Reagan Revisited

In the wake of the Senate victory this week, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson points out that the usual suspects are, once again, claiming the Reagan legacy. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio (courtesy of Lindsey Graham); the usual assholes. Gerson then proceeds to cite an essay by a couple of conservative screwballs (whose names aren't important) for the purpose of pointing out that the Reagan of old may not be the Reagan that the current crop of young Republicans think they remember. That Reagan was the original maverick (dare they say, the original Tea Bagger); that Reagan wasn't necessarily about freedom, but instead "human dignity;" and that Reagan had a sympathetic side to him that included a role for government to help those who might need to "depend on their fellow man." (Ha! This from the guy who claimed that "government was the problem.")

Anyhow, Gerson reminds us that Libertarians at the time felt that Reagan's soft side was too soft. But in truth, Reagan's soft side extended only to a select few; a fact made clear by his policies.

He fought to cut spending programs for the needy.

He reduced insurance for workers who had lost jobs to foreign competition he refused to stand up to. 

He reduced student aid and food stamps.

He reduced Social Security benefits and the budget for the Civil Rights Commission.

He claimed that homeless people might well be “homeless by choice.”

In other words, he had no use for those who weren't just like him, leaving the poor, the needy, the working man, minorities or any marginalized group to fend for themselves. And Reagan absolutely despised gays.

Ten years after his death, his legacy of hatred lives on, and if he didn't end up as the most vicious, uncaring president in U.S. history, he was goddam close.

Meanwhile, we have the new band of Republicans to contend with, not to mention those right-wing journalists who might coach them. And under further review, these journalists probably have it wrong.

The likes of Cruz, Paul and Mike Lee have succeeded in emulating their patron saint Reagan to a fault, though no man or woman – not even these righteous, nasty, self-absorbed little buggers – will ever approach the level of treachery and neglect set by Ronald Reagan.