The Poet's Eye – 06/07/2004

		The Poet's Eye commentary by Lightning Rod the Poets' Eye is skeptical without being cynical, innocent without being naive and critical without being judgmental

		Buffalo Bill's Defunct 06-07-04 When the news of Ronald Reagan's demise arrived, I had much the same feeling that I had when Lyndon Johnson died. I never agreed too much with Johnson's politics but I admired him as a man and surprised myself with the grief that I felt to see him go. Reagan was such a man. I admired him even though I never agreed with his politics. Large and symbolic lives end in large and symbolic deaths. Reagan was the first American President to base his power almost solely on being telegenic. Surely Kennedy was helped by his good looks and charisma, but Reagan was the first president who understood how to do his real job, which was to be a royal figurehead and cheerleader for the country. His background as an actor and public speaker gave him the perfect qualifications for the job of president in 1980. It is also ironic that on the day Reagan died, Smarty Jones lost the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. It's always sad when a character that America has grown to love loses the race. This writer doesn't believe for a minute that Reagan's rhetoric ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall", "Evil Empire" etc) ended the cold war or the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union fell because it was bankrupt and corrupt. Reagan was right that communism was a failed idea. Lenin himself knew that in 1921.What really finished off the Soviet Union was the influx of Western ideas and values via the media of pop culture and advertising. Blue jeans and The Beatles had more to do with the fall of the Soviet Union than anything that Ronald Reagan did. The people of the communist world saw the material benefits of a relatively free society because the broadcast and networked media caused this information to spill over the iron curtain. But, God, he was a handsome man. He could work an audience just like Buffalo Bill. Teddy Roosevelt couldn't tell him anything about the bully pulpit. That's what it takes to be a successful American President in the media age--being able to work an audience. If Ronald Reagan was The Great Communicator, then George Bush II is the Great Un-Communicator. If the neo-cons that are dominating our government today had a spokesman as powerful as Ronald Reagan, we would really be in trouble. If George Bush presented the image of the avuncular, self-effacing, humorous Everyman that Reagan did, instead of the smug, smirking, power-crazed little Caligula that he portrays, I would be afraid that the public could be beguiled. I don't believe that Gdub makes any more real decisions than Ron did. They were both ideal figurehead presidents. But Reagan was ever so much more endearing. Because he was a more convincing speaker, you got the idea that he actually believed what he was saying rather than just stumbling over a script that had been prepared for him by his handlers. Politics is about show-business and show-business is about illusion. Reagan was a master of it. Did you believe the myth that he didn't color his hair? Ronald Reagan was the first clear example of what the American presidency has become--a largely symbolic office. When Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed the power of the 'Bully Pulpit," he defined the role of the modern presidency. America longs for a monarch. We want a president who we can love but has little to do with the bureaucratic functions of government. A president's prime duty, like the Queen of England, is to set the mood for the country. Reagan was so successful because he gave America what it needed just at the right moment. We needed optimism. Reagan was nothing if not an optimist . When President Reagan proclaimed that he wanted to appeal to the hopes and not the fears of his countrymen, I think he was sincere. That was the key to his success as a president. Bush has taken the opposite approach. He has capitalized on the fears and not the hopes of the American people. The Poet's Eye has a tear in it tonight. I never agreed with Reagan's politics, but, Jesus, he was a handsome man. Buffalo Bill's defunct who used to ride a watersmooth-silver stallion and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat Jesus he was a handsome man and what i want to know is how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death--e.e. cummings • to comment on this article email Lightning Rod here
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