Wow, I actually feel very sad for Nancy, while watching this...

[neoteric lefty]

Watching her right now, I can really see how her husband's death has affected her. Whatever you think of her, no one should have to go through what she did watching her husband slowly disappear from her leaving a shell of his former self. The look on her face says it all.
It seems like she is sad but somewhat relieved that her husband has finally been relieved of his pain.

I know many of you disagree and some will want to start an argument but I just wanted to let my thoughts out.

[neoteric lefty]

1. but this priest sucks

he is just moaning on. Let it go!

[KAZ]

3. Let it go? About 3 days ago. n/t

n/t

[neoteric lefty]

4. well he was just talking and talking and talking

Seemed like he was doing an interview about Reagan's policies in office. Seemed out of place in my opinion.

[Fenris]

7. He was mostly talking about himself.

YOU didn't die, Reverend. Zip it!

[Cleita]

2. I agree with you.

She shouldn't be kicked right now. There is plenty of time for that later.

[smada]

5. I'm glad to see a little graciousness

after there's been so much venom and ugliness directed toward the Reagans this week. People on DU may not have liked him, but he was obviously a man who much admired by many in this country and Nancy Reagan is indisputably one of the most dedicated and loving spouses there has ever been.

[qanda]

46. Oh, please!

They have dragged this funeral on and on for an entire seven days. There was no ugliness towards the Reagans this week, there was ugliness at the policies that Reagan enacted while his was president. And there was ugliness at how the media has revised history to make this man one of the greatest presidents ever.

I just passed by FOX on my tv and they had the nerve to say that this funeral was iconic as Kennedy's funeral. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!! Sorry for screaming, but I am furious. The man was 93 years old-- he did not died suddenly and I don't see why the taxpayers have to foot the bill for this mournathon.

[neoteric lefty]

54. I agree that the process has dragged alogn.

This funeral should have happened on Wednesday. However, he was still a man, obviously very flawed, but still many people cared about him. Just because his policies were bad and he was very old; it doesn't automatically make this an easy process for his family.

There are worse things you can be screaming about in terms of wasting tax payers money. Just look at the Pentagon wasting 100 million dollars on refundable airline tickets. Perspective, people.

[qanda]

62. I have shut my mouth all week about this

And now that the funeral is over, maybe we can get back to being able to speak our minds around here.

I never said that the process was easy for the family. I feel sorry for the family in the same way that I feel sorry for any family that loses a loved one, which we all do at some time.

I'm not neccesarily screaming about the money as much as I'm screaming about turning this fiasco of a funeral into something to rival that of Kennedy's. Yes, I felt sorry for Nancy, but give me a break if anyone thinks there's as much grief for a man who died at 93 as there was for a man who was assassinated in the prime of his life.

[Arianrhod]

77. Perspective?

What perspective do you have on Hitler's death? Stalin's? Pol Pot's? Do their deaths suddenly make them more human, as if their policies didn't kill millions of people?

Sorry. I will not shed a tear for the man who made Sept 11th possible.

Funny how the Repubs want us to forget that all of a sudden.

My mother died of Alzheimer's a few years ago. It's a horrible death for an innocent person to suffer. But Reagan was not innocent. His policies and hate-filled agenda prevented scientists from producing an antidote to his disease.

Some might see that as poetic justice.

[Yupster]

78. I'm an old Jethro Tull fan

but I don't recognize your quote. Where's it from?

[Arianrhod]

81. "Thick as a Brick"

And you ride yourselves over the fields,
And you make all your animal deals.
And your wise men don't know how it feels
To be thick as a brick.

Or at least, that's how my half-deaf ears hear the verse. :)

[readmylips]

6. Did you see Hannity in the background...trying...

to sneak his face in? That pastor is stretching it too much. I like Ron Jr. I didn't hear what he said.

[fairfaxvadem]

8. No, you're right on this...

I remember how exhausting it was when my dad passed away, even though it was expected.

I can only imagine how this must be 100x more exhausting for them all.

I did not care for RR but that is as an American citizen, not as his wife or child or friend.

I don't begrudge them their grief. My mom has Alzheimers and I had to let go a few years ago. And yet, it won't be easy when it's her time to leave us.

[Old and In the Way]

20. I think the Republican Party is using her.

Fer chrissakes, she's, what, 83? She looks like she could go any second....I think stretching this to a week would strain anybody. I'm no Nancy fan, but I agree that this whole Republican Media event is ridiculously overblown...and if she drops from the stress and exhaustion, I'd hold these political animals responsible.

