When I think of centennial celebrations – my mind always turns to the 1980 movie by John Carpenter – The Fog. The little seaside town of Antonio Bay was celebrating its 100 year anniversary when all hell broke loose – literally. It was a story of gold, greed, political corruption, taking advantage of the disadvantaged and leprosy – much like the world today. Anyway, a hundred years previously, Blake was on the losing end of the whole sordid affair – and he comes back to exact his revenge on those who did him wrong.
When strolling down centennial lane, I also think of things like our country’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. That was one big megillah! From coast-to-coast, everyone was partying. Even if some history-challenged people didn’t really care or even know exactly what they were celebrating – no matter - it was a fabulous opportunity for lots of barbeques, beer and fireworks.
And now, kicking off on February 6th, apparently we have the great centennial celebration for the birth of Ronald Reagan. It seems that it’s going to take a full year to consecrate what would have been his hundredth birthday. Events will be going on all over the country from sea to shining sea – and for an entire year, no less. Anyway, this is where things start becoming misty for me in the cognitive department.
I can understand celebrating the founding of a town or a country or maybe even a person, especially if the tribute is simply on the day itself. But when did we start celebrating the birth of people that are no longer here? Has it been going on for a while and I just missed this tradition? Oh…okay, there was Jesus – but he was supposedly the Messiah and savior of the whole world, so that kind of makes sense. But, even with him, he only gets the one day commemoration of his birthday – although you are encouraged to start shopping for it a couple of months beforehand. And sure we have Presidents’ weekend – that all-purpose presidential holiday and super-sale. And of course, there’s MLK day – but he was a great civil rights leader who was assassinated – so he deserves the day, plus so much more. But someone tell me why out of the legion of U.S. presidents (and all people who have ever lived) we have to have a centennial celebration for Reagan? I mean, I could understand it a little bit better if he was actually here to blow out the candles…but he’s not. Sorry, but he didn’t make it to 100. So, why on earth are we having a yearlong birthday party?
On the old Today show – the weatherman, Willard Scott – used to do a little segment noting the birthday’s of people that were a hundred years old, or even older. He’d say a few kind words, show a photo and…well, I don’t know, maybe he also sent them a copy of his new book or an NBC t-shirt or something. But the thing was…they were a hundred years old and still breathing - and, that’s certainly reason enough to get a shout out on national television.
And since when did we start treating former presidents as if they were our aristocracy, or demigods, or American Idol winners? You know, I think the original idea was that they were simply men…merely guys…just citizens like the rest of us – one person not more important than the next. Sort of the created equal thing. Obviously, I’m not so stupid that I don’t realize how rigged this system is, or how corrupt, inbred and clubby, but still, we’re supposed to not be too obvious about it, aren’t we? Why does Reagan get to stand on a golden pedestal and have time and money lavished on him? Why is Ronnie the recipient of preposterous hosannas of praise, when there are so many people that have lived quieter, but far more ethical and decent lives that get no national attention let alone an entire year of laudatory-overload? You know, this is one of the many things that’s wrong with this country. Instead of questioning the propriety of launching a year long birthday wing-ding for a dead man, everyone just goes swimmingly along with it.
Clearly, the Republican re-writing history machine wants to stamp as much Reagan as they can across the country – try to turn him into a symbol of pure, deified goodness and leadership. They actually succeeded in this endeavor long before this birthday jubilee, as the Democratic president fawns all over the guy so much that it’s downright embarrassing. Obama’s the one, who in 2009, spent taxpayer money on a commission whose sole purpose was to find ways to honor Reagan on what would have been – but isn’t – his hundredth birthday. (P.T. Barnum would have been 201 years old this year, where’s the commission for that?) Obama didn’t even set up a “jobs” commission in 2009 – despite our unemployment crisis, but he had time to pull one together for the Gipper’s one-hundredth imaginary birthday. And, besides this waste of money, Reagan already has a commemorative stamp and an airport named after him (among other things) - how many honors does this dude need?
