Reagan Lies in State

And Bush lies in the White House. Cough.

Well, I guess something like this just had to happen, didn’t it?

Capitol police officers, shouting “Airborne threat, four minutes out!” ordered an evacuation as loud alarms sounded, and dozens of dignitaries and former Reagan aides gathered in a reception room near the Senate floor went running down the north steps of the Senate wing.

That’s a quote from the New York Times’ story on President Reagan’s lying–in–state at the Capitol in Washington. State? Hmmm, not for the first few minutes anyway.

Jonathan blogs the former President’s death and the resulting media *cough* obsequies *cough* here, more knowledgeably than most Brits could, because he’s not a Brit:

Ronald Reagan is dead. Can you believe it? What do you mean, of course, you silly twit? Haven’t you seen the impassioned media coverage of this sudden news? And the plans for the biggest funeral America has seen in 30 years?

Dad and I talked about it. I said ‘Didn’t he start off as a Democrat?’ and Dad said ‘I don’t know, but it doesn’t make any difference. There’s very little space between them’. To which I replied something like ‘Well, they do have a liberal electorate there – small enough not to make a blind bit of difference’.

Anyway, I’m certain loads of Americans are distraught over this. It’s a big thing for them. But even if I *was* American, I’m not sure I’d care that much even then.