Happy Centennial, Dutch!

Yes, today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Gipper.

I notice a number of columns attempting to push a wedge between Reagan and modern conservatives, arguing that he "was really a pragmatist" or pointing out what he would object to in this or that portion of the current agenda, and generally telling right-wingers that they're just too plain stupid to understand this. It tells you something about the historickal significance of the man when his political enemies seem to be attempting to co-opt the narrative even now.

Of course, it's all nonsense. Reagan was a man of the right. Period. Of course, the situation is different today than it was 30 years ago, so arguing specific policy points is an exercise in apples and oranges. I think what's really happening is that the more things look like Carter v.2, the more likely it is that somebody will appear on the right as the "New Reagan" and fire popular sentiment in the same way.

As for smoothing over differences, I recall very well what the Left thought of the Gipper back in the day. On my college campus, for instance, it was well-known that Ronnie Ray-gun was complicit in the downing of that Korean airliner by the Rooskies, because it was really a CIA spy-plane and if it got caught in Soviet airspace, Ron didn't want any evidence left. That was just one example. Ray-gun was also famous for throwing all the homeless into the streets, for starting WWIII and for unleashing the AIDS epidemic.

Incidentally, a portion of I-88, which runs from Chicago west to the Quad Cities, is known as the Reagan Memorial Tollway by virtue of the fact that it passes near his boyhood homes. I've been on this road numerous times in the past couple years, and every time I just can't help noticing what an unflattering profile of Reagan is featured on the signs. I often wonder why this is.