[lbo-talk] Ronnie's very timely death

[Carl Remick]

>From: Jon Johanning <jjohanning at igc.org>
>
>For the whole eight long -- looooooong -- years of his reign, I was 
>constantly mystified by the adulation showered on that sucker by (it 
>seemed) nearly the entire country. It was as though he had cast a spell 
>(something out of Lord of the Rings?) on everyone. Even those who disagreed 
>with him politically praised him to the skies as "the Master Communicator" 
>and good old buddy of all creatures great and small, whereas I could only 
>regard him as an old fart with an absolutely hideous politics and a really 
>perverse mean streak towards "welfare Cadillac queens" and such.
>
>A good deal of that mystical spell was recycled, of course, this last week, 
>and it may rub off to some extent on Shrub, though I think the Ronnie 
>adulators will probably contrast el W very unfavorably, as a feel-good 
>prexy, with his predecessor.

I agree.  Reagan's popular appeal remains the greatest mystery of my life.  
Foolishly, I thought that appeal had burned itself out and have been stunned 
by the ferocity of veneration shown the bastard over the past week.  Since 
WWII references are all the rage, I can compare the current Gipper-driven 
pomp, circumstance and media frenzy only to the Battle of the Bulge -- a 
blistering counteroffensive by an enemy supposedly on the run.  With Iraq as 
an ever growing catastrophe, I assumed that the GOP, like the Wehrmacht, was 
facing a steady terminal decline.  But Michael Deaver, like Field Marshall 
von Rundstedt, apparently still had a few tricks up his sleeve.  We'll see 
if GWB can build on this.

Carl

_________________________________________________________________
MSN 9 Dial-up Internet Access fights spam and pop-ups – now 3 months FREE! 
http://join.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/