Ronald Reagan was not a great president

So yes, I was listening to the news again today, and when discussing historians' views of President George W. Bush, historians were accused of leaning too far left. As an example, historians' negative view of Ronald Reagan twenty years ago was contrasted with a positive view of him today, and apparently now we see him as one of the greatest presidents of the 20th century.

I have a few rants about this. A man is not a great president just because he's a likable fun guy. If that was the case, then my brother should run for president and be considered "great." So my first point of critique of the "great" Reagan, and I admit I was a kid in the 1980s so maybe I don't remember it that clearly, but when did people decide that an evil empire rhetorical, Iran-Contra, trickle-down economic failing president became great just because the Cold War happened to dissipate during this president's second term? So many of our domestic problems in education and yes, health care, owe themselves to the Reagan-era and Reagan-mismanaged economics. And I am tired of people giving Ronald Reagan all the credit for the end of the Cold War. As if the presidents that preceded him since Truman did nothing and as if the Berlin wall came down just because he said it should. The Reagan administration had its role, but try not to over-exaggerate his role.

Second, if he comes out as one of the better presidents of the 20th century, maybe that's because we're not grading on much of a curve. Even so, I would think that any historian could conclude that the following presidents, in chronological order, were all better presidents, leaders, policy geeks, etc., than Ronald Wilson Reagan: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and William J. Clinton. I would even contend that Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson were probably better presidents when one looks at the higher points of their records and leadership choices. Yes, I realize that I'm naming all the democratic presidents of the 20th century as better than Reagan. Too bad it's true. Reagan comes in just ahead of George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Calvin Coolidge. What this means is, that even grading on the curve of 20th century presidents, he still doesn't come out as one of the "greatest" unless by "greatest" you mean he was elected president twice, wasn't assassinated, and didn't resign.

Hillary-McCain supporters suck

On Saturday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a really classy endorsement and concession speech. I thought this was promising for the Democrats heading toward the fall. But apparently her powerful words were not enough. Okay, you know what is really getting under my skin right now. The 1/4 of Hillary Clinton supporters who say they are going to vote for John McCain. Hillary Clinton gave a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama, has pledged herself to support them. But these people who supported her so fervently now contend that they would be better served by voting for John McCain. It would be like me arguing, were the tables turned, that Hillary Clinton is just too polarizing a figure for me. I just want someone that can appeal to both Democrats and Republicans, so I'm going to vote against everything that made me a Democrat, everything that made me support Barack Obama, and vote for John McCain. I wonder what Hillary Clinton supporters would think of such childish behavior were their candidate the nominee. The other Democrats didn't give me the one I want so I'm going to punish the planet by voting against them.

I want to be clear that I am proud of the behavior of Hillary Clinton supporters, like those in my own family, who have immediately turned around as Obama supporters, or at least McCain opponents. The problem is that there are far too many Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton, and who strike me as being racist. So I am listening to this idiotic attorney in Atlanta this morning on NPR. That's right, I am talking to you Barbara LeBey. She claims that she is going to vote for John McCain in the fall. Her first reason for jumping ship on her lifetime voting history as a Democrat: her opposition to Obama's tax increase plan. Yeah, you know, the plan that is identical to Hillary Clinton's plan. But when she is confronted on that issue, she then claims that Obama is too inexperienced, and that quite frankly she's afraid of him. You're afraid of him, Barbara LeBay. I think this is the most revealing thing you said. Is that because he's a black man named Barack Obama? I think it is. It's fine that you claim it's because he's a "blank slate," and an "upstart" who is too willing to talk with terrorists, but I don't think that any of that really matters. So what would you think if I had reacted to a Hillary Clinton nomination by saying I was just too concerned she would cry at crucial moments? You would say I was a sexist, and you would be right about such a comment.

LeBay claims to have marched for the Equal Rights Amendment and for Civil Rights. It seems a bit odd to be willing to support an opponent of abortion rights and Martin Luther King, Jr. day then. I understand that racism is something we all suffer from in some direction or other in this country. But if we claim to be self-critical, self-conscious, intelligent people, then we owe it to ourselves to at least try to think rationally about why we are making the choices we make.

I know this has been a rant and that calling these people who voted for Hillary Clinton and refuse to vote for Barack Obama stupid racists won't do any good. But this is just so upsetting to me because this is the future of the world we're talking about, and some of you want to put that in the hands of a man who thinks we can spend 10,000 years in Iraq, a man who can't differentiate between Sunni and Shiites. I leave you with the words that were said on the same NPR show yesterday. Comedy duo guest, "Frangela" spoke with Madeleine Brand on "Day to Day" yesterday. Angela Shelton, part of the duo, was a strong Hillary Clinton supporter, and she said, that "this is about making sure John McCain is not our president." Fracis Callier, her colleague, spoke of these new McCain supporters and said the following about them, "It makes me feel as though you didn't support Hillary. You were supporting something else. Because if you are for her ideas and platform, and the things that Hillary Clinton was about, you couldn't be supporting John McCain."