Reagan Masturbation at the GOP debate
I have to confess I was not able to see the Republican debates live (not a huge bummer, honestly). I’m sure they spent more energy on NOT saying the wrong thing than they did on anything that would make them rise above their cohorts.
From what I understand (from news reports and video clips), it was a Reagan Love Fest, with each candidate trying to “out-Reagan” the next, while ignoring the looming dark cloud of George Bush hovering over all.
Apparently there were 20-25 ‘Reagan’ references, not including as many or more from the moderators themselves. The lunacy went so far that the backgrounds for each speaker even included the words “Reagan library,” as if by some spirit mojo the disaster of the last seven years could be wiped out by the invocation of the Great Gipper God:
Ironic, given the controversy created by Bush in blocking stem cell research, so at odds with the wishes of Nancy and son Ron.
This obsession with Reagan is really quite amusing: Who is most like Reagan; Who will be the next Reagan; who will sell arms to a terrorist country to support third world ‘freedom fighters’ like Reagan (oops…no, not that).
But seriously, these guys remember Reagan as simply an Icon, and one that has been elevated greatly in contrast to the present Boy King. He brings a ‘warm fuzzy’ to their hearts, but besides his personality, I think they would be hard pressed to describe what his real legacy was, besides the fall of communism and the Berlin wall (which were destined to happen eventually) and restoring a sense of ‘pride’ to America.
They remember his speaking prowess and charisma, but not his slashing of social services (and the resulting explosion in homelessness), or his complete denial of the Aids epidemic - legacies that we are still paying for. And forget about the truly ugly (record deficits) and the downright evil (Iran Contra and Nicaraguan Death squads) which presented the first lessons in the now-perfected Republican art of ‘cover-up.’
I guess this selective memory is a normal human trait. Much like a man remembering the sexual prowess of a crazy girlfriend from years back, conveniently ignoring the screaming on the lawn, or the tossing of his belongings from the bedroom windows at 3 A.M.
In contrast, the candidates mentioned George Bush a total of one time…