Ronald Reagan Dies

With the passing of the 40th president, I would like to say I'm sorry but he lived a long life, dying at 93. I'm afraid I won't join the chorus of voices saying that he was a great man and will be dearly missed.

His son, Michael, on CNN said, His son, "I pray that as America reflects on the passing of my dad, they will remember a man of integrity, conviction and good humor that changed America and the world for the better."

That is not the Ronald Reagan I remember, however. My respect for him ends historically after his behavior during the Communist-McCarthy ridiculous of the 50s (before I was born, but I've read a great deal about it).

As a president, he was a puppet who delivered carefully scripted Clint Eastwood type of one-liners. He increased the divide between the haves and the have-nots. He allowed very destructive people to run the country while he was president in name only. He took no responsibility for anything, and was allowed repeatedly to get by with the phrase, "I don't remember."

He may have been legally incompetent during some if not all of his second term, and yet he was willing to go on with the charade. Many stories go that he could not keep awake during various meetings.

In fact, the few good things I can say about him besides his conduct during the McCarthy hearings is that he raised an intelligent son in Ron Jr. and that his illness caused Nancy to speak out in favor of stem cell research. Neither of them, sadly, are directly attributable to him.

Ironically, Bill Bennett (check the Dominatrix story elsewhere in this and other blogs) is the man CNN has chosen to headline its line up of Reagan's greatness tonight. Bill's plugged his new radio show several times.

Yet I'm sorry he suffered from the Alzheimer's. But I'm sorrier still that AIDS was allowed to get such a foothold in this country because Mr. Reagan refused to acknowledge it. Perhaps the Alzheimer's was in a way a blessing that he could not remember some of his greatest failures to his country as president.

And I'm sorry that the media can only cry about the passing of this "great man" rather than viewing him a bit more honestly, just as I'll be sorry that Mr. Bush will use Reagan's passing again and again as political fuel to push forward horrible things in this country that actually make Reagan's seem more benign in retrospect.