What an amazing Salon article to wake up to: the son of former President Ronald Reagan, icon of the conservative movement, has unleashed his tongue on the Bush Administration. This is not particularly surprising if you think about it: the Bush Administration's attack on traditional Reagan conservatism is broad and unrelenting. Their only nod to "conservative" values seems to be their pandering to the religious right and their passion for tax cuts.
Reagan is more than just the icon of the conservative movement. He's something akin to a personal hero to many conservatives. Many of them rationalize the Iron/Contra fiasco in similar terms that many liberals rationalize Bill Clinton's perjury, and when you set that one little niggling issue aside, Reagan /was/ the absolute picture of conservatism. Which means that in its attempts to sell Bush as a "compassionate conservative", the GOP has also been attempting to bill Bush as the ideological heir to Reagan. Nothing could be further from the truth, and Reagan Jr. exposes this for the lie that it is:
"The Bush people have no right to speak for my father, particularly because of the position he's in now," he said during a recent interview with Salon. "Yes, some of the current policies are an extension of the '80s. But the overall thrust of this administration is not my father's -- these people are overly reaching, overly aggressive, overly secretive, and just plain corrupt. I don't trust these people."Neither, if Ron's account is accurate, does his mother Nancy, the former First Lady.
Reagan's parents were notoriously remote from their four children. Ron Jr. reportedly had the closest relations with his parents and he remains close with his mother, Nancy Reagan, who as the keeper of the Reagan flame is often called upon to dedicate public sites bearing her husband's name. Reagan says his mother shares his "distrust of some of these [Bush] people. She gets that they're trouble in all kinds of ways. She doesn't like their religious fervor, their aggression."The GOP will dismiss much of this, claiming (with some truth) that Ron does not speak for his father--or worse, alleging that Ron Jr. is carrying the flag for the Democrats and joining in the tide of "Bush-hatred" so often derided in the left. This is hardly the case.Reagan says his family feels particularly alienated from the Republican Party over its opposition to embryonic stem cell research, which could have significant benefit for Alzheimer patients like his father. "Now ignorance is one thing, ignorance can be cured. But many of the Republican leaders opposing this research know better, people like [Senate Majority Leader] Bill Frist, who's a doctor, for God's sake. People like him are blocking it to pander to the 20 percent of their base who are mouth-breathers. And that's unconscionable -- there are lives at stake here. Stem cell research can revolutionize medicine, more than anything since antibiotics."
Reagan, who says the label "progressive" would fit him, does not belong to a political party. "I'm certainly not a Republican; I couldn't belong to any party that had leaders like Tom DeLay. And the Democrats are too busy trying to out-Republican the Republicans."I'd love to vote for this guy. Unfortunately, he has no aspirations to politics.
His father entered politics at a relatively late stage in his life, after careers as a sports broadcaster, actor and General Electric pitchman. Has Reagan ever considered running for office? No, he insists, "I have no political ambitions. For one thing, I'm not interested in raising all that money. It's just not the life I want to lead.Ron Jr. is worth keeping an eye on. I doubt we'll see his mother become as outspoken on the matter, but if the Bush team starts playing up the Bush-as-Reagan-ideological-heir angle in the 2004 election, I would not be surprised if the shocker of the campaign was the former First Lady telling conservatives to Just Say No to George W. Bush. Posted by Catsy at 11:24 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (2)
Anne it's such a great feeling to know how you lie berals including Ronnie Reagan Jr who I think is doing the ole Fagachusettes two-step and what I mean is years ago I do believe he came out of the closet and said he was gay. Nothing wrong with it since I have two in my family and love them dearly but my point is he is now marrried so I guess we can soon hear the typical left wing God hating anti-American that would love to see Saddam back in power like most radical Atheist left wingers do come out and say"I was gay before I wasn't gay.Oh and Ann question: Did you give your Bush tax cut back because if you havent great give it hear and I will gladly spend it.You Demos have a lust for stealing peoples money aka raising taxes and shoving your anti-American terrorist suppporting commie pinko agenda constantly into Americas faces and we are sick tired of it.As for the son of the greatest President Reagan the only morons that would vote for this loser Reagan jr are you Bush haters who are going to watch as President Bush wipes the floor with Kerry and Co.Oh and Ann great bumper sticker:I'm not Fonda Hanoi John
Posted by: Dina Casucci at June 17, 2004 03:24 AMWelcome to the party, Dina. You're about six months late on this post, but you are to at least be congratulated on being the first--and hopefully last--person I've banned.
I welcome dissenting opinions, as you'll find in later posts, but I do not welcome trolling and insults.
Posted by: Catsy at June 17, 2004 07:10 AMHi. I stumbled across this discussion searching google for an article. I hope you don't consider this trolling. I have never done this before, but am trying to get more involved in the political arena as I grow older and hopefully wiser. I was searching re: whether Ron Reagan's son had at one time come out of the closet. Like Ann Dane, I, too seem to remember him coming out in the 70's at the same time Sis' relations were strained. I'm not homophobic, just that it was an interesting point to ponder as to his accusation of the Bush administration being so. Sad that he has to use the occasion of his Father's passing as a soapbox. I also wanted to note that in an interview in our Parade insert in the Sun. paper last week, when asked if he had considered running for President in the future, his response was, "No, I won't, for that isn't acceptable. You see, I am an atheist"." Just a point that maybe this is what is riling him about a politician wearing faith on their sleeve? Also why there is such direct opposition to their views on stem cell research. Respectfully, one other note, that Ron Jr. is not a Junior. His middle name is Prescott. Thanks for letting me share.
Posted by: Bonnie Faulkner at July 12, 2004 10:56 AMI don't recall anything about Ron Jr. coming out of the closet--but then, to be honest, I don't make a habit of prying into that aspect of peoples' lives; I think that if you read more of what I've written, you'll see that I'm pretty firm and consistent in my belief that the private and consensual sex lives of politicians and other public figures shouldn't be on the table.
As for the name, you're correct that Ron the Younger isn't technically a "Junior", but I use the term loosely out of a need to distinguish him from his father in writing without using their full names.
If Ron is an atheist, it's unsurprising that he'd find Bush's brand of Christianism offensive. Given the degree to which Judeo-Christian religions permeate American culture and affect American politics, I think you'll find most atheists to be extremely touchy about politicians who make a lot of noise about their faith and how it's good for everyone else. It's an understandable hot-button issue.
Posted by: Catsy at July 13, 2004 01:56 AMI'm an atheist and I couldn't really care one way or the other. First off, Bush doesn't tell anyone what to believe. Secondly, even if he did, a real atheist would simply ignore it. I know what I believe, and no one can change that.
Ron Jr. is a classic case of a child who can't possibly live up to the accomplishments of their parents, and so will do anything and say anything to glom onto the type of success they had in their lives. The saddest part of the situation is that the Democrats are exploiting him by parading him around at the convention. How partisan and devisive can your party be? You know it to, and I'm sure you'll respond back trying to rebut it, but you're only being dishonest to yourself.
To thine own self be true.
Posted by: Alex Jensen at July 26, 2004 10:24 PM
What a wonderful bumper sticker:
JUST SAY NO TO GEORGE BUSH!
Posted by: Ann Dane at June 14, 2004 01:09 PM