Remembering Reagan
I found the most interesting aspect of the Reagan tribute week to be the response of Democrats, discussed in this intelligently written article by Michael Crowley in The New Republic. Crowley quotes prominent liberals--Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, John Lewis, Nancy Pelosi--in glowing tributes not only to Reagan as a man but to his leadership qualities and even, in some cases, to his policies as President. It's difficult to imagine that any of these figures truly believe what they're saying.
"So what would a Democratic statement that is both honest and compassionate look like," Crowley asks.
Try the one released by California Senator Dianne Feinstein:"I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to Nancy Reagan and the entire Reagan family," Feinstein said simply."There probably has been no American who has more fully lived the American dream, from actor to governor to president. He was a California legend." That Ronald Reagan's life was a great American story, and that his family deserves sympathy, is something everyone can agree on. Democrats who considered the Reagan years an affront to their most fundamental values shouldn't have strained to say anything more.