Catching up on what I missed around the web. Here's Peggy Noonan on Reagan and Republicans.
I refer of course to this past week's Time magazine cover, which had a picture of Ronald Reagan with a tear drawn in, to illustrate a piece on the current Republican Party. Actually it was a good piece in that it suggested a simple truth: The portion of the Republican Party that is based in and lives off the American capital has lost its way. They used to stand for conservative principles and now they stand for--well, whatever it is they stand for. I've written the past few years that the modern Democratic Party has been undone in part by its successes, that it achieved what it worked for in terms of Social Security, the safety net and civil rights, and that a great coalition has now devolved into a mere conglomeration of interest groups. I don't see why Time shouldn't similarly indict the Republicans.
It gets better. It's hard for me to think positively about Reagan, because growing up, I don't think anybody I knew (except maybe Tony Duarte) liked him. Peggy Noonan occasionally helps me get over that somewhat.