Oh, I know, this isn’t really a democracy of equal people, like they keep trying to sell us. That’s why they’re forever putting each other on presidential thrones, as if they’re better and more honorable than the rest of us, meriting the highest of accolades and the largest of celebrations. And taxpayer money is spent on it all, while a lot of ordinary Americans eat it all up with a spoon. In my unasked-for opinion, everyone from President Obama on down has it wrong. Reagan isn’t going to turn a hundred years old this February 6th , so there’s no reason to celebrate. He’s dead, so he doesn’t get any more birthday parties. It should be enough that his family and friends honor the memory of the man they knew in private, just as the rest of us do with our loved ones who have passed on.
But for those of elevated status, that apparently isn’t good enough. Dignity, love, thrift, humility and quiet reflection are eagerly sacrificed on the altar of celebrity, extravagance, hyperbole and mass adulation. Why is it that having been an honorable person in life is not sufficient reward? Well…I guess…maybe when you’re not truly a good and decent man, you need a yearlong celebratory lovefest glorifying the day of your birth to hide that sordid fact.
Ah, hell…where’s Blake when you need him?
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Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall
libbyliberalnyc
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Jacob Sugarman
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Steven J. Gulitti
Salon.com
Comments
lizw9 - Yes, indeed...what nonsense. It took you two words to say what I said in many more than that. Well done.
Catherine - Thank you very much.
What we're feeling today? Direct results of the disaster that was Reaganomics.
"...if they’re better and more honorable than the rest of us, meriting the highest of accolades and the largest of celebrations."
It reminds me of ill-conceived "Columbus celebrations." When I lived in SD, that state replaced Columbus day with Native American day when enough folks knew the true story of Columbus (murderer and kidnapper who landed on land inhabited by millions already).
It is astonishing that with all of the truly heroic normal folks around we would try to create a hero out of someone who isn't.
Great read... r
Y Heron - That actually gives me a bit of optimism...there WAS a time when no one ever questioned Columbus and his legacy...so, maybe despite all the Reagan brainwashing...people might one day understand the real story.
Barb - WTF, indeed!
Snoreville- A poll? Sorry, but that doesn't sway my opinion on the subject. As for the rest...I'm not sure you and I are living in the same country with the same set of facts at our disposal. But thanks for the comment.
Rwoo5g - Yes, you said it so well...as always. I remember quite well and pointedly how his policies changed my life and circumstances as well as many people around me in the day.
Actually many of the problems we have today can be traced back to Reagan and Bush senior. Out of control banking practices, out of control military spending, out of control government expansion and spending, more corporate power and increase in government intrusion. Thanks a lot Reagan glad you are not president now.
But I always think of what the reporter said in the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
ocularnervosa - I love your points. I remember the first Republican debate they had in '08 - I think it was at the Reagan musuem...and I was beside myself laughing over it - because every other word...was "REAGAN REAGAN REAGAN" - I mean, these people seemed to love him more than their other BFF - Jesus.
mimetalker - you said a mouthful!
He looked very seriously at me while pausing a moment and then sternly said, "We always call it Reagan National Airport."
I wanted to say, "And I'll join you when I hear you say, just once, Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport." But I didn't. I just smirked. And after that referred to it as DCA.
I was always more of a Chester Alan Arthur man myself. But I gotta wonder, why does the media always note Elvis's death day and not his birthday?
noah - As for Elvis' birthday...I don't even know when it is...I have enough trouble remembering all of my family and friends' birthdays. But, still...acknowledging the day of his death is bizarre and odd...but that's how we tend to do things in this country it seems. And where's Arthur's centennial jamboree? Well..maybe next year.
". . . . government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
♥
Due to the Alzheimer's he simply kept forgetting that he was dead and would make rambling statements beginning with the phrases "there you go again" and "Mr. Gorbachev".
@Snoreville: I don't know where to begin: a poll does not make it so! What does that prove, exactly? Here's what it proves to me: that most Americans are dimwits, easily led and believing only what they choose. Nixon was a better president (he was actually a really good president); I could have forgiven Watergate if it meant no Reagan.
