I went to see "Firewall" this weekend with Harrison Ford. It was an okay movie, worth seeing once but can't say I was that impressed. The best part was probably seeing "Chloe" from 24 play his secretary. It was interesting seeing her play a different role. But I was more excited about one of the previews before the movie. In April a movie is coming out called "The Sentinel". It has Kiefer Sutherland in it playing a "Jack Bauer" role. Click Here for a trailer of the movie. Kiefer Sutherland is in it as a secret service guy along with Michael Douglas. I just hope like someone else mentioned that Kiefer doesn't end up being the bad guy in the end.
She is married to attorney Jerry Hughes and mother to two children. She is a strong Christian who is an elder and a Sunday School Teacher in the Presbyterian Church. Her faith is a big part of her life. She says, “Faith is a foundation, a set of beliefs upon which my life is grounded and from which all decisions can be based.” She got the phrase "Lord, give me grace under pressure" from her minister and prays it before all her speech or television interviews.
-Approximately 45 women have been presidents or prime ministers from 1950-2000There are 3 Women who have come to power just recently that I would like to highlight.
-There are 12 female heads of state elected or appointed since 2000
-Current Women Leaders:
1) Bangladesh--Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
2) Germany--Chancellor Angela Merkel
3) Ireland--President Mary McAleese
4) Latvia--President Vaira Vike-Freiberga
5) New Zealand--Prime Minister Helen Clark
6) Philippines--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
7) Liberia--President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
First, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected to be President of Liberia. Not only is she the first woman president of Liberia but the first woman to be elected president in Africa. She was just inaugurated into office on January 16th with Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush standing by in support. Ironically her nickname is "Liberia's Iron Lady". Here are some excerpts from a Washington Post article written about her before she was elected:"Nicknamed the "Iron Lady of Liberia," the 66-year-old economist has often held jobs in fields dominated by men, including finance minister of Liberia and vice president of Citicorp. She has also run for office against one autocratic Liberian leader and gone to prison for criticizing another.
Johnson-Sirleaf's campaign pledges to stop corruption and promote development hold appeal for people in Liberia, which emerged in 2003 from 14 years of civil war that left an estimated 200,000 dead and the infrastructure destroyed.
She also has promised to bring electricity to the capital within six months and to launch an ambitious education program that includes rebuilding schools, opening vocational training centers and promoting sports.
Although Johnson-Sirleaf's election would make her the first female head of government in Africa, she is one of a long list of Liberian women who have made their mark on domestic or international politics."
"According to an article in Der Spiegel, her background in the former GDR has served her well in post-reunification politics. For the first 36 years of her life, she honed her skills at disguising her inner thoughts and feelings — essential for survival in a society where every room might contain a State Security Police (Stasi) informer, and especially for a pastor's daughter. Speaking near-perfect English and remarking on her background as an "Ossi", she says: "Anyone who really has something to say doesn't need make-up". Besides being fluent in English Angela Merkel also speaks Russian fluently."I personally loved the make-up line :-).
"The 54-year-old became the sole candidate for the ruling centre-left coalition after another woman, Soledad Alvear, dropped out of the contest in late May.
The coalition, known as Concertacion, has held power since the return of democracy in 1990 and Ms Bachelet says she will carry on the tradition of maintaining strong economic growth - but has also pledged change.
Ms Bachelet, who will be inaugurated in March, is keen to bridge the gap between rich and poor."
We may soon have a woman president here in the U.S.
SOURCES:
KC Star articles: 1) Will Women Show a New Way? by Trudy Rubin
2) More Women Emerge to Lead Their Nations by Rick Montgomery
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Liberia's 'Iron Lady' Goes for Gold
Angela Merkel
Merkel's Meteoric Rise to Power
Michelle Bachelet
The Woman Taking Chile's Top Job
Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies in the world. Today, there are 122.Other parts of the speech I liked:
But our enemies and our friends can be certain: The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil.
