esrosedotblog

HANGOVER

It will take a while for the nation to right itself after the last week's indulgences in funerial matters. It was good to see more balanced views of the Reagan legacy begin to appear even before the grand finale that was held on Friday. The whole thing took on a more realistic cast.

There was a brief period where all leaders who would name themselves Reagan-Republicans (true or false) were likewise infallible and all positive. But, the week was not kind to the 'heirs' of Reaganism; even while the rituals of grief were being played out. The G8 did not measure up to being the george8 even after the fun go-cart rides. Not a lot of real support came out of it. The torture scandal grew out and up. Junior wasn't getting any credit for founding an economic recovery. And so on.

Even the funeraries yielded some anti-george feeling. Ron Reagan dissed junior with the following at the ceremonies:

[My father] was a man of unabashed faith, but he didn't make the mistake that some politicians do of wearing his religion on his sleeve. True, after he was shot, he came to believe he had been spared by God in order to do good, but he took this as a responsibility — not a mandate.

He had given gw a tough review a year earlier in a Salon interview:

"My father crapped bigger ones than George Bush ..."