[Padraig18]

9. I agree with you. n/t

[neoteric lefty]

10. how many 21 gun salutes does one man need?

common, the NRA must be collectively oozing in their pants right now.

[Fenris]

12. 21

[maggrwaggr]

11. Yeah, I can't help but feel sorry for her

It would be pretty inhuman to not feel sorry for her at this point.

[qanda]

49. Yes, just as I felt sorry for my grandmother when her husband died

Or any person who has lost a mate-- it must be a painful experience.

[Tatiana]

13. I must say, she has shown tremendous class and dignity.

She looks so frail, yet still beautiful in her own way. The years were kind to her, but this death seems to have taken a tremendous toll on her. Often Patti had to hold her arm to support her.

This has been a moving burial service.

[neoteric lefty]

14. I do love when they do that flag-folding thingie

no matter who it is for. I wish I could fold my towels that way :)

[Catt03]

44. Agee...I love that every timeI see it

[TankLV]

70. I wish I could just fold my towels, period.

They're currently clean and piled in a corner in my bedroom.

And I can say that I have more concern and have thought immeasurably more about that than that asshole that thankfully and finally is now worm food.

Proof that the good die young.

[RowWellandLive]

15. I agree

My sympathies are with her and her family. I don't see politics when I look at her face. To lose a loved one that way, over ten years, is brutal.

[fairfaxvadem]

16. This was the "best" part of the last 7 days....

They could have easily dispensed with all of the other stuff...This time in California was really the only true time for them to say goodbye or anything genuinely meaningful...

I think this last ceremony was actually quite nice and appropriate, both as a personal memorial and as a dignified sendoff for a POTUS.

This I can respect.

[Fenris]

17. Oh, dear. Poor Nancy! She's crying.

[neoteric lefty]

18. Oh no, shes gonna climb on the casket...

boys, we got ourselves a live one here :)

just kidding

[Tatiana]

19. Oh God this is so sad

She's finally broken down and let it out. Telling Ronnie "I love you." The way she keeps stroking that casket. It's so hard to lose the one you love. It's good that her children are there to support her.

I don't know if she'll make it.

[RummyTheDummy]

22. Pretty tough to watch

It shouldn't have been on TV.

[Zero Gravitas]

50. Agreed

This "private" funeral should have been truly private. Poor Nancy.

[LizW]

38. I couldn't believe they didn't cut away and give her that private moment

There comes a moment when you realize that all the ceremony is over and they are about to lower your loved one into the ground. It hits hard. I felt very sorry for her.

[TankLV]

71. Such a waste of emotion on a horrible person.

What a waste of time and energy.

Thank god for Sponge Bob Square Pants and his pals.

I am sooooo glad I didn't see a thing of this ragasim.

It sickens me soo.

[Joe the Revelator]

74. Oh just be human for one second..

and let the god damned partisanship go for just one freaking second.

[TankLV]

83. Never! He should have been cremated with other daily garbage and flushed

down the toilet.

Abandoned animals at the local shelter deserve more than this piece of scum.

I am sooooo happy this evil shit is finally gone.

He should have served time in prison for his crimes that pappy bush conveniently pardoned during his last couple days in office.

I will say it loud and say it proud!

[pezcore64]

21. i do too actually

i dont think deaths or funerals are any place for politics.
i feel bad for her and her family(minus Michael), all politics aside.

[FleshCartoon]

23. No, I agree.

I might not like their politics, but Nancy is being shown weeping over Ron's casket right now and patting it, obviously reluctant to have him interred. I'm sorry they're showing this, since it should be a private moment.

It reminds me of when a dear friend of mine died. Her husband, daughter, myself and a few of her other close friends stayed behind at the cemetary to watch them inter her remains. You're just reluctant to let go, even up till the last moment.

[No2W2004]

30. That wasn't right,

but who let them broadcast it in the first place? They didn't show Nixon's interment.

[neoteric lefty]

24. jesus! how many cameramen are there

sounds like a muted machine gun with all the cameras going off. That would annoy me if it were my funereal, but then again I don't think I would have much say in the matter at that point.

[gratuitous]

25. Okay

Wow, that was almost as sad as when Keeston died of AIDS.

[spooked]

26. They need to invent a quiet shutter

for those damn cameras

[neoteric lefty]

27. exactly

see above. That pisses me off and I disliked the man.

[fairfaxvadem]

32. Yeah, the camera bit is just too much...

But I suppose she is actually frightened about having to walk away and leave him alone. After 50 odd years, that is too be expected.