America rejects the false comfort of isolationism. We are the nation that saved liberty in Europe, and liberated death camps, and helped raise up democracies, and faced down an evil empire. Once again, we accept the call of history to deliver the oppressed and move this world toward peace. We remain on the offensive against terror networks. We have killed or captured many of their leaders – and for the others, their day will come.
Our work in Iraq is difficult because our enemy is brutal. But that brutality has not stopped the dramatic progress of a new democracy. In less than three years, the nation has gone from dictatorship to liberation, to sovereignty, to a constitution, to national elections.
The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels – but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
Yet, there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. (Applause.) Hindsight alone is not wisdom, and second-guessing is not a strategy. (Applause.)
Marine Staff Sergeant Dan Clay was killed last month fighting in Fallujah. He left behind a letter to his family, but his words could just as well be addressed to every American. Here is what Dan wrote: "I know what honor is. ... It has been an honor to protect and serve all of you. I faced death with the secure knowledge that you would not have to.... Never falter! Don't hesitate to honor and support those of us who have the honor of protecting that which is worth protecting."
Democracies in the Middle East will not look like our own, because they will reflect the traditions of their own citizens. Yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity.
Tonight, let me speak directly to the citizens of Iran: America respects you, and we respect your country. We respect your right to choose your own future and win your own freedom. And our nation hopes one day to be the closest of friends with a free and democratic Iran.
So to prevent another attack – based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute – I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al Qaeda operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed. The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again. (Applause.)
Together, let us protect our country, support the men and women who defend us, and lead this world toward freedom.
As we look at these challenges, we must never give in to the belief that America is in decline, or that our culture is doomed to unravel. The American people know better than that. We have proven the pessimists wrong before – and we will do it again. (Applause.)
A hopeful society depends on courts that deliver equal justice under the law. The Supreme Court now has two superb new members – new members on its bench: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. (Applause.) I thank the Senate for confirming both of them. I will continue to nominate men and women who understand that judges must be servants of the law, and not legislate from the bench.
Human life is a gift from our Creator – and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale.
Lincoln could have accepted peace at the cost of disunity and continued slavery. Martin Luther King could have stopped at Birmingham or at Selma, and achieved only half a victory over segregation. The United States could have accepted the permanent division of Europe, and been complicit in the oppression of others. Today, having come far in our own historical journey, we must decide: Will we turn back, or finish well?
This is my 3rd and final post on Ronald Reagan. I hope you have been as inspired by his life as I have been to learn and be a better person as a result. When it comes to his humor and optimism I aspire to be more like him.
Reagan was by no means perfect since none of us are. It was actually encouraging to see that he was human. In my opinion his biggest failure was in his role as Dad. I think most of it was a generational thing and that he just didn't know how to be a great dad. His own father had been an alcoholic. But one only needs to look at Ron Jr. and the way he carries himself (like he has a chip on his shoulder) to see that Reagan was not able to translate some of his powerful lessons to his own kids. And thus we see he was only human. Now back to the positive stuff :-).
His Convictions: One of the most inspiring things to me is a person with convictions who doesn't compromise on their core principles. This is the essence of Ronald Reagan. He didn't care if he was criticized for something he believed in. If he believed in it he did it no matter what the polls said.
Reagan refused to give into Gorbachev's early deals even though he was pressured by many to do so. If he hadn't stuck to his convictions the cold war may still be going on today and the Berlin Wall might never have come down.
One of my very favorite stories is one that Bill Bennett likes to tell because it involves him. Bennett was the Secretary of Education in Reagan's administration and right from the start he became controversial because he was blunt in how he presented his views. He had been getting a lot of bad press and was under a tremendous amount of heat for things he had said. There were even papers calling for his resignation. When the next cabinet meeting came Bennett was very nervous and even felt that the others in the meeting were distancing themselves from him. Here is Peggy Noonan quoting Bennett's account of what happened:
"And we finally got to the last item: Bennett. And the president--I was pretty isolated at this point, and the president started to read aloud just the headlines. 'BENNETT, A DUNCE IN THE CLASSROOM,' 'BENNETT, THE JAMES WATT OF THE SECOND TERM,' 'BENNETT MUST BE FIRED.'
