The following is a collection of the materials used in creating the twenty-third episode of the
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Welcome again to the Citizen Ronald Podcast. Things here are going to go a little different than usual today. If I have time, I'll throw in a Reagan broadcast, his final broadcast before announcing his candidacy for president in the upcoming 1980 election. It only seems appropriate.
I have a number of things I need to address today.
First, I should like to apprise you of my situation:
The provider that I went with for podcast hosting,
Podbean, allows a maximum of 5 hours on its free accounts. When I upload this broadcast, I will have reached that point. This could be my final episode. For a monthly fee, I can get unlimited storage space and a few other perks. I am tempted to do it, but I need to know that there will be some kind of return on my investment, especially as long as I remain unemployed.
Your feedback would be very helpful to me. What about the show interests you? Have you recommended the show to anyone? Have you rated and/or reviewed it? Should I continue? Are you willing to help financially? Would you be ok with 3rd party advertisements? Are there any particular subjects I should focus on? Should I keep myself to discussing Reagan’s broadcasts and the history and offer less of my own commentary or vice-versa? What other thoughts do you have on the show?
You might need a way to contact me with that feedback.
The wiki has links to a Facebook page: poorrrichardsprintshop.com/wiki/
I suppose Twitter or Parler might also work. For Twitter you can use
@poorrichardsps and on Parler I was able to get
@citizenreagan.
This is not my only concern should I go forward.
There is plenty more I could talk about from these Reagan broadcasts, but I find myself in the position of not having full access to the archives. I have asked the Reagan Foundation for permission to purchase more on several occasions. The only time I received a response, I was told that: "it is the standard policy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that we do not grant rights to Reagan’s likeness to third parties without exceptional circumstances." I'll be honest, it is completely understandable, but it is frustrating and I'll tell you why. I am concerned that Reagan's ideas and beliefs, conservative ideas and beliefs, are falling by the wayside. The Reagan Foundation is sitting on such a trove of conservative thought that could be used to counter the leftist ideals that seem to be gaining a foothold, if it was allowed to be brought to light. That’s all I'm trying to do, throwing in a little education about the history and my own perspective along the way.
I’m not going to ask you to contact them, but if you were to do so on your own... please, be respectful.
Item number two: I have found additional information about a couple of my previous episodes that I wanted to bring you.
- In my very first episode, I brought to you the story of Martin Koszta and Captain Duncan Ingraham. I told you that Reagan had told the story at the first CPAC in 1974, but could not present you with any audio. I can now. I found the audio at the National Archives online collection and I have added a link to it on my wiki, with the rest of my research. I have gone through it and created a transcript of the speech, because, like much of Reagan's speech work, he didn’t stick to his script.
- Also I have to mention, in my 4th episode I talked about Socialism, taxes and the Nordic countries of Sweden and Denmark. I specifically said that I was surprised Reagan didn't talk about the tax situation of Astrid Lindgren and film director Ingmar Bergman. For those that didn't listen to that episode, Lindgren is known worldwide for writing the Pippi Longstocking books. I was wrong. He did talk about it. I hadn't read the transcript at the time I went forward with the podcast. He mentioned Bergman by name and a "distinguished author" who wrote a fairy tale.
Let me expand on what happened.
- Bergman's issue came with a charge of tax evasion. He was arrested in January, 1976. After searches and interrogations, he had to be admitted to the hospital for a nervous breakdown. The charge, formally made February 3rd, concerned the transfer of money from one company in Switzerland to its parent company inside Sweden, both owned by Bergman. I am finding mixed reports about when and why the money was transferred. One report saying it occurred in 1970, another says 1974. The case was dropped, but the damage had been done. Bergman was not happy and would close his production companies and move to Munich, Germany.
- Lindgren's issue was the tax rate. In an effort to curb inflation, there had been a recent hike in taxes such that anyone who was self-employed had to pay both regular income tax and employer’s fees. The resulting tax rate would be over 100% once an individual reached $33,000 in income.