Considering how much she guarded him for all these years, this must be extremely difficult for her to let go and not protect him any more. A lot of the meaning of her life is no longer there.

[TahitiNut]

59. If they were quieter, the drama-queens wouldn't know when to stop posing.

That whole tableau was posed ... pure posturing. Angled for the cameras, Patti brushes her own hair back so the cameras get her left profile, neither child blocks the camera's viw with their arms, hands or bodies, no movement to blur the still photos. I'd say it was even rehearsed. These are terrible actors.

[celestia671]

28. I do too..

The footage of her just now leaning on the casket was pretty sad, and it disgusted me to hear the trillion cameras clicking away. It's a shame that someone's grief has to be a damn photo op!

[pezcore64]

31. i know!

a moment of peace and quiet with the man for the woman for christs sake!

[Stephanie]

29. Oh My GOD the DRAMA.

Nancy Reagan just acted up a storm. That whole tableaux where she breakns down and then the children rush in and comfort her? And then she rejects Patti, pushes her away! And then they ALL pose for MANY MINUTES for PHOTOGRAPHERS!

Creepy and weird and sick.

[neoteric lefty]

33. believe what you will but

even if you think he was the worst man in the world, it is hard to deny that she loved him very much.

[fairfaxvadem]

39. Stephanie, do you think it was THAT contrived??/

I admit, the same thing occurred to me, then I considered they may, at this point, have decided that this time was for them, not the public. I don't know. I'd hate to think it was that manipulated without some genuine grief on their part.

I then thought it may have hit Nancy that finally, after one week of being able to put it off, it was time to let go and she wasn't as prepared as she thought she would be.

[Stephanie]

45. To me it looked very contrived

I'm sorry, I think they milked it. There's a Nancy breakdown, then the children rush in and pose in a perfect tableaux. Then, as Patti is whipering comfort in her ear, Nancy SHRUGS her OFF.

It's not so much that they planned what would happen, but the fact that they are all so obviously playing to the camera.

[TahitiNut]

52. And Patti brushed her hair back so the photos would get her face better.

Total self-indulgent posturing. Disgusting. Necrophilia. :puke:

[calimary]

84. I think you're correct. It did finally hit Nancy at that moment, that she

was finally going to have to leave him, for good. And I think she was trying not to think about it. I doubt it was acting at that moment. That was a real moment. The rest of it, leading up to that moment WAS acting. It was CERTAINLY acting for her to remain stoic and dry-eyed all week long.

It WAS sad. I admit it. I was really touched. I actually cried - during Patty's speech and ESPECIALLY during Ron Junior's. But not Michael's - it was too sanctimonious, as expected. Didn't move me. But the other two did. And then I thought I was over it. Until they took Nancy to the coffin for the last time. And then I cried again. And, by the way, I too was very uncomfortable with all the camera clickings. It really felt intrusive. I remember saying to my husband - JEEZ, can't they leave her alone for a minute? I wished the cameras would have stopped for just a minute, so they could have just a moment or two without everybody who was tuned in, all over everywhere, gawking at them.

Look, for whatever it's worth, she loved the guy. Go figure. She loved him a lot. I'm old enough to remember how she protected him and fought everybody and everything she regarded as a threat to him. She was the dream spouse ANY person would love to have, "my partner right or wrong." You have to give her credit for her sheer, singleminded devotion.

I cried. So there. I watched only some of the stuff on the last day (Friday), and nothing before that. Thought I should, just to witness a little of the history, because that's what it was.

I really did feel for her. Her toughest moments come now, that the circus has left town, and the flowers are dried up and thrown out, and the hospital bed has to be taken away, and all reminders of him have to be taken away, or boxed up, or sent to the Reagan library, or whatever. It won't be easy. When my dad died, my mom had to deal with all that, even though I helped (and it was I who cleaned out his apartment and took his stuff up to her - she couldn't face it by herself).

I feel for Nancy. I think she's going to be a fighter for stem cell research, and an uncomfortable reminder of how the best days for the GOP are BEHIND THEM. I think she's gonna be an uncomfortable reminder for the bushes of when their times were good. And they won't like that her popularity eclipses theirs, especially as she pushes for change and reforms that they don't want. I look forward to that, and furthermore, I look forward to supporting her on that.

Nancy Reagan can be a force for good. Look at the two independent-minded kids she birthed? There's no hope for Michael Reagan - he's off on some other planet. But Patty and Ron Junior are credits to their family and to this country. They're bound to do some good. Nancy may just win that redemption after all.

