A $1 million bronze statue of St. Ronnie at National Airport? Really?

[marmar]

:puke: Wasn't naming the airport (even though I won't acknowledge it) after him enough?


ARLINGTON, Va. — The 18 million passengers who travel in and out of the nation’s capital through Reagan National Airport each year will now be greeted by a 9-foot tall, nearly $1 million bronze statue of the former president that was unveiled Tuesday.

The statue is the fourth dedicated this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, which operates his presidential library. Tuesday’s unveiling also gave travelers an opportunity to revisit the dormant debate over whether Reagan was worthy of having his name put on the airport that had long been known simply as “National.”

Many D.C.-area residents resented the change when it was approved by Congress in 1998, and it seems the passage of 13 years has done little to soften people’s opinions.

“I’ve never understood the people who feel he’s such a beloved figure,” said Kathleen Meehan of Madison, Wis., as she waited for her flight. “My daughter refuses to call it ‘Reagan.’” The only thing Meehan gave Reagan credit for was “the destruction of the middle class.” ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/9-foot-statue-of-reagan-to-be-unveiled-at-airport-travelers-warned-of-delays-during-ceremony/2011/11/01/gIQAhtIhbM_story.html

[annabanana]

1. Can't we please melt that down and make something useful from it?

Like, oh I don't know.. baby booties...

[NYC_SKP]

2. It makes me want to puke. On the statue.

..

. . . :puke:


```

[Pool Hall Ace]

23. Good aim there, NYC_SKP.

And I call the airport DCA. :thumbsup:

[femmocrat]

3. May it be covered in pigeon poop. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. Here angry birds! Here, birds! Need you again!

[ThomWV]

4. Good place for the pigeons to shit.

[Earth_First]

5. I hope that it was a hollow cast statue...

to match the hollowness of the man it stands in resemblance to.

[Initech]

6. Isn't this wasteful government spending?

[Nye Bevan]

9. Paid for by private donors (nt)

[PDJane]

7. Reagan should have been impeached.

The Iran-Contra affair should have had him impeached and Colonel North tried for treason.

[Initech]

11. Instead we impeach the guy who got a blow job in the oval office. God bless America!

[ThomWV]

22. I disagree - he should have been charged with Treason and jailed before the election.

[Angry Dragon]

8. some others are not happy with him either

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5050548

[moondust]

10. "Soviet style."

Heard somebody on the teevee describe it as such today.

Reminiscent of Stalin. Or Saddam Hussein.

:puke:

[lumpy]

14. My thoughts exactly. So dictatoristic. Repugnant.

Reagan is not deserving of being revered.

[SomethingFishy]

12. LMFAO...

How very Stalinesque. Is Bush getting one too?

[NYC Liberal]

13. Compare this with FDR, who wanted any kind of memorial

to be no bigger than his desk.

[grasswire]

15. maybe a low-flying plane could just clip the top off?

Not so many years ago people could park in the lot just upriver of the landing strips and watch the planes come over, so close it seemed you could tickle the pilot if you stretched up a bit. I doubt that lot is still open to rubberneckers, though. I remember that people would sit out there with a radio tuned to the tower frequency and enjoy the traffic in and out quite a bit.

[AuntPatsy]

16. Perhaps if they honestly meant to somehow honor a certain person such as this

One the funds would have been much more warmly received if given towards the study for curing Alzheimer's

[MADem]

18. I still call it National. Wonder if one of those scrap metal thieves will swipe the thing--they

manage to steal all kinds of junk, even stuff that is bolted down....

[krispos42]

21. What a fuckin' shame

[TBF]

19. At least it's out at the airport

and not in the middle of the mall. Or in the white house lawn ...

[eppur_se_muova]

20. Can't see the feet -- is he standing on the necks of PATCO members?

If not, it's not truly representational art.