[Peace-discuss] lessons from Reagan

[Ricky Baldwin]

[The main point of this article, what
liberals/progressives/etc could learn from Reagan, I
think is well worth some thought.  And, no, it isn't
what John Kerry is saying about ole "Ronald Rayguns".
- Ricky]

Editorial: What Reagan taught us 
The Capital Times (Wisc.)
An editorial
June 7, 2004

In the hours after former President Ronald Reagan's
passing, at age 93, it was amusing to witness the
rewriting of history.
 
Suddenly, the man who redirected billions of dollars
away from domestic needs to build the largest nuclear
arsenal on the planet and ran up record deficits was
remade as a statesman who restored dignity and
direction to his country. Commentators seem to have
forgotten that members of his administration
investigated and indicted at a staggering rate and
Reagan himself could have been impeached for allowing
aides to create a shadow government that peddled
weapons to sworn enemies of the United States and used
the profits to fund illegal wars in Central America.

While no one should begrudge Reagan's admirers this
opportunity to replay those "morning in America"
commercials that were deployed with such success
during the last of their man's fourth run for the
presidency, it is a bit embarrassing to hear people
who know better embracing the spin.

The problem with all this hero worship is that the
spin underestimates and demeans Reagan. It reduces a
complex and controversial man to a blurry icon with
few of the rough edges that made him one of the most
remarkable political figures of his time. 
This newspaper disagreed with most of what Reagan did
during two terms as governor of California and two
terms as president. And nothing that has happened
since he left office in 1989 has altered our view. 

Yet, we have always maintained a grudging respect for
the man. And we continue to recognize that there is
much that liberals can - and should - learn from him. 
Ronald Reagan was a master politician who understood
how to package rightwing ideas in appealing enough
forms to get himself elected and, sometimes, to
implement his programs. He did so by maintaining an
optimism about his ideology and its potential that
most conservatives before him lacked. That optimism
transformed the conservative movement from a petty
circle of grumbling cynics who believed that every
glass was half empty - and probably poisoned - into
energetic and, dare we say it, happy warriors on
behalf of tax cuts, weapons systems, corporate
welfare, deregulation and the blurring of lines
between church and state. 

In the years after Barry Goldwater's landslide loss of
the 1964 presidential election, many conservatives had
doubts about whether they would ever be able to peddle
their programs successfully. But Reagan did not doubt.
He believed. And his faith was infectious. It helped
him beat a liberal Democratic governor of California
in 1966 and a moderate Democratic president in 1980.
And it permitted a new generation of conservatives to
feel they were part of a movement with not just
principles but with a future. 

As that movement grasped its future, during Reagan's
presidency and in its aftermath, liberals became the
doubters. Many Democrats gave up on the progressive
values that had carried that party to its greatest
successes, and began to move to the right. It was a
tragic error, for which the Democratic party continues
to pay, as does the country.

The lesson to be learned from Reagan is not an
ideological one. His ideology was wrong for America
and wrong for the world - something even Reagan
sometimes recognized, as when he backed off the most
extreme elements of the conservative agenda to, for
instance, defend Social Security. 

Rather, the lesson to be learned from Reagan is a
stylistic one. He loved preaching his conservative
doctrines. And he loved battling with liberals at the
ballot box, at the debate podium and in the Capitol.
He showed no respect for party decorum, challenging a
sitting Republican president - Gerald Ford - who he
felt was too moderate. And he was willing to lose on
principle, even in fights over nominations to the U.S.
Supreme Court. 

This willingness to fight for his faith is what made
Reagan remarkable. It is what inspired conservatives.
And it is what liberals would be wise to learn from
Ronald Reagan. 

Published: 6:37 AM 6/07/04




	
		
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