Greatest of the Great

Margaret Thatcher

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Liberals Hate Conservatives

The appalling reaction of many leftists throughout the world to the passing of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher corroborates (see WOW) the observation that conservatives disagree with liberals, but liberals hate conservatives!  The vitriol spewing from the mouths of socialists actually celebrating the death of a fellow human being belies their phony mantra of love and caring for others.  In reality, they care only for themselves and, let’s face it, they didn’t like the late Prime Minister because she made them actually get up off their ‘rusty dusties’ and work for a living.

A Positive Lasting Impact

We congratulate Margaret Thatcher for resurrecting the British economy and for having the foresight to spare the United Kingdom from the current Euro Zone mess.  We are grateful to Margaret Thatcher, who along with President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, brought down the Evil Empire and liberated millions of people from the iron grip of the Soviet Union.  And finally, we salute Margaret Thatcher for being the first and only woman Prime Minister of The United Kingdom while at the same time fulfilling the important roles of wife and mother.  The life and accomplishments of Lady Thatcher will have a positive and lasting impact on the world and we are thankful to have been blessed by her brilliant intellect, her courageous leadership and her wonderful personality.

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Richard M. Nixon Centennial Celebration

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Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Richard M. Nixon

Today, January 9, 2013 marks the centennial of President Richard M. Nixon’s birth.  Festivities to celebrate the life of this extraordinary man are planned all month at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.  In addition, special events commemorating the legacy of our 37th president will take place across the nation, including a gala birthday reunion taking place today at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., also home of the Nixon Center.

Presdient Richard M. Nixon
Presdient Richard M. Nixon

Richard Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California in 1913, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and served two terms as Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower before being elected President of the United States in 1968.  He has increasingly come to be regarded as one of the two greatest presidents of the 20th century, along with Ronald Reagan.  Among the many accomplishments during his years in the White House, Nixon ended the Vietnam War, opened the door to China, set the groundwork for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of communism in Eastern Europe, lowered the voting age to 18 and ended the military draft.  He died following a stroke in 1994 and is buried next to his wife, Pat, in a simple grave on the grounds of the Nixon Library.

President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon

Visitors to Vietnam today would be pleased to see that it is now a country of hard working entrepreneurs thriving under capitalism.  The former capital of South Vietnam, renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the war, is now called Saigon once again.  The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi is essentially ignored and the Square is virtually empty.  Both Vietnam and China are friendly countries filled with people who like America and Americans.  This is truly a great legacy for President Richard M. Nixon.  Wise men still look to his series of best selling books as a blueprint for foreign policy forty years later.

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California
The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California

One has to wonder how much better the world would be today if Richard Nixon had been able to complete his second term.  He was reelected in 1972 by one of the largest landslides in American history with over 60% of the popular vote and carrying every state but Massachusetts.  But his liberal Democrat detractors were hard at work undermining his successful presidency, never mind what the American people wanted and so wisely recognized as a great president.  Faced with both a House and Senate controlled by the Democrats throughout his presidency, it was a tribute to the skill of this great statesmen that he was able to accomplish anything at all.  In a time before balanced cable news, the liberal palaver of all three major networks went unopposed, enabling their news anchormen to become willing accomplices for what have come to be known as the ‘Nixon haters’.  Rather than put the country through any further turmoil, Nixon graciously resigned.  We were so fortunate to have had such a great man at the helm during the critical years from 1969 to 1974 and today we proudly and gratefully celebrate the life and legacy of President Richard M. Nixon.

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Johnny Wright Dies at 97

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Country Music Pioneer 

          Johnny Wright died at his home in Nashville on September 27 at the age of 97.  Wright was a country music fixture for the better part of the 20th century and had a number of hit records, including ‘Ashes of Love’, while performing as half of the singing duo, Johnnie and Jack.  After his singing partner and brother-in law Jack Anglin was killed in an automobile accident in 1963, Wright had a solo hit with ‘Hello Vietnam’ and later he changed the spelling of his name to ‘Johnny’. 

Married to Kitty Wells  

          Johnny Wright had been married to country music legend Kitty Wells for nearly 74 years at the time of his death and had devoted much of his own career to promoting hers.  Kitty Wells is best known for her mega hit, ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’, recorded in 1952.  At the age of 92 Kitty Wells is still known as the undisputed Queen of Country Music.  Johnny Wright was one of the few remaining pioneers of country music and many see his passing as the end of an era.

Check Out Our Article on The Living Legends of the Golden Age of Country Music

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Living Legends of the Golden Age of Country Music

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A Uniquely American Phenomenon

Many of us became aware that country music began to change about 25 years ago, parting ways with the stars and style that brought it into the mainstream of public appreciation in the 1960s and 70s.  Beginning with a yodeling Jimmy Rogers strumming his guitar back in the 1920s and continuing on to Tanya Tucker in the early 1990s, the Nashville sound held its own as a truly American art form for the better part of the 20th century.  While borrowing from our Irish heritage, much of what makes country music great is that it is a uniquely American phenomenon.  After all, what could be more American than Kitty Wells, Little Jimmy Dickens or Bluegrass music!

We Love the ‘New Country’, Too!

Don’t get me wrong.  We love the country music of today and the many stars who make it so popular.  Many of them are solid patriotic Americans who cherish our Judeo-Christian heritage, like one of our favorite newcomers, Justin Moore.  While we firmly support their contribution to the world of entertainment, we still must recognize that the ‘new country’ is different than the music from the Golden Age of Country Music.  It seems that without the soulful voice backed up by a fiddle and steel guitar, something is lost in the translation.

Living Stars from the Golden Age of Country Music

Thankfully, many of the great performers of the Golden Age of Country Music are still living today.  In fact, you might be surprised to know some of the ones who are still with us.  With the help of our readers, we are compiling a list of these stars to which we will add as more are brought to our attention.  Please help us add to this list by submitting the names of living stars directly as a comment on this posting.  We salute the following Living Stars from the Golden Age of Country Music (golden stars of country music indicated accordingly) and thank them for the years of great entertainment they have provided us.  They are truly part of What Makes US Great! 

Bill Anderson

Lynn Anderson (1947-2015)

Moe Bandy

Bobby Bare

Jim Ed Brown (1934-2015)

Glen Campbell

Roy Clark

John Conlee

Mac Davis

Little Jimmy Dickens (1920-2015)

Mickey Gilley

Jack Greene

Merle Haggard

Tom T. Hall

Emmylou Harris

Jan Howard

Alan Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Sonny James

George Jones (1931-2013)

Claude King (1923-2013)

Kris Kristofferson

Jerry Lee Lewis

Loretta Lynn

Barbara Mandrell

Ronnie Milsap

Melba Montgomery

Anne Murray

Willie Nelson

Marie Osmond

Dolly Parton

Ray Price (1926-2013)

Charley Pride

Jeanne Pruett

Johnny Rodriguez

Kenny Rogers

Earl Scruggs (1924-2012)

Jeannie Seely

Jean Shepard

Ricky Skaggs

Connie Smith

George Strait

Mel Tillis

Randy Travis

Tanya Tucker

Kitty Wells (1919-2012)

Slim Whitman (1924-2013)

Don Williams

Hank Williams, Jr.

Johnnie Wright (1914-2011)

          On a personal note, I have had the good fortune to see a number of the great country music artists in concert, including Ernest Tubb, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Milsap, The Judds, Roy Clark, and Buck Owens with Buckaroo greats Don Rich and Doyle Holly. 

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