"And I was sinking farther and farther in my seat as the president read aloud. And my colleagues were drawing farther away. Reagan put the last clipping in and folded it up, and he said, 'Now, that's Bill Bennett's first three weeks in office. What's wrong with the rest of you?'
"It was a great moment--it was an exhale moment, too .... But it was also one of the kindest and most considerate things anybody ever did for me .... It was a moment I'll never forget, and it taught me what a leader can do, and what it can mean to the morale of people to have done that."
When the meeting was over, Bennett went to the president and said, "Boss, thank you. Thank you very, very much."
And Reagan told him, "You know, they like to criticize me for being in show business. But one thing you learn in show business, there's a difference between the critics and the box office. Don't worry about the critics; just keep doing your job."
Bennett later summed up Reagan this way: "He was a man in possession of his own soul."
Reagan didn't care that Bennett was getting attacked and how that would reflect on his administration. He didn't ask him to tone things down because he agreed with Bennett and knew he was doing the right thing. So Bennett was unpopular with the papers, Reagan didn't care because they were doing what was right.
His faith: Reagan was a great man of faith. He admitted that he wouldn't have gotten through his presidency without the help of prayer. "I've prayed a lot throughout my life. Abraham Lincoln once said that he could never have fulfilled his duties as president for even fifteen minutes without God's help. I felt the same way." 
Mike called Margaret Thatcher Reagan's "conservative soulmate" and I couldn't think of a better way to describe their relationship. I am posting this picture and a quote of hers from his funeral to set up my last topic. "We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend." Margaret Thatcher was Reagan's soulmate when it came to their belief in freedom.
His belief in freedom: Peggy Noonan said that Reagan's foreign policy could be boiled down to 3 words: "Peace through strength." That sounds a lot like Teddy Roosevelt's famous saying of "Speak softly and carry a big stick." If you show strength and resolve and that you mean what you say you sometimes avoid war.
The Reagan doctrine was described like this: "Commitment to support 'those fighting for freedom and against communism wherever we found them.'"
Here are some quotes from his "Westminster Speech" that he made on June 8, 1982:
"It would be cultural condescension, or worse, to say that any people prefer dictatorship to democracy. Who would voluntarily choose not to have the right to vote, decide to purchase government propaganda handouts instead of independent newspapers, prefer government to worker-controlled unions, opt for land to be owned by the state instead of those who till it, want government repression of religious liberty, a single political party instead of a free choice, a rigid cultural orthodoxy instead of democratic tolerance and diversity?
...given strong leadership, time and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil.
I've often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world.
So, let us ask ourselves, ``What kind of people do we think we are?'' And let us answer, ``Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.''
For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny."
"At the same time, however, they must be made to understand we will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God. And we will never stop searching for a genuine peace.
But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom."
And of course Reagan's famous words: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
As you can see by these quotes George W. Bush is truly Reagan's "Conservative Son". W carries Reagan's torch for freedom and he does it well. W isn't the "great communicator" like Reagan but he has the same heart and ideas which are making this world safer and freer.
And speaking of W it is fitting to conclude my series on Reagan with a quote from him. This is a little of what W had to say about Reagan: "Some achievements fade with the years. Ronald Reagan's achievements grow larger with the passing of time."
Sources:
"When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan
One of my very favorite stories of all time is Alex Haley's story of his family in his book "Roots". When I was in junior high my whole family stayed up late during the summer and watched the re-airing of the mini-series "Roots". 
I don't know what it was about that but it is still one of my favorite family memories. Because of that I sought it out on video once I was an adult. Since then I've watched both series many, many times. Then I read the book and found it to be easy reading even though it was a huge book.
