Ronald Reagan

Look, I didn't like the man as president. I thought of him in much the same way I think of Dubya - a buffoon surrounded by very competent people, whose ideas and ideology are abhorrent to me. I was glad to see him leave office.

I also am glad he has died. The idea of losing one's mind is frightening to me, perhaps the most frightening thing I can imagine happening to me. Furthermore, the thought of being the family member of one with Alzheimer's is also frightening and saddening. It is, perhaps, the most horrible way to die, death of the mind, death of the self, but with the horrible addition of leaving a shell of a stranger in your skin for your family to take care of. In my mind, I think when Ronald Reagan reached heaven, the first thing he met was his mind again, and that comforts me.

There is a lot of glowing talk about the man on the occasion of his death. Conservatives are serving up the icon of St. Ronald, champion of freedom and the everyman. Liberals, while saying the want not to speak ill of the dead, contend they must counter this hagiography and proceed to speak ill of the dead.

Me, I want to let it go. For one week, let whoever say whatever about the man. He has died, he was president, and he deserves respect enough that we should let the bickering cease for seven damn days. If the conservative side wants to make him their Roosevelt, so be it. If they want to try to get the luster (and teflon) of President Reagan to rub off on the clearly inferior Dubya, go for it, though I think it is in very bad taste to do so, at least during this period of mourning. To the liberals, of which I count myself one, let it be. There is time enough for partisanship in the next six months. I think any attempt to make Dubya the next Reagan will work to our advantage, since, to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, "He is no Ronald Reagan."

Let's take a week off from this bitter wrangling. Remember Reagan as you wish, fondly or with enmity. On the occasion of his death, I am finding a place in my heart to forgive him the bad things he did and recall the things that made me laugh or feel better about my country. He was president from my 12th year through to my 20th year - truly my politically formative years. In some ways, I am politically what he helped make me.

Finally, remember, this is the guy who called out James Watt on the single most preposterous thing a government official has ever said, that the Beach Boys are un-American.

If you are liberal and feel the need to do something in memory of Reagan, donate to Alzheimer's research, or to one of the stem cell research advocacy groups. But please, no more bickering this week.