Remembering Reagan

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`Commentary Too` - Jun 6, 2004 - `Printable Version`
- Remembering Reagan
by Robin Buckallew

Ronald Reagan has died. The mourners have begun pouring out their prayers and their eulogies. The national flag is at half-mast. The United States is in mourning. And I feel pain and loss. Pain and loss so deep and so entrenched that there is no comfort. Sorrow that is so intense that there is no relief. And so I join the nation in their keening on this day of grief.

    I am sure we all have our favorite Reagan stories, our favorite Reagan moments. How many of you feel nostalgia for the days when ketchup was declared a vegetable, saving the nation grand sums on the feeding of our schoolchildren? How many of you remember the amusing stories he used to tell of welfare queens getting rich by having children? How many of you wish for his strength of purpose in firing the air traffic controllers who were so unreasonable as to demand a higher wage for what they called a stressful job? How many of you remember grandpa, sitting by the fire, telling us stories of the pigs at the trough, who wanted to sit idly back and suck up your tax dollars to pay for their idleness? Perhaps you are longing for the times he came forward to let us know that the scientists were misleading us, and we should be aware that evolution is only a theory.

    I would like to share my pain with the nation. I would like to share my favorite Reagan story, and in best Biblical tradition (he would have liked that), I will put it in the form of a parable.

    Once upon a time there was a great and wise king who built the most beautiful house in all the land. This house had a carpet of lush green, sprinkled throughout with bright colors such as pinks and blues and yellows. The ceiling was a brilliant, azure blue. This house was the best fitted in all of the land - bath tubs full of sparkling clear inviting water; furnishings of the finest woods imaginable. Fittings that were the envy of all. When the house was completed, the king allowed his subjects free run of the place. They could live there as long as they liked, but he suggested they should take proper care of the place. The subjects moved in happily, and there was much rejoicing and praising of the king.

    Before too long, a party began. The subjects began to trash the place. They ate everything in sight. They drove their big Harleys into the master bedroom, changed the oil, and left big puddles of it in the middle of the lush green carpet. They stole furniture and fittings, leaving behind only those that they deemed worthless. They made big holes in the floor looking for buried treasure, and sent such fumes into the air that the brilliant blue of the ceiling began to turn a hazy gray. They found the secret chemical stash, and sprayed chemicals into all the nooks and crannies. They dumped huge piles of concrete in the living room, ruining the lush green rug. And, in the end, they turned up the thermometer until the climate became simply unbearable.
    Throughout all the madness and mayhem at this frat party, occasional voices of reason would cry out "Stop! What are you doing? We must stop this immediately!" But those voices were usually shouted down in all the din. Then, from out of the recreation room rode a leader to take charge of it all. This leader claimed to have the answers - it all lay in the market. We will relax the restrictive rules against mayhem. We will allow people to make unlimited money, and it will all be fixed. All the mayhem will end. The party accelerated. The crowd grew wilder. The devastation continued unabated. Sober voices were no longer even heard above the din. And the leader stood tall, as the party crowd celebrated his wisdom.

    Now the leader has gone. He has handed the torch on to a younger generation, a generation that carries on his legacy in grand style. And the leader is presenting himself at the home of the great and wise king. He wishes to be taken into the king's home, to live with him in glory into eternity. Tell me, if you were the king, would you accept this frat boy into your mansion for eternity?

    Yes, Ronald Reagan has gone. But his legacy lives on. All that Reagan was, all that he did, all that he lived for, should be forever remembered. I submit, for the history books, all the memories that cause my pain. We must remember that he blamed pollution on trees. We must remember that his answer to global warming was to wear more sunscreen and sunglasses. We must remember his connection to the Sagebrush Rebellion and the Wise Use Movement, two corporate sponsored faux grassroots groups advocating unlimited, unregulated, uncompensated use of public lands for logging and mining. We must remember the cuts he made to the EPA budget, cuts which were so deep the EPA has never recovered. We must remember that, while he was President, his policies caused a browning of the country on aerial photograph. Now, more than ever, it is important that we remember the legacy that has been passed on to the current generation of frat boy who resides in the White House. We must say, never again. Never, ever, again.

    Reagan is dead. Feel the pain. Never forget.

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Commentary Too - Jun 6, 2004 - Printable Version- Remembering Reagan by Robin Buckallew

`Commentary Too` - Jun 6, 2004 - `Printable Version`
- Remembering Reagan
by Robin Buckallew