In Dutch: Why everyone loves Ronald Reagan
Robert Zaller
Issue date: 2/11/11 Section: Ed-Op
Pope John Paul II, recently beatified, will have to wait awhile to become a full-fledged saint. Not so with Ronald Reagan, whose canonization has arrived with the centennial anniversary of his birth. You can't pass by a television set without seeing the Gipper's toothsome grin, and the words "Gorbachev," "wall" and "legacy" falling from the mouth of some talking head. Even the Super Bowl got into the act with its own tribute to the Great Emancipator.
Oh? You thought that title belonged to Lincoln? But all Lincoln did was to free the slaves and preserve the Union. Reagan cut taxes!
Reagan certainly didn't preserve unions. His crushing of the air controllers' strike began the precipitous collapse of the American union movement, now at its lowest ebb since the 1930s, and incidentally endangered the flying public. You can thank him for the next reduction in your paycheck, the next cut in your benefits and the next pink slip in your computer telling you to clear out your desk in 30 minutes.
Reagan lowered the deficit - not. He never submitted a balanced budget in his 8 years in office. Star Wars broke the bank.
Reagan ended the Cold War - not. The Soviet Union collapsed on its own. And has the world been a happier place since? With capitalism, Russia experienced a 40 percent drop in living standards in the 1990s, and a 10 percent drop in life expectancy. As for what it has being doing around here lately, well, take a look.
Reagan brought morning back to America. Sure, if morning means the first economic depression since the 1930s.
So why is history being so kind to the Gipper lately?
Actually, it has nothing to do with Reagan and still less with history. What it is about is Republican triumphalism. The GOP, supposedly banished to the wilderness by the 2008 elections (you can look up the foolish article I wrote about it two years ago for The Triangle), roared back in the 2010 midterms to regain control of the House of Representatives and is within striking distance of regaining the Senate in 2012. It is well on its way to forcing a repeal of President Barack Obama's signature piece of legislation, the health care reform act, if not by Congressional action than by the Supreme Court, where a secure and openly partisan Republican majority prevails. If the act is not scrapped en toto (as Virginia Judge Roger Vinson recently ruled it must be), then its back can be broken by ruling its mandate that everyone must purchase insurance to be unconstitutional. As for the White House, the Republicans don't need it this time around. Obama is as good an ersatz Republican as one could wish. In fact, the GOP could save itself a bundle by just nominating him as its next presidential candidate. He'd be flattered, and no Democrat could reasonably object.
Oh? You thought that title belonged to Lincoln? But all Lincoln did was to free the slaves and preserve the Union. Reagan cut taxes!
Reagan certainly didn't preserve unions. His crushing of the air controllers' strike began the precipitous collapse of the American union movement, now at its lowest ebb since the 1930s, and incidentally endangered the flying public. You can thank him for the next reduction in your paycheck, the next cut in your benefits and the next pink slip in your computer telling you to clear out your desk in 30 minutes.
Reagan lowered the deficit - not. He never submitted a balanced budget in his 8 years in office. Star Wars broke the bank.
Reagan ended the Cold War - not. The Soviet Union collapsed on its own. And has the world been a happier place since? With capitalism, Russia experienced a 40 percent drop in living standards in the 1990s, and a 10 percent drop in life expectancy. As for what it has being doing around here lately, well, take a look.
Reagan brought morning back to America. Sure, if morning means the first economic depression since the 1930s.
So why is history being so kind to the Gipper lately?
Actually, it has nothing to do with Reagan and still less with history. What it is about is Republican triumphalism. The GOP, supposedly banished to the wilderness by the 2008 elections (you can look up the foolish article I wrote about it two years ago for The Triangle), roared back in the 2010 midterms to regain control of the House of Representatives and is within striking distance of regaining the Senate in 2012. It is well on its way to forcing a repeal of President Barack Obama's signature piece of legislation, the health care reform act, if not by Congressional action than by the Supreme Court, where a secure and openly partisan Republican majority prevails. If the act is not scrapped en toto (as Virginia Judge Roger Vinson recently ruled it must be), then its back can be broken by ruling its mandate that everyone must purchase insurance to be unconstitutional. As for the White House, the Republicans don't need it this time around. Obama is as good an ersatz Republican as one could wish. In fact, the GOP could save itself a bundle by just nominating him as its next presidential candidate. He'd be flattered, and no Democrat could reasonably object.
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