Opinion

The following is an excerpt from a Jan. 19, 1989, speech by President Ronald Reagan as he awarded the Presidential Freedome to Mike Mansfield, former U.S. ambassador to Japan, and George Shultz, former secretary of state. It was his final speech to the nation as president.

TEXAS REPUBLICANS FEAR ballots more than bullets. State lawmakers passed permitless carry legislation during their recently ended regular session—letting most adults carry guns in public without licenses, permits, or training—and sent it to Gov.

Memorial Day (originally Decoration Day) honors the over one million military personnel killed in all our wars since our revolutionary war. From 1868 to 1970, Memorial Day was observed on May 30. Now Memorial Day is the last Monday of May, making it a long weekend holiday that doubles as the beginning of summer vacation season.

MY PARENTS DID a cross-country drive from Texas to visit my sister in Michigan and me in Ohio. They entertained grandbabies, celebrated birthdays, lavished us with love, and then went on their way back to God’s country. They were “this close” to being home when a quick overnight at my godmother’s house was extended when everything went haywire; my mom ended up having her gallbladder removed, and my dad had some other health issues.

The following is the text of a Memorial Day tribute written by Malouf Abraham Jr. in the mid-1980s. He thought it might be his entry into a design competition for a stone to be placed in a new Veteran’s Memorial Plaza in Ohio.

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was an emperor so fond of new clothes that he spent vast amounts of money on them. He only went out when he had the chance to show off his new clothes. Other emperors could be found sitting in council. However, it was said of this Emperor that “He is sitting in his wardrobe.”

A group of four student composers from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music visited Canadian last week as part of a project to create six musical compositions that will become a part of The Citadelle Art Foundation’s permanent collection (see Rotary Report on page 16).

EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Wood lost his bid in a special election held May 1 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, in Texas 6th Congressional District. Many of you may not have heard his name before, and certainly, many of you did not have the opportunity to vote for him. We are publishing the statement he made following his loss because—after reading his words—we hope we, and you, will someday have the chance to vote for Wood, and for other men and women who care as deeply as he does, and we do, about the failures of Republicans in the weeks following the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington, D.C., and the stain it has left on the party of Abraham Lincoln. — LEB