As far as your claim about Reagan being a beacon of reality: Well there's so much to choose from to refute that but here's a little anecdote that comes to mind: When the premier of Israel visited Reagan at the White House, Reagan told him a lengthy story illustrating why he was pro-Jewish; he said he was in Signal Corps in WWII, he visited Buchenwald after the Nazi defeat and helped film the camp. He repeated this story the next day to an Israeli ambassador. Only one problem: he wasn't in Europe, he never saw a concentration camp and he spent WWII in Hollywood making movies for the armed forces.
He did not embellish the truth a little; he did not get a few details wrong; he told a bald-faced lie, not once but TWICE. This was a man who could not distinguish fantasy from reality. Stories like this abound and just enhance his reputation as the Teflon president.
Here's what Reagan did: He made people feel good about America. With his folksy down-home stories and the way he answered most questions starting with that soothing, "We-e-ll...." he pulled off the impossible: he got people to say, "Well I don't like his policies but I love the man." ????!!!! Even when the press reported other lies like the above, NO ONE CARED.
Just a few high points of Reagan's tenure that his Teflon nature protected him from:
Iran-Contra: this should have brought him down. Jailing private arms salesmen to Iran, while at the very same time engaging in arms sales to Iran itself.
Aid & supported the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia: He considered Pol Pot's butchers freedom fighters because they were fighting against the Vietnamese (pro-Soviet). They murdered 2,000,000 Cambodians from 1975 to 1978 - out of a population of 7,000,000.
He deregulated Big Business - he removed the restrictions that kept companies from cheating.
He fired 11,000 air traffic controllers.
His tax cuts and favoritism to the wealthy began a war against the middle and lower income classes that continues to this day.
He initiated the massive arms build-up race with the Soviet Union because of his deranged belief that they were a threat.
He turned Americans against government in such a way that we now have Sarah Palin, the tea party, and any number of crazies that are no longer considered "fringe" but mainstream.
I could go on and on but what's the point; people treat him like a God and you know what? Anyone who voted for him got exactly what they deserved and anyone who celebrates him is just delusional.
Whenever I think of Ronald Reagan, I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Usual Suspects, said by the notorious Keyser Soze: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist."
The majority of Americans believed Bush's lies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction and being involved in 9/11 even though there was
FusunA - I'm sure that's part of the Reagan patina that shines so brightly. Still, to me it's all ridiculous and part of this noxious celebrity-worshipping culture.
Fred - Ah...no, gee...I didn't know that! I'm wondering though...is he currently hunting or golfing with Cheney? You know, with some people it's hard to tell if they're living or not.
Chicago Guy - I always liked Patti...but, man...not the Eagles, man! (Actually though, I love Desperado...kind of my song)
All of this RR bullshit is just that and they know it. They keep thinking if they say it often enough and loud enough it will become true. As a truly great president said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." I know I typed that but I bet I could say it too without making a chimp of myself.
and, of course, ocular whose comment i wish i'd written. reagan was/is just a good story.
I call the Republicans myth-makers because all that hullabaloo about Reagan is exactly that...a MYTH! Everytime I hear people moan about todays deficit ($1.4 trillion), I think of old Ronny. When he left office the deficit was $2.6 trillion!
If anything Carter tried to turn the tide, and curb military spending, reduce our dependence on oil and bring some fairness and balance into the financial system. His political reputation was destroyed because of it by the financial, military and energy concerns. Regan undid it all starting with ripping down the solar panels on the white house roof that Carter had installed to deregulating the financial markets.
Femme Forte - Margaret does rock indeed!
Brassawe - That's a good one - and a fitting statement to the ridiculous that Reagan has become in the national conversation.
Fay - Yes...a myth. That sums it up. And how Americans love their myths.
M Todd - There certainly is plenty of blame to go around. That essentially is part of my post...this treatment of these presidents as if they are these fabulous wonderful men. I'm not a fawning fan of any of them. Reagan though is the topic du jour - and someone who in recent years has the media and politicians of all stripes tripping over themselves to put laurels at his nefarious feet.
Marktalks1@opensalon.com