Monday, June 07, 2004
DEATH OF THE GREAT COMMUNICATOR
By Stockton and Tweed
Ronald Reagan has finally passed away after a long illness.
While we at LB in 04 disagree with Reagan the policy setter, his influence and accomplishments cannot be denied. While we may criticize and condemn Reagan's treatment of unions, the poor and his economic and tax policies, we must respect his ability to communicate a positive vision of America, and his rescuing of the Republican party. His greatest asset was making the country feel good about itself. Something only the great ones can accomplish.
Reagan, perhaps, squandered his popularity; refusing to use it to address the pressing issues of his day - persistent poverty, the burgeoning AIDs epidemic and the rising threat of global terrorism. The man had his faults because he was a man and not a Hollywood character. Love him, like him, hate him or dislike him, he was a towering figure in the second half of the 20th Century.
For those who might question our Democratic beliefs based on this post, we feel attacks on a dead man serve little purpose and are, quite frankly, bad form. His last years must have been particularly heartbreaking for his family and our thoughts are with the Reagans.
He was the President of the United States. At heart, a deeply moral man who we believe did what he truly thought best for the United States. Was it? We think the answer is a mixed bag, like most presidencies. And that is fine. Perhaps we expect too much from our leaders, near perfection in public and private, a strict adherence to some ideology. Despite rhetoric, Reagan seems best classified, like his successful predecessors, as a pragmatist.
True conservativism flourished under his watch. Not the grotesque Neo-Conservatism of the '90's and today, but men and women dedicated to balanced budgets and reining in a bloated bureaucracy. We can differ on what needed to be cut or what revenues should fund, but the Republican Party of the '80's is not today's party.
Good By, President Reagan. For good or bad, you were an American Original.
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By Stockton and Tweed
Ronald Reagan has finally passed away after a long illness.
While we at LB in 04 disagree with Reagan the policy setter, his influence and accomplishments cannot be denied. While we may criticize and condemn Reagan's treatment of unions, the poor and his economic and tax policies, we must respect his ability to communicate a positive vision of America, and his rescuing of the Republican party. His greatest asset was making the country feel good about itself. Something only the great ones can accomplish.
Reagan, perhaps, squandered his popularity; refusing to use it to address the pressing issues of his day - persistent poverty, the burgeoning AIDs epidemic and the rising threat of global terrorism. The man had his faults because he was a man and not a Hollywood character. Love him, like him, hate him or dislike him, he was a towering figure in the second half of the 20th Century.
For those who might question our Democratic beliefs based on this post, we feel attacks on a dead man serve little purpose and are, quite frankly, bad form. His last years must have been particularly heartbreaking for his family and our thoughts are with the Reagans.
He was the President of the United States. At heart, a deeply moral man who we believe did what he truly thought best for the United States. Was it? We think the answer is a mixed bag, like most presidencies. And that is fine. Perhaps we expect too much from our leaders, near perfection in public and private, a strict adherence to some ideology. Despite rhetoric, Reagan seems best classified, like his successful predecessors, as a pragmatist.
True conservativism flourished under his watch. Not the grotesque Neo-Conservatism of the '90's and today, but men and women dedicated to balanced budgets and reining in a bloated bureaucracy. We can differ on what needed to be cut or what revenues should fund, but the Republican Party of the '80's is not today's party.
Good By, President Reagan. For good or bad, you were an American Original.