[TahitiNut]

48. She was never a very good actress.

And that little scene was about the poorest acting I've ever seen.

[Cheswick2.0]

63. I have finally seen about as much ugliness and hatred as I can stand

right here at DU.
I started the week annoyed at the net nannies who kept crying that saying mean thing about Reagan would make us "look bad". Frankly I don't really care about what the right thinks.
But finally, tonight, I have had my fill of hatred from the left. Get a grip, Karma's a bitch.

[TahitiNut]

66. It was faked. It was staged. Some people can tell the differnece.

:shrug:

FWIW, there's one helluva fucking big difference between slamming the dead during their memorialization (which I have not done) and pointing out the gross, astounding, soulless hypocrisy of those who are feeding (like cannibals) and getting off (like necrophiliacs) on dragging the rotting corpse around like a carnival side-show.

No prior President was dragged around for over six days like this!
JFK was bueied in 3 days!
LBJ was buried in 3 days!
Even RFK was buried in 3 days!
The public orgasm over Pincess Diana took 6 days, and her death was far more shocking and tragic than this 93-year-old Ronnie abu Bonzo!

[orthogonal]

72. As one of those "net nannies"

I started the week annoyed at the net nannies who kept crying that saying mean thing about Reagan would make us "look bad".

As one of those "net nannies", I wasn't saying that vulgar, mean-spirited comments about a dead man and his grieving family would make us "look bad".

I was saying that it is bad, and contrary to everything I think human and decent, and further, the antithesis of that compassion for others that I thought a bedrock of "progressive" belief.

Whatever else Ronald Reagan was, he was human; whatever else his family are, they are grieving over what is for them a profound and personal loss.

We owe it to them, and we owe it to ourselves and our shared humanity, not to take their grief as an occasion to mock them. In mocking them, we denigrate ourselves.

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Stephanie]

61. Nice to meet you.

Watch it in replay. You're going to see it incessantly for the next few days anyway.

[seabeyond]

34. i am not watching any, of course relief hubby is out of pain

or the situation he was in. how could soemone not be relieved the person they love is done with the suffering. goodness we didnt see how he was or how long he has been like that. cancer all those long illness the grace is in the death

and tired, she is old and has been flying all over the nation for days. she has got to be ready to just collapse. she did it cause this is what reagan wanted all those years ago so what, he could know he is loved, he is dead, the epitamy of vanity. it is sad she should be expected to do all this cause he wants it, last wishes

[Padraig18]

35. That brought tears to my eyes, watching her say goodbye...

My own Grandfather died with Alazheimer's and even though you always think you're ready to let go, you're not; as I watched Mrs. Reagan, I was reminded of Gran stroking Da's casket at the cemetery and saying over and over, "I loved you so."

:cry:

[RummyTheDummy]

36. Did anyone see Jane Wyman go up to the casket

I'm pretty sure that's her. She hasn't been seen in public for quite some time, so it's hard to be sure, but one would think she would have been there. She had glasses with lens' about an inch thick and she looked terrible. She must be in her 90s.

[neoteric lefty]

40. you mean this woman???

[RummyTheDummy]

42. Yeah. On second thought maybe it wasn't her

NT

[Neshanic]

37. Of course she loved him. That last tableau should of been private.

[Gregorian]

41. I'm guessing that you are young.

The saddest part about this is the sorrow that isn't being shown on tv. All of those people affected by Ron (and Nancy), who were not in front of the cameras. Those who lost their homes due to forfeiture, in the drug war. Those in Afghanistan who's parents were killed. Those who lost their jobs due to the Reagan cutbacks. The ones who will be forgotten, and never seen, and never heard.
Something people don't feel strongly enough about is how powerful the first lady is. People marry someone who has qualities they admire and like. So, I would guess, did Ron. And that makes Nancy every bit as good an actor as her husband. They ruined so much. Without so much as shedding a single tear. They didn't care.

[Neshanic]

55. No, I am not young, and I was speaking of that moment.

Yes, I know she was an actress. This whole spectacle was staggeringly over the top, all for future use on film.

But there is a possiblility of one true moment. Unmeasurable, but a moment still, that an emotion, pure, unplanned can occur.

She loved him. You want to argue that?

Also, I buried a father four weeks ago to the same disease that Reagan succumbed to. He was shot in WWII, fighting for his life in North Africa, a man who was twice the man Reagan was. He knew compassion, acceptance, loving a gay son, all without the help or dogma of republicans.

