The thing I remember most vividly about Ronald Reagan is that he represented an America that was full of hope and optimism and equal opportunity. It wasn't until I became older that I realized that America wasn't full of those things for everyone, and not until I was older still that I realized that some of his policies were about doing the opposite of those things. I lived through Reagan's presidencies, but not as an active participant in the political sphere. I just knew that he liked jellybeans, that my father liked to imitate his gentle rasp, and that a man named Oliver North was keeping cartoons off the airwaves.
Some of my friends are celebrating his death with great fervor. One of them is throwing a party to mark the occasion. And I can't help but think that it hits a little low. Say what you will about Reagan, but he was still a man (even if he was The Man). Although the mass media's near canonization of the former president is imbalanced—just as it was when Nixon died—to me it seems cruel to react with glee. Argue the man's ideology, question his sincerity, challenge the portrait of perfection they're painting, sure. But getting excited because he's dead? It just lacks compassion, which is, in a way, becoming what you hate about the man in the first place.
Stepping off the soapbox...
Some of my friends are celebrating his death with great fervor. One of them is throwing a party to mark the occasion. And I can't help but think that it hits a little low. Say what you will about Reagan, but he was still a man (even if he was The Man). Although the mass media's near canonization of the former president is imbalanced—just as it was when Nixon died—to me it seems cruel to react with glee. Argue the man's ideology, question his sincerity, challenge the portrait of perfection they're painting, sure. But getting excited because he's dead? It just lacks compassion, which is, in a way, becoming what you hate about the man in the first place.
Stepping off the soapbox...
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