Guest Post by Morbo
Every few weeks, I get a catalog from a firm in Connecticut that sells books that have been remaindered. It’s printed on newsprint in tiny type but is always worth poring over because, while most of the offerings are dross, gems do lurk within.
One thing I’ve learned from years of reading this catalog is that the cult of Ronald Reagan is alive and well. Every possible aspect of Reagan’s life has been chronicled, dissected and discussed, often from an idol-worshipping, hagiographic perspective. Many of these books have ended up remaindered.
In a recent catalog, I saw perhaps the worst Reagan-related item ever: a multi-CD set of radio speeches he gave as governor of California. How much Reagan-flavored Kool-Aid would you have to ingest, I wondered, before you longed to hear The Gipper pontificate about the burning issues of 1972?
But even knowing of the cult’s existence and the fanatical devotion of its adherents, I have to wonder how many people will get through the Reagan diaries.
Note that in the reporting about these writings, which Reagan kept all through his presidency, certain words were used. The diaries, we were told, portray Reagan as “amiable,” “uncomplicated,” “wistful” and “funny.” Words that were not used to describe these writings include “insightful,” “intelligent” and “analytical.”
My favorite line was this passage from the Associated Press:
The earnest entries are marked by a spare writing style in which Reagan reduced complicated matters to their essence.
I realize Reagan is dead and that this means the mainstream media is too cowardly to say anything negative about him for the next 50 years, but maybe his writing style was “sparse” and he “reduced complicated matters to their essence” because the man was, in fact, a lunkhead.
I don’t know about you, but after seven years of a president who makes Reagan look like Soren Kirkegaard, I’m ready for an occupant of the White House whose mind is somewhat “complicated.”