conference last week.
Q Any restrictions on who can give? Will you take foreign money for this?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I’ll probably take some foreign money, but don’t know yet, Ken. We just haven’t — we just announced the deal and I, frankly, have been focused elsewhere, like on gasoline prices and, you know, my trip to Africa, and haven’t seen the fundraising strategy yet. So the answer to your question, really, I can’t answer your question well.
Q Where does the people’s right to know this fit into all that?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re weighing, taking a look, taking consideration, giving it a serious consideration. Nice try, though.
