MISCmedia by Clark Humphrey » Blog Archive REAGAN WITHOUT TEARS, PART 4:

»
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
«

REAGAN WITHOUT TEARS, PART 4:

June 9th, 2004 by Clark Humphrey

Joe Strupp, in Editor & Publisher, reminds us that Reagan’s not the first leader to have gottenÂ undeservedly fawning media obits, and that Clinton actually had higher popularity-poll ratings than Reagan.
Eric Pianin and Thomas B. Edsall note in the Wash. Post that the lavish praise given the man “obscures that much of Reagan’s record through eight years in office was highly controversial and intensified social and political divisions. Even now, nearly 16 years after he left office, some major interest groups and key voting blocs most adversely affected by Reagan policies remain bitter about his legacy.”
The Village Voice‘s Tom Carson calls him “A noted fantasist… perhaps best remembered for the eight years he spent believing he ruled an entirely fictional United States. To the old trouper’s delight, this was a delusion shared by most of his compatriots, which is why his imaginary nation still subsumes ours to this day.”