Third, since I have the time for it, here is Reagan's final broadcast and I'll have some history to discuss when its finished. By the way, I don’t think the background music was included in the original broadcast. I think it was added for the audiobook, which is the source of this clip:
For the last time I'm cleaning up my desk with a few items you should hear.
I'll be right back.
Believe me my friends, I speak to you today with mixed emotions and maybe it’s fitting that I make it the final desk cleaning day.
The first item is, in my opinion, very serious for all of us and another indication of how far we are straying from the very basic of our system. The Mountain States Legal Foundation has filed a suit with the Federal government claiming that Constitutional rights of several states are being violated. When Congress voted to extend the time for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment it refused to allow several states to change their position and rescind the approval they had given earlier.
A few weeks ago the U.S. Dept. of Justice, which should be the defender above all of constitutional rights, filed a motion with the Idaho court where the case is being heard. The motion was to disqualify the judge appointed to hear the case.
Now hear this! The Justice Department wants him disqualified because of his religion. He is a member of the Mormon church. I leave it to you to imagine what such a precedent could do to our entire system of justice if judges can be either assigned or disqualified on the basis of religion.
These next few items may make you laugh but you'll hurt a little too. A former California Superintendent of Education, Dr. Max Rafferty has uncovered a few items having to do with extremes in the battle of the sexes.
The Department of Health, Education and Welfare has discovered that in one public school more boys than girls were being spanked. If the school doesn't want a million dollars in Federal aid to be withheld it will henceforth spank girls and boys in exactly equal numbers.
In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the City Council has rules that from now on those metal covered holes in our streets we've long called "manholes" will henceforth be known as "person holes." And in Missoula Montana, a "Peeping Tom" ordinance is now a "Peeping Person" law.
Well that's all the desk cleaning for today and as I indicated when I began it has been my last such chore. This has been my final commentary.
I'm going to miss these visits with all of you. I‘ve enjoyed every one. Even writing them has been a lot of fun. I've scratched them out on a yellow tablet in airplanes, riding in cars, and at the ranch when the sun went down.
Whenever I've told you about some misfortune befalling one of our fellow citizens you've opened your hearts and your pocketbooks and gone to the rescue. I know you have because the individuals you helped have written to let me know. You’ve done a great deal to strengthen my faith in this land of ours and its people. You arc the greatest.
Sometime later today if you happen to catch me on television you'll understand why I can no longer bring you these commentaries.
This is Ronald Reagan, and from the bottom of my heart—thanks for listening.
So, what additional information was I able to find for this broadcast:
The Idaho judge that the Justice Department was trying to disqualify over his being Mormon was Judge
Marion Callister and he was not
disqualified from the case. He would step down from a position he held within the Mormon church, and the reason they wanted him removed from the case was the church had a stated opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment on which he would be hearing arguments.
He would rule in 1981 that states did have the right to rescind their approval of the Constitutional amendment and that Congress had overstepped in extending the time for its approval.
Next, Reagan talks about the "battle of the sexes," and cites some examples of where things were getting out of hand at the time, involving child spankings, manho... I'm sorry, personhole covers, etc. We have definitely seen an escalation in this over the last few years and I dare say it’s become far, far worse than it was in 1979, though perhaps 'Battle of the Genders' would be a more appropriate name. Right now, it seems like an improper pronoun is enough to get you ostracized, cancelled or worse.
I'm going to try to make my ultimate decision about the podcast quickly. If you don't see a new episode next week, don't worry. Even if I go ahead, I need some time to work on research, writing and recording.
I think I have one final duty to perform:
I need to say thank you. Thank you to everyone that listened. It means a great deal to me to know that I can do this and that, out there, someone is willing to listen and come back for more. Maybe you're just coming back for more Reagan, and that’s ok too. We could use more Reagan in today's world.