Reagan
I was way too young to have any inkling of an opinion about Reagan, so I have very little to say on the man.
However, the obit-u-thon on cable news is making me think a lot about how awful, on all fronts, George W. Bush is as a president. Obviously we're seeing nothing but the good stuff (mostly) of Reagan, but wow. Bush couldn't even put together a sentence on our 40th president without his halting, almost stumbling style coming out. Compare that with the Great Communicator. Then there was Reagan's apology/address about Iran-Contra. Can I get a split screen of that with Bush's last Iraq-related press conference? Yikes.
I'm also wondering what the coverage will be like on the day of George W.'s death many years from now (I'll most likely hear about it in my flying car…).
June 8th, 2004 at 6:59 am
Bil, I feared you were dead… You went to St. Louis and you haven’t left a comment on my blog in weeks. I assumed the worst…
>>Bush couldn’t even put together a sentence on our 40th president without his halting, almost stumbling style coming out.>>
“Tie-ruh-nee”!
June 8th, 2004 at 9:59 am
I’m old enough to recall Reagan well. Remember, we’re seeing the “best of Reagan” right now in the same way you could (as will be done this election season) string together a few elegant GWB clips. Reagan, too, had quite a few bumbling moments and there always seemed to be quite a lot he couldn’t remember… There was more than enough material for SNL each weekend :-).
In a way, we have Reagan to blame for GWB. Reagan changed the Republican party from the moderate Rockerfeller model into the religious right linked, deficit spending, zero tolerance, tax cuts above all else, and anti-abortion as litmus test party that it is today. He also accelerated the dismantling of the welfare state that Clinton, oddly enough, continued.
Although the retrospectives only gloss over this right now, Reagan was quite a controversial figure in his time. Very much like Clinton, a roaring economy and great communication skills took a lot of attention away from his flaws.
Garris
June 8th, 2004 at 3:34 pm
I’m old enough to remember him too. The similarities between Dubya and the Gipper are at times eerie. At least Ron could speak in full sentences when he wanted to.
Here’s the best write up I’ve seen. More proof, only the good die young.
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=336&row=0