Ronald Reagan: Phony Hero

Huffpo's Robert L. Borosage does a succinct critique of Reagan and how great he wasn't. Unlike me, he's too sophisticated to break out the 'c' word... but I'll say it loud and proud: Ronald Reagan was a c*nt and probably the worst thing to hit America since Columbus imported small pox.

Take a good look at the conservative mantra that Reagan championed: less spending, low taxes, deregulation, free trade, strong military, family values. On all of these, the Gipper and conservatives got it wrong.

Less spending... Reagan doubled the military budget in peacetime (up 50 percent in real terms)... Less spending turned out to mean slash programs that support the weak and the vulnerable.

Low taxes turned into successive tax cuts for the rich.

Free trade was... for multinational companies and banks. Under Reagan, America began shipping jobs rather than goods abroad.

Deregulation gutted consumer protection, environmental protection, workplace safety and the right to organize.

Strong military entailed wasting literally hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons we did not need.

Talk about false idols. Despite all the Gipper deification by today's wingnuts, Reagan was a nothing but a phony hero, a squandered presidency and a horrible gift that just keeps giving. If you want great Republican presidents, you can look to Lincoln, Eisenhower, Obama... Hell, Reagan wasn't fit to polish even Nixon's loafers.

But maybe I miss the point. Maybe the phony hero is the perfect figurehead for a conservative movement that's always used phony values to camouflage its authentic nastiness.