[Gregorian]

75. I feel so strange.

I care so much for animals, and people who are in need. I am full of deep emotions for so much in this world. That's what makes me a liberal. I believe in a god that is as real as we see and touch. But, there is something that happens to me when I know that someone is full of pride and arrogance and carelessness. I think people voted for Reagan because he truely seemed to care. But he didn't. Or he changed. I always thought Nancy was an empty shell. But even an empty nothing of a being can cry. I suppose that's what people are seeing now. You know, I don't run around spouting the bible. And I keep it to myself. But I believe that there is a hell. I believe that there is a supreme being that created this all. And I believe that there is a point where even that being does not extent itself. That's how I feel. I can watch that, and I did, and feel absolutely nothing for her. It's sad. And I don't care. Yet having said that, it says to love thy enemy. Truely, it's all very complex and confusing. But the Reagans, and Nixons of the world, affected my life in such a negative way, that they'd have to come to me and personally make good before I'd forgive and forget. I lost many years of my life. I'll never get them back. I'll stop now. I want to go on and on, but it's just blabber at this point. The did the world a lot of bad.

[PartyPooper]

43. Anybody who has half a heart can't help but be touched by this.

This scene must remind each of us of our own family and friends who have already departed...and their funerals.

Personally, this one reminded me of my father's funeral. And, I do feel for Nancy and her family.

I am so sad right now.

:cry:

[Gin]

51. I felt very sorry for nancy...they loved each other and it showed...

I wish her well.

Did anyone catch the impersonation of Thatcher by the minister? It made me laugh. I am not sure he was trying to be funny...but it made me laugh.

[Zero Gravitas]

47. I agree

I never liked Nancy when whe was First Lady and I detested the policies of Reagan's adminstration, but I really feel bad for her right now.

[newsguyatl]

53. yeh, regardless of politics

the califoria ceremony was poignant and beautiful IMO.

and regardless of politics, their relationship was the same.

i can put politics aside long enough to see and appreciate this.

[T Town Jake]

56. Yep...agreed

...I can separate my feelings about the man's policies while president from my feelings about a family's grief. Get your asbestos suit on though, I think that's flamethrowers I hear sparking to life in the background...

[snoochie]

58. I didn't even watch it

but just reading all these descriptions has me choked up. I may not have agreed with Reagan's policies, but I still sympathize with Nancy and her family.

I agree that the press should have let this be a private last parting moment. Vultures.

[Missy Vixen]

60. Here's the deal at our house

Didn't think much of Reagan. Still don't. At the same time, reading other DU'ers postings about CNN's cameras being so close on Mrs. Reagan's face that they could read her lips during the service left me absolutely disgusted.

Whatever I may think of Nancy Reagan and her late husband at any other time, it's too bad the media doesn't even have the self-control to allow a grieving wife a few private moments at her husband's funeral.

My condolences to the Reagan family. Let's hope that President Kerry goes full steam ahead on stem cell research, so other families can avoid the hell that is Alzheimer's.

Julie

[neoteric lefty]

64. I hope Nancy pressures Shrub about the Stem Cell research to no end

If Shrub gets snubbed by Nancy by refusing to budge on stem cell research, then I think he will lose a lot of votes from moderate Republicans. She is now the semi-"Jackie O." to the Right.

[Yupster]

79. I don't see that happening neoteric

To me Nancy looked so, so very tired.

I bet she's been so tired for years.

I wouldn't expect her to do a whole lot of anything. She's old, and frail and tired, and no doubt will be very depressed for probably a very long time.

[grasswire]

68. the press didn't make a move without Nancy's planning

....so we must assume this was all part of her desire to showcase the last moments of her dear Ronnie.

A 300-page plan for the ceremony was prepared by Nancy Reagan. Every minute detail was plotted out.

If she had wanted a private moment at the end, it would have happened.

That said, she looked incredibly frail. But it was Ron who made me cry. He's a fine, fine man.

[UrbScotty]

65. Absolutely. Like my grandma's been through.

Her husband, my grandpa, died a few weeks ago, and she could hardly deal with it, either.

[neoteric lefty]

67. This doesn't looked staged at all.

I remember when my father died. I remember a moment very much like this.

[TahitiNut]

69. Not any more so than this does.

[FredScuttle]

82. or this...

"May I cut in?"

[Kanary]

73. You don't think Laura will be able to conjure up a few tears

when the time comes?

Kanary

[serryjw]

76. He was 93!

Even if he had died when he was Dx he would have been 83! He lived a great life......in his estimation.

[newsguyatl]

80. some really touching pictures out

her grief here is palpable.