During a lunch with some of my co-workers yesterday, my boss – who has a way of saying things that other people I know would never have the guts to say – asked “So, have you had enough of all this Reagan business, yet?”
I wasn’t ready to say yes just yet. Not so much because, as is common in this age of hyperpatriotism we seem to be living in, a yes answer would be viewed as somehow “unpatriotic” or “un-American.” But because I hadn’t realized how many people are working themselves into such hysterics over Ronald Reagan’s passing. Now, after hearing about some of the harebrained schemes people are concocting to memorialize the guy, I’m fed up. So much so that I’m taking my “un-patriotism” to the level of ranting.
Reagan passed away over the past weekend. So far, the traditional ways of remembering a Great American HeroTM are running their course: the Gipper has laid in state at his presidential library and is now in Washington where after much pomp and circumstance, more adoring, supportive hyperpatriots will grieve. On Friday, the federal government and even the New York state government will shut down for an official day of mourning (and I’d comment on the lack of wisdom in shutting down a government that has yet to negotiate an operating budget, but that’s a whole other article right there). And of course, television networks are filling their schedules with Reagan retrospectives… most network news shows apparently had graphics packages and video clips at the ready in less than half an hour of the announcement of the former president’s passing.
And yes, this is all fine and good. People should grieve, for no matter what side of the political fence you lean on, an influential leader has passed on. But the proposed memorials that go beyond this – and the fervent enthusiasm for these schemes – is insane.
Let us start with the various re-namings of monuments and highways that have erupted since Saturday. The state of Illinois has gotten into the fervor with the renaming of Interstate 88 (isn’t Illinois the so-called “Land of Lincoln?”). And, I suppose in an attempt to make everyone remember Reaganomics, a drive is afoot to put Reagan’s likeness on some form of currency, most likely unseating one of the founding fathers’ from their current perches.
But grandest and scariest of all, is the campaign to put Ronald Reagan on Mt. Rushmore (link here, and here, and here, for just a few examples). Now, this is over the top, even for a drive borne of insanity. Mt. Rushmore?! Aside from this proposal being a bit overblown, what we’re talking about here, at its very base, is defacing a work of art. Mount Rushmore is a sculpture, and was designed by the sculptor John Gutzon Borglum in 1927. To add any face, no matter how prominent the person, to this work of art is to destroy the original concept. It would be like saying we should photoshop-in Vincent Van Gogh’s likeness peering over the shoulder of the Mona Lisa and call it the new revised, memorializing version, or maybe re-sculpting the Discobolos to have the same between-the-legs endowment as Michelangelo’s David. Of course, such “modifications” would be unacceptable to even non-art aficionados, but to Reaganites it’s okay to vandalize art if you plan on honoring a great president who happens to be Republican… after all, why is no one clamoring to put John F. Kennedy’s face on Mount Rushmore? He took a bullet for this country too, only he didn’t live to lead another day.
I’ve always known that hypertpatriots have a bit of insanity and an overabundance of zeal going for them. But have they gone more insane than they already are?
Memorializing a person is nice, yes, I will readily agree to that. But regardless of how influential a person is, there is a limit where placing that person’s name on every strip of asphalt, aircraft carrier and federal building on the planet cheapens the effect.
After all, what do we expect will come of all this fury to rename everything that can be renamed to remember Reagan? I don’t see myself pulling out a $10 bill from my wallet with his face on the front, and thinking every time, “Gosh, the Gipper was such a great guy.” I guess the assumption here is that he’s going to look down on the good ol’ God-blessed You Ess of Aye, from his perch in GOP-heaven, and shower us Fine Americans with his Glory or something.
And make no mistake folks. For as much as people want to turn The Great Communicator into a saint, there is plenty of his legacy to deride. Reaganomics, for many, is not meant as a favorable term. And there’s a big laundry list of things that make Mr. Reagan, like any politician, look quite unsaintly.
This will anger many people. And that’s fine. Sometimes the truth can be offensive to those who want to mask the bad and make pretty so that we can respect a fine leader even though he did many not-so-fine things. But that is the goal of this site: to resist the half truths, unlearn what we have been conditioned to accept, and defy those who would call that “un-American.”
Now, back to your regularly scheduled mourning.