..somebody take the time and do the homework of going back and digging out the punditry of the time before the benefit of 20-20 hindsight with the accompanying revisionism kicks in. I was reading a story a few weeks back by the speechwriter who came up with the original concept for "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Nobody, and I mean nobody liked the line in the speech. The speechwriter wasn't at all sure it should be in the speech. The State Department absolutely hated it. Reagan put his own touches on the speech (as he usually did with his speeches), and said he was leaving it in, over continuing objections. The speechwriter was sweating bullets. We all know what ultimately happened, but there are some revisionists who have tried to downplay the significance of the speech. Those who lived in the time know better. One other thing about Reagan that has been noted by some, but given the current atmosphere of political ugliness, partisanship, and general fractitiousness, I think it's even more important that it be noted today: regardless of political differences, Reagan was able to transcend them at the end of the day and maintain civility and even friendship with some of his most ardent political opponents (Tip O'Neill comes immediately to mind). I hope today's politicians reflect on the lesson that, under Reagan's leadership, the label of "American" came before the labels of "liberal", "conservative", "Democrat", "Republican". And it's instructive to note that when Reagan left office, his popularity ratings in the polls at the time of his leaving exceeded those of any President in the history of polling. In short, he truly was "a uniter, not a divider."