{"id":2029,"date":"2008-01-28T05:09:12","date_gmt":"2008-01-28T10:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2029"},"modified":"2008-01-28T08:18:32","modified_gmt":"2008-01-28T13:18:32","slug":"mailbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=2029","title":{"rendered":"Mailbag"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we close in on this blog’s annual Reagan’s Birthday celebration, it blows my mind sometimes that there’s a whole generation of adults out there who have no concept of life that wasn’t in the post-Reagan world. People who don’t remember “Malaise”; who likely went through 12+years of schooling without really learning <\/em>about the Cold War, who know little about Solzenitzyn and Reykjavik, the Brandenburg Gate; people who know the fall of the Berlin Wall only from music videos and various bits of post-irony.<\/p>\n

I got an email from someone today; this person was born in 1985 and, like an awful lot of people, is not <\/em>a political junkie (and is thus pretty normal!). This person writes:<\/p>\n

Hey Mitch! __________ here….. i’ve got a bit of a question for you that will make you see how uneducated i am about politics before my time (i’m 22.)
\ni’ve been reading your blog, truthfully not understanding a lot of it, but i’m interested: the general consensus whenever Reagan is brought up is
\nthat he screwed up. Even Republicans think this way. i was raised in a house where from noon-5 all our radios blasted Rush Limbaugh<\/span> and Joe Soucheray. My parents are uber-conservatives, who raised me with this line: “Ronald Reagan<\/span> was a GREAT president.” That’s all they said. i never thought about it much, but for some reason a lot of people have been talking about him lately, my parents saying “I wish there were another Reagan running” and everyone else, including many people who post on your blog saying “Wow, Reagan was a mistake.” What did he do that was so wrong that even Republicans are bad-mouthing him? i haven’t been able to do much research on this, but if you could point me in the direction of a “Reagan for dummies” or another such resource, i’d be much obliged. i googled it, but there is way too much stuff that i don’t even know where to start. Thanks!<\/em><\/p>\n

If you’re busy, don’t worry about it-it’s just a
\ncasual interest of mine.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, of course <\/em>I responded! The notion that people can grow up in this society and get their entire <\/em>exposure to Reagan from people who are dedicated to rolling back his legacy – teachers, professors, the media, Hollywood – is a national travesty; any chance to try <\/em>to roll it back, even for one person, is an opportunity and a gift.<\/p>\n

So my response:<\/p>\n

A *great* book to read – and a fast one, at that – is Ronald Reagan<\/span> – How An Ordinary Man Became An Extraordinary President”, by Dinesh D’Souza. It’s a
\nfast read, and it’s a GREAT intro to the life of Reagan by a guy who was about your age when he worked in the White House<\/span>. I’d lend you a copy, but he only copy I own is already lent out!<\/p>\n

I grew up in a Democrat house, and was a liberal until was…well, about your age! And Reagan was the first Republican I ever voted for. It occurs to me
\nthere’s a couple of generations out there who don’t kow how hopeless this country felt during the Ford and Carter years; your (plural!) entire frame of
\nreference is post-Reagan America! If you ever get a chance to see “Miracle” with Kurt Russell<\/span> – the story of the ’80 US Olympic Hockey team (jeez, that was years before you were born!), the beginning shows a lot of why America was in trouble before 1980; demoralized from Vietnam<\/span> and Watergate<\/span>, with economic troubles that seemed intractable (inflation AND high unemployment). Add in Jimmy Carter<\/span> telling us in a speech that we might all have to get used to the US being a smaller, weaker country, and top it off with *Iran<\/span>* taking 53 Americans hostage and making the world laugh at us for a year and a half – it was a miserable time to be an American.<\/p>\n

Just to give you a *very* quick digest of Reagan’s pros and cons:<\/p>\n

PROS:<\/p>\n