Newman, the idea that Ronald Reagan was a great president is the thing that holds the GOP together. The "Reagan coalition" of corporatists, evangelicals and social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and war hawks is very fragile, so the party insiders want to perpetuate the myth to hold their party (and coalition) together.
In truth, Reagan was a movie actor who PORTRAYED a "great president". He should have gotten an Oscar for playing the role well, something he never came close to receiving in his movie career. He played the role to perfection by being the "great communicator", acting like everyone's grandfather, restoring our nation's confidence and talking of America as that "shining beacon on the hill", and the last best hope for the world.
And the people bought it, hook, line and sinker! Maybe he should get some of the credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the GOP and their media enablers give him far too much credit. Like Peter Sellers in the movie, "Being There", the USSR's collapse was attached to him. Never mind that it was a failed economic system that would have imploded of its own weight no matter who our president was. No matter that our standing up strong against the Soviets with a nuclear arms buildup that was the closest thing to fiscal and foreign policy madness (by both countries) was going on through Democratic as well as Republican administrations.
Reagan is the GOP's "mythical movie idol" who was a mediocre B-movie actor and is all they hold onto as their legacy. Him, and Abraham Lincoln from nearly 110 years ago, even though the modern Republican party has little resemblence to the values of "Honest Abe".
In truth, Reagan was a morale booster for this country, but a poor manager. Scandals were common under his watch, as anyone who can remember Ed Meese knows. He barerly paid attention in meetings, eating too many jellybeans and taking too many naps. An 8-hour day was a full workday for him. He's a myth, but our dumbed-down country that may be to most intellectually vapid country in the history of the world (in relation to information available to the populace) loves him. And so it goes.
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