Speaking of necrophilia
the GOP candidates are having a(nother) Reagan love-in as they prepare to debate tonight at the Reagan Presidential Library -- which happens to occupy the same property as Reagan's remains. (How creepy is that!?)
I just spent 2 hours at the dentist getting drilled/filled and cleaned while watching CNN on el dentisto's cool ceiling TV, and I don't know what was more painful, the dental work or all the slobbering testimonials about Reagan. Rudy Giuliani (always anxious to use words that invoke images of 9/11), worshipfully described Reagan as "his hero"; McCain and the rest had equally insipid things to say. As did Blitzer and everyone else. Easy to see how the rev. coined the "St. Ronald of Reagan" moniker.
I have yet to figure out Reagan's near-mythical greatness among the republican rank and file. When I think of Reagan, I think of:
-A massive economic recession
-Iran-Contra
-Buddy of Saddam
-Funding and training Osama bin Laden
-Central American death squads
-Ignoring AIDS and letting tens of thousands of people die
-"Reaganomics", aka "supply-side" economy (screws everyone but the rich)
-RAMBO
-A senile old man with his finger way too close to the end-times button
Reagan may have helped to improve relations with the Soviets (while he was helpfully helping the mujahideen in Afghanistan bleed them dry). But part of Reagan's cachet among republicans is the myth that he was responsible for the fall of the USSR, which is a bit of an exaggeration (if by "exaggeration" you mean "complete fabrication"). The USSR was rotting from the inside out, and the fact that Reagan happened to be president when it finally imploded was more by accident than by design. It would have happened no matter who was in the white house... even Georgie. Believe it or not, there are some things even Georgie can't fuck up. (Although it's worth noting here that since Georgie's been in office, Russia's been increasingly returning to its cold-war ways.)
One has to wonder what Reagan would think of the direction his party's taken in the last 6 years. The sleaze, corruption, scandals, the looting of the treasury, shitting on the constitution and complete lack of regard for the American people might have Reagan completely disowning those who worship him today.
I just spent 2 hours at the dentist getting drilled/filled and cleaned while watching CNN on el dentisto's cool ceiling TV, and I don't know what was more painful, the dental work or all the slobbering testimonials about Reagan. Rudy Giuliani (always anxious to use words that invoke images of 9/11), worshipfully described Reagan as "his hero"; McCain and the rest had equally insipid things to say. As did Blitzer and everyone else. Easy to see how the rev. coined the "St. Ronald of Reagan" moniker.
I have yet to figure out Reagan's near-mythical greatness among the republican rank and file. When I think of Reagan, I think of:
-A massive economic recession
-Iran-Contra
-Buddy of Saddam
-Funding and training Osama bin Laden
-Central American death squads
-Ignoring AIDS and letting tens of thousands of people die
-"Reaganomics", aka "supply-side" economy (screws everyone but the rich)
-RAMBO
-A senile old man with his finger way too close to the end-times button
Reagan may have helped to improve relations with the Soviets (while he was helpfully helping the mujahideen in Afghanistan bleed them dry). But part of Reagan's cachet among republicans is the myth that he was responsible for the fall of the USSR, which is a bit of an exaggeration (if by "exaggeration" you mean "complete fabrication"). The USSR was rotting from the inside out, and the fact that Reagan happened to be president when it finally imploded was more by accident than by design. It would have happened no matter who was in the white house... even Georgie. Believe it or not, there are some things even Georgie can't fuck up. (Although it's worth noting here that since Georgie's been in office, Russia's been increasingly returning to its cold-war ways.)
One has to wonder what Reagan would think of the direction his party's taken in the last 6 years. The sleaze, corruption, scandals, the looting of the treasury, shitting on the constitution and complete lack of regard for the American people might have Reagan completely disowning those who worship him today.
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