Friday, June 11, 2004
In Memoriam?
I had today off of work so that I, as a state employee, would be free to pay my respects to former president Ronald Reagan.
I have some issues with this.
Ronald Reagan is responsible for a lot of problems with this country as they stand. First and foremost, he is generally held responsible for imbuing the executive office with more power and stature. Logically, though, if the presidency increases, the legistature and the judiciary decrease. And this leads directly -- in a straight line -- to GWB's recent comment that laws should not be dictated by "rogue judges" who "legislate from the bench." And that seems to be in total contrast to the very fabric of this nation. I don't usually get all het up over politics -- it's not worth my sanity -- but someone has to uphold the Constitution, and that someone shouldn't be one person -- either GWB or WJC or JFKerry.
Ronald Reagan is also, at least in part, responsible for the extent of the AIDS epidemic in the early years because he refused to recognize it as a threat to the general population. As long as it was confined to queers and druggies, he was OK with letting it run rampant.
Ronald Reagan is responsible for the growth of the national debt, the tendency towards deficit spending, the reduction of social programs in favor of martial buildup. Ronald Reagan pushed this country farther and farther to the right, leading directly to the frightening phenomenon that is Shrub. He made scattered, man-of-the-people, straight-talking leadership attractive to a nation of people who are now wandering in the desert and don't even know they're looking for someone with a shred of shrewdness and diplomacy and concern for our place in the global community.
Rest in peace, Ronald Reagan. I feel for your family, who certainly cared for you deeply, but I feel more for our nation, which hasn't realized how deeply you wounded us during your eight years in office.
I have some issues with this.
Ronald Reagan is responsible for a lot of problems with this country as they stand. First and foremost, he is generally held responsible for imbuing the executive office with more power and stature. Logically, though, if the presidency increases, the legistature and the judiciary decrease. And this leads directly -- in a straight line -- to GWB's recent comment that laws should not be dictated by "rogue judges" who "legislate from the bench." And that seems to be in total contrast to the very fabric of this nation. I don't usually get all het up over politics -- it's not worth my sanity -- but someone has to uphold the Constitution, and that someone shouldn't be one person -- either GWB or WJC or JFKerry.
Ronald Reagan is also, at least in part, responsible for the extent of the AIDS epidemic in the early years because he refused to recognize it as a threat to the general population. As long as it was confined to queers and druggies, he was OK with letting it run rampant.
Ronald Reagan is responsible for the growth of the national debt, the tendency towards deficit spending, the reduction of social programs in favor of martial buildup. Ronald Reagan pushed this country farther and farther to the right, leading directly to the frightening phenomenon that is Shrub. He made scattered, man-of-the-people, straight-talking leadership attractive to a nation of people who are now wandering in the desert and don't even know they're looking for someone with a shred of shrewdness and diplomacy and concern for our place in the global community.
Rest in peace, Ronald Reagan. I feel for your family, who certainly cared for you deeply, but I feel more for our nation, which hasn't realized how deeply you wounded us during your eight years in office.
