SALUTE TO FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

President Reagan, who passed away on Saturday, June 5th, 2004 will undoubtedly be remembered as the most universally liked president in the history of the republic. Even most of his political enemies begrudgingly admired him. Additionally, much to the chagrin of Democrats and liberals, his presidential legacy will be that he defeated international communism and won the Cold War -- giving the nation and the world its first clear-cut prospects for lasting international peace since the beginning of the Cold War.

Democrats and liberals painted Reagan as a dangerous rightwing war hawk. When he pointedly referred to the Soviet Union as "the evil empire," critics cringed at the thought of the war Reagan was almost certain to provoke. Those liberals believed the Soviet super-state was so politically, economically, and militarily superior that the only safe policy with regard to it was their "better red than dead" plea. The alternative to an eventual capitulation to the Soviet super-state, they were sure, was MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction).

Present Secretary of State, Colin Powell (who had been Reagan's National Security Advisor), speaking on the Reagan legacy on CNN shortly after his death said, "The president always believed that the Soviet people deserved a better system than the system they had. And he was going to make it happen not by war, but by peace, by showing the power of democracy."

Pridger can envision president Bush, who probably considers himself as an ideological descendent of Reagan (note his "axis of evil" take off), privately cornering Secretary Powell after he learned of the above statement and sheepishly inquiring in conspiratorial tones, "Do you think we've blown it?"

Of course, Bush blew it when he first hooked up with the "Project for a New American Century" people and brought them to power in his administration (i.e., Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, et. al.). PNAC deals in Pax Americana, empire building, and naked military aggression by the United States against other nations in order to make the world safe for multi-national corporations. The Reagan administration had also been packed and commandeered by internationalists with hegemonic plans for American capital interests, starting with VP George Bush, Sr. Whatever the high intents and purposes of PNAC, and globalism in general (the hegemony of capital), the goals are inconsistent with American Constitutional government, and totally negate any presumption of rule by "consent of the governed."

Our self-righteous talk about "Democracy," and spreading it to the rest of the world, is just that -- talk. There has been little evidence of democracy in the United States in recent decades. Our democracy is a facade and little else. It is invoked (in the form of the law of markets), only to lower cultural and educational standards. Our representatives have ceased to either defend the Constitution they are sworn to uphold or represent the will of the majority of the people. On the few occasions where democratic or republican principles have asserted themselves, the Supreme Court has consistently over-ruled them -- thus the will of the majority is thwarted and democratic republicanism permanently compromised.

While the Reagan administration was effectively high-jacked (as are all presidential administrations, at least in Pridger's view), Reagan's values, moral character, and conservative patriotic message never failed to come to the fore and shine through with a positive radiance.

Perhaps Reagan's main failing (which he shares with most presidents as well as almost everybody else), was a lack of understanding of basic economics. Like many conservatives who were caught off guard, he embraced the free international market economics of Milton Friedman (or a Keynesian-Friedmanism), and the grandiose plans of other contemporary "experts" (i.e., the captain's of international business and the nation's mature fortunes), who saw great profit potential in the "new international economic order." Reagan himself introduced this phrase into the national policy lexicon as one of the high goals of his administration. Pridger is fairly certain Reagan believed in the potion he was selling, and believed it was good.

Pridger has criticized many of the things that transpired under the Reagan administration. But no president can be perfect. Regardless of the criticism, Pridger considers Reagan, the man, the best presidential material that has occupied the White House in living memory. It is highly unlikely than another of his caliber will ascend to the presidency any time soon. They just don't seem to make them like that any more. At least it is unlikely that such a man will ever again be allowed to become the standard bearer of either major political party. Both truly enlightened liberalism and genuine conservative philosophy seem to have been purged from the leadership of both parties. The classic liberal and the true conservative no longer have a significant place in either political party. As for third parties -- they have been marginalized out of any semblance of significance in the national political landscape.

Reagan can perhaps be excused for his lack of understanding of economics. Nobody else seems to understand the basics nowadays either -- least of all the professional economists who advise presidents. The dismal science is now geared toward proving that wealth creation is facilitated solely through the agencies of credit infusion, interest collection, and foreign trade -- and that wealth, thus created, flows from the top down. (Some of it, hopefully, trickling all the way down to labor and the great unwashed masses.) Thus Reagan's "supply side, trickle down economics" policy -- which was tailor-made to mesh with the new international economic order. Back when economists were a little more firmly grounded in reality, they knew that "all new wealth comes from the soil." When this is realized, wealth (compliments of nature with the helping hand of labor), can be made to flow upward and outward in great abundance, expanding as it multiplies itself throughout the economy.

Meanwhile the nation's literary presidential legacy-makers cleave to the standard of of Bill Clinton, and are doing all they can to make Clinton's "My Life" an all time best seller for a former president. As our nation's first X-rated president, who brought shame to the Oval Office and embarrassment to the nation in great abundance, Clinton remains the political darling of trendy contemporary American "pop" culture. To be fair, however, Clinton did have a few partially redeeming political qualities. They got him in deep trouble for a while, and this is little noted or appreciated. He was just barely able to make things right in time by a timely renewal of bombing in Iraq. Otherwise, the press probably would have made sure his impeachment stuck.