Reagan is the real fairy tale (Michael Kinsely)

[jackson_dem]

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By Michael Kinsley
Friday, February 1, 2008; 12:00 AM

In the past few weeks, the Democratic Party has suddenly turned on Bill Clinton with the ferocity of 16 years of pent-up resentments. He will not be cut any more slack, and neither will his wife. Meanwhile, the Republican primaries have turned into a Ronald Reagan Adoration Contest. Neither ex-president deserves what he is getting. Clinton is a victim of long memories, Reagan is a beneficiary of short ones.

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Mitt Romney, meanwhile, kept repeating, inanely, "We're in the house that Reagan built." Reagan "would say lower taxes" and "Reagan would say lower spending." Reagan "would say no way" to amnesty for illegal immigrants. Reagan would never "walk out of Iraq." And, by the way, McCain's accusation that Romney harbors a secret timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is "the kind of dirty tricks that I think Ronald Reagan would have found to be reprehensible."

A problem: Reagan actually signed the law that authorized the last amnesty, back in 1986. Romney deals with this small difficulty by declaring: "Reagan saw it. It didn't work." He offers no evidence that Reagan had a change of heart about amnesty, and learning from experience was not something Reagan was known for. The proper cliché is McCain's: "Ronald Reagan came with an unshakeable set of principles." And -- pointedly -- "Ronald Reagan would not approve of someone who changes their positions depending on what the year is."

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If the Republicans are looking around for an icon to worship, they might consider Bill Clinton. He cut spending from 21.4 percent of GDP to 18.5 percent. That's three times as much as Reagan. True, he raised taxes from 17.6 percent to 19.8 percent, but that's still a smaller chunk than the government was claiming when Reagan left office. And, of course, he left us with an annual surplus that threatened to eliminate the national debt.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013102154.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Neocon Charles Krauthmather also has an article in the same newspaper dealing with an ex-president's legacy. His position? President Clinton has no legacy. I will not link to it.

[BootinUp]

1. I used to like CNN Crossfire when he was on it. nt